Vampire: Dark Ages (Vienna) - Chapter 1: Far from Vienna

[Ekaterina]

Face set in lines of disgust and fury..."Be certain, THIS shall be known. He and his will be immortalized in song, I would be remiss in my duties as Galliard to do otherwise." Wave the sword around, "Anyone who tries to touch her will feel this blade as well. Clearly, I am the only one who truly will protect her."

Couple steps back, so I can see her in my periphery, murmur soothing words to her....

[Sasha]

I see him still inside the body.

"He would have done that to me?"

I throw up again. It's mostly water. Then I go back to the stream to wash out my mouth and drink more.

[Ekaterina]

I walk beside her, offering support and comfort by my presence...and keeping an eye on that other Fianna...

[Goatkiller666]

"Destroyer of Evil" runs towards his brother, aghast. In Gaelic, he shouts, "You're behaving like a metis, you ass. How dare you shame our mother like that?" He kicks his brother in the ribs, causing him to pass out and revert to homid form.

Mauricio says to Ekaterina in German, "That one is expelled from the pack. That is not how a true knight behaves, especially towards another of his tribe. Lust for another garou is forbidden by the Traditions. Rape is forbidden by God's law." The other knights walk towards "Virtue" and spit on him before moving away.

Then he turns to Sasha, "And yet, we still do not know what has happened here. And that Shroud must have come from some enemy here. All of you, search the area." The other knights, except Majid and Mauricio leave the clearing and start searching the area. Those two spit on "Virtue" as well, and then approach Sasha. Majid calls out, "Wendell, bring us some chairs. Let this poor soul have 'Virtue's', and his other belongings as well."

Wendell moves through the horses, pulling out small foldable camp chairs for four, and brings them forward. Again, he blushes strongly when he comes near Sasha, but he sets up her chair first, then one for Ekaterina, then the two knights.

[Kaldrenzi Culls-The-Chaff]

Snuggle down into the stuff, listen to the discussion about to take place, try to remain hidden.

Let the dogs run, let them find nothing.

I notice Wendell's discomfort.

He has alot to learn about bodies still if he's going to survive.

I try to watch the mangy mutts as they fan out looking for their target as the others get ready for their discussion.

[Sasha]

I smile at Wendell, then I sit on the chair.

"I don't know what happened. I was just standing here. I healed that one, but he attacked me. And then the other one attacked me. I'm not going to heal him."

"What am I doing here? Who are they, and why were they fighting? How could the Umbra be gone?"

[Ekaterina]

I perch myself upon the offered chair, keeping the sword out, and resting across my knees, one hand staying upon the hilt in case it proves needful.

[Goatkiller666]

Mauricio and Majid both sit facing Ekaterina and Sasha. The begin with a formal introduction, of themselves and their pack (though they don't list all the members of the pack, just the pack's name.)

All that done, Majid starts the actual conversation. "You don't remember anything? That's troublesome. Very troublesome indeed. And there are no others to question. No spirts in this place, no animals nearby. Nothing." He turns to the side and calls out, "Constantin, are there any spirits out there who may have seen aught?"

A voice calls back, "Even where the Umbra is, there are no spirits in it. I see some farther up the hill, let me go talk to them."

Mauricio frowns. To Majid, he asks, "What can you tell from the bodies?" The Theurge stands and begins to walk around the clearing. He inspects the debris by the stream, and the eight holes around the edge of the clearing. Finally, he finds the tusk. He bends down to study it, not touching it. He sniffs. He leans closer, then inspects the brush under the tusk, poking it with a stick. [Perc + Enigmas => 3 successes.]

"Churjuroc's Tusk. This must have been a great battle. Only the mightiest of Dancers would carry such an abomination. And the Crystal Spears of the Silver Fangs may only be carried by their greatest champions. But they all died. No survivors. And the Umbra died with them."

"Those holes are too evenly placed to be the result of the fighting. There are two groups of four, to either side of where the tusk is. And this debris is as if it were sucked into a place."

He walks back to his chair and sits. "Churjuroc's Tusk is a foul artifact of the Dancers. The tusk of some great servant of the wyrm, it eventually turned on the Dancers and they destroyed it. These tusks can summon a Nexus Crawler. An eight-legged being of pure destruction."

"I can only assume that it killed everything. Devoured all of the spirit here, including the stuff of the Umbra itself, leaving this place of nothing." He holds out his hand to Ekaterina. "May I borrow your spear, milady? I swear on my lost homeland that it shall be returned to you unchanged."

[Kaldrenzi Culls-The-Chaff]

"These tusks can summon a Nexus Crawler. An eight-legged being of pure destruction."

" These tusks can summon a Nexus Crawler."

"A Nexus Crawler."

A NEXUS CRAWLER?

The Mothers must be warned, a nexus crawler.

She wanted information, but this battlefield, and a Crawler loose...

I sit tight, suddenly rather worried with that thing running loose.

[Sasha]

"Nexus Crawler? Dancers?"

I start to shout, "How did I get here?"

[Ekaterina]

place one hand upon her shoulder, keeping the other free for swordwork if necessary..."We'll figure it out, it's OK. You are safe now, I'm here....shhhhhh"

[Goatkiller666]

Mauricio stands up quickly, and looks around with fear in his eyes. "Is it still here?"

Majid chuckles, "No. If it were, we wouldn't be talking."

Constantin jogs back to the clearing, and winces when he crosses the boundary. He stops, and steps back outside, with a sigh of relief. "They saw no useful things. All spirits close in, pulled towards clearing. But my friends not see what pulled."

Majid curses. The others come back from their search, having found nothing. Not even lingering taint from the BSD, the supposed Nexus Crawler, or the recently dispersed Shroud. Majid finally says to Sasha, "I don't know why you're here, my dear. And I don't know why any of these were here, either. But we need to find out." He says to Mauricio, "Let's gather up some of the bodies. I'll examine them later, and find out what happened here, and why. I hope."

Mauricio adds, "No, gather them all up. Many great warriors died here, and the proper burial rites should be performed. But not here, not with the Umbra like this. And as for the Dancers, bring one of them, and burn the rest."

"Then we return to Vienna. Put the bodies on the horses, and Wendell can lead them. The rest of us can run along side."

Destroyer of Evil is still sitting next to his fallen brother. "What about him?"

[Ekaterina]

A contemptuous sneer as I look at the would-be violator..."For his attempts upon her" nod at Sasha "and myself, I say he should be left for the buzzards and scavengers. It seems fitting."

[Kaldrenzi Culls-The-Chaff]

Seeing that I maybe A: picked up with bodies of mongrels, or B: burned with the other mongrels, I decide to C my way out, and make for Wendell's mule to ride in the packs again, reviewing the events, and making sure I have them in order for the Mother's report.

Good, if that crawler is still loose, let the angry dogs play with it. Maybe they'll take each other out.

I make note of the area, for returning at a future time.

Mother may want to question this one if he's left alive. If not, I can return easily.

[Sasha]

"Him?"

I walk over to Virtue. "He can live."

I push him over with my foot.

I shout "Do you hear me? Death is too good!"

[Partial transformation: claws on left hand] I rip his man-parts off.

Then I kneel down to lick the wound before he dies. [Mother's Touch]

I toss the dead meat to his brother. Then I walk off.

[Goatkiller666]

Destroyer of Evil stands by and watches what is done to his brother. He raises a hand for a moment, but knows that this is better than the galliard might get. He says to Mauricio, "I will stay with him, and return him to our people. They will decide on his fate. Perhaps when that is done, I will return to my pack and resume my duties to Gaia."

Wendell brings over the two Celtic dressed horses, one for Sasha and one for Destroyer of Evil. He's put the bodies of most of the fallen gaian garou onto the horses of the others, who have all removed their armor and stand there in only their breeches, ready to shift into wolf form for the long run back to Vienna.

After a short while, all of the bodies are stowed, all of the knights' armor is stowed as well, and they are all in wolf form, except Wendell. The BSD body is on his donkey, since there was no more room elsewhere. He put nothing on Sasha's horse, unsure if it even counted as theirs. The rest of the BSD bodies are piled to the side of the clearing.

Destroyer of Evil approaches Wendell. "Do not trouble yourself boy. It will be some time before my brother is fit to travel. I will cut wood and make sure that these are burned to dust before then." He says to Sasha, "Know that while it pains me to have seen it, I bear witness to the Fianna that no shame or guilt falls upon you for any of this. My brother attempted to break the litanies, as well as the laws of God, and he has been punished in a fitting way. I am stained with shame by my relation to him, but I swear the Fianna have no grounds to seek vengeance on you for anything here. I ask only that I be allowed to take a few of his things... your things that were his before. They were gifts to us from our mother, and I know she would want them back. He kept them in a small pouch by the pommel of his saddle."

[Everybody post any last-minute stuff to do here in the clearing. Otherwise, Wendell will lead his mule and all the knights' horses together, while the knights run in wolf-form back to Vienna. It's a three day walk at that pace. Sasha gets the horse, which can hold two girls as well as the others are holding two or more male corpses. Or, they can change and run along side as well. Post anything specific you want to do in the context of the trip back. And then we'll be back in Vienna.

Note that this thread will then be something like a week ahead of the vampire threads happening there. I will bring the two in sync shortly, once Isabelle's ball is done.]

[Kaldrenzi Culls-The-Chaff]

The dogs are leaving.

Once they have left, chitter softly to Wendell "Wendell, the news here must reach the Mothers. I am going to part ways for now, be safe on your trip back, and be wary of the ladies. Something does not seem right. Be careful, I will return if I can. Your role will not be forgotten."

Find something shiny in the pack I'm riding in, shouldn't be too hard, and take the tunnels to the caerns.

[Rite of the Bolthole to cut my travel time down greatly]

The Mothers may chastise me for leaving the boy, but a rogue Nexus Crawler, and the battle here. This is more important.

Haul rat-tail to the The Swarm, the Mother of the Swarm must hear of this.

[Sasha]

I stay homid. I get on my new horse. [Animal Ken] I don't know how to ride. I hope I don't spook it.

I throw the bag to Destroyer of Evil.

[What else is on the horse?]

I try to ride to Ekaterina, and offer her a hand up. "Will you ride, or run?"

Then I stay by Wendell back to Vienna.

[Ekaterina]

Smiling gently, I accept the proffered hand. "I will rid with you, though I also lack any skill."

Anyone ogling Sasha receives a vicious glare.

[Goatkiller666]

Really, nothing much happens on the ride back. Wendell blushes every time he looks at Sasha or Ekaterina. The knights all stay in lupine form and run alongside the horses on the way home.

They decide to ride a while after dark, but stop several hours before midnight. At this pace, they should arrive back at Vienna shortly after sundown tomorrow. Wendell makes his horrible smelling stew again, and the knights send him downwind to prepare it and eat it. They have a deer they brought down on the run, though Majid and Mauricio insist that it be cooked over the fire and eaten as humans would eat, instead of bloody from the bone.

The second day is also uneventful. It's a long way to go in a single day, and Wendell is driving the horses hard to cover the distance. He mutters several times that they'll be unable to go anywhere by horse for at least a week when this is all done, so the horses may recover.

Otherwise, you arrive in Vienna after sundown on the next day. Let's pick this up in this thread.