Vampire: Dark Ages (Vienna) - Chapter 1: The Estates

[Goatkiller666]

The center of town, with extensions to the north and to the east is where the nobles live, often with expensive churches near all of their homes. It is to this part of town that (I presume) Casper will carry on his activities.

[Lord of the Gyre]

Casper quietly strolls down the wide streets directly to the haven. Turning onto an avenue where the manor house they were using was located, he acknowledged the ghoul standing outside, a fairly attractive and well dressed, albeit pale and discolored, young woman. "Hello there, Hannelore. Is Isabelle here, or did she leave you a message? Hurry, girl, this is urgent."

[Goatkiller666]

"My Lord, I saw her and Lord Ulricht enter not half an hour ago. What is so urgent? They seemed to have not a care in the world. Has something gone wrong at the Prince's court?"

[Lord of the Gyre]

"Something has gone wrong, yes. Come, let's go inside and you can get them for me."

[Goatkiller666]

Hannalore [I can't think of that name without flashing to Questionable Content] rushes into the manor, then heads back to Isabella's private quarters. A few minutes later, she returns with Isabella and Ulricht in tow.

Isabella hurrys to Casper, "My boy, are you hurt? What's the matter?"

[Lord of the Gyre]

"No, Isabelle. I am fine. But we are, or rather, the city may be in danger. Something, lupines I believe, attacked one of the Nosferatu. The Prince wants us- the Toreador, to aid in a possible defense of the city. Oh, the death of one of the lepers must've been a terrible site to see." Casper seems to be remembering an event from the past as he says the last part.

[Goatkiller666]

Ulricht smiles, "One of the leper knights, dead? And we missed it?"

Isabella glares him to silence. "Lupines are coming, you fool. When will they arrive?" She paces as she tries to think of how she can help defend the city.

Hannalore returns to Casper, and while saying nothing, draws comfort by holding his hand and leaning on his arm.

[Lord of the Gyre]

Casper turns to Hannelore and smiles as much as he can manage. Feeling a tiny bit more confident, he looks back at Isabelle. "Is there anything I can do? I wish to aid you in your decision."

[Goatkiller666]

Isabella puts her hand to her forehead, in mock dispair. "Oh, whatever shall we poor defensless Toreador do?"

Ulricht laughs, and turns to Casper. "The Ventrue and Nosferatu favor direct action. And so, they have rushed off do go be direct. They think that since they're more powerful than mortals, mortals are meaningless."

Isabella continues, "But the Toreador know what even the <sarcasm>oh so noble</sarcasm> Ventrue do not. Though, they should know it just as well. That mortals in large groups are more than a match for any vampire. Or any lupine. So, while the clan of kings rushes off to fight the enemy alone, we will stay here and marshall the city. And if the lupines arrive, there will be thousands of armed mortals armed with whatever silver they can find and fortified with all the Presence we can muster."

"And then we shall see which of our clans is right." She turns to Ulricht, "Oh, this is most excellent. A chance to show up the prince and her entire line, while at the same time demonstrating our loyalty to her throne."

Ulricht holds out his hands, and Isabella takes them, and the two begin to dance majestically around the room. It is a slow and stately affair, done to no music, and all the more compelling because. [Both of them activate Presence 1. No serious game impact, since everyone in the room already likes them, but they like the drama of it all.]

[Casper von Hausberg]

"Milady, that is a most wonderful idea. I too will go with you, and the Toreador shall gain the credit for victory!" Casper begins grinning, and turns to face Hannelore. "Come, Hannelore, dance with me." With a look at Isabella, he adds "And I'm sure you can join in the fun later, good lady." The smirk on his face appears to be a result of confidence in Isabella and Ulricht along with the support he's gaining from Hannelore. With Hannelore acting shy, he offers her his hands. "Let's dance with them!"

[Goatkiller666]

Hannalore steps forward and takes Casper's hands, but hesitates. She looks over to Isabella and Ulricht, and nods out their pace, hen starts to hum a tune with the same tempo. Isabella smiles at this, and suddenly Hannalore's demeanor changes from timid to joyous. She allows Casper to lead her in a dance, then another to a jauntier tune. She seems ready to start a third when Isabella and Ulricht step apart. Just as quickly, Hannalore's timidity returns, and she almost hides behind Casper.

Isabelle nudges Ulricht and Casper towards the door. "Scurry along dears there are only a few hours before sunrise. Go out and stir up the city. I'll begin writing invitations to the nobility. Tomorrow night we have a ball for the mortals, so that we may begin to inspire their leaders."

"Casper dear, may I have the use od Hannalore? There is much that will need to be done during the day. She can be immeasurably useful to us.". Hannalore looks immensely pleased at this praise. She looks to Casper, begging him with her eyes to agree.

[Casper von Hausberg]

"I would generally prefer Hannelore to be with me, but I suppose she couldn't be in safer hands while working with you. I shall go with Ulricht."

[Goatkiller666]

Isabella pats Casper on the arm. "Don't fret. I'll take wonderful care of her. You just ask her when you get back, I'm sure she won't have a thing to complain of."

Ulricht is waiting by the door, holding Casper's jacket like a valet. "Come, My Lord. Let us go out into the night and make the world a safer place for blood sucking monsters. Where would you like us to start?"

[Casper von Hausberg]

"I think it may be wisest to start with those higher up in the human realm that we know of, no?"

[Goatkiller666]

"Well... yes, mostly. Just don't steal Isabella's thunder by visiting anybody she's likely to invite to her ball tomorrow. Pick somebody higher up, but not too high."

[Casper von Hausberg]

Casper smiles. "Naturally, Ulricht. Most of my connections are low nobles, anyways. But let us start by visiting the Edler von Althenhof. His cousin is a trader and a supporter of mine."

(Not really sure who to visit at this point.)

[Faelan]

Faelan slowly walks in the east gate leading his horse. He turns to Edward his man at arms and says "It has been a long journey from the holy land to here. Stephen told me that there was alot of work to do here."

Edward responds, "My lord you have a true calling now and the Lord will guide you."

Faelan smiles "You right Edward the Lord will guide me to do his work. The first thing we need to do is to get settled in. We also need to present ourselves to the Prince and get a lay of the land. I dont like walking into a situation blindly"

Edward nods "Your haven is prepared my lord."

Faelan replies "You keep everything in place for me and for that I am thankful. Once we have our gear properly stowed I will make my way to present myself to the Prince"

The two men continue walking towards the Church of Mary Magdalene.

[Goatkiller666]

Ulricht and Casper arrive at the von Althenhof household. It is, coincidentally, near the Church of Mary Magdalene. The house is closed up for the night, but the doorman is quickly roused when they use the knocker.

The man was clearly just woken up, and is still slurring a bit as he asks, "Aye? How may I help you, Lords?" He's holding a lantern, which he uses to light the antechamber for them. "Come in, come in out of the cold. The Baronet is still asleep, I'm afraid. I can wake him if there's urgent need, however."

[Goatkiller666]

Faelan and Edward arrive at the church. There's a surprising amount of activity on the streets, with people rushing here and there. The church itself is also unusually busy, with armed men arriving and going inside.

Edward says, "I have only been here a few days, but that is unusual." He points to a building across a small street from the church, and says "Our lodging is just there, Lord. And the stables are around the side. There's a courtyard inside, with a small garden park past that. Our rooms are on the ground floor, with a kitchen and a storage cellar of our own."

[Casper von Hausberg]

"Please, by all means go and wake him." Casper walks into the room with Ulricht. When the doorman goes to wake the Lord, Casper whispers to Ulricht, "Now this man barely knows me, but I am very close friends with his cousin, so I'm rather unsure of how it would go normally. However, given the right persuasion..."

(Can I activate Presence 1?)