<@Dreol> [Buda, Hungary, July 7th 1262, 2:00 AM] <@Dreol> [You have all just questioned Viktor and his two lupine friends who came in bloody and injured from a fight with Ruthven's army, who are apparently marching west. One of the lupines, named Blazh, gave Rolf a talisman and said to travel to his camp and present them with it to earn their trust. Now, you have all returned to court and must decide what to do next. There has been some talk of finding somebody to Auspex the fang and try to nail down a location.] <@Dreol> [Begin.] 06* Moriel looks around at the others. "Well, shall we seek out our host again and see if he knows of an Auspex user who might be willing and able to help us?" Or perhaps Valerie would know. 06* Varyn nods at Moriel. "Let's try...Valerie is it? No need to distract our host if we don't have to." 06* Eliana stalks off to find a Valerie and/or Jurgen. 06* Moriel nods and sets out to find Valerie, or someone who can point them to Valerie. 06* Varyn follows behind Moriel not sure about Eliana right now. <@Dreol> [Valerie is standing against the wall, looking nervous. Her eyes darting around the room and her arms folded over her chest.] 06* Anstace watches the other walk off in pursuit of Valerie, and follows simply to see what happens next 06* Moriel approaches Valerie and inclines his head in greeting. "Good evening again. We spoke to Viktor and his companions, and were hoping you could help us find someone else. Is there someone presently in the court who has an advanced enough understanding of Auspex to send their spirit walking and spy out where Ruthven keeps the Fang for us?" 06* Rolf grumbles, "And some kindred think turning into an animal is strange..." 06* Moriel glances aside at Rolf and his eyes lighten in a brief flash of a smile before he returns his attention to Valerie. 06* Varyn looks askew at Rolf. <@Dreol> [Valerie looks a bit startled when Moriel starts talking, but she shrugs. "I am unsure of the exact power of the kindred who are here, but I believe your best chances would be Harald" she points to the nervous looking Italian man seated with Francis and Viola, "Or Sunnifa..." And she points to the Woman dressed in leather and wolf fur who seems to be... talking to no one in the corner. "Do you suspect that Ruthven has removed the Fang from his castle, then?"] 06* Moriel shakes his head. "We don't know. But we do wish to know if he's begun to carry it with him." 06* Varyn shrugs. "I'm sure it will probably still be there, but it is better to check." <@Dreol> [She nods and continues to look around the room, assuming the conversation over.] 06* Varyn starts to move towards Sunnifa, she isn't in a conversation. 06* Moriel nods his thanks to Valerie and looks to the two Kindred she mentioned. "Sunnifa swore to help the war effort...perhaps we should ask her first," he murmurs to the others. 06* Moriel is too slow for Varyn! He follows, since they seem to have the same idea. 06* Varyn puts on his best smile and looks Sunnifa in the face. "Sunnifa? Valerie said we should talk, I'm Varyn." 06* Moriel comes to a stop at Varyn's shoulder and waits quietly. <@Dreol> [As you approach Sunnifa you hear the tail end of her sentence to... whomever she is talking with. "...I will of course bring honor to you. If Ruthven's forces are approaching, I will be ready." She then looks up as she is interrupted by Varyn. "Hm?"] 06* Varyn stops. "Oh I'm very sorry my lady, I didn't mean to interrupt. We understand you are committed to the effort and wished to speak with you when you had a moment." <@Dreol> [She nods. "As you wish. What do you require?"] We are looking for someone that might be able to scout ahead. Far ahead, without physically leaving here. <@Dreol> [She tilts her head. "How far ahead? Where do you require me to go?"] 06* Moriel still stays quiet, since Varyn seems to be handling things so far. 06* Varyn explains the situation in more detail and how he's pretty sure the sword is still there but it is best to check. <@Dreol> [She is quiet for a long while after Varyn finishes. "What you ask of me is very difficult."] 06* Moriel tilts his head and says quietly, "But important. The more we know of how he currently keeps the Fang, the more likely we are to successfully retrieve it." I understand that. I will be open to any commission you wish to call upon me in the future if you do this. 06* Eliana was about to say something, but at Varyn's offer, she looks at him with mild curiosity. <@Dreol> [She shakes her head. "I require no payment. Only glory. I will attempt what you ask, but the more information I have, the better. You wish me to travel to the tower where this weapon was held before?"] Yes. 06* Moriel nods. "And if it is no longer there, to attempt to locate it." <@Dreol> [She nods and rests a hand on the hilt of her sword. "That is considerably more difficult. What information do you have on where this weapon might be if it is not in its normal location?"] We have some unreliable accounts of Ruthven carrying it into battle. Since he seems to be preparing for a large conflict...it seemed prudent to check. <@Dreol> [She leans against the wall and then looks to her left. "Is this to be my grand quest, then? Is this what you wish of me?" She nods and turns back to Moriel. "Where do you suspect Lambach Ruthven is currently?"] 06* Moriel shakes his head. "According to the scout we spoke to, approximately one month's travel east. I'm afraid I can't be more specific." Is there more we can do to make this easier? I can give you directions to the castle. <@Dreol> [She nods. "Yes. That will be helpful, and I will need to prepare, of course. Meet me in the gardens at three hours past dusk tomorrow night."] 06* Varyn bows his head. "Of course. Thank you." 06* Moriel echoes Varyn's gesture and thanks. 06* Varyn will slowly back off and guide those with him away. <@Dreol> [Jurgen's Gardens, Buda, Hungary, July 8th 1262, 12:30 AM] <@Dreol> [As you all enter the gardens, Sunnifa is knelt down in the center of the gardens, in a clearing, surrounded by red tulips. Her sword is sheathed and layed out ceremoniously on the ground in front of her.] 06* Eliana looks around and, incidentally, kills any tulips she gets too near. Oops. 06* Varyn slowly comes in, a few seconds late, he's stretching and seems to have soot all over him. 06* Moriel approaches her, but stops a couple paces away. He bows and says quietly, "Good evening, Lady Dalgaard." 06* Anstace was in the garden at precisely at three hours and no additional moments past dusk, having taken every step towards ensuring that everyone else was aware of the time so as to not be late. when Varyn arrives late, she frowns. if you can tell. 06* Rolf doesn't kill innocent flowers! What kind of a monster is Eliana? His eyes glow in the darkness as he slouches his way towards observerhood. 06* Eliana is a cold monster, that's what. Not a cookie monster. <@Dreol> [Sunnifa looks up at Moriel and nods. "I am ready. Please sit."] 06* Moriel nods and folds himself into a crosslegged sitting position a little ways away from Sunnifa. 06* Varyn sits where indicated. 06* Eliana sits, because that's the thing to do. 06* Anstace finds a comfortable spot to sit as well, carefully so as to not crush the tulips. <@Dreol> [Sunnifa nods, once everyone is seated and takes a deep breath, placing one hand on the hilt of her sword and one on the sheath. She then seems to concentrate intently and then her torso falls forward in a lifeless state.] 06* Moriel eyes Sunnifa's collapsed form with a troubled expression, but elects not to move her. She knew she was going to fall over; if she'd wanted to be in a comfortable prone position she'd've gotten into one herself. 06* Eliana watches Sunnifa curiously. 06* Rolf watches her slump and then chuckles slightly before rubbing his chin. "Anyone not ready to get out of this damn city?" 06* Varyn looks at it and then looks over at Anstace. "Would you like to learn another dice game? and I will say I've been ready to move on." 06* Moriel shakes his head. "More than ready," he says softly. i did not bring any coin That is fine. I just think we should teach you. Perhaps Rounds? I understand it's played in England. very well 06* Eliana looks at Anstace and Varyn for a moment, then says to Rolf, "I'm tired of court." 06* Varyn moves over and just starts to teach Anstace the gambling game. 01 The library is nice enough, but yes. 06* Anstace turns to look at Rolf. "this court has fewer spectators who wish to gaze on Mithras's baubles." she turns back to Varyn and watches him demonstrate. 06* Rolf lets out a rough laugh and says, "Yeah, Mithras' baubles, like his favorite rose." He shakes his head as he looks to Eliana. "Straight into battle, though. Ya sure that's an improvement?" 06* Varyn looks up. "In simplier times I'd comment how you have two very nice baubles." 06* Moriel gives Varyn a boggled glance, whatever he was about to say to Rolf derailed. 06* Anstace bites her bottom lip at Rolf's words and looks down. she does not react to Varyn's comment. 06* Eliana snorts. "We are not going straight into battle." 06* Moriel shakes himself and turns back to Rolf. "Given that the situation here seems to be...fluid...perhaps it's wiser to act sooner, before it has the opportunity to change too much." Even if it's not the optimal travel season. 06* Varyn stretches and then continues the game acting like nothing happened. 06* Anstace watches the game intently. except she doesn't really react when she's supposed to. she just sort of stares at the dice. or the ground. or maybe at something further below it 06* Rolf snorts. "Oh, I'm sorry milady, a walk and then battle." 06* Moriel glances at Anstace, and then his brows draw down in worry as he watches her more closely. He doesn't say anything, though. <@Dreol> [A few hours pass and Sunnifa snaps upright, her hands still in the same position on her sword. "I have succeeded."] 06* Moriel abruptly refocuses on his clanmate and waits for her to tell them about the results of her jaunt. Ah. Thank you! 06* Eliana blinks up from her book - she'd given up on watching Sunnifa a while ago. <@Dreol> [She nods and looks visibly exhausted. "It was not in the tower that you described. Once I discovered that, I traveled west to the army. It was not difficult to find an army that large. I did not find Ruthven at first, but after some searching, I found him. He was not carrying the weapon that you described. I traveled back to his castle and after a great deal of searching, I felt a powerful <@Dreol> presence and followed it into a cave. It became very difficult to continue. The cave felt wrong like it was full of incomplete and damaged souls, but I did see the weapon on an altar; however, I also encountered another spirit. A powerful one. I had to retreat, regrettably. He pursued me and I barely made it back to my body before my pursuer caught up with me. He is likely still here, but he cannot interact with us in his current state."] That's problematic. Is there any way to handle him? 06* Moriel frowns. "Depending on how powerful he is, it *might* be possible to have multiple Kindred go spirit-walking together and drive him off." He looks at Sunnifa. <@Dreol> [Sunnifa nods. "I believe he will return. If he is guarding the weapon, he cannot be away from it for long."] 06* Moriel nods firmly. "Then he must leave. But he may tell someone of his encounter with you." <@Dreol> [She stands and straps her sword back at her side. "Of course. So Ruthven will be aware that somebody seeks the Fang. At least you got the information you sought, however. And now, I must rest."] 06* Moriel nods again and bows to her. "Thank you for your help." Thank you so much. <@Dreol> [Sunnifa nods and returns inside.] <@Dreol> [Session End!]