Vampire: Dark Ages - Scene 4: In the Halls of the Dead

[Goatkiller666]

Pierre stares at Seska, and at Vida and Sabine in the doorway, confused. "J'était dans le chateau du Giovanni, et... ils m'ont battu... ils m'ont tué... they meant to kill me, and kill you. I was beaten. I felt my skull breaking... my nose and eyes... how am I whole?" He reaches down to his injured leg. "Même ma jambe,... my leg is healed as well?"

"Mistress, what has happened? How have these miracles been given? And you seem fine... I seem fine... what scars remain?"

"Am I cursed now? Has my soul been given over to the Devil? Or is this Heaven, and we are to be blessed?"

[Seska Karantanija]

"If what I have been told is true, and I have no reason to doubt it looking at your healthy form, you are better than whole."

"Nor do I think you are cursed. The same can not be said of the rest of us attending the dinner. Though some might disagree." Seska glances back at Sabine with a wistful smile. "Instead I would thank your god letting you survive long enough for Bojan and Leopold's men to find you."

"When he returns I shall tell the three of you our tale and let you decide for yourselves what it means and what you shall do. For now, you are probably starved." She motions to the platter and mead on the table. "For myself, I need a bath and to change out of these rags. Vida, could you bring my riding outfit to the bath?" She turns to leave.

[Gedeminas]

Gedeminas, having found his wagon emptied, went back inside to talk to Sigismund about where Danukas went off to. He is careful to wear a hood so that his empty and burned eyesockets are not clearly visible. Once he knows that they are at Claudio's castle, he thanks Sigismund, and goes upstairs to find out what all of the shouting is about.

Hearing Pierre's comments about his healing, Gedeminas sweeps back his hood, then asks, "May I know what you are discussing, good... Erm... Soldier? Armsman?"

[Olaf_Magnusson]

Anger suffusing his features as he hears distant, indistinct French, Olaf stalks off in search of its origin...

[Dante Nachtzehrer]

*Back at Claudio's castle*

Dante Nachtzehrer's muscles loosened and tightened, his eyes fluttering open in surprise.

"Praise be to God! I live!"

Noticing the two others around him, he poses the question, "Who be ye? I can't recall you being at that miserable dinner. Tell me boys, what do you know of what has happened here?"

[Goatkiller666]

At the Red Lamb Inn
-------------------

Vida says "Come along, Sabine. Let's go get the Countess' riding clothes. Sigismund should just about have the bath water warmed up by now." She takes Sabine's hand and heads back down the hall after Seska.

Pierre replies to Gedeminas, "Sir, I tell you truly, I know not what to say. I know I was whole at Lord Claudio's castle, refusing to wound the Countess. For this, I was beaten and knocked unconscious. Then I awoke here, with the Countess' bloody arm in my mouth. And I feel fine. Better than fine. Even my leg is fine now." To prove this, he gets up out of the bed and hops from one leg to the other. His pleasure at such a simple activity is evident by his huge smile. "I can't say how this miracle has happened, though I do not doubt the good Countess is at fault."

Olaf joins the crowd in the cramped hallway just as Pierre swears, "Par Dieu, pour ça je te suivrait jusqu'au fin du monde."

At Castle Giovanni
------------------

Erick had managed to escape past Hardestadt's men and into the hallway during the early stages of the fighting. Later, he had pretended to be a fallen body in the hallway when Hardestadt and the woodsman (and other soldiers) had come through, and had managed to make it out of the castle undetected. Since then, he had spent his time in the woods near Claudio's castle trying to figure out what had happened. It was clear that he was now vampyr as the locals would call it. He assumed that the stories were all true, so he had sought shelter before sunrise overtook him.

A voice in his head, what he'd thought was just the cautious part of him, suggested that he stay hidden all these several days. He'd managed to bring down a deer the next night so was no longer ravenous. This late in the winter, it wasn't a very large deer, but it had enough to satisfy him for the moment.

Now that it was a few days later, he had just risen from the hollowed tree trunk he'd stayed in through the day, and he heard voices from over by the castle proper. They were talking about a burial of somebody, though it was still hard to hear. Yet when he concentrated, he could suddenly hear the entire conversation clearly, though it was certainly happening far up the hill. [Auspex 1]

Bojan says, "I wonder how the good brother found his way back to the dungeons? You say he wasn't there yesterday?"

Gunter grunts, as he continues digging.

"Praise be to God! I live!"

"Who be ye? I can't recall you being at that miserable dinner. Tell me boys, what do you know of what has happened here?"

All four men digging yelled out, some calling to God, some just screams of panic. They all back away from Dante's rising form, with the two brothers reaching for their swords.

"What manner of monster are you, who takes the form of this good monk?"

"We checked, and you had no breath for a good half an hour. You should not be sitting up nor talking. Rest, Brother Dante, so that we may give you the proper burial you deserve."

[Dante Nachtzehrer]

"Fellows, do not harm me, for surely this is a miracle from on high. I am God's instrument in all things and do not wish any more damage wrought. Please good sirs, put away your weapons so we might have a civilized chat. I am assuming I know more about the events of the past nights than you do, would you forgo the opportunity to learn by slaying a poor old monk?"

[Sabine]

I sing "la la la la" and skip down the hall. My tail is wagging under my dress; I forgot to try to hide it.

[Goatkiller666]

Bojan steps forward and puts his hands on the shoulders of the two brothers. "Stay your weapons, good sirs. We know not how this has happened, but if he knows where my mistress and your master are, our duties are clear. We must know."

Danukas picks up his fallen shovel and adds, "If he yet lives, there's no need to continue digging. Let us return to the Inn where warmth and dinner await us. We can discuss there."

Bojan interrupts, "Wait. Is my mistress well? Is she here with you?"

[Alína Nyárí]

Looking around the room as those she had spent the past few days with begin to depart, Alína glances down at herself and shakes her head at the state of her gown. Her one gown, from the happier days before Danek's murder...

Heading to her room, she strips off the soiled clothes. Forgoing a bath for now with all of the males hanging about the bathing chamber, she changes into her foraging clothes and first heads to the stable to check on Zoja and make sure she had been well cared for and exercised.

Perhaps an evening ride and a chance to call for Dara, she thinks, as she leads Zoja out of the stable and climbs on to her back, heading towards starlit woods nearby and calling, "uh-Hu" as she rode, scanning the stars wishing for her friend to appear.

[Dante Nachtzehrer]

Dante beckons Bojan to a more private area to have discussion. Out of range of the others Dante begins to speak. (use one dot Dementation)

"I know much about your mistress and what has happened to her, my good man, for the Voice of God speaks to me. However, there are a few things I require from you first if you'd like to hear what I know."

[Goatkiller666]

In the woods by Zombar
----------------------

Alina leaves the inn in the dark of the night, though the nearly full moon lights the way fairly well. After the storm of a few days ago, the skies have been remarkably clear, and her way is well lit.

After perhaps ten minutes of riding around, Alina has left the village proper and is walking up a thin mountain path. Her visibility reaches for miles into the valley, as there are no trees on this section of the mountain.



Looking back behind her, she can see the mists rising from the river that runs through Zombar. She cups her hands and calls "Uh-huh" again, hoping the sound will carry farther.

After a few minutes of trying, she catches a glimpse of motion in the sky. At first she thought it was a tendril of mist, but it soon became clear that her familiar's grey coloring blended it well with the evening's rising mists.

The owl raced across the sky, but Alina strangely heard no comforting voice in her head. Reaching out with her mind, in the new and yet somehow familiar way she has found [Auspex 4], she can hear her friend's voice.

• hatekilldestroy...
  monsteryouweartheguiseofmymistressandyetyouARENOTHER...
  deadthingwithoutsoulhowdareyoumockmemockmypainandwearherlikethis
  HATEYOUKILLYOU...

The litany of pain and anguish continues as the owl flies closer. Alina stares aghast while the owl flies straight for her, talons extended, and she only dodges out of the way at the last minute, when the bird's squeeling cry finally jars Zoja's calm, and the horse jostles Alina in turn.

In the woods by Castle Giovanni
-------------------------------

As Dante exerts the force of his madness upon the worried man, Bojan's concern for his mistress triples. His eyes widen and he reaches for Dante's shoulders. "You must tell me. She could be in danger. She could be hurt or dying! If anything has happened to her, it would be my fault. I was to guard her. I was her protector. I failed her once at the Inn, and she... she ordered me to kill that bastard Lothar if he did anything else. And now he's done something, and I did nothing!"

He shoves Dante to the ground, and raises his fist as if to strike him, "Tell me what I need to know, monk. I have no time for your games!" The two brothers start over to pull Bojan off the fallen, and recently dead monk, but they're still several steps away.

[Dante Nachtzehrer]

"Quick, servant man! Call off your guards lest they destroy your source of information! We must speak in privacy. First, let me assure you that your lady is quite well, touched by our Lord in Heaven in fact. I'm not playing games with you, Sir Bohan, I am doing as the Lord commands! And as much as you love your mistress, surely you love your Father in Heaven even more. Now you WILL do as I say, and you WILL see your lady once again."

[Erick Shinnings]

I stand watch, listening to the intriguing but befuddling conversation. As the night's breeze ruffles my brown hair, my curiosity becomes more and more intolerable. The details of recent events have been so baffling and confusing, I cautiously resolve to move in and make an attempt to gain the monk's attention. While his trappings leave no doubt of his faith in my mind, desperate times call for desperate measures, and I must know what is happening around here. I move in closer, doing my best to not be noticed just yet.

[Alína Nyárí]

Dara! Alína's mental voice cries out. What??? she again sends, as Zoja tosses her head in alarm, and prances in place while the Jewess regains control.

Dead thing without soul...Alína recalls from the voice in her head, awareness dawning which causes her to send out again towards her friend, You know what has happened to me? I am still me! Come! At least settle nearby and let me explain. Dara!!! she mentally calls out in to the night.

[Taduz Illyannovich]

Taduz has a seat at a table, noticing Sabine's tail wagging as she prances down the hallway and tries to get her attention, then motions one finger against his lips in a "Shhhh" then motioning with one finger turned down, wagging back and forth like a tail.

[Olaf_Magnusson]

"Heading for the source of tongue of his most despised foemen......

[Johann Von Braniff]

With everyone seemingly otherwise occupied, I head for the door and slip out into the night.

"Well, Father." I hiss against the darkness. "Your son is coming home. And you will rue the day, for I intend to make you suffer the pain you inflicted on me 100 fold."

[Seska Karantanija]

Seska walks down the stairs from the bedding area and swings herself around the banister into the hallway leading to the bath. She slips through the door and tests the water. Finding it a comfortable temperature, she removes the rags Hardestadt dared call clothes while making a note to herself to burn them later lest some other poor soul suffer the indignity of wearing them.

Stepping into the tub she feels the heat, but her senses seem dulled as the heat is not as comforting to her muscles yet heightened as if more aware of its caress as her limbs dip into the water. Seska submerges as many a bath before, however she realizes there is no need to surface again for air. Laying there on her back she can feel the cocoon of water protect her from the world, for a few moments at least, and the much needed respite it offers.

[Sabine]

I let go of Vida's hand and walk over to Taduz. "Oooooh. I forgot. I should be sneaky."

I find a shadowy corner, next to the fireplace behind the stonework, and stand there. [obfuscate 1]