[London June 12th 1230 AD] [You have all been invited to the annual gathering of Mithras' court. It is held in a large manor house in the northern moorlands.] [It is currently a couple of hours past dusk as you enter the manor. The ghoul at the front door bows to each of you as you enter and says, "Thank you for attending, please proceed to the great hall." He directs you to his left. As you enter the hall, you see more vampires than most of you have ever seen in one place (even if this is not your first time attending Mithras' court, which is the case for several of you). Every vampire in London is not only invited, but expected to come. The hall is a long room, at the head of which is a tiered platform on which rests a golden throne. Behind that throne is a velvet curtain. Thus far, Mithras has not made an appearance.] [Those in attendance are clustered in groups talking about what the night's events will entail. You have all been told that Mithras plans to make an announcement regarding the recent surge in vampire population in the city.] [Begin.] 06* Moriel is a short, slight, faintly androgynous man, clean-cut without being remarkable. The faint lines around his eyes suggest he's about thirty, despite his silvered hair. He's conservatively dressed in dark, simple clothing of good quality. From the way he wears it, though, it looks like that's habit as much as it is an observance of the etiquette of Elysium. 06* Thalaba steps through the door and looks around curiously, taking in the amount of people. She looks nervous for just a split second before it is erased from her delicate face. She has long red hair that is pulled back into a braid that is wrapped above her head and has blue eyes. She is short, just a little over 5 feet and has a slight build. Her clothing is good quality, dressed in an elegant gown. In whole she gives off an aura of nobility, until she sees the refreshment table and lets out a "ooooh!" before heading in that direction. 06* Rolf is a tall, burly, scruffy man, and in that way can't help but being a little remarkable given everyone else being so classy. He looks a Gangrel through and through, and that means even here he's wearing pretty functional cloth and leather, although not heavy clothing. After all, it is summer. 06* Moriel drifts over to stand near the edge of the room. His grey-blue eyes flit around, observing all the attendees as they swirl around one another. His face is closed. [A man, apparently in his mid-thirties enters the room, he is dressed in dark formal robes with very little color. He is fairly good looking and has short brown hair. He sighs and appears to take in the scene. Behind him walks a woman. She can describe herself.] 06* Cosimo looks in all things, to be completely average -- average in height, average in looks. Aside from his piercing, almost predatory grey eyes, looking at the room from under his dark hooded cloak, he would be completely unremarkable. Dressed in dark colors, favoring black, the only splash of color is a dark crimson sash tied at his waist. His black hair is well trimmed and pulled back in a dark ribbon, and his facial hair is meticulously trimmed. 06* Eliana walks in after the man, looking around with a cool expression. She seems in her late twenties/early thirties and is on the taller side for a woman, with long, dark curly hair, pale skin (a given, since vampire), and equally dark eyes. She's wearing long, scholarly robes and a hooded cloak - all in drab brown, dark gray, and black. Her hands are gloved and folded. 06* Eliana looks to the man she entered with. "" she asks, speaking in Latin. [The man, whose name is Cyril, nods. "" He approaches a young looking girl. She looks to be about fourteen. Her brown hair is tied up in a tight bun and she is wearing very exquisite robes. She remains in the corner of the room looking very intently at the rest of the vampires one by one as if in a trance.] [Cyril nods to the girl. "" Gravina looks up, nods "" and then she turns to Eliana and nods, but says nothing, and continues her investigation of the room.] 06* Eliana opens her mouth to say something, but well, she was both addressed and dismissed in one motion. Mental note: learn how to do that. 06* Cosimo looks around the room before heading towards the cluster of his fellow children of haquim [There are two Assamite in attendance, besides Cosimo one, the older of the two, is tall, dark man dressed in loose, dark gray fabrics. The younger is lighter in complexion and dressed similarly. They both raise their eyes to Cosimo as he approaches them, and the older man speaks in Anglo-Norman with a heavy accent. "Welcome, brother. I was told that you had arrived but we have not yet had the opportunity to meet. My name is Raseem."] 06* Cosimo bows to the two men, and then softly says in anglo-norman, "well met, brother... i am cosimo. i am still trying to perfect my mastry of the local tongue" [Raseem nods. "As am I. What think you of this city?"] it is large and noisy. easy to blend in, but danger lurks like a viper in the sands [Raseem nods and then looks up as the curtain behind the throne moves. "It looks as if our host is about to address us."] 06* Cosimo nods and then turns to look towards the curtain. [The velvet curtain moves, and a man that all of you recognize as Mithras emerges and as soon as he does, everyone in the hall, including all of you, fall silent. Not as if they were put under a spell, more like they just realized suddenly that they didn't want to be talking. He is dressed in the most exquisite clothing, dyed in dark crimsons and bright golds. He is good looking and extremely confident as he steps up to address the crowd.] 06* Thalaba finally makes her way towards the group of Malks, not really speaking to them as she too notices the curtain move. 06* Moriel notes the general turning of faces towards the curtain and turns towards it himself, waiting expectantly. [Mithras peers out over the crowd and enjoys the silence for a moment before speaking himself. His voice is powerful and carries across the entire hall with ease. "Thank you, my guests, for gracing me with your presence this night. It is all too rare that we can come together without the threat of violence... Unfortunately, a sickness eats at the city outside these walls. A sickness that if not kept in check could lead to the downfall of our great and royal blood."] 06* Moriel listens with an expression of polite attentiveness. So far, nothing has been said to change that expression. 06* Eliana eyebrow raises slightly. ["That sickness is us. We are many here tonight, many more than ever before. As the population of kindred grows in the city, I worry that we may fall prey to the chaos that comes with that abundance in population. We may be led to violence over land, over food. If the kine do not grow at the same rate, we may be left without a food source. This is my fear." Though, honestly, he does not sound fearful.] 06* Cosimo steals a glance at Raseem, curious to see his brother's reaction to the news. 06* Eliana looks... wholly unsurprised. ["London is yet a young city, and we have not yet knowledge of how she will progress, how she will grow. I am particularly bothered by the influx of new kindred to the city. Our species itself is growing very rapidly, much more rapidly than ever in the past. These younger kindred are an enigma. It could be that they are of great value to us. They represent new power that has been added to our ranks, at the same time they could bring chaos. They do not have the wisdom of age that the rest of us do, they have not learned restraint. I urge all of you who are new to our ranks to find a way to prove your value to this city and to our species as a whole, and, until then, to not draw negative attention to yourself. To the rest of you, I encourage you to remain calm during what is sure to be both a turbulent and revolutionary period in our great history."] [At that last word, the crowd feels the ability to speak freely again and Mithras takes his seat.] [Raseem, since Cosimo was curious seemed to be staring intently through the entire speech and now sighs and nods.] 06* Moriel 's eyebrows flick upwards, but then he goes back to scanning the room, taking in the reactions of others. 06* Eliana murmurs to Cyril, since her elder probably !zoned out through the entire speech, "" 06* Cosimo turns back to his companions. "your sigh is troubling, brother." [Cyril nods. "" [Raseem shrugs. "I am concerned by what he said about turbulence and revolution. I wish to know what he expects." He then bows to Cosimo. "Excuse me, I need to get a refreshment and speak with some acquaintances."] 06* Rolf lets out a low growl to nobody in particular, then says, mostly to himself, "It ain't like I need to be in this city all the time." 06* Eliana gives Cyril a very small smile. "" She looks around, taking in the others - particularly the younger vampires, as she tries to figure out exactly who Mithras may have been referring to. 06* Cosimo bows his head respectfully to Raseem. "be safe, brother 06* Thalaba looks around the group of Malkavian she had approached before the speech, thinking about what he had said. "Do you think he was talking about us?" She asks to the group, not speaking to anyone in particular. [After some time Gravina, too, takes her leave from her group to go and discuss matters with some other elders and Cyril looks to Eliana. "You will be okay here for a moment. I am going to get some refreshments."] [The Malkavian who answers Thalaba is Demetria, "He speaks to all, my dear and he is right. The future is turbulent, it is forever changing, like a storm and we are at the mercy of that storm."] 06* Eliana nods, waving Cyril off. "I'll be fine," she replies, proving she speaks Anglo-Norman. 06* Eliana wanders about, listening to small talk and partaking in some refreshments - though not without testing the blood with a quick swirl of an ungloved finger. 06* Thalaba nods thoughtfully at her words "The furture is indeed a constant changing thing, just the simplest of choices can change ones whole future." 06* Moriel acquires a goblet of blood to sip, as long as he's imitating an insect on the wall. 06* Cosimo takes leave of his companion to acquire some refreshments as well. [During a moment during the festivities when each of you are alone, an extremely handsome man in his mid-twenties approaches you. He appears to be nervous, his eyes dart from side to side and he quickly leans in to whisper to you. "I must speak with you urgently." He pauses for a moment and then continues. "Tonight. It is of the utmost importance. Meet me in the courtyard at midnight. Your life may very well depend on it." And he is gone.] * Eliana opens her mouth to respond, then he's gone. She gives the empty space a severe frown. * Cosimo tries to note information about the man who gave warning (clan, distinguishing features, anything helpful) [He is extremely good looking and dressed in very fine fabrics, if you had to guess, he is either a Toreador or a Ventrue.] I do enjoy my life. Mostly. * Moriel suddenly becomes far less interested in observing the movements of the room at large. His eyes unfocus as he considers this abrupt message. [Mithras' manor actually has a water clock, so you know exactly when midnight is approaching and it is approaching nowish.] 06* Moriel does his I'm-nobody-important drift towards the door and thence to the courtyard. He waits, lurking half in and half out of the shadows. Even lurking, he has the effortlessly perfect posture of years of courtly training. 06* Cosimo takes leave from the group he was chatting with, nodding respectfully as he departs. 06* Eliana glances at the clock. She gives it a sharp frown before stalking out of the hall. 06* Rolf tromps off courtyard way slowly, doing his best Guy Incognito impression as he walks out that way and takes a deep breath, looking up towards the moon. 06* Thalaba also notices the clock nearing midnight and excuses herself from Dementria and the others before making her way through the room and out to the courtyard as requested. Like she would have missed it, it was just too curious to ignore. [As you all exit the manor into the courtyard, you, well... notice that there are five of you now just outside the manor. The courtyard seems empty save for the stone fountain sitting in the center of it. You also do not notice, right away, the man who spoke to you. But Moriel, Thalaba, Rolf and Eliana notice a hand poking out on the ground from behind the fountain. It is limp and lifeless on the ground, presumably it is attached to a body that you cannot see.] 06* Moriel looks around at the others a little warily, then apparently decides to ignore them. He walks up to the hand and bends over to look at it curiously. [The hand is -indeed- attached to a person. and that person appears to be the man that approached you. He is covered in bite and claw marks, is very pale, and very dead.] Ah. 06* Rolf looks around, a small smirk coming over his mouth when he sees Eliana, and then walks over near Moriel. 06* Eliana walks to the fountain (and hand, and man) as well. "Hm," she says, and then looks at Moriel. "Did he approach you?" 06* Cosimo's eyes dart from one individual to the next, taking mental note and assessments of the other individuals as he keeps his distance from them, and watches for the man he was supposed to meet. 06* Moriel straightens. "Indeed he did. He said it was a matter of life and death, in fact." I wasn't inclined to believe him, but I appear to have been wrong. 01 His death, apparently. 06* Eliana looks to Rolf, who is now next to her as well. "How about you?" 06* Moriel 's teeth glint as he flashes a swift, sharp smile at Eliana. 06* Rolf says, in a low growly voice, "Yeah, this guy talked to me." [At that moment, a scream is heard from one of the upper windows followed by "Lord Mithras! Lord Mithras! Murderers! MURDERERS!" and within a few moments several vampires appear at the door to the courtyard with swords drawn.] 01 Ah. And now perhaps our deaths. 06* Moriel glances around. "How very unfortunate." "I was approached as well..I wond.." Her words are broken by the scream and she turns quickly to look up at the window and then to the guards with swards "Well I didn't see this coming.." 06* Eliana turns to look at the incoming swordpyrs. 06* Cosimo shakes his head. "seems the vipers don't need sand anymore." 06* Eliana gazes briefly, then looks back down that the corpse. [A moment later, Mithras himself does appear. He raises a hand and the knights lower their swords. He calmly steps forward and all of the vampires make way for him. "Young ones, this man was a guest of mine. Did you murder him?"] No. He approached all of us separately and asked us to meet him here. We found him like this. 06* Moriel gestures down at the corpse, giving it a look of mild curiosity. "I wonder who did kill him." indeed, sir, until all of this alarm, i was not even aware there was a corpse here. 06* Thalaba nods to what the others are saying "I was just told my life may depend on meeting him here at midnight" 06* Eliana is absorbed in looking at the corpse, even kneeling down to do so. [Mithras raises his hand for silence. "You were all here when you claim you found him?"] 06* Cosimo looks at Thalaba and raises an eyebrow. "you too?" Yes. 06* Rolf growls lowly, nodding his reply. 06* Thalaba nods to Cosimo and then again to Mithras 06* Cosimo nods. [Mithras nods. "Therefore you can all attest to each other's innocence?"] 06* Moriel nods. 06* Cosimo nods and says, "i can" 06* Rolf looks over at Eliana, then back to Mithras and says, "Guy was dead when we all walked up." 01 Seven claw marks, five bites, and not a drop of blood left in him. 06* Moriel blinks down at Eliana, looking faintly impressed. 06* Eliana stands, now, and turns to properly face the Prince. "Yes I can, I saw none here attack him and we all arrived at the same time. [Mithras nods. "This is the situation, then. All of the vampires who call this city home were in my manor except for you five. This man, whose name is Renier, is a Toreador from the Court of Love in France. I have no other suspects but yourselves, but I will give you an opportunity to prove yourselves. You will have until the next annual meeting of this court to find who killed this man, and prove your innocence. Since you all claim to attest to each other's innocence, if any of you are found guilty, all of you will be executed for treason, given that, I suggest you... work together. Until the point at which you have proven your innocence, you cannot leave my domain without my leave. Is this understood?"] 06* Moriel nods. "Of course." 06* Cosimo nods. "it shall be as you say" 06* Eliana frowns for an instant before her expression smooths over and she bows her head. "I understand." 06* Thalaba nods quickly "Yes and thank you for giving us this opportunity" 06* Rolf growls out an, "If that's how it has to be, then yes." [Mithras nods. "In light of these events, I will end tonight's festivities. I suggest that you look upon this as an opportunity to prove that you are worthy of the powerful blood that has been given to you, and not just lucky enough to be found by a powerful sire." He turns and walks back into his manor.] 06* Moriel 's expression flashes to a snarl for just a moment before his face closes again. 06* Eliana folds her arms as the prince leaves, then looks to the others. "It seems we're in this together, then." So it seems. 06* Cosimo nods. [The guards approach the corpse and drag it off and back into the manor. You can hear the booming announcement of the tragedy that has occurred and that tonight's court has come to an abrupt end.] 06* Moriel takes a moment to study his new...colleagues. i have already heard that at least one other of our number was approached by this man with a warning. were we all? 06* Thalaba watches the guards drag the body off and turns to the others to introduce herself. "My name is Thalaba" 06* Rolf growls out a, "And of course I'd get into this with you, Eliana. And here I had hoped he'd figure we proved ourselves already." He lets out a growling exhale that sounds like 'growlf'. 06* Eliana lets Moriel study her. "One would think," she says to Rolf, then sighs. "It seems trust is in short supply." She looks to the others. "I am Eliana Casale, and this is Rolf." She gestures to the Gangrel. 06* Rolf growls out a, "I can speak for myself, lady." A small pause, then, he clarifies with, "I'm Rolf." 06* Eliana smiles slightly, adding, "And he can speak for himself." 06* Moriel cracks a remarkably genuine-looking smile. "Moriel MacRae." There's a faint Scottish accent audible in the rolls of his Rs. 06* Moriel turns to the man swirling dark blue. He inclines his head and asks, "And you, sir?" 06* Cosimo looks at the assembled party warily, taking their lack of response as affirmation. "i am called Cosimo Castelletti" 06* Eliana tilts her head at Cosimo. "Hm," she says softly. 01 Sicily? 06* Cosimo switches to italian. 06* Cosimo bows respectfully to Eliana. 06* Moriel is not interested in exchanging life histories right now. "Pleased to meet you, " he says distractedly, looking around at the courtyard. "I suppose we should investigate what we can..." 06* Eliana smiles slightly, offering a well-executed curtsey as best she can in scholarly robes and changing to Italian vernacular as well. "" She turns to Moriel and switches back to Anglo-Norman: "But you are right." 01 The question right now is where do we start? Here, presumably. 06* Eliana snorts a little. "Presumably." We don't yet know where else to look. We can at least try to discover if he was killed here. seems reasonable 06* Moriel tries to look around without stepping on any potential clues. Since he's standing practically right on top of where the body was, this initially involves a great deal of twisting around. 06* Moriel points at a faint set of footprints. "None of Prince Mithras' guard was walking there, were they?" 06* Eliana looks at the footprints, then closes her eyes for a few seconds. "Not one," she says, before opening them. 06* Moriel raises his eyebrows at Eliana in curiosity, but all he asks is, "Do they look like they might match the feet of our Toreador friend?" [One set of them may belong to the Toreador, but they are five distinct footprints.] 06* Moriel cocks his head to one side, considering. "No...too many different ones, but...seems there should have been more of a mess if they fought here..." "So perhaps the deed was done elsewhere and he was left here for us to be discovered with?" 01 If that's the case, they must have known about this meeting. given the turn of events, that seems a rather accurate deduction 06* Moriel shrugs. "He spoke to five of us in public. It wouldn't have been so difficult, if he was being followed." 01 But he was terribly good at disappearing. Didn't you think so? He was. But there's always someone better. 06* Eliana nods. She looks at the tracks Moriel pointed out, then starts walking, following them backwards. he seemed rather nervous as i recall... eyes constantly scanning about, and even as he spoke, i do not recall if he ever actually looked at me So perhaps he knew he was being followed...why come to us, though? Maybe he thought we could help him.. that is why he asked us to meet him here, but the cry for help was too late. 06* Moriel is following Eliana following the footsteps as he's talking. "I'm a newcomer here, barely more than a fledgling, almost completely unknown. Who would ask me for help?" he at least knew he was in danger at the time. 01 Perhaps that is why. Besides, when he spoke to me, he specifically said that *my* life may depend on this meeting. 06* Moriel looks up from the footsteps to look around the rest of the courtyard. "Besides, he seemed to think *I* might be in danger. Do any of you see anything else that might be relevant?" 06* Thalaba nods "he said the same to me. But you can't think this was all planned.. that he meant us to be framed for something like this..." Well, he might not have...certainly it would be unusual devotion to be willing to die to bring one's plans to fruition. and to me as well. but even desperate men do not part with their lives to set up complete strangers 06* Moriel nods. "Indeed." That could have been part of the plan he wasn't made aware of. His part of it was to get us all here at the same time. Then they turned on him for the final prop. 06* Moriel shrugs. "Possible, but we have no evidence either way just yet." 06* Eliana follows the footprints all the way from the fountain and to a manor door on the other side of the courtyard. She attempts to open it. but why then would he be so nervous. for a plan of that nature, confidence would seem to be more in line as there would be no reason to believe oneself at risk 06* Moriel has followed Eliana to the door. "I thought everyone in the city was supposed to be in that hall?" it could have been an act. *She shrugs as she watches the others investigate the foot prints 06* Eliana nods to Moriel. indeed. a most convincing one, perhaps [The door opens easily. Eliana does lose the tracks before she quite gets to the door, they get too faded.] [The door leads to a large entryway from the back of the manor.] 06* Eliana steps in and looks around for evidence someone's been here recently. [It is now about 2 hours to sunrise] 06* Moriel steps in after her, looking around for potential entrances and exits. Well, shall we tell the Prince that someone stood him up at his own party? [There is an exit out the back of the manor, and then a couple of doors that lead to other rooms in the manor.] 06* Cosimo motions towards Eliana and Moriel, and looks to Thalaba and Rolf. "perhaps we should follow?" 06* Rolf growls, "I don't think he wants to know every step." 06* Thalaba nods and heads in the direction they went "Maybe they found where he was killed" 06* Moriel smiles. "Likely not. But I have no idea who would have been willing to do so. Do you?" 06* Eliana gazes down the entryway. "We should ask permission for this." 01 After all, we're still suspects. I suggest we inform him of what happened and then continue tomorrow - it's getting late. 06* Moriel nods. "A good plan." more than reasonable though a question... do any of you recall where the scream came from? it suddenly struck me that there was a scream just before we were joined in the courtyard by our accusers 06* Thalaba thinks for a moment, remembering how things happened "From above.. one of the windows." [As you head back to the great hall, Mithras is no where to be found. One of his advisors awaits at the door, "Lord Mithras is not to be disturbed at this hour. I can take a message and then I suggest you all leave."] 01 Please let him know that we'd like to meet with him discussing the investigation early tomorrow. [The advisor nods "I will inform him. He will send a messenger if he wishes to meet."] 06* Eliana nods. "Thank you." [And the advisor then escorts you all out of the manor.] [Session End!]