Chapter 2: Absolute Power

[Ranger Princess]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Eliza got on the horse easier this time and even seemed a little more comfortable. Her eyes still shifted occasionally toward the horse's head, almost as if she was expecting it to do something to make her unlife difficult. Nothing happened though to her surprise.

"And for that I am most thankful," the Lasombra woman replied, clearly not taken with London thus far. "Hmm.. I am of Norman descent, but I spent most of my life and subsequent unlife masquerading on various Isles of the Mediterranean Sea. And yourself?"

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Spoiler

We'll see, we'll see.

"I'm sorry!" Jocelyn said quickly, continuing her mad scramble backwards. "I saw you sneaking up on her, and I thought you were a devil, but then she coughed up that black stuff, so I stopped!" She ranted, trying to convince the man she meant well.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

The strange man frowns harshly as he continues to stare at Jocelyn. He seems unmoved by her pleas as he steps towards her with the words.

"Your actions have shown your true nature, vampire. You are not worthy of the chance of you have been given, now prepare to receive your penance."

His eyes begin to sweep through the alley as he moves forward, finally alighting on his silvered dagger.

Spoiler

-whimper- On a side note I think I've been watching too much Supernatural lately.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

"No, please! I didn't know, give me another chance!" Jocelyn begs, her scramble finally putting her into a wall. She rose to her feet and turned away, continuing her flight down the alleyway.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

The man bends slowly and picks his dagger up as Jocelyn begs and backs up to the wall. Leaping up she begins away from him as fast as her legs can carry her. She must have run at least a hundred meters before she finally comes to a dead end and turns expecting the worse.

The man is still a fair distance behind her as he steadily walks after her in steady pursuit of his goal. Another path leads back towards the main street about 20 feet back from the dead end.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Not seeing another option, Jocelyn dashes for the exit to the main street, Trying to get there before the man and his knife catch up. She could still feel her hand burning just from touching the thing, she didn't want to have it swinging her way...

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

"I see, so we might infer that Pandora discovered the Sword of Nul, stored it within the Box, and sealed it away in Greece until it was discovered years later, opened, and the demon set free. Meanwhile, Tiamat sleeps on an island somewhere, 'nobly' keeping the demon sealed away within her."

Vezina curled a brown lock of her hair around her finger as she absorbed this tale. "Do the Cainite legends have any clues to the fate of the Sword of Nul after Pandora's Box was opened? And was there any description of the box itself, any clue as to how it might have been opened?"

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

"Scotland, not too far from Edinburgh. Though, I've traveled much of the world. Alas my time in the Mediterranean was... not so pleasant," Anabelle said quietly as memories of the last moments of life spilled across her brain. A dark ink of horror and blood. Slowly shaking her head she grunted.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Jocelyn is able to reach the side path heading back for the main street of London. Though the man manages to gain on her a bit as she backtracks. The next alley doesn't seem to hold any surprises as Jocelyn barrels her way back to the mud of the main street, where she runs headlong into someone knocking them both into the mud.

"Why don't you watch where you're run...Oh, it's you." Jourdain utters as he stands up and begins to brush the mud from his clothes as best as he can. he mutters to himself just loud enough for Jocelyn to catch. "Why do they always end up being crazy."

He looks down at her as the voices practically scream in her head to run and get away from this insane place. "Well are you just going to sit there?"

----------
"That would be the logical assumption, however the sword was supposedly in the protection of the Assamite at the time. At least according to the children of Haquim and their allies the Salubri.

You see the sword seems to turn up in various myths of other cultures at different times. Always the same description and powers but under different names and with different owners. The sword of Nul, Caledfwlch, Caliburnus, Excalibur, and probably many others. Most of the legends suggest the sword is somewhere her in the Isle of Britain. Though I won't bore you with the legend of King Arthur, since you could hear the tale from any minstrel."

Lysandra says in response before continuing.

"I have never heard a description of the box, though there was supposedly a key made by Pandora herself. A puzzle of some sorts from what I've heard. Though I have no idea where you might find any of the items in question, be it the sword, the box, or the key.

If you ask me it's most likely myths that various cainite and mortal sages have connected throughout history without knowing the truth. A small portion of it might be true or none at all, as is the problem with most legends. There are certain groups that pursue knowledge of such things that might better answer your questions though. The Templar knights amongst mortals and the Ashen knights amongst our kind, though both tend to be secretive and I'm afraid I know very little about either of them."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

"I see. Then I thank you for your tale, Lysandra. It was most illuminating, in as much as legends can be. You say you do not know much of the Ashen Knights, but do you know if some of them reside here in London?"

For her own part, Vezina did not think there was much to be gleamed from this tale. No clue as to opening the box, save for the possible existence of some key. What was the point of a puzzle box if you needed a key to open it? I suppose it did make it doubly hard to open.... but this box was not big enough to hide a sword in, so it was not the work of Pandora and her fabled key would not open it. Vezina would need to learn more about the germanic text. Whoever created this box, if they were mimicking Pandora's tale, might have made a key for it as well. The clue as to who this maker was might reside in the book. As soon as she was done here with Lysandra, she would make for Westminster and seek out Sister Pallas in her church.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

"I don't know of any members of the Ashen knights in London, though you could probably ask any of our knighted cainites. They tend to know more about the various knightly orders. The Templars are easy enough to find they have a church on the western side of town, though I would be careful about them. They can be a little dangerous for our kind, I'm told."

Lysandra says in response to Vezina's final query, she waits to see if there are any questions before saying goodbye. The trip to Westminster won't take very long if Vezina heads that way. A quick trip back through the city and out the west gate and she finds herself at the nunnery where Sister Pallas said to find her.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Jocelyn made to run off from the stranger she collided with, until she figured out it was Jourdain. Instead, she grabbed him by the wrist and tried to pull him away from the alley urgently. "We have to run away! There was this woman, and i say a guy sneaking up on her with a knife, so i tried to save her, and it turns out they're both petitioners. But i chose wrong and helped the woman, when it was actually the man who was good. She let out this black cloud and ran away, and he got all angry at me, and he's catching up, we have to leeeeave." She sputtered out, doing her best to drag him away with her.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Jourdain seems a little surprised by Jocelyn's urgent tugging and somewhat coherent ramblings. He looks back towards the alley as she vainly tries to pull him along, a cross between incredulity and confusion on his face.

"Black cloud? Petitioners? Are you insa...er, of course you are." He mumbles just as the man turns the corner to begin walking towards them down the alley. He holds the strange dagger in his hands and his eyes seem to have taken on a white glowing appearance.

"Still I've always heard it's a good idea to run when a Malkavian does so. Though we'll go this way if you don't mind." Jourdain says as he grabs Jocelyn by the arm and starts running down the street as fast as they can move. It's more like he's dragging her as he turns first down one alley than onto a side street and finally another alley.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Jocelyn snaps back a bit at being pulled in a different direction, but the sight of the man chasing her rounding the corner was more than enough convincing to get her moving, and she hurried along as best she could, Jourdain in the lead and pulling on her arm to speed her.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Anabelle and Eliza ride on to the city gates as they converse and before long they find themselves at the inn. It was fairly easy to find since Anabelle had stayed there her first night in London. As they turned down the street they noticed something of a commotion nearby in one of the side alleys. A couple city watchmen stood talking with another mortal while another knelt near what looked like a pile of armor laying in the snow as though someone had been wearing it but the body had disappeared.

----------
Jourdain finally stops after a few more twists and turns and flattens against a wall before looking around cautiously. He looks over at Jocelyn, who he has been dragging all this way before he let's her arm go and staring at her asks.

"Did Rebekah ever tell you what was after you and why you needed to be watched? Because I've never seen anything with white glowing eyes like that and I'm not entirely sure I could stop it if it does keep coming after you."


he's lying, he's got black eyes just like the old woman
he saved us from that other monster
he's just reading your mind trying to trick you
maybe he's a good demon
it's all lies they want us to be stuck here like they are

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Vezina bid Lysandra a farewell, thanking her again before riding back to the city and through to its west gate, all the way to where the nunnery stood. Vezina recalled the night her master had toyed with a man of the Christian faith, playing off the supposed power of God - as if that deity cared for the preservation of a single mortal's corporeal form. All was so much flesh and dust upon this earth. God's Realm was in the Christians' heaven - he had abandoned the get of Seth to Cainite mercy long ago. So much for the notion of His eternal love.

Yet Sister Pallas chose to don the trappings of the faith, wearing the coat of her prey in the same way Vezina's mortal father had wrapped himself in the furs of the animals he skinned. The Tzimisce supposed there was a noble simplicity in this deceit. Perhaps one day she should learn enough of this faith to mimic it. Lead the flock of humanity from within its own sacred mass.

She found an iron ring and knocked it upon the wooden door to the convent. As she waited for an answer, she became aware that it was cold outside, and that if she still breathed, it would cause a hot mist at her lips that she could not replicate in her current state. She hid her face in her cloak, pulling her cowl tight and hiding in shadow, pretending to grasp it to her body in defense against the chill. When and if there came an answer, she would beg forgiveness for the time, but she needed to have a word with Sister Pallas.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

"I, uhh... You know Rebekah?" Jocelyn asked, slightly stunned. "I didn't... She said there's something after me? I just saw the man in the alley, he was after the woman, not me, and... And I picked wrong, I should have helped him. Maybe just talk to him or something, but don't touch his dagger, it burns." She explained, holding out her wounded hand for a moment as she peered back the way they had come.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

"Oh right... this place," Anabelle said looking up at the front of the inn, before her ears picked up the sounds of commotion from nearby.

Turning her attention and noting the small gathering around the emptied armour, the kilted woman couldn't help but frown.

"S math sin..." she muttered before getting Eliza's attentions.

"Shall we investigate?"

 

[Ranger Princess]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

Eliza was beginning to smile when they came upon the inn... "Ah finally... hmm?"

The Lasombra muttered distractedly at Anabelle's query. She stared at the empty armor for a long moment. It was rather... odd... Usually when something odd was afoot, that was a sign of kindred activity. Her kiwi eyes shifted toward the watchmen and the mortal as she scowled.

"Perhaps we should." Eliza replied reluctantly before pulling right up to the watchmen on her horse as she pulled off her hood, her features appearing more human than usual. She stared down at the watchmen with the air of someone used to being obeyed.

"Watchmen. What is the meaning of this commotion?" As the watchmen looked up, Eliza stared directly into his eyes with her kiwi green gaze. "Tell me."

Spoiler

Masquerade and Dominate!

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Chapter 2: Absolute Power

As Eliza approached the watchmen, Anabelle slid up behind her, standing with arms crossed over her chest, cloak opening enough to reveal the hilt of her sword. She kept her hooded gaze on the others, while her companion went through with her interrogation.