Vampire: Dark Ages - Scene 1: In the Company of Strangers

[Taduz Illyannovich]

[Taduz made his perception roll.]The old woman farthest from the fire turns quickly at this comment, and nods to herself as she turns back to the events unfolding with the Norseman.

I try to catch her eyes, after seeing the knowing nod, and beckon her to join me.

[Goatkiller666]

In the Hallway
--------------

Pierre smiles. "Oh, of course, your Ladyship. I'm only looking for a chance to prove myself, is all. Lord Claudius' man Lothar won't even allow me to demonstrate what I can do. I just know that if I were to be in front of his Lordship, I could show him my worth. If you could just ask him to try me out, m'lady, I know that would be enough."

He pauses, and nods. "That'll be Master Lothar now, in fact. Here to check on your ladyship's comfort, I hope."

Bojan, closer to the door glances out, then turns back and nods. "That's him, indeed."


In the Bathing Room
-------------------

Vida scrubs vigorously for 10 minutes, skipping all but Sabine's hair. "That hair'll be a mess, dear. Let's do that last. You can soak while I work out those knots."

[It will take some time for the full cleansing, so Sabine will miss most of the conversation in the dining room.]


In the Dining Room
-------------------

The old woman makes a gesture of her own, as if to say "I'm old and shouldn't be getting up and sitting down a lot. Perhaps you should come join me, instead." She's a very expressive old begger woman.

While this happens, Lothar walks over to the table with the nuns first. "Mother Superior, you honor Lord Giovanni with your presence, and he asks me to extends his grateful thanks to you and your party." He takes the hand of each woman at the table and kisses the fingers slowly.

From there, he moves to the three men at the adjascent table and greets them as well, spending a few minutes talking to them each.

[Seska Karantanija]

Seska nods approvingly. "I can do so. Would you care to join us at our table then? We had not started our main course and I am becoming rather peckish."

Looking at the bath door and then to the dress in her hands, Seska gives a little frown. Passing the dress to Bojan she says, "Take this to the table please. I shall be right down." She goes upstairs to the rooms and returns a few minutes later with a worn looking pile of cloth. Stopping at the bath door she knocks and peeks inside. "Vida. I brought a robe for the young lady until we can do a fitting upstairs. Come out and eat when you are done here. The fitting can wait until after."

She smiles at Sabine and laughs, "You look like a new person! How is the water?"

[Sabine]

I shout, "It's WARM!" and splash my hands in the water. I start giggling, then flick water at Seska.

[Goatkiller666]

Vida says in Slovak, "I'm afraid this hair is a lost cause. It's one giant knot. I think there's something caked in here, but... it's so old, who knows what it is? She'll be lucky if her scalp is still covered when we're done."

[You make your Hearth Wisdom roll.]

[Seska Karantanija]

It is Seska's turn to squeal as she ducks behind the door to avoid the flung water. She slowly peers around the door in order to assure her safety.

With Vida's words she slips into the room. Replying to her in Slovak, "There is hope to save most of it. Their kitchen seems to be well stocked. I can get what is needed to loosen it enough so we can brush it out. We may have to cut a tiny amount, but nothing too drastic I think."

Switching back to Hungarian, "I will get what we need from the innkeep to untangle that mess while you finish. We shall let it soak while we eat, then brush those tangles out afterwards!"

Slipping back out of the room Seska catches the Innkeep's son on the way to the kitchen. She explains the ingredients needed for the task, at which he takes her into the room to help gather them.

[Goatkiller666]

In the Bathing Room
-------------------

Vida finishes rinsing off Sabine, then holds up a towel for her. "Come on, poppet. Let's dry you off, so we can start cleaning out your hair. I'm hungry, too."

She picks Sabine up, dries her off, and puts her in the robe, before leading her back out to the dining room.

In the Kitchen
--------------

Sigismond's son leads Seska to the kitchen, and shows her the ingrediants. "We have olive oil, m'lady, and the pepper. But only sea salt, not rock salt. Will that work?"

[Sabine]

Bottom lip extended, "You said I could soak while you cleaned my hair." Then I feel the robe wrapped around me. "This is SOFT. Wow." With one hand in Vida's, I use my free hand to rub the lapel of the robe all over my face. I can't see, but I trust that Vida will lead me in the right direction.

[Seska Karantanija]

"It will have to." She finds a few more of the items for her concoction and begins to pour them in a bowl her new assistant provided. A few ritualistic words, a bit of mixing, and she taps the spoon in satisfaction.

"Oh, I almost forgot the most important ingredient! I need a bottle of mead."

The boy retrieves one from the cellar. "Here you are m'lady."

"Thank you. We are almost out," she responds with a wink. "Was dinner placed while I was away from the table? We are ready for it if not." Bowl and bottle in hand, she leaves the kitchen and returns to the table to meet Vida and Sabine.

[Goatkiller666]

The boy replies, "No, your ladyship. We saw that you'd left the table, so hadn't brought it out yet. I'll have dinner to you in just a moment."

Seska heads into the dining room, where Vida and Sabine have just arrived at the table. Sabine is still rubbing the robe on her face and ignoring the rest of the room, while Vida gets her situated.

Lothar approaches Olaf and greets him in passable Norse, though with a slight accent of Russia. "My Lord Claudius greets you and bids you welcome to the domain of his clan. I expect that Sigismond is treating you well, yes?"

Pierre has returned to his table farther from the fire, not wanting to intrude into the Countess' dinner.

[Seska Karantanija]

Seska places the fresh bottle on the table, "Here we are. A bit of nectar for us and a poultice for our little lady's hair."

She has Sabine sit sideways in a chair and lean back into the bowl in her lap. Seska massages it into the hair and scalp as best she can, then wraps it in one of the damp towels and lifts her back up. "All done for now." She licks the side of her left finger. "Mmmm. This also makes for a wonderful baste for roast fowl." Seska waggles a finger at Sabine. "No entering the kitchen lest you get mistaken for tomorrow's meal."

[Sabine]

I reach a finger up under the towel to get a taste of the stuff. "Ewwwwww!" I make a face, and wipe my finger on the robe. "Will this make my hair pretty like a horse's mane?"

[Seska Karantanija]

"It might. It just might at that."

[Alína Nyárí]

The widow smiles as she watches the by play between her Lady and the beggar child. Her inner joy starts to reassert itself in her eyes, but is dampened slightly by a pang of pain at the loneliness she feels for her son and his family that she left behind several years ago in Prague.

Still, the moment passes, and she smiles gently at the pleasure the young girl exudes at her pampering.

[Taduz Illyannovich]

In the Dining Room
-------------------

The old woman makes a gesture of her own, as if to say "I'm old and shouldn't be getting up and sitting down a lot. Perhaps you should come join me, instead." She's a very expressive old begger woman.

I nod, and walk to her table, introduce myself again, and ask "May I join you? It's good to meet one who speaks the Old Tongue."

[Olaf_Magnusson]

Lothar approaches Olaf and greets him in passable Norse, though with a slight accent of Russia. "My Lord Claudius greets you and bids you welcome to the domain of his clan. I expect that Sigismond is treating you well, yes?"

"That he has, as best he can. No fault of his that we do not speak the same language. Could you please explain to him that I would like some mead, and some manner of meat? I look forward to meeting your Lord Claudius."

[Goatkiller666]

Lothar smiles, and leans in closely to say "Of course." Then he inhales deeply while his head is close to Olaf's chest, closing his eyes for a moment. Then, he turns to Sigismond and says in Hungarian, "Our tall friend asks for mead, goodman. And whatever meat you have ready."

Sigismond is confused for a moment. He holds up the tankard in his hand. "But sir, I've tried to tell him twice that this is the mead he requested. My German is poor, but I believe I also asked him if he would like to eat, sir."

Lothar stares for a moment. Then he starts to laugh, both deeply and with much malice. After a few gaffaws at Sigismond, he turns to Olaf and continues to laugh, while pointing every once in a while at Sigismond. He holds out an arm towards Olaf, as if to steady himself from falling over, though in the process he briefly presses his face against the taller man's chest.

When he regained his composure, he looked up at Olaf, arm still leaning on him, and says "He thought you were speaking German. And wondered why you didn't understand his butchered German responses." He turns back to Sigismond and dismisses him. "Run and fetch his meat, would you cretin?" Again in Norse, "He'll be out shortly with your meal, sir. Please rest yourself and enjoy, with Lord Claudius' blessings."

As Johann turns towards the door, he notices that the two soldiers have taken up positions on either side of it. Not blocking it, exactly, and not standing at attenion. But both of them are making a point of standing casually to either side of the door.

The old woman smiles. "Taduz? A strong name. Behind those scars, I see my family in you. I am Synovea, staying with Sigismond for the moment. He has shown me Christian charity with a bowl of soup every day and a place to sleep by the fire. It is more than I deserve, and more than I can thank him for, I'm sure. What brings a lad of good breeding here to Lord Claudio's domain, then?"

vida has draped the blue velvet dress over an empty chair at an adjascent table, and has poured herself another goblet of mead. At the same time, the boy has brought dinners out for everybody. Bojan is nearly done with his plate already, and Vida is eating hers as quickly as decorum will allow.

She turns to Sigismond, and more loudly than might be otherwise necessary, "Goodman, this roast is excellent. My compliments." then turning back to Seska, "M'lady, you should try this, when you're finished basting her head."

Sigismond's son comes over to Alina's table, now that she's finished eating, and asks "May I take these away, miss?" He keeps his gaze towards the floor.

[Seska Karantanija]

Having finished with Sabine's hair, Seska starts work on her dinner while Vida refreshes her goblet. After a few bites she nods in agreement at Vida. "This is quite delicious."

[Johann Von Braniff]

I pause as the soldiers flank the door. Typical. My eyes scan the dining room and I murmur to myself, "there has to be a back door somewhere. Likely in the kitchen." Staying in the shadows of the room, I make my way to the door that leads to the kitchen.

[Alína Nyárí]

The Jewess gazes at the boy staring at the floor, seeing the bright red tinge of a palm print on his cheek starting to spread in to a bruise. The pain returns to her eyes and she addresses him while reaching for her satchel and starting to remove small fabric sachets of various herbs. "First tell me your name, and then please bring me a pot of hot water. Ah! Here we are," she continues, opening a packet containing some dried large, hairy broad leaves that bears small bell-shaped light purple flowers. "Oh yes, these," she says, glancing at the plates. "You may take them back with you, but please hurry back with the water as soon as you can."