[London, February 15th, 1262, 9:30 PM] [Mithras smiles as there are murmurs of discussion throughout the court, and then he raises his voice again "I ask you all now to tell me, how do you believe we should proceed with our efforts to stop our enemies?" There is silence for some time and then Gravina clears her throat and stands on top of the bench she is seated on, so that people can see her "We in the Tremere have decided to-" But she is cut off because Demetria, who is seated at the next table suddenly stands so swiftly and forcefully that the bench she was sitting on (which only contained two other kindred, because people tend to avoid sitting next to her) topples over. Her face is blank and emotionless and her eyes have turned completely black. She speaks in a voice that, while it sounds like hers is also much deeper and haunting: "Within the east there lies the greatest key Both friend and foe from it do surely flee A keyholder must choose the correct door For once it's used the key shall turn no more And From this choice will some great power rise A traitor born while yet another dies" After she finishes the last line, she collapses against the ground, and then scrambles to her feet. "Lord Apollo! You speak through me again... it has been so long!" And she collapses again to her knees in exhaustion... There is silence across the room and all eyes are on Demetria.] [BEGIN] 06* Eliana snaps her attention to Demetreia once the prophecy begins, and now is gazing at her with intense curiosity. 06* Rolf also looks strangely at her. She speaks in strange rolfs. 06* Anstace turns her gaze to look directly at Demetria. she blinks. "an oracle. this was unexpected" 06* Moriel looks over at Demetria when she starts speaking, his expression shifting from politely attentive to politely interested. <@Dreol> [Demetria doesn't move, but Gravina shakes her head and looks to Mithras who simply nods. "That was an unexpected interruption, but we shall continue as planned. Gravina..." Gravina nods "We, the Tremere, believe that the most important problem is that of Moloch's ritual; however, we believe that a small force should be sent to Transylvannia to acquire this Fang... the Order you have just created would be perfect for this task, my lord."] <@Dreol> [Mithras nods and then looks over to Demetria, who is still collecting herself and so moves onto the next table with the Cappadocians. One of them stands. "My lord, while I am the local elder, we are honored today to have with us a great elder of our clan, whose wisdom we would like to defer to. May I please introduce to the court, Augustus Giovanni." Another of the Cappadocians stands "Thank you, Simon." Augustus smiles at the court, "We, the Cappadocians, believe, as the Tremere do, that the ritual is the greatest threat. In fact, we have felt ripples within our own magic that deals with the dead and those ripples suggest a great force coming to power in the east. We believe the ritual is close to being completed, and we need to act as soon as possible." Mithras nods and moves onto the table that includes Anstace and a handful of Brujah. The other Brujah bow to Anstace, suggesting that she be the one to speak.] 06* Anstace looks at the others at her table, shakes her head and stands. "from the posturing at this table, i appear to have been elected to speak on their behalf as well as my own, my prince," she says looking to Mithras. "for my own interests, I feel that we should seek out the Fang. Two of their kind have agreed with me in this regard." 06* Anstace gestures to some of the Brujah. "The others, however, feel that now is a time to fight, and by sending forces to assist the wolves, we may capture our foes unaware." she gestures to the others. <@Dreol> [Mithras nods and there are nods of ascent among the Brujah. Mithras then turns his attention to the Gangrel table.] <@Dreol> [Caerel stands and clears his throat. "Uh the Gangrel have decided that the Fang is the highest priority. If we could recover the fang, we would stand a better chance of defeating the forces to the north. Without it, our chances seem very slim."] <@Dreol> [Mithras nods at Caerel's brief comment and moves onto the Toreador, looking to a beautiful young man who stands and smiles "As Matriarch Salianna and yourself have chosen to abstain from the decision, my lord, I will speak for my clan. The Toreador feel that the fang is the most important. With it, we would have much more power to stop either of the other two concerns. With regards to those, we feel that the ritual poses the greatest threat and is the most unpredictable, so our efforts should be focused there."] <@Dreol> [Mithras then nods and turns towards a table of gathered Ventrue, one of whom stands and bows. "Similarly, I will speak for our clan, my lord... The Ventrue have decided to support a plan to march north and retake some of our land from Carthaginian control whilst a smaller force retrieves the Fang from the east and delivers it to the forces in the north before the final attack on New Carthage."] <@Dreol> [Mithras smiles as if he approves of that plan and moves onto the Nosferatu. Richard de Worm stands, and bows "My lord, our sources have told us dreadful things about goings on around the Vatican. Disappearances of peasants, demon sightings, churches demolished and burned... we believe that Moloch is already weakening the barrier between the living world and Hell and we must move swiftly to stop him." That last part was said with great emphasis, but Richard bows, clears his throat and sits down. And finally Mithras turns again to the Malkavian table.] <@Dreol> [Demetria still seems incapacitated, so an older gentleman, that no one except Moriel has ever met stands and sighs. "I suppose I will speak for the Malkavians... We support moving north to end this war with Carthage and free our own clansmen from danger. In the meantime, they could be repurposed by being sent east to gather information about this ritual, but it is imperative that we retrieve them from the warzone." He sighs and shakes his head "...not that anyone is likely to agree..." And he sits back down.] <@Dreol> [Mithras nods "That was very enlightening. I have decided, on the advisement of several of you, I will be sending the Order of the Black Rose to Transylvania. They will leave in two weeks and will spend the summer with my friend and ally Lord Jurgen in Hungary, but now I would like you all to spend the night discussing what we should do with our larger force. Should we stop this ritual in <@Dreol> Rome... or should we move north and assist the Lupines in ending the war with Carthage. I will call for a vote at the end of the night. You may begin discussing" And Mithras immediately turns and sits down.] <@Dreol> [Session End]