Bounty Head Bebop Comlink
Role Playing Games => Vampire The Masquerade => Drakilian's Games => Side Quests => Topic started by: Drakilian on April 28, 2015, 05:05:40 pm
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1199, February 9th, 11:39 PM,
Mulbach,
Domain of Daniel, Disciple of the Flesh Walrus
Daniel's haven in Muhlbach is based under a tavern now run by his mortal brother Vincent; called the Dancing Walrus, the place provides Daniel with a steady source of victims and a safe hiding place. At the top floor of the tavern Wilhelm has set up his study, where he practices the magicks of the old land.
From within his haven Daniel finds himself disturbed from his work by the sound of a knock at his door.
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Irritated beyond compare, Daniel stops his research and approaches the door. Before he opens it, he asks, "Who's there?"
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"A humble petitioner, your most inestimable lordship!" cries out a weak voice from behind the door.
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Daniel sighs quietly. Farking kine...
Putting on his best smile, Daniel opens the door and greets the petitioner. Making eye contact, he happily says, "Ho, friend. There's no need to call me 'lord', you know. Relax."
Returning to the matter at hand, Daniel asks, "Now, what may I do for you?"
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Daniel starts on opening the door - what he sees is most definitely not a human. Or if it is, it is a leper in the final stages of his disease.
He stands hunched over, and between his crooked fingers is a letter, which he holds out to Daniel in both hands.
"Oh your greatness, please accept this letter, I beg of you!"
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Without breaking eye contact or letting go of his smile, Daniel accepts the letter and takes it from the petitioner.
Daniel pleasantly asks, "May you come in, please? I would like to guarantee that I understand the contents of this letter."
He happily adds, "I can have my brother fetch us some drinks."
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"No, no, you must read the letter now, the master needs you to read the letter!" the thing screeches while holding it's hands together in a pleading gesture.
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As stated previously, Daniel maintains eye contact and continues smiling nicely; but his eyes become cold. "I'll read your letter, but I would grateful if you remained where you're standing while I read it."
As he takes the letter from the petitioner's hand, he says, "To make sure I understand it, of course."
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"Yes, yes of course!" the poor wretch says, practically grovelling as he does so.
Good Evening,
I trust my messenger has reached you safely, you were referred to me by the inestimable Count Radu; your skill in assembling a fortress in the Tihuta pass after being raided by the hunter Mitruu and under constant attack by the vovoide Mirca is, to say the very least, a very impressive feat.
I should like to see your vaunted capability firsthand, as I have a most perplexing problem that needs rather quick solving. I trust in your abilities and willingness to help a fellow ruler in whose domain your city lies.
Fair recompense for services will, of course, be awarded - I do hope you will consider my offer.
May your travel be swift,
Vovoide Ruthven
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"Hm."
This is interesting. This was probably the respectful was of saying that he'll uproot my from my princedom if I don't help him. He's older than me, so I'll have to play along with this dog-fetches-stick game this vovoide has going.
Looking up at the vovoide's servant, Daniel asks, "What can you tell me about Vovoide Ruthven? Be honest. Also, would you like that drink now?"
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The way the Nosferatu flinches at Ruthven's name tells Daniel everything he needs to know about the vovoide.
"No, no, we must go to the master! Swift he said, I have the horses!"
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Reassuringly, Daniel says, "Alright. May I fetch my brothers and a gift for your master before we leave? I promise that it will only take a moment."
"I'll even put in a good word for you." Daniel says with a wink.
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Vladislav hesitates - "Y- Yes, I'll be waiting outside. Please, hurry there!"
The wretch goes upstairs - his body changing into a more presentable facade of a mortal being as he does so.
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Daniel quickly shuts his door and begins putting away his works; he's careful to make sure that they're well hidden inside his rooms. (OOC: Let's say under the floorboards.)
Next, he goes upstairs and approaches Vince, "I've been summoned by someone very important. The kind of important that get's us killed if we don't comply. You're going to have to temporarily close your tavern for while we're gone." Daniel makes eye contact and gives a brotherly smile, "You're my sibling and I'm going to need your help with this. There are horses waiting for us outside and our needs will be tended to once we leave. Be ready in a few minutes."
"Also, grab an unopened bottle of something nice. I said that I'd get him a gift."
If nothing stops Daniel from continuing after talking to Vince, Daniel moves on.
Finally, Daniel goes to the top floor and approaches Wilhelm. "We've been summoned by a vovoide. Since our territory is in his domain, we have to take him seriously. Conclude your matters and come with me. There are horses outside that are waiting for us. Let's go." Since the top floor is private, Daniel's use of the word "vovoide" has hopefully gotten Wilhelm's attention. "I'm sorry that this is interrupting your studies, truly, I am."
If nothing stops Daniel form continuing after talking to Wilhelm, Daniel heads outside with his brothers and tells Vladislav, "Pardon my tardiness, friend. We're ready to go."
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Wilhelm speaks after Daniel is done talking - "Brother, your city is kept together very tenuously - you can keep me or Vincent here, but if you abandon it as you intend to while you go off to do Ruthven's will then your young position could be all too easily usurped."
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Daniel stops for a moment, contemplating if this is just an excuse to continue researching. Then he understands that he isn't full of it.
"Fine then, I'll trust you and Vince to stay here. If things go well, I may give you something in return that could be worth while. Just don't let anything go wrong."
Before he leaves Wilhelm's room, Daniel adds, "And be wary around that malkavian I met in this place. If he ever confronts you or if you ever need him, just talk about how everything is for the glory of the mighty flesh-walrus... Don't ask; just do it."
Upon returning downstairs, Daniel tells Vince, "I'm really sorry, Vince. I didn't mean to panic you with that. You and Wilhelm will maintain this place while I'm gone. Also, did you get a bottle yet?"
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Wilhelm nods, accepting Daniel's judgement.
Downstairs with Vincent - "Ah, sure brother. But - wouldn't the guy just be insulted if he got a bottle of nice wine he'd never be able to drink or enjoy?"
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Daniel says, "Fine."
He heads off to the horses where the messenger waits. Time to go.
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1199, February 12th, 5:30 AM,
Timisoara,
Domain of Vovoide Marcel Ruthven, of the Ruthven Line
The journey by horseback had taken three nights of constant riding, easy for Daniel and Vladislav to keep up - the horses not so much. They'd stayed in pleasantly atmospheric taverns and waystations on the way to the vovoide's domain and found they had no issue in getting to the area.
As they arrive at the vovoide's lodging, Daniel notes how late it is in the evening - he estimates perhaps an hour left before sunrise, if even that. Whatever happens here, he will be forced to rely on the mercy hospitality of his host.
Timisoara is a sparsely populated city located in what is seemingly the middle of nowhere within the Transylvanian region - such a small settlement would be easily dominated by a strong vampire. The gates of the castle built within the city are protected by a small moat, from within Daniel believes he spots... something moving. Best not linger too long on what said thing is.
At Vladislav's call the portcullis is raised, the drawbridge lowered and the gates thrown open. Coming ahead of a pair of flanking guards is an inhumanly tall and slender old man with not a bit of hair on his (visible) body; he wears long, white robes and speaks with a low, booming that belies his stature.
"Welcome to my domain. Enter freely, go safely, and leave something of the happiness that you bring."
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Daniel smiles, "Well met."
Daniel disembarks his horse and approaches Ruthven. "It's truly a pleasure to be here. Now, are matters that we should discuss?"
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The vovoide waves the matter aside.
"Nonsense, that can wait for tomorrow. Let me show you around the estate - Vladislav, put away the horses. You must be thirsty after your trip, yes?"
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Daniel chuckles, "After a three-day trip, anyone would be thirsty. I would be concerned about Vladislav, however. For the entirety of the trip, he's been restless."
Becoming serious, "Enough of that. Please, show me your magnificent estate."
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The vovoide takes Daniel to a dining hall decorated with several weakly lit torches and a fine, dim chandelier. He asks Daniel to take a seat while he takes his place at the head.
While the two discuss current events a Slav is brought into the room, he struggles briefly against his guard but Marcel forces him into submission with a quick word. The weak-willed man steps forward willingly now, and bends down over the table. As he does so, he asks Daniel a question:
"Tell me Daniel, what course do you intend to take with Muhlbach?"
Never stopping conversation with Daniel, vovoide Ruthven has two goblets brought in. He cuts the man's throat personally.
Daniel might be a bit thrown off - at the very least, the vovoide was clearly much more eccentric than usual, even for the Tzimisce. To kill the prey in front of the guests was odd, to say the least. He notes that the man still looks at him expectantly - though whether to drink or answer his question is an unsurety.
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Dodging the question, Daniel replies, "I will take whichever course of action that would be best for us, of course."
Explaining, he says, "My territory is in your domain. It's only logical that I keep our best interests in mind, regardless of the context."
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"Yes, yes of course."
The Vovoide drinks from his goblet, looking expectantly at Daniel as he does so.
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Daniel laments, "Power is vital; but in a world like ours, the cultures aren't ready, organizations would not allow and I am not prepared to seize it."
Continuing on, "For now, I am establishing my influence in Muhlbach and gathering political strength. When the world reveals a vulnerability, I will be certain to take economic control."
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The vovoide's eyes flick briefly down to Daniel's untouched Goblet.
The Gangrel realizes the vovoide was gracefully showing him his error in not drinking of his offered hospitality.
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Sigh
I was hoping that I'd get away with it.
Daniel picks up the chalice of blood, understanding what the vovoide expects from him. "It is safe to assume that this attainment of power would be of mutual benefit and that we should treat this possibility well."
He raises his glass, "To a future that is bright as it is dark."
Daniel sips from the glass quite visibly and drains the glass of its contents in mere moments. He takes advantage of Sanguinary Expulsion to keep any potential Blood Bond attempts at bay; he puts his willpower into it just to drive his attempt home.
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OOC: He cut the man's throat literally right in front of you, it was literally impossible for him to slip his blood into the goblet without you noticing XD
BIC:
"And to a land as tame as it is wild."
The vovoide says, raising his own.
In truth, Daniel notes that the vovoide doesn't care much for his plans for Muhlbach - a good thing, perhaps, that the man is so lax; though he is more than willing to show Daniel around the rest of the sparse castle.
As Daniel begins to feel the weight of the sun's compulsion press down on his mind the vovoide leads him to a dark room that holds a series of coffins; Daniel assumes the guest room.
"It has been a pleasure entertaining you Daniel, but I fear we both need rest."
The first crowing of the cock is heard outside.
"A simple warning - be careful around my grounds, the area is patrolled by packs of dangerous, feral wolves. Good day."
The vovoide then promptly vanishes into a cloud of mist.
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OOC: Whoops. I figured that feeding from someone's ghoul can start a blood bond. :P
BIC: Before he goes to sleep, Daniel looks around the room. He's always had a fear that when he goes to sleep, a piece of furniture may actually be alive and watching (Or... *Shudder* Touching) him. Call it a Vicissitude quirk. On the off chance he finds something, he'll remove it from the room or, even better... Alter it.
When he realistically finds nothing, he'll take advantage of the coffin that was provided by the vovoide. As he falls asleep, he'll reflect upon the situation he's just gotten himself into.
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1199, February 13th, 12:30 PM,
Timisoara,
Domain of Vovoide Marcel Ruthven, of the Ruthven Line
Daniel sits at the dining room table again. He woke cleanly from his rest and was soon visited by a servant instructing him to visit the dining room.
Since then Daniel was joined by Marcel Ruthven, who, in between sips of blood from provided goblets, has been regaling him with tales of the the dangers the local Tremere have posed him in the past few years.
"The Warlocks! Usurpers, what have you, the proud fools constantly attack me, defy me, raid me. They kill my men, they burn my houses, they steal my gold; soon they might even come for you, the demons have developed a taste for Gangrel blood. I had a guard, five years ago, and their spies took his very soul, the foul creatures.
But now, now they have wronged me further than they ever could have in the past. A young love of mine, a divine being whose beauty rivals that of the sun's, and who blinds me with it all the same, has been taken by their flying beasts, their amalgamations of vampiric flesh and blood, formed by your people and mine; the Gargoyles."
The vovoide pauses to take another sip of his goblet.
"They will suffer greatly for their errors, indeed, I have found them. A small, renegade chantry lies hidden in the nearby hills, I lie not when I say my lupine servants have picked up the scent of my love from there.
I dread what the monsters might do to her, they have no debasement they are unwilling to lower themselves with, they are all damned for the sins of their founder, who took the life and soul of Saulot.
Saulot the Virtuous, Saulot the Dragon, Saulot the Warlord.
The kindest of Caine's childer, do you remember his stories? The great lord who founded the clan of healers, who are bound by compassion and love for life, the terrible warrior who would create the warrior Salubri, among those most feared of Caine's warriors.
He who saved the world from the Baali and their demonic masters, he whose childe Samiel struck down the Baali fortress of Chorazhin. He who sought Golconda - bliss, purity of being, peace. He who perhaps alone among the gods, asked for forgiveness for his sins.
The monster Tremere, they found his lone crypt where he slept his ancient sleep, and they sang their greedy fangs into his neck. As gentle as he was, as tired of war as he was, he did not fight back, and so Saulot died. Now they try to slander his clan's name; they make to kill all his childer, his great grandchilder and their childer and then theirs. They wish to hide their shame."
Ruthven downs his goblet and stands.
"Come with me, I have to show you something."
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After intently listening to this piece of history, Daniel nods. "Show me then."
He goes with the vovoide.
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The vovoide leads Daniel to an opulent room, pleasantly decorated with the elder's banners and crests hanging from the damp stone walls.
Strapped to a stone table in the luxurious room is a dark haired man who curses the vovoide when Daniel comes in.
"You filthy artless dog! You'll burn in the hell of your own making for this, He will come for you, and He will bu-"
The vovoide reaches the man and passes his hand over his mouth, fusing the prisonner's lips together.
A panicked look envelops the prisonner's eyes as he continues shouting muffled obscenities at the Tzimisce.
"This is a member of the renegade chantry, I caught him lurking about outside my castle - no doubt one of the foul Warlocks' spies. He is yours."
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Daniel only answers the vovoide with a malicious gleam in his eye. He steadily approaches the Tremere with a dark look in his eyes.
A smile.
Daniel bites the Tremere's neck and messily rips out the man's throat allowing blood to spew everywhere. After spitting out the brutalized esophagus, Daniel begins calmly draining the man's remaining blood through an artery in his forearm.
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The Tremere jerks and struggles, helplessly, he tries to scream words through his fused mouth
A hearty laugh enters Daniel's mind.
Even more bloodthirsty than advertised! Wonderful, truly, thank you for your enthusiasm. But it seems he wishes to say something, perhaps give information in exchange for his life. Pretend you will grant it to him.
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Nah.
Then he remembers that this is a vovoide. Whoops; better listen.
Alright... Daniel approaches the prisoner and makes an open, circular wound around one of the man's wrists using his blade. With his main hand, Daniel grabs hold of the man's sliced hand and begins trying to crunch fingers in his palm and twist the bones of the main's hand around.
He leans over to the man and whispers, "I've never been very good at torture... But I'm sure that I can get creative if I was inspired."
He slides his hand over the man's mouth and unseals it.
"Say something we want to hear and we can skip all this so you may go home. I have errands to attend to and it would be unwise if you wasted our time."
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"Gah!'
The Tremere gasps in pain as his palm is crushed in Daniel's flesh-moulding grip.
With fury in his eyes, he growls out yet another insult:
"Fe.. feast on the blood of whores..."
Hahahahahaha, how spirited!
There is a nerve that runs down the brain, over the eye and into the ear, called the trigeminal nerve. It is highly susceptible to pain. Perhaps you should teach him just how much so - after you have your own fun with him, of course.
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Noted
Just messing with one nerve isn't messy enough, I'll use that last.
Maliciously, Daniel says, "Whores, eh? You must see yourself as higher than that. Let us see..." As he says this, Daniel messily removes the man's genitals.
Stepping away from the minor gore, Daniel thinks that he can do more with this. Feigning niceness, he says, "You should close your eyes for what comes next." Immediately, he removes the man's eyes. "Now then, let's begin."
Daniel does many things; he rips out all the man's nails, he cuts blood vessels in numerous places (And even cuts the man's hamstrings) and he even shatters the man's kneecaps.
Locating the nerve, Daniel places the tip of his blade onto it; prodding around just to make sure he's found it. Then he asks, "Words are stronger than anything. Your tongue is intact; use it to save yourself."
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The Tremere gasps, a defiant look in his eye. For a second it seems as if he's just going to spout curses - but he stops before doing so.
Closing his eyes, he whispers in a very low tone - "Help me escape, please. You don't have to do this, we'll reward you well when all is said and done."
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With the tip of his dagger, Daniel pierces the tremere's skin and prods the nerve that the vovoide had mentioned. After an adequate amount of screaming to Daniel's fiendish delight, he stops for a moment.
"Try again."
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Grimacing, the warlock replies, panting in some mimickry of human pain - "The chantry is poorly defended..."
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Removing his blade from the nerve, Daniel says, "See? It didn't take very much to make the pain stop."
Patching up the man's severed esophagus (which was torn out earlier), Daniel coaxes the man to continue his betrayal, "I can make the pain go away; bring you back to some semblance to what you were some time ago. All you need to do is talk some more."
To induce fear, Daniel traces the man's nerve with his blade, "You know, about the things I like."
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The mage mumbles something, too low for Daniel to hear.
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Daniel pokes the nerve in a quick jab. "Come again?"
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The man's eyes shoot open, they flare slightly with some power - the only warning Daniel gets.
"I said burn."
The room is suddenly engulfed in eldritch flames, the magic bursting from out of the Tremere's body. Daniel feels hot pain overpower his senses as his flesh melts in face of the blast.
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Well, shit.
That is the only thought that crosses Daniel's mind as he bails for the exit. He assumes that the vovoide can handle itself for now. Focusing entirely on escaping with his flesh still on his face, Daniel also spends the necessary blood to activate automatic Fortitude Successes for every turn it takes for him to escape the room.
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Desperately making his way out of the room, Daniel is immediately splashed with a tremendous amount of water the second he finds his way out of the burning chamber. The vovoide waits for him on the otherside, some small number of burns showing on his body.
"Disgusting creatures." He says, sneering into the inferno. As Daniel watches, two guards come by and begin throwing water down to keep the fire at way, while the vovoide starts to walk away, gesturing for Daniel to follow.
It strikes Daniel that the room went up very easily - admittedly, the Tremere used some sort of eldritch fire, but it was covered in cloth and drappings and other easily ignitable things. Had the Tremere been free, he might have actually succeeded in escaping.
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"Fortunate timing on your part, my thanks for that." Wiping the water off himself, Daniel adds, "I wish I could have had more time with him; to enjoy myself at the very least."
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The vovoide passes through a side door that leads into a winding stairway going upstairs. Whilst following him Daniel hears the vovoide's reply - "A shame, truly, but you shall have as many Warlocks as you desire when you bring down their chantry."
The stairway opens up onto the walls of the vovoide's castle.
The vovoide shouts a command down the moat - and Daniel sees several creatures begin to slide out of the water, only after he sees the damp paths they leave in the water does he recognize them as water elementals. The vovoide no doubt will use them to quench the fire in the castle - though it might take the elementals some time to get there.
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"While we wait for the disturbance the warlock caused to be quenched, I'll tell you what he revealed to me."
Hoping to any god thee may be that this information is relevant to this guy, Daniel explains, "The chantry from which the Tremere came is poorly defended. He did not say why or gift any more than that. What do you make of this?"
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The vovoide smiles, a rather unpleasant sight - "What do I make of it? I make that we should attack as soon as possible! You shall receive two of my best men and a pack of the rabid beasts that patrol my lands as soon as you leave. I already have the location."
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Daniel inquires, "Have these men already been altered to your tastes?"
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"They wouldn't be my best if they hadn't would they?" The vovoide asks, in an almost questioning tone.
"I shall heal your wounds, once you have fully recuperated you will depart immediately. Understood?"
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Agreeing, Daniel replies, "Understood."
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The vovoide smiles.
"Good."
With surprising speed, he reaches out - a thin arm seizing him in a painful grip, throwing him off the castle wall.
Before he can turn into a bird, Daniel strikes the earth - and is swallowed into it. He feels the earth close against him, and then everything goes black...
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Four hours later
Daniel feels water splash over him, and his eyes open. He sees a water elemental encompassing his lower body, cleaning the dirt off of him. His burns are gone.
"I hope you enjoyed your nap. Your command has assembled at the gate."
The voice is the vovoide's who Daniel turns to see standing behind him.
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Graciously, Daniel thanks the vovoide, "My thanks for all that you've done. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me before I leave?"
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"Show no mercy."
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Daniel nods respectfully at the vovoide and starts walking towards the gates to join his units.
As he leaves the vovoide's presence, he gleefully says to himself in a tone loud enough for the vovoide to hear, "Oh, the nightmares they'll have..."
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Waiting at the gate for him are two, surprisingly graceful, monstrous creations. One is a man with long bone spikes sprouting from around his shoulders and neck, as well as his wrists and elbows. Most apparent are the fact that his ribs have been inverted, and sprout threateningly outside of his body. He wears no shirt, showing off the full extent of the modifications to his skeletal structure - he looks almost like some sort of carnivorous flower, with the spines around his head looking like they would close around him.
The other does not appear to be human, though that could simply be a result of the extensive fleshcrafting. In place of arms are to long, deadly-looking scythes. It stands crookedly, yet Daniel does not doubt that it would be able to move very quickly. It seems to be almost all bone, with very little fat or flesh on it, bearing an alien look in its eyes. Its head has been modified to look like an insectoid's, and it appears to have some sort of outer skeleton. It moves in small, quick twitches and jerks.
The carnivorous flower-man speaks to him first, bowing briefly.
"Good evening my lord. We shall be your two escorts for this endeavour."
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In an attempt to be friendly and get close to these two abominations (Thinking this because they weren't made by him.), Daniel puts on his best smile and says, "Well met, friend. What are your names?"
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"I am Immanis Florem."
The other man introduces himself with a series of seemingly haphazard clicks.
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Addressing Imanis, Daniel asks, "What should I refer to this one as?"
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Immanis carefully replicates the exact series of Haphazard clicks the insectoid had spawned. Daniel doesn't dare try himself, he knows he would only fail and make himself look the fool.
The armoured man chitters in an almost satisfactory-like manner.
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Covering up his confusion, Daniel says, "... Noted."
"Continuing on, is there anything you two need to do before we leave?"
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Immanis shrugs, his armoured companion clicks.
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"Excellent. If there isn't anything you two need, then let us be off then."
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Daniel and the two servants leave the vovoide's castle, ready to accomplish their given mission. Soon, coming out of the castle, The group is approached by a pack of monstrous, seemingly feral wolves.
They quickly surround Daniel and his command, snarling threateningly as they seemingly prepare to attack. On his guard, Daniel prepares to do whatever it is he does before fighting, when the largest of the pack approached him, lowering its head to Daniel and seemingly waiting for something.
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Daniel addresses Immanis and the insectoid follower over his shoulder, "They're not attacking just yet. Have you two inherited any expertise with animals from your master's blood?"
In preparation for a surprise charge (should one take place), Daniel spends one blood point to buff his Dexterity for the scene.
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Without blinking, Immanis says - "They await your orders, sir."
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Daniel contemplates whether these wolves are expendable or not. As he does so, he gently caresses the top of the wolf's nose with the back of his hand; allowing the wolf to familiarize itself and become comfortable with his scent.
This could be fun.
Removing his hand, Daniel gently says, "You will follow us to where we're going. That is all, for now."
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Most fleshcrafted wolf packs are treated as scouts or daytime raiding parties by the Tzimisce. No fleshcrafted servant can truly be called expendable, them being much more effective for combat purposes than their more common unaltered counterparts - if only for the horror that their malformed bodies can so easily invoke.
However when considering the goal ahead of him, Daniel can only assume that as long as he succeeds in his task, the loss of any servants will be overlooked.
The large wolf that had come to Daniel accepts his pat, and then barks out something to the other wolves. The beasts disappear into the surrounding countryside, while the large wolf remains at Daniel's side.
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Turning to Immanis, Daniel asks, "Can you tell if it was already named?"
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"If it is, I would not know," the man says, shrugging. The slight motion causes the bone-spines along his neck and body to open slightly, before closing once more.
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Turning back to the wolf, Daniel informs it, "I will address you as Alpha, for now."
Taking a step back to face the entire group, Daniel concludes, "Unless there's anything else, let us move on."
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The rest of the journey is uneventful. As far as Daniel is aware, the enemy has not yet found him, Alpha has remained relatively docile and neither Immanis or the Insectoid have reacted aversely - unless the enemy possesses detective powers far beyond their own abilities, they will not have been discovered.
After some few hours of travel through the rolling hills of the transylvanian countryside, the hairs on Alpha's neck begin to rise and it stops moving. A low rumble escapes its throat.
"She says we have arrived at our destination, sir. Over the crest of that hill over there, that's where the chantry should be."
The bones on his wrists all move towards the direction he raises his arm towards. The insectoid clicks and stretches out the scythes in its arms.
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"The first order of business would be to make sure that the chantry doesn't have any escape routes. Unless we face an unpleasant encounter, we should take the time to check the surrounding areas for their hidey-holes."
With a malevolent grin, Daniel also says, "We wouldn't want any to survive, would we?"
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The wolf looks at him strangely, then barks something to Immanis.
"Ahem, sir, the wolf asks if you've ever actually seen the chantry before?"
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Whoops
"Would you happen to have a description of it?"
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"Perhaps it would be better for us to move the remaining ten or so metres before it is within eyesight?" Immanis asks.
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OOC: ... Crap; wasn't within eye sight.
BIC: Daniel takes the 10m walk for the chantry to be in sight and sees...
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Cresting the side of the hill, Daniel prepares himself to see the great Tremere chantry that has so horribly plagued his vovoide, to do combat with sorcerers whose will and magic was enough to frighten a monster of centuries - only to find nothing. Over the hill there no chantry, no great castle, no towering spires of magically raised structures, there is but more empty rolling hills, and, at the edge of his sight, what appears to be little more than a hut.
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Looking back to the others, Daniel says, "We're all probably well versed enough with... Tremere... To know that that isn't a hut. Thoughts?"
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The wolf barks.
Immanis translates as usual:
"He says that the hut over there is indeed a hut, sir."
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Feeling a little ridiculous, Daniel says, "Alright, then. Let's move on then."
The moment they get within 50ft of the hut, however, he uses the Path of Spirit to scan around the area. He does NOT trust the tremere.
OOC: Translation: After years of conditioning, YOU trained me to not trust tremere.
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They approach the hut undetected. 50 ft away Daniel silently calls for a stop, where he uses Path of the Spirit to look into the small structure.
Inside wait two gargoyles, hideous squat creatures with small wings that cannot possibly help them fly, heavy as they look and small as the wings are. Along with the gargoyles is an attractive young woman who Daniel recognizes as the one he was sent here to rescue. She does not appear to be bound but there is no way she could escape the gargoyles even if she could escape.
After a moment, a thought occurs to Daniel... this is pathetic. Two gargoyles in a hut? In what world is this a chantry? That old vovoide was full of shit.
-
Daniel tries to figure out what kinds of gargoyles they are. (OOC: You know, Sentinel, Scout or Soldier.)
-
Daniel, not having any knowledge on the Tremere beyond what the vovoide had given him, is unable to make the distinction. The Tremere are a new clan after all, and a secretive one at that. Little is known about them.
-
OOC: Shit.
BIC: Turning to the group, Daniel relays everything he saw. "Do any of you have prior knowledge or experience with these types of creatures?"
-
They all collectively shrug.
-
"Well, who would be opposed to drawing out those two statues roaming on the inside out here. This way, we can fight on land that isn't theirs."
-
"It is your decision, sir."
Daniel is in command of this group after all, whatever he says goes.
-
He looks to Alpha, "Summon your pack. I want you to ransack that hut and draw them out."
Turning the the rest of the group. "When they come out to face us, we will strike. If there are preparations you two do before combat, now's the time. Let's move."
Taking his own advice, he spends three blood points to buff each of his physical attributes by one and then spending another blood point to change into a grizzly bear. All this in preparation, of course.
-
The operation starts off well. Daniel, Immanis and the Insectoid wait at the top of the hill, looking down at the hut while the wolves flush the gargoyles out of the hut. Using the Way of Spirit, Daniel keeps track of the situation from his place on the hilltop.
The Alpha barges in immediately through the front door, snarling and barking in a wildly intimidating fashion while two of her lessers rush in after the gargoyles. The woman shrieks and backs away into a corner within the room, while her guards move in front of her to stop the wolves from attacking. The gargoyles seem inept to Daniel's eye, as they seem to have difficulty handling the beasts.
The other two wolves break into the hut and one of the gargoyles smashes open the back wall, grabbing the girl as he does so and preparing to fly away. The other stays back and keeps the impromptu exit shut off, holding off Daniel's wolves.
-
Daniel immediately spends three blood points to buff his Dexterity (even if it's for only a turn) and attempts to charge and maul the gargoyle that's attempting escape. Also making the effort to not accidentally rip the lady in two as well.
Before doing so, he throws a speedy look at Immanis and Mr. Click Click as the best signal he can muster; this and a growl. Hopefully, those two get the message and try to attack the gargoyles to safe the lady.
OOC: I'm off to camp now. I'll check back in two weeks. If fatigue will allow, I may even check back in five hours. Let's hope that RNG Jesus is on vovoide's side; lest his pawns fail.
-
Mr. Click Click dashes ahead of Daniel, moving far more quickly than the vambear and easily clearing the distance between himself and the gargoyle. The flying statue had already taken a running start by then and had taken off with the girl - but Click leaps through the air and drives its scythes into the gargoyle, bringing it down by virtue of its weight and the pain it was causing.
The gargoyle drops the girl, where she lands unharmed - it was a short distance after all - and begins flying upwards with Click, grabbing the insectoid into a clinch.
Meanwhile, in the hut, two of the wolves dart forward at the gargoyle, going for its legs. The statuesque vampire does not bother with any finer maneuvers and simply outright attacks the beasts before they can deal any significant damage, grabbing one of the wolves and launching it straight through the hole in the wall, then braining the other with a fist that could crush marble.
Daniel and Immanis catch up to the girl, who looks at them both with plain fear.
"Good evening madam." Immanis says, bowing servilely to her, the spines along his body rippling as he does so.
-
Daniel simply attempts to rip the gargoyle that tried to fly away in half with Mr. Click Click while Immanis handles the girl. The wolves can surely hold out for a few more moments.
-
Daniel leaps through the air and swipes at Click - only to miss by the skin of his teeth. The gargoyle escapes the Gangrel, though it still struggles against Click up in the air. The thing fights ferociously against the gargoyle, trying to escape its grasp, but its claws are doing little-to-no damage to the durable creature's body, and it is too strong to escape. It flies ever higher into the air, by now Daniel supposes it is around a hundred feet into the air.
It's right about then that he realizes something's burning. What the hell?
Daniel feels a distinct and frightening heat behind him. Turning in surprise he sees and smells Immanis burning, his few clothes having been caught on fire, and the woman he'd come to save chanting some dark spell in a forgotten language.
Goddamit, was she...?
Immanis does not wait around. He moves surprisingly quickly, his bone spines twisting about impossibly and ripping what little clothes he wore off of him, while he sped around her. There his spines, all along his body, locked around her own body completely. She could not move an inch, so completely was she held.
With perhaps some surprise, Daniel realizes that Immanis' spines had even stabbed through the girl entirely in some places. No blood exited the wounds. A test by Immanis to verify the dread truth, or petty vengeance for being burned? Either way, a mortal would have been horrifically injured.
Immanis holds his arms out, and the girl does likewise, not nearly strong enough to resist. She remains restrained.
Daniel then hears several howls of pain, as the gargoyle continues his vicious fight against the wolf pack. Turning his gaze onto them he sees another wolf dead and each injured in some way, though the gargoyle appears to be losing. The wolf he'd thrown through the hole in the wall earlier had come back, now he was being pulled down and attacked on every side. Several large open gashes, even now regenerating, riddle his body.
-
Daniel attempts to incapacitate the woman. He even spends a blood point to buff his strength to truly do her in.
-
The woman, entirely helpless (and unable to fight back anyway, making this whole thing more than a little unecessary), is struck once by Daniel with horrible force, breaking several bones in her body. Misjudging his strength, Daniel, in striking her a second time, strikes a killing blow - his claws tearing a massive gash in her stomach and eviscerating her.
Once more, however, no blood. It should have been spraying everywhere by now.
The gargoyle flying in the air rises ever higher - and then drops Click. The insectoid falls over two hundred feet to his death, its exoskeleton-like body in pieces once it hits the ground. It twitches slightly.
No reaction from Immanis.
The gargoyle comes down for a fly-by, supporting its other brother down where the wolves are busily fighting.
The gargoyle rips the wolf on his brother's back off, while the injured gargoyle at the door fights off the other two remaining wolves. From the look of it Daniel does not believe the wolves will last another few rounds.
-
In that case, Daniel moves on to helping the wolves.
-
Another wolf dies in the ferocious fighting before Daniel reaches them, finding Alpha and another wolf cornered in the room. The gargoyles are not cuaght off guard by Daniel, him being a great, big bear charging at them. They refrain from extending the fight and run away from Daniel before he can hit them, taking off into the air.
Daniel begins to feel frustrated. He has never before dealt with such skirmisher tactics. It's near impossible for him to hit the gargoyles as is. Though the gargoyles cannot touch him either.
They now both hover in the air above him, almost mockingly.
-
They can't hit Daniel if they're in the air. He just waits around then, allowing the coterie to recover. It's just become a game of chicken.
-
Not quite. The gargoyles are perfectly capable of swooping down, punching Daniel in the face, and then going back up. They don't, however, wary of the bear's claws.
The gargoyles make no attempt to attack Daniel. They stay in the air, watching him, their never tiring vampiric muscles working constantly.
Immanis has the injured girl slung over his shoulder, careful to move his bone spines so that they do not stab through her.
"Master Ruthven will be furious when he finds out his woman has been turned. By a Tremere no less," he remarks.
Alpha and her remaining wolf limp over to Daniel and wait.
Click's ruined body lies somewhere in the field beyond.
-
Hoping for a quiet escape, Daniel begins to make his way back to the vovoide. Daniel remains in bear form until the gargoyles are out of site.
-
Daniel receives no such escape, the gargoyles stay locked on him for a while, until one leaves, flying far to the north. Daniel gets the distinct impression they wanted to be sure of where he was going.
-
Sourly thinking to himself, No way I'm getting those rejects from down here.
Remaining on guard left the gargoyle attack, Daniel presses on to the vovoide's domain. Anything that trails with him with be the vovoide's problem too. At least they'll be able to return an attack then.
-
Daniel returns safely to the vovoide's castle, where he sees the gargoyle fly off in a hurry.
-
Well, shit. I guess he'll find out that gargoyle came all the way here... One way or another.
Daniel returns to his original form and tells Alpha that he can return to where it came from. He continues into the castle.
-
Daniel finds the vovoide waiting for him at the very gate of the castle. He appears furious, though he does not mention the fact that Daniel got over half of the expedition killed, focusing entirely on the girl.
"What have you done?!"
-
"I incapacitated her because she was making use of the Thaumaturgy they taught her to make us burst into flames."
*Pause for Effect*
"The warlocks put her through their wicked embrace."
-
Relief fills the vovoide's eyes.
"So she is still alive? Perfect. Go to your chambers, I will have need of you tomorrow, and the sun will rise soon enough. Immanis, carry her if you would."
Immanis follows the vovoide inside, carrying the injured woman as he does so.
-
Thank my lucky stars for that...
Daniel does what is asked and heads to his chambers for his day's rest.
-
1199, February 13th, 5:30 AM,
Timisoara,
Domain of Vovoide Marcel Ruthven, of the Ruthven Line
Daniel wakes from another night's dreamless sleep. On rising from his coffin he sees Immanis waiting for him, spines and all.
"Good evening master Daniel."
-
Daniel stares at the ceiling contemplatively for a moment. He wonders if the gentle joys of existence will ever grace him with a good night's sleep ever again. It must be so easy for Vince and Wilhelm; having humanity. To rule your dreams alive or to rule you actions dead; that's the deal you're given before the embrace.
Stop whining and go have some fun.
You mean suffering? Do I want to be cruel and go make people squeal in pain? I guess I do want that. Time to get up.
Daniel rises from his coffin and calmly smiles at the vovoide's servant. "Did you rest well, Immanis?"
-
Immanis blinks.
"Yes, master Cebanu."
Pausing for a second, Immanis continues - "Lord Ruthven wishes to dine with you. His mistress has woken and her wounds have been healed."
-
"As he wishes."
Daniel calmly heads for the dining room and tentatively enters in search of the vovoide.
-
Daniel arrives to find the woman he'd brought back dressed in some rather resplendent finery, sitting calmly at the dining hall table next to the vovoide and sipping from a steamy mug what appears to be fresh blood. It's the same room where Daniel and the vovoide shared the blood of one of the vovoide's ghouls. No conversation can be heard going on between the two, they sit in silence.
Daniel sees a third seat and mug waiting for him on entering the room. He also notes (perhaps with some trepidation) that a fire burns at the corner of the room, a poker resting within the heart of the flames. Finely-woven tapestries decorate the walls.
-
This will either end very well or very badly for me.
Daniel quietly takes his seat and takes a sip from the mug given to him.
"Good evening."
-
The vovoide smiles at Daniel's appearance, his hairless face twisting itself into a rather unnatural grin.
"Good evening Daniel. This is Vivienne, I believe the two of you have met, yes?"
He seems almost jovial. The woman still says nothing, and sips at her own mug, both hands wrapped around the cup, thin, pale wrists peeking out from under a heavy shawl - almost as if to ward away the cold.
It's then that Daniel notes the near imperceptible tremble in her hands as she does so.
-
She's his bitch again? Excemplary!
Joining the mood, Daniel gives a cheerful look at Vivienne and replies, "Why, yes! We have met. I believe it was the time when we were rescuing you from those horrid warlocks!"
-
The girl's grip tightens on the mug and her hands shake even more violently. Blood spills both onto the table and onto her, a fair amount covering her dress. Daniel sees the look the vovoide gives his blood-soaked bride and cannot help but feel just the slightest bit uncomfortable.
"They... were not horrid."
The vovoide smiles a smile that chills Daniel to the bone. The fire burning a few feet away does nothing to warm the room. There's nothing human in his face.
-
Probably the wrong approach...
Assuming a neutral demeanor, Daniel replies, "I'll take your word for it."
Looking at the vovoide, Daniel asks, "How has your evening been up until now?"
-
"Truly wondrous!" The vovoide exclaims weirdly, his emphasis swinging strangely around the two words.
"Darling love of mine, tell our honoured guest what you were telling me just before he arrived, please!"
The girl's hands keep on shaking. She places her mug down firmly and presses against the table to stop her trembling.
"Please don't do this", she says, almost begging him under her breath.
-
This is either going to hurt me or her. No way there's going to be a happy ending.
Daniel politely smiles and lets the chips fall where they may.
-
The vovoide's grin stretches even wider, a psychotic look filling his eyes.
"It appears that not only has my darling Vivienne been turned into a foul Warlock, but that she has fallen in love with her sire! She asks me to turn her free!"
The vovoide breaks down into a fit of roaring laughter, as if the idea was too humorous for him to seriously entertain.
Daniel starts at the sight of the blood tears rolling down the woman's cheek.
"Tell me - " the vovoide is interrupted by another fit of mad laughter, " what should I do Daniel?"
He stands ad grabs the Tremere by the hair, lifting her up with startling ease as she cries out in pain.
"Should I set her free?"
He turns his mad eyes onto Daniel and, as if it hadn't before now, it occurs to him to be very, very careful with his answer.
The girl begins mumbling something, it looks like a prayer.
-
Daniel's mouth crooks into a twisted smile to rival the vovoide's.
"She's metamorphosed into... This. However, you know even better than I that flesh is malleable. Despite her change, she's all the same parts. Parts that can be reused to remake her anew."
-
The vovoide's grin does not fade in the least. He does not notice the woman's hand bursts into flame, or notice her hand flying towards his face.
"I see we are in agreement master Cebanu! Yes, we- " the vovoide is cut off as the slap connects and sets his face alight. Daniel never had a chance to warn him.
It occurs to Daniel to never, ever, at all, let practitioners of the magic arts start speaking or mumbling around him. This is what, the third time this has happened?
The vovoide releases the woman and brings his hands to his face, trying to pat out the fire while unleashing a howl of sudden, terrible pain.
The woman glances towards Daniel, disgust briefly present but fading quickly, replaced by a pleading look.
"Please, you have to help me! This monster will not stop at torturing me, one day you will displease him and he will visit the same horrors onto you. Help me kill him, you'll find friends in the Tremere for this! Please!"
-
Feigning benevolence, Daniel says, "If only that were true. The warlocks were never your friends and you lost the last allies you had in this world when you agreed to love them for their abhorrent witchcraft."
As he says this, he deftly walks towards her while spending two blood points. One to grow Fenrir's Talons and another to buff his dexterity.
He will spend this turn trying to grapple her. If she resists, he'll rend her with his claws.
OOC: I'm a tad rusty with the use of claws. I wrote this under the assumption that it'll take a turn to grow out the claws. If they grow as a free action, then he'll immediately charge her.
-
(OOC: Yep, takes a turn)
The woman recognizes his intentions the second goddamn claws start sprouting from his hands.
She immediately runs for it, Daniel chasing after - only for her to stop by the fireplace, grab the red hot poker that had been resting within, and forcefully making to crush the left half of Daniel's face with a sudden backhanded blow.
Daniel tries to back away but stumbles and accidentally falls forward, right into the path of swinging poker!
Daniel narrowly manages to resist the powerful desire to cry and run brought on by the Red Fear, but he cannot hold back a shuddering gasp of pain after the poker melts through his cheek and part of his jaw.
He is lucky, at least, in that his eye remains unscathed.
The poker sizzling with the blood from Daniel's cheek, the Tremere woman mutters another word of power and touches one of the many hanging tapestries in the room.
Goddamit, not again.
-
OOC: Well crap. Disregard the previous post then. I thought the poker got stuck in my face when I tripped.
Same as before, Daniel goes in to try and rip her to shreds. Once again, a blood point into dexterity and a willpower point to improve the aim.
-
The girl tries to run off but Daniel dashes in too quickly for her to get away, eviscerating her with ease. The woman gasps readily in pain but continues trying to run, powering through her injuries and using her hands to try and hold her guts in - dropping the poker as she does so.
She stumbles out of the room - it's then that the vovoide succeeds in putting out the fire - furious, though there is not the slightest hint of fear in his face despite the terrible burns adorning it.
"Where is she?!" he roars.
Daniel himself is finding it harder and harder to resist his fear, he wants nothing more than to run from the overly bright flames.
-
Spending another willpower point to resist the Red Fear (If he can; once again, I'm rusty), Daniel turns and shouts back to the Vovoide, "She's made it out of the room but she shouldn't get far on her own."
Then he chases after her to try and beat her into submission.
-
The vovoide begins to rapidly shift, his bones and flesh snapping into a different, more vicious form.
"GO! I will be out soon, my servants shall be out here quickly enough to aid you as well."
Daniel races outside the flaming room room gladly, nagging thoughts of fire painfully licking at his flesh playing around at the back of his mind.
In the hall, he sees the Tremere woman has not made it far, she moves uneasily and with her hand over her gut, trying desperatly to run and hold in what she can of her internal organs.
He sees her get to a door leading out to a balcony, fumbling with blood-slickened hands at the handle. Daniel is at her side before she can do a thing, his clawed hands grasping her by her hair and swinging her into the ground.
Viciously, the Tzimisce starts kicking the helpless woman, trying to completely beat her into submission for future tortures. She cries and begs for mercy and finds none.
Out of the door from which Daniel had come Vovoide Ruthven emerges, his body massively mishappen into a terrible fascimile of humanity, his many muscles bulging, his body covered in bone plates, moving as gracefully as a cat.
A wicked smile graces his face when he sees his former love's position.
The attack is quite unexpected.
There is no warning when the two gargoyles explode through the balcony door, each grabbing Daniel and pushing him down into the ground, dragging him along the stone floor until his back is bloody and worn down to the bone, stopping in front of the Vovoide.
Two imposing men walk in through the ruins of the balcony - one a man whose face lies hidden, wearing dark robes and carrying a large, glowing, rune-inscribed staff, with just the briefest hint of some thick blond beard visible through his hood. The other wears blood-red robes and is adorned by a glowing necklace, prayer beads are lined between his fingers and his pallitude is extreme.
A voice is heard, though it is not one Daniel recognizes - and does not come from the two men. A third, perhaps?
"Vivienne, my love! We're here, get up and run now! Please!
-
Spending three blood points on dexterity, Daniel charges the man in dark robes and does what he must to rip off the man's jaw. No tongue, no magical words; right?
-
While Daniel tries to clear the distance between him and the man in dark robes, the man taps his staff against the floor and lightning flows out of the staff and into him, charging him into a blindingly bright collection of energy.
Does Daniel reconsider his charge?
-
Very, very quickly.
Instead, he decides to book it for the halls of the vovoide's castle in search of additional aid in this fight.
-
Abruptly stopping his charge, Daniel turns to run away and get help. He fails to regret his cowardice when he sees the vovoide charge up towards the lightning magus only for the bearded Tremere to flit in front of the horrifying Tzimisce and touch the tip of his staff to the horror, the blast of energy ripping a sizeable hole in the Ruthven's chest.
The sight becomes more unnerving when blood mist starts to flow out from the hole in the vovoide's chest, collecting into three twisting streams that flow toward the man with the prayer beads all the way back. The blood flows into his hands and out of sight within the sleeves of his robes.
-
Yup; Daniel doesn't give a crap that the vovoide is getting ripped in half. He continues rushing out the door in search of the vovoide's other servants so that he may can throw them into the fight to get massacred.
-
Daniel quickly runs into several many guards which he sends running down the halls after their master before running into Immanis.
"Sir, what's happened? Is the vovoide okay?"
-
Such delicious ends that could be...
"He won't be if we don't help him. He's in the dining room; go to his aid, Immanis!"
-
Immanis considers this for a second, "Daniel, go back to help the master, I will send for greater aid. I know this castle and its halls better than you."
Immanis puts his hand on Daniel's shhoulder, carefully avoiding putting bone spines into Daniel's body.
"Let's do what we can sir."
He then takes off running, quickly turning away into a side corridor.
-
Alright. ::)
Daniel heads back to the fight seen and stealthily peeks into the room to see what's transpired in his absence.
-
On his return Daniel finds himself almost overwhelmed by the lingering scent of charred flesh. Moving carefully into the hall, he sees the remnants of a vicious fight - The two gargoyles have been incapacitated, their wings bent and torn in such a way that he is certain neither will ever fly again, impaled on their own spines and barely able to move. Large sections of the wall are missing, but many bodies surround the area. Mostly, the bodies of the guards that Daniel had sent this way. Some look like dried up husks, they died unpleasant deaths - though it is questionable whether or not their deaths were better or worse than the guards who died from what appear to have been lightning bolts hurled at - and through - their bodies.
Neither the vovoide nor any of the Tremere are currently visible. They cannot be too far away, however - not considering how many of them there were, with two of the gargoyles down the way they are.
-
Daniel investigates the scene, looking for where the vovoide may have gone. He makes sure to be careful as to not attract any attention to himself should he encounter anyone.
-
Moving out onto the edge of the torn balcony, Daniel sees a trail of spilled internal organs and some blood - perhaps a trail left by Vivienne, the blood coming from dead guards or the blood mage?
Just then, Daniel hears something approaching from behind him - turning quickly, he sees a small troop of schlatza led by Immanis - who stands upright near Daniel and says:
"Vozhd have been stationned at the gates, there's no way out of here."
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Daniel sees them! The small group of Tremere are dragging what appears to be the unconscious vovoide into a nearby tower. From what he can see Daniel thinks the lightning mage is limping.
-
"Send the schlatza after the bastards and accompany them for help. I will enter the tower from above and surprise them."
-
Immanis nods and sets off down the halls with the shlatza, off to go down a safer way.
-
Scary foreshadowing is scary
Daniel spends a blood point to turn into a bird and flies up to one of the open windows of the tower.
-
OOC: Well shit, didn't notice you edited.
Daniel shifts into bird form and flies his way to the top of the tower unmolested. It's empty of any guards, Daniel assumes they went down to fight the Tremere - if there were any here to begin with, that is.
-
Daniel returns to human form upon entry. He uses Way of the Spirit to scan around the room for traps and where the closest tremere are; assuming they're close enough.
Finally, if nothing stops him from doing all this, he uses Body Armory to fleshcraft his hand into a battle axe and then sneaks downstairs to get to the enemy.
-
OOC: Something wrong?
-
OOC: Nope, just insanely busy. I'm procrastinating right now though, so it's all good.
Sending his thoughts into the room below, Daniel finds that the Tremere have not yet reached the place. He takes the time to roughly shape his right hand into a battle axe and then sees them entering the top floor below him. They are dragging the unconscious vovoide with them, the girl is being carried by a young-looking tremere.
"Are you sure we can get your message to Mercurius in time?", the mage carrying the prayer beads asks.
"What other choice do we have!?" the thickly beared man roars back, "it's this or death at the hands of these savage scum!"
He walks with a limp, focusing on his leg Daniel sees that a hole has been crafted into the leg, the bone warped around it - as if the man had been punched there by the vovoide.
-
Daniel waits for the others to get into the room and begin attacking before beginning his flank. If the mages start casting any rituals of sorts, he'll surprise attack them while their attention is focused away.
-
OOC: Now when you say others, do you mean your guys? Because it'll be a while before they get here.
And if you mean the bad guys - how do you expect to flank people when there's no one to flank them with?
-
OOC: Fark it then. Let's see how tough the vovoide really was on his own!
BIC: Daniel surprise attacks the mage who isn't holding the vovoide's ex-girlfriend and buffs his strength (+3) to really crunch the guy.
-
The mage carrying what appeared to be prayer beads is completely and absolutely caught off guard by the horrid creature waiting behind the door for him, swinging its axe arm into his face. The hand/axe cleaves through his skull like butter, and he is summarily incapacitated by the near fatal blow.
The thickly bearded mage with the limp looks with no small bit of surprise, before beginning his own incantation. The young man holding the vovoide's "ex-girlfriend" looks on horrified, but grabs a dagger from his belt with a trembling hand.
-
This can only end well... :-[
With a manic blood-thirst in his eyes, Daniel cries, "Die... DIE!"
He swings his axe in the direction of the bearded mage, once again spending three blood points to buff his strength.
-
Daniel's arm swings through air, smashing into the floor and sending stone chips flying as the Tremere takes a dive to avoid the undoubtedly fatal blow.
His arms bright and coursing with some unknown energy, the mage points at him and a deafening crack sounds as lightning springs forth impossibly fast to strike him full in the body, flinging him through the doorway he'd come in from. Picking himself up Daniel lets go a groan of discomfort, taking a brief moment to examine his body before standing. Some bad electrical burns adorn his left shoulder and his back feels a little twisted. Nothing a little blood shouldn't fix.
The smell of smoke drags Daniel's attention back to his enemies.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he hears the lightning mage yell from inside the room.
"I'm sorry! He spooked me and you got him out so fast..."
Definitely something burning. The younger one must have set part of the room on fire.
-
Three blood into health before unrelentingly bursting back into the room and axing the lightning mage. The youngling is next...
-
As the blood diffuses into his wounds to reshape his injuries, a dull ache springs into action within his mouth, as a raging thirst suddenly overtakes him.
Ah, he has used quite a bit of blood lately, hasn't he...
Daniel springs back into the next room - but this time the lightning mage is ready for him, and sends a blast ripping through the doorway before he even fully enters line of sight. Daniel is forced to back away or take another one of those lightning blasts right to the face - likely not a pleasant outcome.
Inside the room, the magus taunts him - "Come in here you ugly Farker, you too much of a little bitch to fight when the other guy knows you're there?"
-
Daniel looks around the room for any furniture. He also checks what the walls are made of and their overall composition.
-
The room is lacking in furniture, and only contains an empty rack that must have been meant to hold bow staves or other weapons in times of siege. The place must be meant as a defensive position to attack from in a siege, the slits in the walls and an rusted orange-brown grate over the entrance of the tower through which one could pour boiling oil only serving to support Daniel's assessment.
-
"You think you're safe from me? You die now, filthy mongrel!"
Daniel throws the rack through the doorway as a feint without stepping into sight himself. Should the coming lightning foolishly strike the flying furniture, the murderous vampire will charge through the doorway once more and attack the lightning mage. (Spend 2 blood on strength for that one! ;) )
-
If you look at your sheet you're already at max strength :)
-
Noted. In that case, one blood into Fortitude should Daniel get stricken by a spell of any sort (particularly that pesky lightning). Finally, one Willpower point shall be spent to help assure the odds of striking the lightning mage with that happily lethal axe Daniel created.
:)
-
Daniel's clever use of the stand works well, throwing it in it is immediately blasted apart by a powerful surge of energy exiting the mage's palms. Bits of wood fly into Daniel's face, obscuring his vision as he rushes in right after the stand, roaring and madly swinging his axe-hand. The mage lets loose another surge of energy that strikes Daniel square in the chest stopping him in place for a bit, stunning and numbing him from the sudden shock.
It lasts but a moment. Daniel's muscles unlock and his axe continues swinging. He could feel the desperation in the eyes of the magus in the moments before his death, and then nothing at all when his hand obliterates the man's body.
The smell of smoke still pervades the room. Swinging around, Daniel sees the boy clutching the hand of the woman, his lips pressed against her knuckles. He looks like he might be crying.
She is currently lying down in a bed of fire. Whether it's what the boy lit accidentally, what he lit now, or of her own making Daniel cannot know. What he does know is that he has been robbed of a prize. She'll die before he can put the fire out.
At least the vovoide is still alive. Probably?
-
Daniel moves to the lightning mage's corpse and mutters, "Bastard." Before drinking his fill of the dead man's blood.
Once done, he heals himself of what he can before scavenging any blood from the remaining mage except for the woman. Respect to a vovoide he might still care of her body's dignity. Well, that and he doesn't want to insult someone who may very well kill Daniel at the drop of a hat.
Activating his Way of the Spirit (spending the standard willpower point necessary to do so), Daniel begins stealthily searching around the tower for the rest of the vovoide's flock.
-
Daniel wouldn't have had much opportunity to do anything to the girl, her having killed herself in the fire and being burned to ashes.
The young man gets up and tries to run when Daniel starts to drink the dead lightning mage's blood.
-
Crap. Can't have any reoccurring villains.
Daniel stops drinking, making do with whatever he got in that moment, and chases down the lone mage. His death will be slow and bloody.
-
Daniel releases the dead Tremere and chases after the one still living, bursting through the doorway and running down the young vampire.
Before he attacks, however, Daniel manages to pick up some chatter from the mage, and sees a glow forming around the tips of his fingers
-
One blood into Fortitude and a willpower point into boosting initiative so I can end that bastard before he lets off a spell.
-
Daniel surges forward, prepared to savage the mage - only to have a bit of fire flare up before his eyes when the mage turns, prepared to send a fireball off towards him! His resolve fails him at the sight of the inferno prepared to burn him down, and he begins to flee... but stops.
It would be a disgrace to run now. He would only be cut down from behind, and what kind of an end would that be to one such as him? (Spend additional willpower point)
When he turns his head back onto the mage, he finds the lad's fire is barely a weak handful of heat, nothing to fear. He launches it at Daniel and the fire begins to eat away at the gangrel's clothes. Daniel moves quickly and rips open the boy's stomach, reaching up through his ribcage, seizing his heart and tearing it out, crushing it in his clawed hands as he does so, destroying the seat of the Tremere's vampiric powers.
He is still on fire, however. Right now just his clothes but in seconds it will be him the flames start to consume...
-
Daniel stops what he's doing, drops to the floor in the prone position, and starts rolling around on the floor to suffocate and put out the flames. More blood into Fortitude should the need arise.
-
(Blood points in fortitude only guard against physical damage. Fire, Faith and Sunlight remain immune to the automatic fortitude successes).
Daniel's rolling proves to be largely innefective, the flames persisting through the temporary choking and starting to eat away at his flesh as well as his clothes. He resist the flames for now, however - and is soon saved by a large large body of water that seems to fall upon him from literally nowhere.
-
Well, that settles that.
Daniel bolts up immediately to confront who threw the water.
OOC: Too many Warhammer 40k rules swimming in my skull... Whoops!
-
It seems no one. The vovoide stands at the doorway, tall, healthy and hale (apparently) once more, showing no signs of pain despite the fact that he had been beaten and incapacitated mere moments ago.
The water that quenched the fire around Daniel recollects itself. It takes Daniel a second but he recognizes it as one of the vovoide's elementals.
"A GREAT success! Fantastic! Stupendous!", the vovoide says, his voice carrying a forced manic happiness not unlike the voice he'd used when speaking to his "lady love".
-
"They're all dead. All is well, then?"