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

[Lucretia]

"He should expect no tolerance. A Lupine embodies the capriciousness of the fae and the savagery of an untamed wild. Strong, speedy, stout, and angry."

"Also exceptionally vulnerable to Luna's ore."

[Goatkiller666]

"Silver? Hrm. All I have is vampire-forged steel. I shall have to be better prepared, next time."

"Are there any experiments you would like me to perform on these lupines, while I'm playing? Or any parts I should leave undamaged for later examination?"

Charles seems almost giddy with the idea of a new toy.

Perhaps 15 minutes earlier than expected, the group of mounted knights arrives at the cottage. Their horses surround the building, and the ghouls take charge of the mounts. The Cainites collect their blankets and all stand outside the house waiting.

Ludwig says to Charles, "This will do excellent well. I hope your fine steed has run out his energy?"

Charles replies, "I don't think he even noticed the effort. But the effect will fade in a week or so. Just have the men be especially careful of him during the day. He might be difficult for them to contain."

The sky to the east begins to brighten, and many Cainites are already begining to sag. They head into the cottage and wrap themselves in their blankets as they feel slumber approaching.

------

The next evening, the last to sleep are the first to wake, and they leave the cottage again without needing to climb over their fellows. When all are awakened, the still-bound members of the family, slightly soiled from being left in the cottage all day, are used to slake everybody's thirst. Not a feast, just a quick snack each.

[Since several of the Ventrue present cannot feed from these particular mortals, Lucretia has the option of taking up to 10 blood points if she wants to.]

The knights are anxious to continue their ride, though there's a little time to do anything before starting.

[Lucretia]

"One alive might please the Doktor. She has no specific needs." She thinks. "Maybe an item of great sentiment."

-----

She takes out a small silver knife and cup of pewter.

[She takes 4 blood. Two for food, Two for stamina, Two times Two plus Two for the Reaper's Friend.]

[Goatkiller666]

"Alive? Oh, very good indeed." He takes the six blood from Lucretia's cup, then takes some more from the man of the house. He pats the man on the cheek, "My horse thanks you."

"May I borrow that knife? I fear that with my sword, I will be unable to limit what damage I do. With a small blade like that, but made of silver, I think I can keep from killing it outright."

[Lucretia]

"She has naught else for defense. He may borrow her knife if she may borrow his sword."

[Goatkiller666]

Charles laughs loudly, drawing stares from those around him. "Naught for defense? Why, my dear lady, you have me. But, if you would feel better holding my sword while you avoid fighting, who am I to deny you that feeling? Still, I would suggest that you allow me to wear it while riding. If you think the horse's motion was bad, you'll not want to wear a sword while doing it."

[Lucretia]

"She jests. The Reaper's Friend may hold both."

[Goatkiller666]

"Suit yourself." He spins, visibly excited to be about the hunt, "Ludwig, let us be off."

Ludwig, for his turn, stifles a retort at being so casually addressed, and only replies, "Of course, my Lord." Quickly, all the vampires and men are ahorse, and heading off. Once again, Charon quickly outpaces all the others, and Charles heads off ahead.

Ludwig calls something from behind them, but Lucretia can't make it out.

As before, they ride for hours and hours, and arrive at Passau a few hours after midnight. When the city walls come into sight, Charles stops and mutters curses in some strange language. "I forgot to ask where the leper colony was. Would you happen to know, my dear?"

[Lucretia]

She shakes her head. "They could ride back, enquire, then ride forth."

[Goatkiller666]

"Charon would like that, I assume. But we'd lose a lot of time." He looks at the city walls ahead of him, then sighs. "I suppose that Ludwig would want us to wait until the rest of them arrive before we do anything anyway."

"But, I'll go scouting. Would you mind my body, while I step out of it for a few minutes?"

[Lucretia]

She nods. She reaches forward with one hand to grab Charon's reins. Her other hand grips him tighter to hold him upright.

[Goatkiller666]

Charles closes his eyes, then his body goes slack. He spends several minutes like that.

Then he spends several more minutes also like that.

But around ten minutes later, he moves again. "I'm glad you didn't try to molest me while I was out. It would have gone poorly for both of us, I'm sure."

He takes the reins again, and turns Charon to the south, to circle around the city. "There's a southward road that will take us there."

[Lucretia]

"She barely recalls such urges. Why would she consider such an action?"

[Goatkiller666]

"There are any number of reasons for people to be disgusting. None of them worthy reasons. And I didn't want to presume on the quality of your character until I'd had a chance to test it."

Charles rides Charon around the city walls, then finds the southward road and continues on down it a while. After a few miles, there is a small side-road to the right. This road is much worse kept, with large potholes and overgrown areas. Clearly, few take this path. Charles stops Charon there, waiting for Ludwig and party to arrive.

Soon, all of the knights arrive from the south, and Ludwig says "I see you found the place. I wasn't sure if you heard me calling to you, there's a path that saves a few miles, before you get to the city."

Gottfried approaches and says, in a surly tone, "I hope you've left any for us to fight, my Lord."

Charles glares at this, but only says "We took the long way, and have only been here perhaps 20 minutes."

Ludwig finally addresses Lucretia directly, "Lady, tell us where the Lupines are. We must take them at once." He seems to avoid eye contact, and usually doesn't even face towards her exactly.

[Lucretia]

"She needs to examine the place of the undying's death and has no guarantee it can speak anything useful. He has fifty men. She suggests they poke bushes with sticks if they have no trackers amongst themselves."

[Goatkiller666]

Ludwig glares, then turns and waves Gottlob over. "Show her where it happened. Then we will hunt."

Gottlob mutters, something perhaps like "This way, lady." and rides off towards the leper colony's gates. The rest of the Nosferatu ride with him, forming a chevron ahead of Charon. Charles follows behind them, smirking.

As they go, Ludwig orders the rest of the men to fan out towards the camp. "Be cautious, and give shout if you discover aught." The men seem nervous, especially the ghouls. It seems that being this close to lepers does not sit well with them, though none are foolish enough to complain openly.

Gottlob leads Charon and the rest into the camp. He waves to a few lepers who approach him, but doesn't stop to talk. Towards the back of the camp, there is a smaller path between some rickety buildings. There's a section with fresh tracks, only a few days old and not obscured by other traffic. He points there. "You can see that it was a great battle." Indeed, one wall of the farther building is nearly caved in, with the roof dangerously sagging.

[Percept + Alertness => 2 successes. There's blood on one of the broken edges of a board.
Intelligence + Occult => 5 successes. Vampire blood would have been destroyed by the sun.]

[Lucretia]

She slips from the horse with the aid of shadows. Examining the building first, then the blood, she looks for any Spirits which may be about. [Ash Path, Per + Alert (d7)]

Pointing at the board, "This blood is of the attacker, not of the deceased." She sniffs at it.

[Goatkiller666]

She finds that there are a few ghosts in the area. Fewer than would normally be expected from a random place where people lived, in fact. But a few.

Charles approaches the blood on the board, and sniffs at it. He touches it with a finger, then tastes the finger. (The blood is dry, so this seems of questionable investigational use.) "Bah. Nothing useful." Then he holds the palm of his hand over the blood, and closes his eyes.

"Oh, this is interesting. It was indeed a lupine. I can't see much detail; the emotions are weak. Whatever his reason... no... her reason for attacking our good knight, she felt ambivalent about the act. But that ambivalence makes it harder for me to follow. I see only that the blood belongs to her. I would recognize her, if I laid eyes on her. But that is all."

"Lady, what can you tell us?"

Ludwig says also, "Where ARE the damned Lupines. I don't care how upset the bitch was, just lead us to them, and quickly."

[Lucretia]

Her voice is calm yet it chills more than that of her touch, "She will need time. It should rely upon its own powers of perception. It may wait feebly to learn she can find nothing."

She circles the ashes of the fallen knight. Speaking to those unseen by others, she inquires if they know of any events. [Lifeless Tongues to speak with the ghosts she spies. 1 Willpower, Perception + Occult d6.]

[Goatkiller666]

Ludwig stares at her for a moment. "Bah!" He spins around and orders the other knights to spread out and look for anything. "What we need is a damned Gangrel. Or even a Toreador, someone who can sniff the beasts out."

Lucretia extends her senses into the ShadowLands, seeking to communicate with the ghosts of the area.
[Lifeless Tongues: Spend 1 willpower, Perc+Occult (d6) - autosuccess
Shroudsight: Perc+Alert (d7) - three successes]

She speaks aloud, asking the ghosts if they have any knowledge of the death of the Nosferatu knight. Many of these ghosts are ancient, and not very aware of what goes on. They speak in bare whispers, bemoaning whatever tragic fate left them stuck in the ShadowLands long ago. She finds one ghost, more recently dead and more aware of its own existence. In life, it was an older woman with a cheerful face.

"Aye, I saw it happen. 'Twas some kind of monster, indeed. And what killed it was also." She chuckled at her own joke. "That young girl looked so pretty, too. So unafraid when she came into the camp to give succor. But when she saw your cousin, I could see her rage rise up within her, and change her into some kind of monster. She struck down your cousin before he could hide from her."