Logs:First Class w Sister Connie

Secrets - Arena

The arena is much like the main room in color and in decor, save there is soundproofing so absolutely no noise goes in or out. Patrons can meet for business with associates while having a drink in a place designed for entertainment. All of the seating allows an excellent view of a mammoth black cage that dominates the room. There's another bar in here, but small and discrete, Bookshelves line the walls of this room and there are extremely comfortable leather chairs and sofas interspersed throughout, turned in tasteful angles as to assure the most relaxing atmosphere possible.

The cage is a MMA style fighting cage and it is the centerpiece of this room. Inside the combatants can do battle while the audience can relax in high-class comfort.

Constance laughs as she shakes her head to Paige. "We can't all be historians." She points out before smoothing her hands over her habit and then rounding to the steps towards the Arena where a blackboard is set up with an outline on it. She looks at her watch and glances over the board one last time to make sure it's centered towards the room so it can be seen.

Madeline arrives dressed for fashion rather than fighting but she nods with a smile as she moves to take a seat "Bon Soir, Sister"

Oleksiy arrives, coming in to see who all has gathered. He gives a respectful nod to Constance first. then a smile to the rest of the people, "Good evening."

"Or apparently, get yoga pants." Paige is already about it appears, just wandering in her dress. Dragging her suitcase behind her as its wheels click and clack along with her heels. "Still the point is made, but I will let you have at it."

Mikael arrives not far behind Madeline with his arm around Phoenix's waist, hugging the redhead against him. He gives a bow of his head to those gathered and says, "Bonsoir" before he moves to find seats, a drink already in his hand. He's dressed in very casual, loose-fitting black clothing.

Constance waves gloved hands towards those coming. "Good evening, good evening, thank you all for coming by. I really appreciate it. Please come down a bit towards the front as today is just going to be a lot of me detailing the outline of the classes. We'll give folks another ten minutes or so.." She looks at her watch and nods before looking to the others. "And then get started."

Guivre lives (or rather unlives) in yoga pant and other comfortable fabrics like linen and t-shirt materials. He has a small purple towel draped over his neck and he walks into the arena smirking at some unspoken joke. He stops just inside the door to fire off a couple of texts and get a look at who is milling around.

Phoenix follows along with Mikael, glancing around but staying silent

Caerus enters in seeming quiet tonight. He nods and smiles to those that look his way. He will sit toward the back of the group.

Martha comes in dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and stomping boots of all things. She looks about just curious, then spotting Mikael, Heathen, and Phoenix, "Evening all." with a smile.

Madeline turns and steps over to Phoenix and Mikael, kissing the cheek of each man with a quiet word before she nods to others.

Heathen makes his way into the Arena, checking out the who and where. "Evenin' folks."

   "Well at least Dr. Guy wore something appropriate," speaks Paige, in a dress. An arm raising to point at the Malkavian.

Mikael smiles brightly to Martha, "It is wonderful to see you here," He returns the kiss to Madeline's cheek. He motions to seats up front at Constance's words.

The Sister smiles nodding to everyone as they settle into seats. She glances towards the doors and nods Father Francis who stands by them to shut them. Not locked, just closed. Once the doors have been shut the Sister folds her hands in front of her. "Thank each and every one of you for coming today." Her smile remains benevolent and radiating warmth. "I'm happy to be running this class which will, hopefully, work twofold as both a course in self-preservation and preservation of the Tower and it's traditions. I will ask you to hold questions until the end so that we can get this quickly and smoothly. I know we're all very busy.." She gestures to the Blackboard. "First and foremost I'd like to cover what this class is for. It -is- a class in Combat, and if individually or as a group some of you would like me to teach you these skills they do come with the class. Alongside it though is the manner in which we fight and how we fight. As well as what we can expect from those that we would be defending ourselves against such as tactics and disciplines. This class will also cover casualty minimization, Upholding the Masq, -Teamwork- and importantly when it is appropriate to retreat."

Caerus nods with a Thank-you on his lips.

Guivre enacts a little flourish of his arm in Paige's direction when she comments on his attire, "I usually favor clothing I can move in... never can be too prepared." He winks to the Scourge and then saunters down to the seats where he can listen to Constance's introduction for the class. He side-eyes those gathered to see who actually showed up but ultimately his attention is on the Nun.

Martha moves to joins up with Heathen and Mikael, some well looks like a pool cue case in hand as she listens to all said by the sister, then others.

Madeline takes a seat and crosses her legs to listen, yes she is in a dress and heels.

Oleksiy settles into a seat to listen, quietly and attentively but without interrupting.

Mikael settles into a chair beside Madeline and Heathen his arm dropping over Phoenix's shoulders. He looks towards Constance and stays quiet.

"If you miss a class, that's fine, I can go over it individually or I can offer minutes or send a tutor depending on the situation. The reason that I want to ensure all subjects covered are covered is to make sure that everyone is on the same page because it may very well save a life, it may very well save yours. For the same reason many of us band together in our Sects it's essential that we learn to maneuver in ways that complement one another." She underlines 'Why this class is important on the board', "Because our enemies do. Putting aside their mass embraces and their Masquerade threatening games our enemies move as a unit. I saw the tactics used in New York, conquer and divide as they say and if any of you have ever watched a nature channel will know, the easiest way to bring people down is to separate them, cause confusion and then take them down one at a time."

Angie walks in and takes a seat next to Madeline, her eyes and ears paying attention

Madeline looks up and gestures to Angie, inviting the girl to join her

Heathen takes a seat at a circle of couches.

Guivre leans back in his seat with his arms crossed and listens attentively without shifting in his seat.

Constance looks around for a moment watching the group of gathered waiting to make sure everyone's still on track before nodding. The sister ignores the chalk smudge on her habit and continues. "Along with the things I've already covered such as damage control and a basic understanding of opponents this class will also offer the ability to learn basic self-defense moves, individually and as a group. Some few offensive strikes though I admit my own knowledge of them is limited. So if you're willing to instruct others in that I would be happy for your assistance and that can be discussed after the initial introduction to the class is complete."

Martha smiles, "I liked school."

"Said the Tremere, to no-one's great surprise." Guy quips with a playful grin and a nod to Martha.

Paige remains respectfully quiet, for now. Watching Connie, brows raising slightly as she just listens.

Mikael chuckles softly, but otherwise is paying strict attention to Constance.

Madeline lifts an elegant hand and brushes a lock of golden hair behind one ear as she listens, nodding to Connie's words

Constance says, “Now for the sticky bits, the bits I know more of you are concerned about even though some of you are reticent to admit it. What this class will not do; This class is not designed to expose you or your capabilities. This class is not designed to ferret out your Achilles Heel. It is not designed to give -anyone- in the Sect an advantage over anyone else in the Sect. I have had more than one person decline to come to this class because they felt they would be exposed. That their weakness would be found and taken advantage of. First and foremost I think that's very telling and a huge dangerous red flag. But that is just my opinion. You are only requested to give of yourself as much as you feel is necessary, that means that some of you won't put in the same effort as others. It's not fair but it's simply the way things are. I ask that despite this unspoken but clear imbalance you attempt to give it what you can anyway. If you want to know why I'll be happy to lend you history books on how a Kindred War can destroy whole cultures."

Sharpe shifts his weight a bit, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans up against the wall and watches quietly.

"Plus, I already know them." Paige shrugs her shoulders softly.

Madeline rolls her eyes with a smile at Paige's words.

Mikael is listening intently and unconsciously nods his head slightly to something before his eyes go around the room.

Heathen leans back, listening as Connie runs down the class structure.

Martha says, “So like the teamwork thing, that could help, then I am working on blind fighting because I keep running into darkness issues, and also need to learn how to escape ropes, and holds better is that like stuff to work on her with "Teammates?" being well perky and open oddly.

Constance's dark blues dart towards Paige and her nose wrinkles a little but her smile doesn't dimish in the slightest. "Which leads me to my last point, One on One interactions. These will be on a case by case bases and entirely based on my schedule. If something needs extra focus with an individual I will do my very best to help. However, as with Offensive capabilities, I encourage students of this class to take what they learn here and apply it to training with one another or in groups or as a springboard for learning more on one's own time. I cannot stress enough how important I think it is to take what you learn here to form coteries or groups of people who you trust to watch your back in case things get out of hand." The Sister inclines her head to Martha and smiles.

Madeline looks to Angie and leans over to speak quietly into the girl's ear.

Mikael murmurs to those sitting close to him.

Constance sets the chalk down dusting off the tips of her kid-skin gloves and looks to those gathered with her brows up. "Now before I get to scheduling, are there any questions or concerns with what I've explained?" She walks to the front of the arena to stand before the 'class' looking out towards them with bright-eyed curiosity, "No questions a dumb question." She assures with benign calm.

Madeline glances at her phone and her lips quirk with humor before she looks up again.

Martha looks to Mikael, Heathen, and Madeline with a bit of a grin, then, for now, reason at all to Angie. "Kickass."

Caerus shakes his head no that he has no questions about the things that Constance has laid out for everyone to take part in.

Guivre wrinkles his nose quietly at the mention of coteries but he's still attentive and watching Constance politely as she speaks to the group. The Sheriff raises his hand when Connie asks for questions and he waits to be acknowledged before he asks, "Will there be any fighting tonight?"

Mikael glances towards Guivre and takes a sip of his brandy before he looks to Constance with a curious expression on his face.

Martha says, “Do you need fight, cause I could argue with you Guivre.”

Caerus whispers aloud to Martha, "There is arguing at the Sheriff. What comes back as a retort might take you years to understand...if you are lucky."

Constance glances to Guy, "Certainly if people are feeling frisky we can do some light combat training. I'll just need to change first." She replies to the Sheriff. "I've recently picked up a new trick I wouldn't mind testing out and I'm.." She smiles towards Martha then to Guy, "I'm sure there are others who wouldn't mind a little warm-up." She flips the little blackboard closed and picks it up to walk it out of the arena.

Heathen raises an eyebrow a moment. "Oh? So who gets to be the test monkey for your new ... trick?"

"One can never be /too/ transparent... then he would be made of glass and that just sounds far too brittle." Guivre muses as a response to Caerus' remark and then he adds for Martha's benefit, "I was thinking of something a bit more..." He trails off, listening to Constance and then borrowing her word choice, "Frisky."

Martha looks over "Ohh I am thinking of making a cat too."

Madeline's lips quirk again at something then looks to Guy "Now now.. no frisky in front of the children"

Guivre nods to Madeline, "In my defense, the Nun said it first-"

Heathen says, “What got into that cat.."”

Mikael smiles at something said and settles back in his seat. Any questions he might have had forgotten with the conversations at hand.

Martha gets up, "Who is on first cause all this talk of fighting has me curious." as she moves to the arena.

Constance chuckles to herself shaking her head setting the blackboard aside. "I'll go change. Hopefully, there aren't any children present I expect they should be gone by the time I return."

Paige tilts her head a little to the side, then snorts once. She almost makes a comment, but holds herself back, instead, tilting her head up to the ceiling.

Guivre doesn't jump up but at the talk of fighting and he admits with a grin, "Tempting Martha... tempting.." He glances off in the direction Connie scurried though and admits with a grin, "Think we should let Constance start the show? I'll take a turn, eventually..."

Constance if off for a little bit and then returns in Yoga pants and a long-sleeved black mock-turtleneck the envy of any beatnik. The sister is pinning her hair up ina braid crown as she glances around, "All right. Come on, everyone who wants to join in up to the arena. We'll be doing it in teams, unless it's just three then I'll take on two, no disciplines, just skills."

Sharpe's brow lifts up as he watches "No one wants to tangle with a nun in yoga pants?" He glances around a bit "Man private school is wasted on some people."

Guivre gets up, "Even if no one knows we used it?" He has a mischievous smirk on as he gets to his feet and slowly makes his way to the arena. Guy shoots a look at Sharpe on his way past, "Never had the pleasure of a private education." He chuckles on his way into the arena...

Martha joins not sure what team, or side she will be on.

"Oh now, we all know I cheat." Paige comments, before smirking. "But I believe I am merely here to watch for the moment."

Constance laughs at Guy and wags a finger, "Don't think I don't have something for class clowns, Guivre." She teases as she does a few quick, limbering stretches before looking up towards Sharpe, "I think they're afraid Jesus himself will come to strike them down. Just Guy and Martha?" She wonders, "If so that's fine, just try to work as a team to subdue me. All right?"

Guivre uhhhs for a minute and looks over at Martha, "I usually fight with my brain... I'm not sure how we-" He looks back to Constance and hesitantly raises both his hands in a terrible boxer's stance. "En garde!"

Mikael glances to Constance and raises his hand slowly, "I'll stand with you, Sister, for what that is worth." He smiles brightly to her then.

Martha nods and looks to Guivre with a shrug, then moves to flank Constance. She looks to Guivre then moves to try and grab and hold Constance for him.

Constance glances to Mikael, "Next time, dear. This will be a good example." She glances towards Martha and her weight shifts into something defensive and definitely a sort of martial arts stance. The smile remains though, wouldn't want to seem unfriendly!

Caerus says to Guivre, "Remember the measure of a nun is not her ruler."

Sharpe grins a bit and moves to take off his jacket and hang it from one of the bookcases

Mikael remains in his seat and settles back to watch.

Guivre sidesteps quickly around Constance flanking her with Martha and calling out shrilly as he does, "Oh dear god in heaven, please don't smite me for slapping this nun." Its almost a chant, far too sarcastic to be a prayer and yet- Guivre pulls his swing at the last second so that it lands as little more than a distraction. "Subdue! We are subduing you!" Swat!

Angie leans back on the couch and watches with interest, taking mental notes

Connie attempts to deflect and toss Martha and fails, instead she gets nabbed despite her defensive stance though instead of frustration she gives an encouraging and cheerful, "Great!" To them both! Before continuing on.

Mikael watches the action closely, sipping at his drink to make it last.

Martha moves in to Hold Constance for Guivre but is finding it harder then she thought to hold onto to Constance, she also is not as strong and at times her feet are moving to keep with her capture.

"I want everyone to know that with a word, I could stop this battle and I could have our lovely Constance cowering on the floor..." Guivre chuckles in spite of himself and calls to the room, "Can't have everyone thinking the Sheriff is a slaphappy sissy-" He stops mid word though as if some inherent spidey sense /tries/ to alert him to danger. Too late for the Ninja nun's attack!

Guivre loses one Magical Essence

Martha loses hold of Constance and well has to work just to keep her balance as Constance breaks free with some amazing strength. There is a bit of stumbling of feet, and "Damn" as she almost falls, "And that is why usually I do something all underhanded in a grab to weaken the person." with c chuckle, "Powers make it stranger, I am so not a wrestler without them." laughing.

Connie is pulled and with a twitch, shifting her hip into Martha and swinging her arms open like she's flashing the room it gives her the chance to sneak a hit in, hand forming a five-point star as she lands an immaculately centered strike in the middle of the Malkavian's chest. "You're doing fine. Talk to each other." She encourages them both.

Constance nods to Martha, "We can't always rely on our disciplines. It's better if we don't only use them to supplement."

"Suck in that direction." Paige points to Connie softly.

Martha nods and moves back into a position to flank as the having to catch her balance from pretty much being thrown off Constance. And readies for another tactic of takedown...unlike Connie, the young Tremere still broadcasts her fighting moves a bit, look like she might be going for a leg sweep.

Guivre stumbles back a few steps with the blow and he lets out a gasping little laugh, "You hit pretty hard for a-" He trails off though into more manic laughter instead as he steps back into the fight, talking to Martha this time, "You go low-" See her stance perhaps, "I'll go high."

Caerus calls out at just the right time as Guivre hesitates, "Nun!"

Sharpe shifts his weight again watching the fight "Really the smartest move is if you're going to wrestle anyone with potence...Stake them as soon as they sit still. But you know...that's cheating."

Constance smiles as the two talk and she readies herself for the next coming flow of attacks, this time fully defensive. Her martial arts style is a strange alchemy of Eastern and something else but it seems to work well for her. She chuckles at Sharpe but keeps the lions share of her focus on her opponents.

Mikael smirks at Sharpe's words. "/If/ one did not get staked themselves for having such on their person."

Guivre goes high and swings at her face, talking to his teammate in the process, "If we get her down try to pin her if we can keep her steady long enough I can lull her into a trance state without the use of a single discipline, scout's honor."

Martha nails the leg sweep with a wince at her leg hitting Constance's ankles at the right point to move her center and make her fall, "Shit" as she moves to pretend to draw a stake hopping on one foot, "That hurts" in some real surprise.

Constance gets hit by both of them in tandem, one goes low, the other high and Connie gets laid out but she laughs a bit, rubbing the hip she landed on and beams, "Wonderful! You two work well together!" And then she's moving again, rolling out of the way to get up. "Sharpe's right a stake is a great way to end a fight like this. Especially without drawing unneeded human attention.

Heathen almost wishes popcorn were still a thing for him as he watches the other Kindred roll around the floor.

Martha looks to Gurvre and does a mock strike with empty fist hopefully to the right spot, Aim is on target, pretend or not, strength not so much, there is a wince at her fists hitting the Nun. She has her two a hands fist over fist, "For this and the fact it was like kicking Marble Constance I would of totally been fully pumped in strength and using both hands as damn not sure I could make it go all the way thru you." yet to those her know her, her intricate hair stakes tell of another little trick others have seen her use, in the Ely too.

Guivre waits for his moment and while Constance is distracted by Martha he sneaks up behind her and slips his arms under her's lifting them up into a sleeper hold as he whispers into her ear, too softly to be heard outside the immediate area no doubt, "Your eyes are getting heavy, lamb... the hour's getting early.."

Caerus applauds softly.

Mikael inches a bit further in his seat as he watches the action.

Constance says, “Great!" She continues as they continue to tag-team her. She really probably shouldn't be nearly so cheerful about being taken down this easy but she clearly couldn't be happier about the whole thing. But at least she seems to be taking the pounding and looking little the worse for the wear. Martha's comment has her apologizing so quickly she hardly notices that Guy's come up behind her and has her in a hold. The Malk murmurs in her ear and her head tilts and for a moment she snorts and is quick to shift her weight and in what looks like one flowing motion the Sister break that hold as she did the one before only this time she picks Guy up, bending as she does, using the momentum to simply throw him into Martha.. like a doll..

Like a doll.

Martha moves to try and sidestep, but tangles with Guirve getting them both down in flailing of limbs, that move surprised her and she well is glad she wore jeans, not a dress cause the way she fell allot of bits would of been on Display.

Guivre goes sailing through the air and the laughter is loud as it trails behind him like a squeal of joy, "Wooooorth it."

Caerus stands and applauds, "Nicely done you three. Nice. Thank you, Constance."

Constance chuckles as she dusts herself off. "And thus you see the benefits of teamwork. I doubt either one of you would have been able to take me down in a fight like this. Discipline use aside it's really good to learn how to manage and maintain your skills so you don't kill unnecessarily as much as being able to kill efficiently. All in all, this was wonderful, thank you both. Sadly I forgot to schedule times for the next class so I'll have to get in touch with those that came today and ask when works best. Thank you all."

Constance inclines her head at Cearus, "Thank you for coming."

Caerus nods and with a smile, he is gone. There is no mumbo jumbo, not fingers doing silly things, just a smile.

Guivre gets up and dusts himself off, looking only slightly worse for the wear... no obvious abrasion or a limp. He smacks his lips a few times though as if his mouth was dry and then he remembers he's on a stage of sorts, "Thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight and thank you Deputy Osti for hosting!" He shuffles back to his seat rather unceremoniously after that, muttering something about lambs.

Mikael smiles and brings his hands together as well, "Bravo."

Constance shakes her head and blows a stray hair from her face. She moves out of the arena and smooths her shirt down over her hips. "A good starting point I think." She smiles to Mikael and touches Guy's shoulder. "May I have a moment of your time, privately."

Guivre shoots Constance a look, "If it's about the discipline I used, I swear that one is totally a reflex... like someone's Potence." He chuckles for good measure but nods and motions to indicate he would follow her for a chat.

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Guivre rolls Wits + Subterfuge vs 6 for 5 successes. 4 5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Constance rolls Perception + Empathy vs 4 for 7 successes. 2 3 +4 +4 +4 +6 +6 +6 +7 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

"Really, I only see a few issues." Paige nods her head softly before her head tilts off to the side slightly. "But you all handled yourself well."

Constance blinks and her head tilts. "No." She shakes her head, "Not at all." She replies and gestures for him to follow and smiles towards Piage as she goes. "I just need to discuss something with you privately regarding my duties as Deputy that's all." She explains as she leads him towards a quiet place.

Constance walks up the stairs and enters the private balcony.

Guivre nods readily, "Of course." He follows and waits until its quiet before he speaks again, "How can I help?"

Angelina steps through the arena doors and pauses near the entryway. She'll pause with a hand on her hip and glances around to see what's going on.

Mikael is sitting finishing off the last dregs of brandy in his glass. He gives a bow of his head to Angelina as she enters.

Paige looks down to the suitcase she is dragging, pausing before she moves to just sit on it. Her eyes to Mikael for just a moment. "You ever drink Bailey's out of a shoe?"

Guivre is sitting in a private balcony chatting softly with Constance now that the sparring is over and it's impossible to hear what they are saying but they do appear to be keeping a professional distance.

Angelina glances over at Mikael as he nods to her and she'll smile towards him. "Guess I missed all the fun stuff? Ahh, well damn, took longer to get here than I thought." She'll give a dramatic sigh and then step further into the area, looking around curiously, apparently her first time here. "Like seriously, this is a gladiatorial arena?"

Constance inclines her head to Guy, says something back to him and then nods her head again respectfully before heading back down from the Balcony.

Guivre lets Constance head down first and he waits a few minutes as if mulling over something before he too takes his feet and heads back down to the main area.

Constance walks down the stairs and leaves the private balcony.

Sharpe gives a faint nod of his head "A lecture and application of submission techniques given by a nun in yoga pants... It was a very good show."

Mikael smiles to Angelina, "It can be if the event calls for such. Normally it is used for training, Bonsoir, Mademoiselle."

Angelina stops to study Sharpe and stares a moment. "You even said it in a deadpan voice, nice..", she'll say with a grin growing on her lips. "I thought you were joking, but apparently not!" She'll glance over at Constance and her smile looks amused before her green eyes fall on Mikael, "Thank you, and good evening. I'm Angelina, by the way. Brujah by clan, just introduced, and I do believe I passed my blood test. First test in a century I have passed.", she'll say jokingly.

"And at least one court." Paige waves her hand in the air. "Somewhere mid February." Then a smile and a tilt of her head. "I did say I would be seeing you again, did I not?"

Sharpe smirks and shakes his head a bit "Eh, I don't lie. It was a nice show after all." He walks back to the bookcase he hung his jacket from and slides it back around his frame "My name is Sharpe."

Guivre glances over at the sound of a new face and he waves warmly enough, "Welcome to Prospect, Sheriff Guivre Beauregard, Guy to some, and the one who was lucky enough to be tossed around by our good Deputy Osti tonight. Quite the show, sorry you missed it. Fun was had by all, especially myself.."

Said nun disappears into the lockers for a moment to gather a gym bag but the blackboard remains where it is for now. She makes her way towards the seats and smiles nodding to Angelina, "Good evening." She says quietly before looking towards the group. "I'll be contacting people to ask when will be good for our next gathering but I have a dinner service I have to run. Meals on wheels don't deliver themselves." She waves as she heads for the door.

Mikael says, “Mikaël Rousseau." bows his head to Angelina, his tone genteel and musical, "At your service."

Angie continues to observe, watching as Constance heads out. She hmms and makes a mental note to talk to Madeline. She gets to her feet and smiles "I must scoot for a moment, thank you for the valuable information and demonstration"

--end--