Vampire: Dark Ages - Scene 3: Dinner is Served

[Sabine]

I started out in a daze. I didn't notice when the nice lady touched my hurts. People were talking. But when the big man killed the poor sheep, I scream. I try to scream loud, but my throat has a hurt too. So the scream is kind of weak.

[Goatkiller666]

Wenceslas closes his eyes and listens to the sound of Sabine's scream. The expression on his face is one of utter rapture, and he wavers back and forth in his seat, clearly not aware of his surroundings.

[Johann Von Braniff]

I run toward the window and try to open it. Out of the corner of my eye I see the monster woman coming toward me. I reach in, grab the hilt of my small daggar and send it flying at her chest.

[Goatkiller666]

From looking through the window, Johann can see that it leads to a courtyard, and that the door to it is now behind him and closer to Dimitra.

Johann desperately throws his blade. The knife wobbles a little in the air, but still flies true. The woman shrieks and falls to the ground, rolling over a few times to get away from him.

From her back, lying on the floor, she glares at him. "Oh, my little fox has teeth after all." She pulls the dagger from her chest with a gasp, drops it on the floor next to her and starts to climb back to her feet.

[Alína Nyárí]

Alína shudders as the ram needs two blows to be slaughtered, yet she does not move and awaits the meal to be served. But at the whispered, barely heard scream from Sabine, her hands grip the table and she attempts to rise.

...and finds she literally can not.

"Be strong, bubeleh," she calls out towards Sabine, knowing the young girl would not understand her, but needing to offer comfort in whatever way she could. "He has been sent on his way to the master Shepherd. He will never again know more pain."

Continuing her struggle to rise, Alína's chair falls over, and she with it. Taking this opportunity to get to Sabine, she shocks herself by righting the chair and sitting back down in it, hands folded demurely while awaiting the meal. Her gaze wondering back towards Claudio she hisses under her breath, "Release me, tumler." Then sits back as tears begin to stream down her face.

[Taduz Illyannovich]

Taduz watches the blood spray, his eyes widen and he starts pushing away from the table, expecting sprites to rise from the cooling liquid.

"Not again.."

[Seska Karantanija]

Seska gives a hearty chuckle as Lothar is sprayed by the errant swing and raises her glass to the Norseman, then laughs some more.

Between her own laughter, increasing inebriation, the food piled betwixt them, and their short statures, she does not seem able to hear Sabine's stifled scream. She barely registers the bolting figure of Johann, however she does watch Dimitra's leisurely pursuit. To Amisa she inquires, "That one was not at the table originally, no? I think I would have remembered her."

[Johann Von Braniff]

With wide eyes, I watch as the woman pulls the daggar from her chest. Terrified, I turn back toward the window and try to open it. The arm that was pierced by the arrow begins to bleed again as I bang my body against the thick glass.

In desperation, I try to run past the monster and get to the door that leads out to the courtyard.

[Sabine]

My voice sounds like a hound dog's huff. This makes me laugh. Then I start to howl like a hound.

[Goatkiller666]

Dimitra smiles as Johann dashes near her, shoves open the door and enters the courtyard. He finds himself in an enclosed area, with only this one door and a few small windows.

There is an apple tree in the center of the yard, though it's too far from any of the walls to be useful for escape. As soon as he sees this, he spins to exit the courtyard, but Dimitra is there in the doorway.

She begins to whistle, no... it sounds exactly like the call of the most beautiful songbird. Johann finds himself becoming less panicked, slightly.

In the Dining Hall
------------------

Amisa leans close to Seska, and whispers in her ear, breath sending delicious tickles down the countess' spine, "No, she is the Lady Dimitra. She was out playing with the one who ran."

Claudius takes a goblet from the table and holds it under the quickly diminishing gouts of blood from the sheep's severed neck. He holds the goblet out to Olaf, with an air of solemn ceremony, saying "Drink your fill, Northman. With this blood, you and your pray are one."

As Olaf hesitantly gulps from the goblet, Claudio looks around the room smiling. "And now, I too am hungry."

Claudius' hand slashes out, striking Olaf on the side of the neck. The pain is intense [two damage] and Claudius takes a few moments to delicately lick the blood from his fingertips, which appear longer and oddly shaped on the ends.

With this, Matron Violetta begins to sing. She has a beautiful singing voice, though none of the players speak Italian, so none know what she's singing of. The song is very complex, very difficult, and she sings it perfectly.

Everyone begins to feel calmer, less afraid of the situation. Alina immediately stops struggling to rise, and simply sits there listening raptly to the song.

[The rest of you, including Johann, may continue to act]

[Seska Karantanija]

Seska gasps at the swipe on Olaf and causes her to sober a little. The gentle grasp of Amisa on her arm and the haunting voice of Matron Violetta calm her though. The night has been long and surreal, preparing her to surrender completely. Drained, Seska gives a weak smile to Amisa as the singing continues. There are worse places I could be... she thinks to herself.

[Johann Von Braniff]

I gaze at the woman and fall to my knees as the song mesmerizes me.

"You are beautiful." I mumble at her.

[Olaf_Magnusson]

Hefting the axe again at Lord Claudio's swipe, I ask, "Ho, is such bloodletting customary? For I will gladly do honor to your customs." said with a meaningful shake of the axe.

[Gedeminas]

Gedeminas's eyes slowly widen at Claudio's drinking of blood, and he appears even more nervous then when he was playing the 'game' with Lord Al-Nasir. He appears to relax slightly at Matron Violetta's song, then sits bolt upright, looking completely frightened for the first time all night.

He smooths his features again (or tries to...), and then gets up from his chair. He looks at Nasir as he backs away, and says, with a tiny note of desperation, "Please forgive my rudeness, but I have to use the washroom. I find it is good to be empty before beginning a meal."

[Goatkiller666]

Al-Nasir sits still on his chair and nods at Gedeminas, feigning indifference. As his guest is nearly to the door, sudden Al-Nasir is simply gone from his chair. Instead, he is standing directly in front of Gedeminas, gripping him by both shoulders. "You can't leave yet. We're about to get to the best part."

[Gedeminas]

Gedeminas looks at Lord Nasir, and grimaces a few times, then with the note of desperation even more clear, he lowers his voice to a whisper, and says, "I understand what you are, and what you are talking about. I know that I'm going to be hurt if I stay around, and likely killed. You promised that I would live through the night if I won your little game. While I doubt that would keep me safe later, I thought you had enough personal honor to keep your promise."

[Goatkiller666]

"You know, eh? Then you should also know that I lied." he smiles, waiting for the realization to sink in. And, just as Gedeminas tenses up to flee, he vomits forth a gout of blood directly into the man's face.

The blood burnes at Gedeminas' face, seering his eyes. Try as he might, he can't wipe the stuff away fast enough to save his previous vision, and only ends up burning his fingers in the process.

[2 aggrevated damage]

[Gedeminas]

Gedeminas screams as his vision fades away to blackness, leaving him with nothing but the memory of Al-Nasir's grinning face.

Still screaming, he takes his hands away from his face, and twists his wrists, then jabs the two daggers that come shooting out of his sleeves into his hands straight forward, where Nasir was when he last saw him.

After he begins his move, he temporarily stops screaming to shout, "Danukas!", although the shout is still filled with pain, and he starts screaming again right afterwards.

[Goatkiller666]

Al-Nasir grunts, and Gedeminas can feel his blades biting flesh, though only briefly. He cannot tell how much he has hurt his attacker, but no further damage comes to him. At the same time, the song's beauty finally envelops him, and brings him down to a peaceful calm, in spite of the seering agony of his face.

Claudius reaches forward and gently removes the axe from Olaf's hand, and gestures for him to return to his seat. While an inner voice suggests that he should still be angry, Olaf finds himself placidly shuffling to his chair and sitting down.

"It is time we told you, our guests, our secret. You are our lambs. You are as food to us. You are not here to be served. You are here to be served to us!" He laughs heartily, and the others titter politely. "You guests don't understand yet? You are to be our meal!" Claudius pauses for dramatic effect. "We have tenderized you before dinner, and now you are ready to be eaten." He gazes into Marianna's eyes and says "Marianna, ascend to the table." As if in a trance, she steps up, shedding her gown as she glides, hypnotized, onto a huge empty platter at the head of the table.

"The circumstances of the feeding impart a great flavor to the blood. How tawdry to violently attack our food before the kill." He gestures at Olaf's neck, with a rhye smile on his face. "When prey is startled, its blood fills with a bitter acid that, in large amounts, is most distasteful. And yet, to dull the victim into a submissive stupor creates a sluggishness of the blood. The blank-eyed prey whose soul has been crushed makes for a boring meal, one without spice."

He reaches to the table and picks up a metal collar, which he clamps around Marianna's throat. It has a single hole in it.

"So, what is the solution to this epicurean dilemma? I thought to myself; a mere drop of the acid. A mere tinge of poison. Ergo: not shock, but a mild sustained dread followed by sweet surrender. It excites the blood of the prey as it stimulates the soul of the predator. As terror builds without a total panic, a drop of this savory zest is added to blood."

He again reaches to the table, and holds up what looks to be a tap keg, found in any tavern on many a barrel of brew. Only, the end of this glistens brutally, as if it had been sharpened. The sharp end goes through the hole in her collar, and then blood begins to flow out of the spout of the tap. He closes the tap then, and uses his dinner napkin to dab at the blood on her throat.

"Also, you must wait until the appetite comes over you, but before the ravening hunger overwhelms you. Eating when full dulls the mind and senses. The eater must be prepared, and the eaten must be prepared as well. We are ready. Our food is ready! My friends, let us eat."

Claudius turns the tap, holding his goblet below the spout to let it fill with smooth, warm blood. He swirls the goblet, and smells it, eyes closing briefly to enjoy the moment. He raises the goblet to his hosts in salute, and downs a heavy draught. Finished, he lowers the goblet and his eyes bulge with maniacal rapture, and a smile spreads across his blood-soaked lips.

The other hosts applaud, some calling "Enough anticipation." or "It's our turn."

But Claudius raises his other hand now, "But wait. Before we gorge ourselves, we must test the loyalty of our newest household soldier." Two guards enter, escorting the limping Pierre, who is wearing the regalia of Giovanni's soldiers. The Lord says, "Now, soldier, the time has come for you to prove your loyalty to us. Are you truly a hardened crusader wounded in battle, or a farm boy who fell on his own pitchfork? Come, my faithful Roman legionnaire. Pierce the side of our sacrificial lamb." He hands Pierre his dagger, and points to the Countess.

Pierre blanches. "My Lord?" Giovanni gestures expansively at Seska again, as a servant inviting his master's guest into the parlor. "My Lord, I cannot. Such wickedness is against God."

All the hosts laugh deeply at this, but Claudius is not amused. "I do not believe you faught against the heretics in Constantinople, crippled coward! Pierce her or die!"

Pierre again refuses, silently shaking his head as he holds the dagger limp in his hand. Marchettus strolls over and in one blow, spins Pierre's head around, dropping him to the floor. He quickly stoops, and picks Pierre up with his left hand by the shirt. He punches the unconscious man in the face. And again. And again, and again. He keeps beating until his face is a mass of blood, the sickening sound of meat hitting meat the echoing through the otherwise silent room. He tosses the body to the floor, where it does not move.

Claudius turns back to Seska, "Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you. Soldier Pierre wishes to thank you for interceding on his behalf to join my troops." The other hosts chuckle at this.

Several servants pass through the room attaching collars and spigots to everybody's necks. Then the vampires, all with fangs now visible, move through the room freely, sampling blood from each person. They discuss the various merits of each blood, as if they were tasting fine wines at a vinyard. Once reserved, they are now all excited, even giddy. They laugh, and flirt with each other, totaly relaxed and at ease.

At one point, Amisa holds up a goblet of Constanza's blood and calls out, "To the eternal destruction and damnation of Japheth Cappadocius!"

Even Lady Almanov samples all the blood, though she only dabs a single drop to her finger and dips her tongue in it before wiping it onto her napkin. She and Al-Nasir stroll from one to the next, comparing opinions. With Sabine, she says "It's a naive domestic vintage without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption!" and then laughs.

Gabrin holds up his own mug, "To the continuing, blessed ignorance of Hardestadt and his motley mob!"

Almanov and Al-Nasir move on to Sir Leopold. "Oh, this one is a bold vintage indeed. Taste the heady bouquet of victory." Then she frowns, "Though the aftertaste of hypocracy spoils it somewhat. But, all in all, quite delicious."

Claudius toasts as well, "My friends, we must be bold! We must take great risks! How else will we win anything worth the winning?"

Almanov uses a mug and fills it to the brim when she gets to Mother Constanza. "Ah yes, this one is pure. Such a waste, to have lived her whole long life and never known a man." She sips briefly, enjoying the flavor. "Ah, such longing, too. Even in her old age, her lust courses strong through her veins." She turns to Claudius and holds up her goblet. "Your man has found a special treat, Claudius. Be sure to thank him for me." then she downs the entire goblet, fills it a second time, and downs that as well. Through it all, Constanza is muttering prayers. Though it's hard to tell, it seems that her black habit is writhing of its own accord, and she never rises or otherwise moves from her chair.

Doctor Razven raises his head, and almost drunkenly asks Giovanni, who is leisurely pouring himself another goblet, "What will happen to us?"

Giovanni smiles, takes a sip of Razven's essence, "Why, you will die, of course. In a few months, we shall send word to your provincial homes that you were set upon by brigands. Or monsters. Or saracens. Your loved ones," he glances at Olaf, "... if any, shall grieve and resolve never to set foot out of their much encrusted hovels." Here, he looks at Seska, "Excuse me. Your much encrusted palaces."

By this time, everyone is starting to feel weak, dizzy, and cold from loss of blood. Sabine has passed out, and the three nuns seem also to be unaware. Just then, a loud rumble shakes the manor. All the hosts freeze where they are, eyes widening in panic.

Suddenly, an alarm goes up. Guards shout, footsteps clatter and warning bells jangle. Another crash from southern wall shakes the building. A sentry comes running in, "My Lord! My Lord! We are under attack! A century of men at arms! Hardestadt's troops! We are overwhelmed!" All the hosts leap from their meals and glare around at each other.

Claudius rages, "The Founders! Damn their eyes!"

Mieczyslav shouts, "We're trapped!"

Violetta scowls: "Someone has betrayed us."

Al-Nasir cries, "It must have been that Malkavian madwoman Theophania! We should tear out her deceitful heart!"

"Impossible!" shouts Wenceslas. "You are just saying that to throw us off the track, Assamite! It must have been you! I have never trusted you!"

Valdemar says, "More likely the Lady Almanov is behind it. Scheming Ventrue always put clan before allies!"

Almanov retorts, "You are an addle-pated old Lick, Leopold. I hate Hardestadt and have often attacked his holdings. I say we stay and prove that we are doing nothing to merit an attack!"

"Stay?" Gabrin says with a laugh. "And entrust my fate to that madman Hardestadt? Never!"

Lady Dimitra shouts, "Giovanni betrayed us! We were fools to believe he would attack his fellow Cappadocians!"

Claudius bellows: "Silence! I forbid this infighting! Follow me now or we are all dead!"

"There's nowhere to go!" Marchettus shouts. "Let's fight them!"

"This is not the place! We can go to the reliquary! They cannot follow us there!"

"Yes," says Theophania, quietly. "We can go."

Claudius: "Come! I have a way out through the crypts below. Come quickly!"

"But they will follow us!" replies Casmir coldly. "Your soldiers will fall like the pathetic mortals they are."

Giovanni thinks. "Aye. They will. We must slow Hardestadt. Ah! Embrace your prey! They are drained and will quickly Change. That will slow our pursuers and buy us time to escape before our childer are destroyed in the onslaught."

"What if one survives?" asks Amisa, glancing at Seska.

"Ha!" he snorts, "I remind the gentle lady that our attackers are the fanatical Founders. Hardestadt would never suffer one to live! Now do it! It's the only way."

The hosts quickly drain the last of the blood from all of their guests, and most of them bite their wrists and drip a small amount of blood into the corpses' mouths. Some few hosts refuse to embrace, looking distasteful at the mere idea, but others step forward and embrace several instead.

Claudius feeds his blood to Marianna.
Almanov feeds her blood to Sir Leopold.
Valdemar feeds his blood to Constanza and Johann.
Mieczyslav feeds his blood to Taduz.
Dimitra feeds her blood to Sabine.
violetta feeds her blood to Georgette.
Theophania feeds her blood to Marta and Dante.
Marchettus feeds his blood to Olaf.
Amisa feeds her blood to Seska.
Casmir feeds his blood to Erick, Gedeminas and Alina.

They each stand over the corpse of their childe, waiting for the change to take place. The sounds of battle approach from outside. Slowly, the bodies stir. The first to move and give voice is Georgette, who screams and begins to flail around on the floor, rending at her face in agony.
Marianne sits up quickly and looks around, eyes wide. "I... I should be dead." Giovanni smiles and says "You are. Nonetheless, you will serve my purposes."

Leopold sits up, then quickly kneels in front of Almanov. "I will serve you until I die, and beyond. I swear this before God and all the angels."

Johann wakes to see Valdemar's face hovering over him, Constanza sitting up by his side. She cries out "I can see? But what manner of vision is this?"

Olaf sits up, only to brush a thin layer of frost from his face and clothes.

Marta begins to crawl towards the corner, muttering something to herself. Sometimes she cries in happiness, sometimes she begs forgiveness. When she gets to the corner, she cradles... nothing, and mutters to it.

Everybody is ravenously hungry. The hunger... no, the thirst nearly consumes you, and all eyes turn to the various mortal servants standing by the corners. Giovanni sees this and orders them all from the room. "Go! All of you, guard the entrances to the rooms with your lives."

Valdemar, Mieczyslav, Dimitra, and Amisa each feed some additional blood to their childer.

When Valdemar holds out a wrist, already torn, Johann and Constanza ravenously latches on to siphon some of the pitch black essence from it. As he drinks the vitae down, Johann can feel the strength of it building within him. Valdemar whispers to him, "Let the change take you, child. Yes. Allow the darkness to grow out of you." Johann feels his form... change. There is no pain, but parts of him are no longer the same. Looking at his hands, he can see that they are fading into and out of shape, sometimes his normal fleshy hands, sometimes just blobs of inky blackness. He can feel other appendages extending from his sides, just as real to him as his original limbs, but longer, thinner, and much stronger.

Amisa leans in to Seska as she stirs from death. She kisses her childe on the lips, surprising her with the delicacy of the act. Only when Seska's mouth has opened does she taste the blood on Amisa's tongue, where it had been torn on fangs. The hunger kicks in, and Seska begins to suck the blood as fast as it will come. Her eyes begin to feel strange, though they are closed in the pleasure of feeding. She can feel her tongue lengthen as it reaches for her sire's blood. She can feel her skin begin to itch and shift, though not with discomfort.

Sabine begins to wake, and starts to cry. When Dimitra's blood touches her lips, she latches out hungrily. The damage to her throat heals quickly, and then she begins to transform into a wolf. sort of a wolf. The form is vague and confused for a moment, and then solidifies into that of a small hound.

Mieczyslav sits by Taduz, with a wrist in the scholar's mouth. As he drinks the vitae essence down, Mieczyslav whispers to him. Taduz doesn't understand, nor is he self-aware enough to think in terms of words, but he can feel a change come over him. His body grows large, with mottled grey skin. Were Taduz aware, he would recognize these as the trolls of his people's legends.

Claudius and the rest of the hosts are standing by the small door, and the sound of a battering ram can be heard against the large outer door. When the four are finished, they too rise and head for the small door. Mieczyslav is the last to leave, and he turns towards the group. Everyone is still disoriented and hungry, but none sense there being any blood in the room. Mieczyslav points to the nuns one at a time, then to Sir Leopold, back through the nuns, almost like he's counting a rhyme. In the end, he stops on Leopold. He closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them as he throws... nothing... at the knight. But Leopold reacts as if struck by boiling oil, howling in agony. He curls on the ground, and grows larger, taking on the same form as Eugen and Taduz, only he's ravening and fenzied.

Just as Mieczyslav closes the door behind his departure, the larger door is knocked inwards. All of the fledgling vampires turn towards their new attackers, and sense one thing: blood. All of the insatiable hunger for blood boils quickly to the top, and all 13 of the newly turned rush towards the 20 soldiers who rush in, swords swinging. At the head of the soldiers is Roderigo, wearing a different uniform than when he escorted the party here. He calls to his men, "Attack!"

The monsters that used to be Leopold, and Taduz rip through their attackers, ignoring sword cuts and draining the blood of their victims. Sabine rips one man's throat out, then stands atop the body sucking the slow blood from his corpse. Johann and Constanza seem to cause more concern from the attackers, in spite of the two hulking trolls in the room. The unnatural shifting of their shadowey bodies causes the soldiers to cross themselves and fear for their souls, not just their lives.

Though the new vampires are drinking blood as they fight, most of the blood goes to healing damage they take from the soldiers. Marianna is the first to fall, shrivelling into a dried husk of a corpse before everyone's eyes. Marta also falls to the ground quickly, and then Georgette and Constanza. The soldiers surround Taduz and chop at him until he collapses to the ground. Roderigo dashes in with a wooden stake and freezes him in place.

By this point, more soldiers have arrived, though at least ten of their number are dead. With them are two men who seem to be in charge. One is in armor, matching that of the soldiers only much nicer. He seems to inspire his troups, and they all fight harder in his presence. This must be Hardestadt. The other is dressed like a poor woodsman, though all the soldiers give way to him. Seeing the damage that Leopold is doing to the soldiers, this woodsman launches himself forward with nothing but his naked hands. Where Leopolds clawed fingers would cut the soldiers, then seem to glance off this woodsman's skin as if it were stone. His own clawed fingers seem to have no such trouble carving pieces from Leopold's body. Soon, the woodsman plunges his hand through the throat of the troll, which also collapses into dust.

Hardestadt himself makes his way to the hound, who had been jumping around the soldiers too fast for them to fight. They'd managed to score some hits against it, but it seemed to be drinking blood faster than they could hurt it. By this point, they could see the wounds close up right after they finished swinging their swords, and then the beast would turn and sink teeth into the arm that had hurt it. When she saw Hardestadt advance, she charged him, once again going for the throat or arm. Her first bit landed on his left arm but failed to damage him through the armored grieves. With his left arm up, and her dangling from it trying to chew through the metal protection, he swung his other arm, this one holding a sword, directly at her. Her grip released as the sword bit deeply into her flank. She yelped and was flung to the floor, but got up immediately, all the damage healed. On her second charge, Hardestadt's sword caught her in the air, the blade going deep into her shoulder. She crashed into the floor and was still, nearly severed in two.

The rest of the neonates fall just as easily, though Hardestadt stops his men from beheading others. He orders the injured to gather up the vampires and return them to his castle, but not to kill them. Then, he and Roderigo continue through the small door after Giovanni and his co-conspirators.