Eliza nearly jumped from the sudden, low raspy voice. When she turned to see who the person was, the Lasombra frowned. She thought she'd finally been free of those dreadful cretins from the night before! It seemed London was just crawling with them.
"You again?" Eliza thought back to their meeting. Had this warrior given her name? Eliza couldn't remember, nor did she really care. What did the warrior want now? Eliza couldn't imagine it could be anything refined... She sighed impatiently.
Anabelle merely shrugged, and turned her gaze down the road.
"I was looking for our mutual friend, I found you instead," she said watching as a drunken man stumbled out from the inn down the road, and nearly tripped over his feet every step further away from the three kindred. She turned back to Eliza.
"Being the same clan, perhaps you may know where he is?" she asked.
"A woeful set of events indeed." Eliza replied, almost as if she wasn't paying attention.
"I do not know where he is, surprisingly enough, given that I arrived here yesterday. Perhaps he could be found at the chamberlain's court."
Eliza actually expected that he wouldn't be there, but she didn't have any better guesses at the moment. She figured a better way to find him would be through asking people that know him. Knowledge, however, was a precious commodity.
"So sorry that you're lost, but if you don't mind, I have important matters to attend to."
Eliza began walking away, pulling Genevieve along with her.
"Fair enough, though I would rather keep the location of my small domain a secret for the time being. If you wish to contact me I am most easily found at the Crossed Key Tavern, where you more than likely found Albrecht last night. If I'm not there speak with Lysandra at Elysium, the red-head who helps Roger.
I stumbled into the ambush before you arrived though La Faucille recognized me. The scourge doesn't often listen to reason and none of you were acknowledged at the time."
Jourdain begins to follow Vezina out into the street slowly as he answers her questions.
"One last question before you take your leave. My sister said that she managed to chase off the lupine last night. Was it simple bragging on her part or was the creature actually stupid enough to be fooled by a shadow? In my experience the lupines track by smell and hearing more than sight."
I doubt if you'll mind but it seems kind of unfair that I'm taking a whole night from you just so you can go speak with your mentor. So I was going to lower it to half a night or maybe a quarter of a night. Basically you have more time when you return.
----------
Genevieve stops and looks towards the other Cainite from under her hood as Eliza converses with her. She doesn't do much more than stare in Anabelle's direction as the brief conversation plays out. As Eliza begins to pull her away she carefully resists enough to slow Eliza while whispering.
"Perhaps your friend might prove useful in your plans. He certainly looks as though he knows how to fight. The lower clans do have their uses after all even if it is only as fodder."
She takes a lingering glance back in Anabelle's direction as if appraising her as Eliza continues to drag her off.
LOL, I almost said cannon fodder. Wouldn't make much sense now would it.
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Jocelyn realizes that she is near the alley where she and the others ran into Jourdain the previous inning. They said they were heading to the large inn up the street she also recalls.
Maybe we should go to that inn.
Yeah the devil stopped us before we got there.
Maybe he didn't want us to see something.
It's a trap, they're all devils.
Eliza slowed when Genevieve pulled at her and let out an exasperated sigh.
"It seems my overwhelming sense of generosity is getting the best of me. I could perhaps help you find Jourdain. However, I'm afraid I really am running an errand right now. Meet me at the court in an hour or so if you wish."
Vezina took Jourdain's information in stride with the barest of nods, then swung herself up onto her horse, adjusting the bow and quiver on her back, before answering Jourdain.
"Having never encountered a Lupine before, I cannot honestly say what it was fooled by, or if it was even 'fooled' at all and not merely seeking more important prey. Since they are akin to wolves however, and thus not as motivated by the sense of sight as humans, then no, I highly doubt that your 'sister' was responsible for fooling it."
She squeezed the horse's flanks to start it forward. "Fare thee well this night, Jourdain. Until we meet again."
She squeezed again and the horse went from trot to canter, heading for the city gate. Vezina would travel fast, as she did not want to let the investigation into the missing ghoul get too cold.
Beneath her hood, Anabelle couldn't help but smile. She nodded slightly and turned, but before she started her walk away from the pair she shouted over her shoulder.
"I advise that you grow better at making friends, even in places you think are beneath your station. True death can come as easily from one like me, than anyone wearing a fancy dress," she said, and nodded slightly towards Genevieve, though did not correct her regarding gender.
"I will see you at the court. Watch your back," she finished, and vanished into the shadows.
After the crusader disappeared into the shadows, Eliza stomped off with Genevieve, her kiwi eyes darkening considerably.
"Oh really..." She muttered to herself. "Did you hear that Genevieve? That filthy ingrate just threatened me. We shall see who needs to watch their back."
"Yes, well what else can you expect from one of the twice-cursed. They aren't known for their manners, Eliza dear." Genevieve explains as a slow smile forms on her face.
"Besides they seem perfect for filling the role I suggested, don't you think. Enough of them though, let's get on with the more enjoyable business at hand shall we."
----------
Anabelle slows down as soon as she is out of sight of the two Lasombra on their little errand. She likely has some time to spend before having to make her way to the court as she travels toward the main hunting grounds of the city with it's inns and taverns.
You probably wouldn't have heard her refer to you as a he, since she was whispering with her back turned. Not that it really matters since you didn't actually say anything.
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"Interesting," Jourdain says almost to himself as Vezina gives her answer. As she spurs her horse to ride away he adds a hasty. "Good hunting."
It takes Vezina little time to reach the gate of the city and to leave for her master's domain. The snow isn't deep enough to truly hinder the horse as she travels the short distance to the caves that are her birth place of sorts. She passes the familiar site of the household where she first hunted so many years ago with Gyulu in celebration. She takes little time to reminisce however and soon finds herself picking her way through the brush to the caverns.
I figured you wouldn't mind. I was actually using Jourdain just now to point out that you might be overlooking something in regards to the "lupine". Vezina actually has information that points to a possible lead in Aethulwulf's poisoning. If you can fit all my little clues together that is or even remember them.
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While the voices distract Jocelyn with their arguments about angels and demons, a dog suddenly begins barking behind one of the inns. Soon another dog begins to bark behind a different inn but closer to her, this continues till the tavern closest to her where it stops. It's almost as if they are being disturbed by some unseen stalker of hers in the dark ways behind the main street.
"Just... no more..." The woman mumbled under her breath, then jumped as she heard the dogs. Her eyes traced the pattern the dogs were making, settling on the tavern where it stopped. For a second, her curiosity warred with her fear, but in the end, the latter won out, as it usually did.
Turning in place, she almost bumped into another petitioner as she hurriedly made her way into the tavern directly across the street from the tavern the barking had stopped at, looking around nervously for someplace where she could sit and hide without looking too out-of-place.
As Vezina rode onward, she thought on Jourdain's question. She hadn't taken it all that seriously at first, but something about it was digging at her. The answer that she'd given Jourdain was out of sheer doubt about Jourdain's sister's abilities. If the lupine had run off, in Vezina's mind, it wasn't due to shadows -- after all, how could mere shadowplay fool an apex predator?
As she thought back on last night's encounter, however, she realized that the beast she had seen only ran off when the shadows moved, and it had stayed in place sniffing in the air for almost a minute, when the coterie had been so close to it. It had almost seemed futile.
Had what she had seen in fact been a lupine at all? Things were not adding up as she gave the interaction more and more thought. She would discuss this matter with Gyulu as well. What other creatures would walk about in the form of a wolf man, searching by sight over smell? Had it been an illusion? Some form of blood sorcery?
Reaching the cavern of her embrace she strode imperiously through the entrance, paying no heed to the human guardians unless they had the audacity to stop her. She brought with her the book and the box she had retrieved from the warded room and sought out Gyulu at the library.
Sticking to the shadows, with her cloak flowing about her form to break up her figure, Anabelle wandered the alleys and side streets, feeling a familiar hunger growing within her. She had time, might as well feed before heading to the court.
Eyes mostly hidden she peered through the darkness turned light, searching for prey. Anyone would do at this point.
The voices seem to trail off as Jocelyn focuses her attention on the howling of the dogs. The petitioner barely manages to avoid being bowled over by her mad rush into the nearest inn. The main hall is nicely appointed though few petitioners are about the room at this time. An overly nervous servant sits watching the door though he relaxes at her appearance. The only others are two rough looking soldiers though they are different from the normal petitioners being like herself.
Finding a seat in a corner far from the fire Jocelyn sits hoping to remain out of sight though the two Cainites keep looking in her direction and whispering to each other.
----------
Gyulu's human guards bow back at the sight of Vezina, knowing her all to well as one of their masters. The trip through the familiar caves is relieving after the city and it's denizens and she finds herself in the library before long. No where near as large as Roger's she still preferred the library she found herself in, having learned so much here.
Gyulu sat in his usual chair reading through one of his ancient tomes of lore. He was already staring towards the door as if he had sensed her presence long before she had arrived. He stoically presents the chair beside him as he says.
"Vezina you have returned to your home far sooner than I have surmised. You seek advice in your dealings or have you found something of interest?"
You're on the right track so far, now to just figure out the rest of it.
----------
The city is quiet as Anabelle hurries through the darkened alleys in search of prey. It is quite unlike hunting in her home or even the fields surrounding the city. Strange sounds that she is unused to and the towering buildings creating an unused to backdrop for hunting.
Finally she see something up ahead in one of the alleys. A simple mugger kneeling over his latest victim as he rifles the pockets of some merchant. He is unaware of her presence as he finishes the task. Finally he stands and begins to slowly walk away from her oblivious to the fact that he is now the prey.
----------
Genevieve leads the way a few blocks over into an equally rich neighborhood of the city. Genevieve carries her carefree smile the entire way without even bothering to hide her movements from any who might be following. She points ahead to an old stone church and whispers.
"A bit of an odd choice perhaps but I like it and it's quite cozy in my rooms. Supposedly it's haunted or so the kine say, I guess they are right in a way."
"Evidence of blood sorcery, my sire," Vezina bowed her head and took the offered seat beside Gyulu.
Removing the book and the puzzle box from her travel pouch, she presented them both to Gyulu.
"I have received acknowledgement from the Chamberlain, Sir Rodger of Clan Cappadocian, in lieu of the Lord Mithras residing in torpor. London politics appear to be in an uproar with the recent poisoning of the Warmaster, Aethulwulf -- rumor suggests it was blood root. Another officer of the city, Valerius, has gone missing. These two items were in the private room of an innkeeper who was ghouled to Valerius. The room was protected by a mystic ward that prevented Cainites from entering. I anticipated that news of this power would interest you as much as it does me, and I do not trust this discovery with any of the kindred I have met in these most recent nights.
"If I can shed light on the poisoning or the disappearance issues, it could improve my standing in the local court. I seek your vast knowledge out first, master."
She sat and waited while Gyulu examined her book and puzzle box. As the silence stretched out she cleared her throat and spoke again.
"Master, I had a close encounter with what appeared to be a lupine, but it seemed that the creature was hunting by eyesight instead of smell. Is there anything you know of that could mimic the shape of a lupine, but not have the same reliance on senses? Would it be possible to control a lupine, possessing it with the power of the blood?"
Anabelle dropped into a hunch as she spotted the man. She pulled her lips back in a silent snarl, baring her fangs. More akin to beast than human, she quietly came up behind the man.
Close enough behind him that she could smell all the mingling scents clinging to his clothes and skin, she lunged forward. One hand slipped around to clasp over his mouth, while her jaws struck for the neck, fangs to pierce the skin.
Eliza had been quiet for a little while, ruminating about her encounter with the crusader. She had originally planned to arrange something unpleasant for the brute to teach them a lesson about what happens to those that threaten Eliza's life. Perhaps Genevieve was right though. Having the crusader along might work just as well...
It was when Genevieve smiled and pointed to the old church building that Eliza was pulled out of her thoughts. She regarded Genevieve with a teasing smirk.
"Haunted you say? Well I suppose you are quite ghastly. Won't you please stop haunting my dreams Genevieve?"
"Blood root you say, I would look for a Cainite with some connection to our homeland. For that is the only place that I know of such an herb growing. Of course the true poisoner may be counting on such knowledge to throw investigators off the trail.
We shall have to find someone capable of translating this diary, perhaps Tarbus when he returns. I can make nothing of it other than it seems to be a Germanic tongue."
Gyulu says after looking over the diary and setting it back down. Picking up the ebony box he turns it in his hands as he examines the writing.
"Interesting, have you read the myth of Pandora in your studies? I can't translate all of the writing but the ones I can translate as all-giving, or Pandora in Greek. I believe I have a book dealing with such stories somewhere in my library.
I highly doubt if any of our kind could control a lupine that well, though it should be possible. I think it more likely that you may have been fooled by some sort of blood sorcery or even one of the illusions of our lesser cousins."
----------
The mugger walks along impervious to the creature silently stalking up behind him. Anabelle's attack is so swift he has almost no time to react and what he can do is of little use against her. A brief prick inn her stomach is all she notices as the act of feeding sends both of them off into their euphoric states.
The feeding is easily controlled and as she let's the mortal drop to the snow, she notices the dagger in her stomach. Not even a scratch is left as she pulls out the bloodless weapon and tosses it down. The sound of stomping boots from behind draws her attention. Looking back she can see a pair fo men kneeling over the body of the mugging victim. Neither of them seems to have noticed her in the dark however.
----------
It keeps the superstitious out at the very least, though I doubt any of them are capable enough to find my haven in it's hiding place. Genevieve says before giving a carefree look around and leading the way through the front doors of the old church.
A thick layer of dust covers the chapel, though the room is free of any major debris. A few candle holders sit on the altar attesting to the fact that not even thieves have attempted to rob the church. Leading the way towards the back and past the altar, Eliza can't help but notice the broken and scattered cross on the floor. A desecrated altar in a haunted church, no wonder the people believe it is haunted.
Down some stairs and they find themselves in an equally dusty storage room. Genevieve moves to one wall and feels for several moments before pushing a stone in revealing a secret storage chamber. Genevieve's chamber is smaller and darker though no less luxuriant. A simple though comfortable looking bed and dresser make up the furniture. Two crests hang on one wall, the first of course being the Lasombra crest with it's motto of Morte Ascendo and the other which Eliza didn't recognize of a double eagle.
"Make yourself at home, my dear I shan't be long." Is all Genevieve says as she makes her way over to the dresser and begins to undress.
The slight pain through her gut hardly went noticed as the crimson wine flowed over her lips. Her fingers clutched his mouth tighter, the other hand constricting on the muscles in his shoulder. His life flowed from his neck, and she felt the beast within her lost within the swirling blood sliding down her throat.
As she released her prey she let out a low growl, hardly more than a rumble in her throat. She held the mugger up, and looked around quickly for any witnesses.
Then she turned, and saw the two men in the darkness crouching over the over victim. They hadn't seen her just yet, but she knew they may soon. With a curse under her breath she dragged him as quietly as she could further away, until she found a slick puddle. With no remorse for her meal, she grasped the back of his head, and brought him down hard to the ground.
Hopefully, the others would think he merely tripped and knocked himself out. She left the stolen goods on his person, and pushed deeper into the shadows.
Jocelyn watches the other pair watch her, not really knowing whether to smile or frown at them, so she just looks away again, focusing on making sure the petitioners working here would pay her no heed, at least. The fire worried her more though, and she stared a the hellish beings dancing around in it, making sure they didn't jump out and try to get her.
"Blood sorcery is certainly at the heart of this. Magic wards protecting this box, and the imitation of a lupine, along with the poisoning of one powerful Cainite and the disappearance of another."
Vezina mused on this for a time before bringing her attention back to the box. "So. Pandora. From the Greek myths, yes? Wasn't it just some morality tale about curiosity releasing evil into this world, until the only thing left was hope? A quaint story, but certainly this is no Pandora's Box.
"Even if it were, I have not been able to unlock it. Maybe the answer to that and the relevance is contained in those pages of Germanic text. Tarbus could maybe unlock it's secrets, but where is he? If he cannot read it, then perhaps another Cainite in London could - though I would be cautious about that. Anyone who could read that text might be the owner of it."
