[Paris July 15th 1231, 10:00 PM] [It has been six months since Gerard and his compatriots had been brought before Mithras and executed and the alliance between Mithras' court and the Court of Love had been finalized. Now, Matriarch Salianna has invited the five of you to the Court of Love for her summer court festivities. As you enter the grand hall where Matriarch Salianna holds her court, the stark contrast between her court and Mithras' is instantly obvious. There are long, grandly decorated tables with benches running down the side. The guests are all dressed in fine garments in a variety of bright, expensive colors. Matriarch Salianna herself sits on a beautifully adorned throne and is dressed in a bright red dress made of imported silk, a material some of you may never have seen before. She is one of the most beautiful people any of you have seen. She has thick, dark hair, which is tied up in elaborate braids around jeweled hairpieces. There are well dressed servants who, rather than simply bringing glasses of blood, are offering their own wrists to various guests. The servants are cycled periodically so that they do not suffer any severe effects for the loss of blood. Additionally, there is actual food being served, both poultry and beef are served as well as fresh baked breads. Several kindred seem willing to use their own blood in order to partake of eating said food. You are all guests of honor, and, as such are offered a spot at the table closest to the Matriarch herself. Mithras is in attendance as well, and he has been giving a slightly smaller throne next to the one that Matriarch Salianna is seated in.] [Begin] * Moriel is not at all pleased to have been dragged into - or at least close to - the spotlight. Not that anyone can tell. He watches the room with the same vague, unfocused gaze he did the last time he was required to attend this kind of soiree. * Rolf probably has been pushed to clean up a little, so he looks a little less scruffy, his leathers look like they might be newish, and aside from filling up on willing blood he is actually eating food, because meat is great. * Eliana is seated, possibly next to Moriel, and rather out of place, as she's dressed essentially like she always is - just with marginally better quality fabrics. Even though she worked quite hard on her hair for the evening, her hood's up, the gloves are on, and the first servant to come over and offer his wrist gets a cool look followed by a curt "no". * Moriel has not dressed up, but then, his usual clothing is fairly presentable, if simple. The black on black probably sticks out in this gathering, however. * Thalaba dressed in bright colors befitting the occasion and is seated with the others. Her attention doesn't linger on any one thing, wandering randomly from people to objects in the room. * Eliana eyes the food. And Rolf. Eating the food. "Does it taste good?" she asks, curiously. * Rolf nods a little absently and says, "Yeah, they got... somethin', not sure I ever tasted it on meat before." He swallows, then says, "Might as well try some, s'goin' to waste either way." * Eliana wrinkles her nose slightly. "No doubt." She glances around. "This court is quite lavish." That said, she reaches over and cuts a small piece of beef off with her knife before spearing it with the tip. She brings it over, sniffing cautiously, before tasting it. * Moriel 's gaze wanders across the eating experiment and then away again without any pause or shift in expression. Yeah, and if we're gonna have to be here... gotta be hospitable, right? * Rolf scrunches his face up. "That ain't right. There even a word for that?" * Eliana chews and then swallows, because that's often what one does after chewing. "Beef, right?" she hums, maybe to herself and maybe to Rolf. "Smoky, sharp, very orange-red." Pause, and she focuses on Rolf. "What?" * Rolf shrugs and says, "Bein' a good guest." He takes a bite of bread and chews , uh, obviously. Those words work fine. * Eliana eats the rest of the meat that she speared, because why not (and there's not much of it anyway) before wiping her knife off. Well. Off to be a good guest. * Rolf looks out over the room and says, half to himself, "Y'know, I used to be in awe of this type of thing. I wonder if it's as hollow when everyone's breathin'-- huh?" * Rolf looks over at Eliana. "Uh, right. Right." * Eliana raises an eyebrow. "Good guests mingle. Do you want to come?" She at least *seems* serious. And yes, if you were curious. It is. * Rolf closes his eyes a moment, then reopens them and nods slightly, "Ah, sure, fine." He stands up, about doubling his apparent height. "Mingle, and not knock anyone over." * Thalaba looks at Eliana and Rolf when they rise. "What's happening? " * Eliana smirks. "It's a start." She looks down at Thalaba. "We're off to mingle." "oh ok.. well have fun!" She offers them both a smile before her attention wanders again to the room. * Eliana wanders off, murmuring to Rolf once they make some distance, "She's so close to almost being a social butterfly." * Rolf squints a bit, then says, "She's... kinda like a butterfly, if that's what ya mean." * Eliana snickers. "Yes." She looks for some easy marks to throw Rolf at. * Rolf is very heavy for a projectile weapon. At least, that's what he'd think if thought bubbles were readable. [Eliana notices one of the Toreadors from her table wanders over to her and smiles slightly. She assumes, at least, that he is a Toreador, since he is very good looking and is dressed in way too expensive clothing. "Ah, Mademoiselle Casale, isn't it? There has been much talk about you and your group." He bows and then turns to Rolf and bows again. "And you must be Monsier Rolf... I am Monsier Bouchard, one of Matriarch Salianna's advisors."] * Rolf offers a slight bow and says, "You're right and, uh... you can just call me Rolf." * Eliana offers a proper curtsey and says, "Really? I hope the talk was at least interesting." [Bouchard nods. "It was, indeed, you are our guests of honor tonight, since you brought Renier's murderers to justice." He smiles and runs his hands through his very long dark hair and then the smile fades. "It was such a shame what happened to him."] * Eliana nods in agreement. "You must have known him quite well." * Rolf nods a little and says, "Framin' someone for murder ain't ever good." * Thalaba waves off a servant offering her a 'drink' and murmurs to herself "so things changed... interesting... " [Bouchard nods. "I did, yes." He looks over to Rolf and nods. "That is true. I am glad that your innocence was proven."] Were you friendly? I admit I didn't even know his name until, well... [Bouchard shrugs. "We really just worked together. Planning this alliance. Of course, now things have changed a bit from how we planned. It's a shame, because Renier was much better at managing affairs, that is why Matriarch Salianna sent him."] Then you must have a great deal to be proud of, even with his loss. [Bouchard nods. "Well, yes, indeed. Although, our original alliance was a bit different. Matriarch Salianna believes that we must do what we can to show our appreciation to Mithras, the current arrangements have our court a bit... nervous..." Before Bouchard can say much more, Mastriarch Salianna stands up and steps forward "Honored Guests, we have much to celebrate tonight. Six months ago Renier's murderers were brought to justice by five of our guests. Eliana Casale, Cosimo Castelletti, Moriel MacRae, Thalaba Malache, and Rolf. All members of Prince Mithras' court. As you know, we have also now finalized the alliance between our two courts. From this day forward, Mithras' court in London and the Court of Love will be allies. Whenever one of us is in need, the other will do what it can to lend support. Additionally, in appreciation for the diligent efforts of Mithras' court, we have sworn to aid the Ventrue Prince Jurgen of the Holy Roman Empire." She turns and bows to Mithras. "My thanks, Prince Mithras" And she turns around, "And we should all thank the five kindred who assisted in this investigation. May this alliance last for many centuries!" There is much clapping, though some of it seems forced. And Salianna sits down again.] * Eliana's hands clench a little during the speech, but it's under her sleeves so that's all good. She waits for the clapping to die down and din to pick up again before glancing to see if Bouchard is still there. * Rolf gets thanked, and he smiles a little doofily. Hey, he did good stuff! Yeah! [He is not. He has made his way back towards Matriarch Salianna.] * Moriel goes still during this speech. He doesn't look at Matriarch Salianna, or clap afterwards. He just waits, statue-like. * Eliana mentally shrugs. "Nervous, hm." She decides to head back to the others, unless another random Toreador blocks her path. [Nope. The Toreador are pretty much occupied with themselves.] * Eliana makes her way to the table, glancing at Moriel. Assuming he's still a statue, she reaches around and snaps her fingers in front of his face. * Moriel is not a statue, but he's not especially animate, either. He hasn't been for most of the night. However, he slowly focuses and turns to look up at Eliana. * Thalaba turns to Eliana when she returns to the table and murmurs quietly so only her companions at the table hear her. "It seems not everyone is happy about the terms of this alliance." * Eliana smirks at Moriel's attention, then looks down to Thalaba and nods. "Politics," is her comment. * Moriel wonders why Eliana snapped her fingers in his face if she didn't want his attention. He slowly untwists to his former position and goes back to observing the room with vague eyes. Do you know why, exactly? * Thalaba shakes her head as she looks back out into the room. "No... i didn't catch any details.. just that it changed a lot from it's original version." * Eliana nods, thinking. "Possibly because of her pledge to aid the Prince Jurgen." She slips back into her seat. * Eliana then goes back to sampling food she's unfamiliar with, assuming nothing comes up. [Session End]