<@Dreol> [Buda, Hungary, July 6th 1262, 11:00 PM]
<@Dreol> [It has been a few months since you first came to Jurgen's 
court, and things have pretty much leveled out. You have been preparing 
for several months for your journey into enemy territory next month. 
Cecilia has painted her portrait of Anstace with her hoplite shield and 
presented it to Varyn. The court has been relatively calm, as minor 
pieces of news trickle in from the three fronts of the war. Tonight is a 
relatively standard night at Jurgen's court, and you are all doing your 
standard socialization.]
<@Dreol> [Then, the door to the great hall burts open and a massive man 
walks in, followed by two other massive men. Well 'walks' may be the 
wrong word. He stumbles in, dripping blood. His fangs are bared and he 
clearly is riddled with scratch marks. The two men behind him are even 
larger than he is. They do not have fangs, but they smell different. They 
are also sporting several deep scratch marks and dripping blood. All 
three drop to their knees upon getting into the room. The lead man growls 
out. "I need to talk to Jurgen."]
 06* Varyn looks up over want watches this display with close interest.
<@Dreol> [Jurgen stands and moves forward. "Who are you and what 
happened?" The man in the lead winces and manages to say "Viktor Wenrich 
of the Gangrel. These are companions of mine. Lupines who fought with me 
against the Ruthven's forces. We were attacked. Ruthven's forces are 
advancing west." Jurgen nods and motions for a few of his servants to 
take Viktor and his companions to safety and several ghouls appear to do 
just that, dragging the bodies out of the room. Jurgen then looks each of 
you, motioning for you to follow him as he retreats into his private 
planning room, where you have met with him before. Valerie also follows.]
<@Dreol> [Begin.]
 06* Moriel 's eyebrows rise, but he gets up and follows Jurgen politely.
 06* Varyn seems a little surprised but moves with the rest of them.
 06* Anstace peers around someone and, upon seeing Jergen's gesture, 
quickly catches up.
 06* Eliana just scowls, but she stands and walks quickly thataway.
 06* Rolf follows directions well! Also, it's about time something 
interesting happened.
<@Dreol> [You all enter the room and Jurgen is seated there with several 
empty seats in front of him. Valerie sits in one and he motions for the 
rest of you to sit. "So... this may escalate our plans. If Ruthven is 
already marching west, we may need you to leave earlier than we 
expected."]
 06* Varyn moves to sit in a chair sighing. "I see."
 06* Eliana nods.
 06* Moriel sits, too, eyes going distant in thought.  "Quite."
 06* Anstace sits down in one of the chairs and places her hands in her 
lap.
 06* Rolf nods with a slight growl. "Real question is if he's carrying 
what we're looking for or not."
<Varyn> I can't answer that from here.
<Moriel> When you spoke to him before, did he mention whether he was in 
the habit of using it?
<Moriel> We've found few records, and we're unsure of the reliability of 
many of them.
<Varyn> He's not in the habit of using it. 
<Moriel> Or carrying it with him?
<Varyn> I don't think he does. It seemed more a collectors piece at the 
time. That doesn't mean it hasn't changed.
 06* Moriel nods. "But it's some information, at least. Getting close 
enough to him to check ourselves when he's surrounded by an army seems 
unwise."
 06* Rolf rubs his scruffy chin, then offers, "Is he comin' this way, or 
what?"
<@Dreol> [Jurgen shrugs. "You heard what I did. Your mission is your 
business. I will deal with Ruthven if he comes this way, but you must 
decide when is good for you to leave. You may want to question Viktor. I 
had some ghouls take him to a room to rest. Valerie can take you there."]
 06* Eliana nods once. "We'll do that."
 06* Moriel rises and looks to Valerie.
 06* Varyn stands up too. "I will do my best"
<@Dreol> [Valerie nods and leads you all out of the room and down the 
hall to a large room with three beds. On those three beds are Viktor and 
his two lupine companions. Their wounds are bound up Viktor looks up as 
you walk in and Valerie speaks up first. "These are very special guests 
of Prince Jurgen. They have some question for you." Valerie bows and 
leaves.]
 06* Varyn glances at the others and fades into the back. He doesn't seem 
up for asking questions right now.
 06* Rolf looks down at all of them and growls out a, "So you're the ones 
who were holdin' him back over there?"
 06* Moriel stands to one side, watching the three of them quietly.  His 
eyes check over their injuries.
<@Dreol> [Viktor nods to Rolf. "That I am... But we can't hold against so 
many kindred."]
 06* Anstace looks at Viktor closely, leaning slightly forward to do so.
<Anstace> you were attacked by the scouts of the army, then?
<@Dreol> [Viktor winces and shakes his head. "No. Not scouts. There were 
too many to be scouts. They are marching west."]
 06* Varyn eyes Moriel a bit.
<Anstace> how close are they?
 06* Moriel doesn't immediately notice Varyn eyeing him, since his 
attention is on the three injured men and the people asking questions.
<@Dreol> [Viktor winces again and takes a minute before answering. "About 
one month away. It's difficult to travel with the nights so short. I, 
myself would not have been able to get here as quickly as I did, if I 
were not aided by my companions."]
 06* Anstace clenches her fists, digging her nails into her palms. "about 
a month," she repeats slowly. "can you be more specific?"
 06* Varyn breaks his look and shrugs paying attention to the news.
<@Dreol> [He shakes his head. "Afraid not, miss. My perception of time is 
a bit skewed. I was injured about a week ago and my companions managed to 
take me here, wrapped in a leather shroud to keep me out of the sun, but 
I believe they will be here in about a month."]
 01<Eliana> Are there many lupines who are willing to work with you?
<@Dreol> [Viktor shrugs. "No. Not really. My companions here were 
attacked with me, so we retreated together. I told them that I believed 
Jurgen's court would be our best chance at some help."]
 06* Moriel shifts and frowns almost imperceptibly at that.  "You'll heal 
with enough vitae," he says quietly to Viktor.  "What of you?" he asks 
the garou.  "Is there anything that might help you, beyond a safe place 
to rest?"
<@Dreol> [the Lupines have actually reduced in size to their normal human 
forms. One of them shakes his head. "We will be fine with some rest."]
 06* Moriel nods and subsides again.
 06* Varyn glances at Rolf. "Do we need any scout information?"
 06* Rolf speaks up to ask, "Did you see Ruthven at all? Hear anything 
about him?"
<@Dreol> [Viktor sighs and winces. "No. I did not see Ruthven himself. 
But... I can tell you that his army is so large because he has allowed 
the kindred in his domain the freedom to turn whomever they choose. They 
have been turning massive amounts of kine just to expand his army."]
 06* Eliana frowns. "That's both irresponsible and impossible to 
maintain."
<@Dreol> [Viktor nods. "He does not need to maintain it for long. He 
needs bodies to march. If they die, they have done their job."]
<Moriel> They'll have to spread like a plague of locusts...
 06* Varyn frowns heavily. "Fodder that will die one way or the other"
<Anstace> that is not a tactic.  that is desperation
<Rolf> It's a tactic when you think that you're going to make a powerful 
child of it all. His 'prophecy'.
<Anstace> a small band of trained, disciplined warriors will defeat a 
numerically superior force of conscripts
<Varyn> Only if they know where to strike
<Moriel> Depends on just how numerically superior the conscripts are.
<Moriel> And how good their ground is.
<@Dreol> [Viktor nods. "There are at least one thousand of them."]
<Varyn> That will continue to be a problem even after.
 06* Moriel nods, frowning.
 01<Eliana> We can send on information, but we need to know where the 
weapon is.
<Varyn> Probably where I last saw it.
<Moriel> A Kindred with a deep enough understanding of Auspex might be 
able to check, and find it if it has been moved.
<Moriel> They'd simply have to send their spirit walking.
<Varyn> I do not know any.
<Moriel> I do not know if there are any such in Jurgen's court, or if 
they would be willing to do so.
<Moriel> I understand there are risks.
<Moriel> But we might ask.
 06* Anstace nods.
<@Dreol> [One of the Lupines groans and speaks up. "Our tribe is camped 
out about half way between here and Ruthven's castle. They have been 
observing Ruthven. They may be able to answer your questions." He reaches 
over to his wrist and rips off a rope bracelet with a small talisman on 
it. "Show them this and they will trust you."]
 06* Eliana blinks, and she looks at Rolf, expecting him to take it. He's 
the werewolf buddy around here.
 06* Moriel looks at Rolf, too.  He's also the fearless leader, after 
all.
 06* Rolf reaches over and grabs the talisman. After a moment he asks, 
"Uh, just so I know... one of your tribe ain't grumbled about bein' 
helped out by a... 'wyrmling' or anything? A... Kresimir?"
<@Dreol> [The guy winces and shakes his head. "Kresimir is a tribesman of 
mine. If you have met him, that reinforces my belief that I can trust 
you. My name is Blazh. Mention me when you arrive at the camp."]
 06* Varyn keeps his fat mouth shut, but looks relieved.
 06* Rolf nods slightly and looks to Viktor, rubbing the back of his 
neck. "And he tolerates you? Guess I'm just not his kind of Kindred."
<@Dreol> [Viktor shakes his head. "I think, perhaps, it's a matter of 
there being a larger enemy."]
<Varyn> So it seems. Much larger than we thought.
 06* Rolf chuckles a little and smiles to himself. "Yeah."
<@Dreol> [Session End?]
<@Dreol> [Sure.]