Prologue: A Gathering Of Hunters

[Joani]

"Very diplomatic answer...", Ashe let her eyes wander back to the Crusader but her body remained in its threatening stance.

"I can't believe you're the only one who has noticed his odd behaviour. I wouldn't say its just an act... whatever the truth is it doesn't really matter because...", Ashe raised an eyebrow and set her eyes back again on Adrian.

"...the Harpy does not approve of his act and I think its our duty to keep her in good temper. Else we all suffer.", Ashe noticed how Adrian edged closer to Angie and she couldn't suppress a smirk. Looks like I've won this staredown.

[Adrian Moss]

Originally Posted By: Ashe

"Very diplomatic answer..."

Adrian perks up slightly
'I hope she's not kidding. I'd really like to have done something right tonight.'

Originally Posted By: Ashe

"I can't believe you're the only one who has noticed his odd behaviour. I wouldn't say its just an act... whatever the truth is it doesn't really matter because..."

'She's got a point about the Truth not mattering here - not tonight, not with this crowd.'

Originally Posted By: Ashe

"...the Harpy does not approve of his act and I think its our duty to keep her in good temper. Else we all suffer."

'Oh crapistantastic! The Harpy ... is looking at us to do something about ... him? He's HUGE.'

"What do you suggest, Ashe?"
Adrian's tone is worried, but not fearful.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Adrian Moss

'Oh crapistantastic! The Harpy ... is looking at us to do something about ... him? He's HUGE.'

"What do you suggest, Ashe?"
Adrian's tone is worried, but not fearful.

"Killing him would be too easy", she said nonchalantly, relaxing her stance. She now looked more like a cat that once she has stricken her prey starts to toy with it for fun.

"And personally he hasn't offended me... yet. Maybe we can find an arrangement with his peers, I mean fellow Carthians, to keep him busy on Court nights so that he doesn't show up in the first place? And should he really turn out to be a threat to the Masquerade... well that's more a job for the Sheriff, not the Harpy. Though I wouldn't mind tearing him to pieces..."

Ashe tilted her head to the side to give Antoine better access to kiss her neck while she kept her eyes on the Crusader.

[SalmonMax]

Angelina can't help overhearing that last comment from Asche, and looks at the other vampire with her eyes wide with shock. She doesn't say anything, though her mouth dangles open in a startled 'O.'

[Adrian Moss]

There are two types of people that talk about killing other people; Bullies and Crazy Psychos. In his mortal life, Adrian had met both kinds and both had a way of leaving him chilled. Bullies liked inflicting pain. Psychos need no excuses for what they did, or were about to do.

Adrian was trying to place Ashe in those context. He tried to remember what his sire said about Vampires like this. He said that unless they could do what the two of them did, you could feel the inhuman taint on them, and Gangrel were not well known for that kind of mystic subterfuge.

The situation was: did Adrian have to make that guess right now?

No, he didn't feel like he had to. He wondered how many kindred fights she had been in. Any? Had she seen a Kindred go meet his final death? Unsure.

What if the Crusader wasn't the only Crazy in the room?

Adrian reached out and gently touched Angie's arm.

"You okay?" he asked while keeping his eyes on Ashe.

[William Rose]

Antoine slides his hand up Ashe's waist to her neck giving a gentle caress to the exposed white flesh before he draws his hand back. "And this is why it is so difficult to have a decent party amongst the undead. If I had wanted to talk about strategy and manuvering I would have attended a chess tournament."

[Sam 'The Crusader' Hill]

Without warning, a huge form hove suddenly close to the gathering once more, as Same strode boldly over, teeth gleaming in a broad grin, heading straight for an entirely unhappy Adrian Moss.

Blue eyes sparkled as the giant thrust forward a hand that easily enveloped Adrian's, and pumped his arm enthusiastically. "Could have sworn I heard you use my 'handle'. But we're all peers here, so call me Sam. Sam Hill, my friend. And you are?"

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian was sure that Antione must be joking. His very presence gave added menace to Ashe's word. If he didn't realize he was part of Ashe's game he was either blind or an idiot. To Adrian's thinking that would mean one idiot too many in this conversation.

Then it was as if Sam was reading his mind. As it was, Adrian only barely percieved him coming up. The booming voice nearly had him jumping out of his skin anyway.

"Aaahhh ... Sam, I'm Adrian Moss, Clan Mekhet and Ordo Dracul."

He was forced to momentarily take his eyes off of Ashe. He wanted his hand back, desperately. In a rather weak voice, he continued.

"Can I have my hand back?"

[Sam 'The Crusader' Hill]

Momentary confusion washed across chiselled features, and then light shone upon the face once more as Sam released Adrian's hand from his steely grip. "Sorry chum, sometimes I forget my own strength. Occupational hazard, I suppose."

Leaning against the back of a theatre seat that groaned in protest, Sam continued on. "So what is it you do, Adrian? What calling calls you in these endless nights, my friend?"

[z-Galiana]

After watching the room with the silent Rabbi - whom Galiana admired as a Kindred and a priest, but whom she was still getting to know more personally - Galiana excused herself and followed Robin. It was sure to be fun.

The tall blonde mountain caught her eye, and Galiana drifted over casually, watching with the somber silence she had perfected over centuries. Content to hover, she waited for others to notice her.

[Adrian Moss]

'Why is this guy talking to me?!?!' he wanted to cry out. 'Do I have crazy-magnet written on me.

Adrian couldn't help be lean backwards into Angie's space while trying to deal with the Massive, and Insane Kindred.

"I'm a Private In..."

'What in the hell am I thinking!!! I don't want to tell him that ... but what do I ...'

"... vestigator," Adrian sighed. "I'm studying to be one, anyway."

"So, have you been ... a Kindred long?"

'Hell, he's probably another Elder.'

Suddenly, a way out manifested itself. Adrian turned half way to the Galiana and in an almost pleading voice said,

"Hi! I'm Adrian Moss, Mekhet and Ordo Dracul."

'Please talk to me.'

[z-Galiana]

Galiana stared at him, measuring him with cold, closed eyes. She dissected him, examined each part, ran innumerable tests and slowly put him back together. "Galiana. Gangrel. Lancea Sanctum." There was a pause. "How do you do, Mister. Adrian. Moss?"

[Adrian Moss]

Dead eyes - shark-like.

Crazy eyes.

Smug, superior eyes.

Passionate, "I want to splatter you" eyes.

This just keeps getting better and better.

His beast doesn't like feeling surrounded. Fleeing before the Prince arrives would be bad. Of course fleeing once the Prince arrived would probably look worse.

His eyes flick to Galiana. Maybe he should ask about the scar? Maybe there is a story behind it? Maybe she'll try to gut him like a fish for bringing it up?

Originally Posted By: Galiana

"How do you do, Mister. Adrian. Moss?"

"Just call me Adrian ... or Mr. Moss if you would be more comfortable with that."

Adrian's eyes flit over to Sam then back.

"This is my first Kindred meeting and I'm curious as to why the Prince has called us here. Any ideas?"

[z-Galiana]

While Adrian's beast was unhappy, Galiana's was convinced that it was equal to any other mother fucker in this room. So she was calm and collected as the Mehket squirmed. She looked up at the man, hating the fact that in her era, she'd been average sized. Now, she was 'petite.'

"I would not presume to guess the motives of a Prince, particularly a Carthian one," Galiana said distinctly. "I fail to understand the modern mindset, and I find guessing a Prince that you do understand to be hazardous for one's health."

[z011]

"Her name is Karol D'Alsace, my ghoul and apprentice. Speak with her yourself if you wish to know more, as that is her story and not mine." Robin smiled at Angie and motioned towards the mortal, who had instinctively turned at hearing her name. Robin was still regarding Antoine as she spoke, and so regarding Ashe. Her hand rested absently on the hilt of her sword, but if this was mere habit or because of the Gangrel's casual attitude towards violence on another Kindred could not be read in her impassive expression.

She had moved closer to Antoine and his paramour and began to describe a woman, cocoa-skinned with the dark wavy locks of creole blood and a voice that could have seduced Michael himself from Heaven's gate. She finished in the same soft tone that even Ashe could barely hear and waited for his response.

[Adrian Moss]

"True strength comes through Transcendence/ True Transcendance through Struggle,"Adrian whispers to himself.

"I see your point," he says in a clearer voice. "If anyone could understand the Prince's motivations, what kind of Prince would that make them?"

Adrian's eyes study Galiana in a different manner. She was not a hoped for distraction, but another threat in her own right. He mentally smacked himself for feeling otherwise.

"What do talk about with other Kindred ... when you aren't with other members of your convenant?" He asked with just a hint of desperation.

[z-Galiana]

"Feeding. Politics, not on subjects that alarm the prince. What the Harpy is wearing, and whether it is in or out. The problems in the city." Her head tipped to the side, bird-like. "Why do you ask?"

[Adrian Moss]

"Because I don't know what's safe to talk about," Adrian responds.

'Because I'm afraid to say something else wrong,' he thinks.

The head thing is weirding him out. 'How inhuman is she?'

"Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Suddenly talking with the Crazy Guy doesn't seem nearly as bad as it had earlier. Maybe he wouldn't answer questions with questions.

[z-Galiana]

"How have you found the feeding recently?" Given how directly she asks the question, there is a chance she'll just run straight down the list she just gave him.

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian misses it. In fact, he seems somewhat relieved by the question.

"Its been a bit tough, but I'm managing. I'm still making my way around the clubs here and finding the best spots. I'm sure things will get easier once I've found my niche."

"How about you?"

[Hyoseph]

The most perceptive among you ((read: those with auspex or Wits + Comp higher than 7)) notice as Pietro withdraws a phone from his inside coat pocket. Those with Auspex active would have heard it vibrating first. He looks at it, pushes a button and puts it away.

Moments later, small blue, black, and purple flames start to manifest at intervals((all but the least perceptive of you notice this)) on each side of the main aisle. They are obviously illusory and thus do not cause the beast within to want to flee, but are a bit disturbing and distracting nonetheless. The lights go as forward as the stage itself but do not appear on it. Illuminated in the last lights is a figure you could swear wasn't there before, but just being near him is downright disturbing as he doesn't even remotely resemble a human anymore. Sure, he was at one point, but despite being identifiable as a Kindred, has more physically in common with a biblical demon than a human.

Seconds after the last little flame appears, the double doors at the back of the theatre open and the Prince, Rosita Schiavone steps in, looking around for a moment at all the new faces. A look of both disdain and curiosity directed at Sam, analytical glances towards everyone else. After a momentary pause, she steps forward and makes her way down the aisle, Priscus Nathis appearing in the door seconds behind her.

((Note: For the Sanctified and Nosferatu in the room, the figure is Sascha, Nosferatu Priscus and Theban sorcerer par excellance.))

[Adrian Moss]

And all the Elder-Dominant crap just kept being piled on. The flames were more of a curiousity than a cause of awe in Adrian's fear-clouded mind. The Nosferatu, whoever he might be, was scary, but there had been plenty of scary tonight already. The Prince, when she appeared was almost a relief. Now he could find out why he had been drug here and what his leader wanted from him.

Adrian waited to see how far Sir Robin bowed before he made another social gaf. He was also concious of being right next to the Crazy and if something bad was going to be directed toward Crazy he had to be ready to get out of the way.

[z-Galiana]

At Sascha's appearance, Galiana bowed her head, paying the homage due to former member of her covenant and a powerful member of the city in his own right. It would have been a full bow had Sascha not left the Lance recently.

Once she had acknowledged him (though there was a chance he hadn't even seen her), she waited for the theatrics to end and the real business to begin.

[SalmonMax]

Angelina gives Adrian a look and nods. She looks like she's about to go talk to Karol...eager for an excuse to get away from Ashe...when the lights dim and the flames come on.

Angie seems preoccupied by the strange blue flames, cringing a bit, then feeling there's no heat...then passing her hand experimentally through one. In her expanded senses, it's almost indescribably beautiful, yet she keeps remembering...He pushed a button on his cellphone. I wonder if that somehow caused this...

At the appearance of the Prince, Angelina is finally distracted from her musings over the flame, and she becomes intimidated enough to discretely step behind Adrian.

[Hyoseph]

The flames remain, burning ever-so-briefly on Angie's hand as she passes her hands through them before the ones on her hand go out.

Sascha less walks than stalks toward the edge of the aisle, setting down in the front row seat closest to it. Rosita walks directly past the that seems to be making its way off to the side to get out of the Prince's way. Nathis follows a few seconds behind her, pointing at Sam with a face and shaking of the head that basically says what he's thinking to everyone who can see him. "You had better not do anything stupid". He sits down on the other side of the aisle, opposite Sascha.

Priscus Schiavone rises from his seat and makes his way to the edge of the stage, where the Harpy sits and the Prince finally stops and turns around. The Harpy speaks up... "Would everyone please take your seats, Prince Schiavone's time is very valuable and there are a number of issues that need to be addressed."

[z-Galiana]

Galiana returned to the seat she had claimed and waited for business to start. She was a little tired of the showmanship, but she kept her face carefully blank as she waited.

[RabbiBerg]

Rabbi Berg takes a seat near Galiana and smiles, taking his glasses off, producing a micro-fiber cloth and wiping the lenses. He then puts his glasses back on and starts muttering to himself.

((OOC: He's saying prayers under his breath. They are in hebrew. If you wish to know specific prayers, please PM me.))

[Joani]

Ashe briefly snarled at the Crusaders interruption of their conversation and turned around to face Antoine looking up to his face. She needed to calm down. Her beast was already to close under her skin and she felt its hunger for blood.

As the Prince made her entrance Ashe immediately bowed deeply and waited until the Harpy finished her sentence before sitting down and raising her head again. She had to wait before she could find a chance to talk to Priscus Nathis. Watching closely the procession she never let the Crusader out of her view, ready to intervene should he be up to something 'stupid'.

[William Rose]

Antione looked at Robin through narrowed eyes as she described a woman remarkably similar to his sire. Perhaps she was his sire, the older vampire's memory might be rusty as an old iron nail after so many years. He gets no further opportunity as with little warning the Prince arrives.

Originally Posted By: Hyoseph

The Harpy speaks up... "Would everyone please take your seats, Prince Schiavone's time is very valuable and there are a number of issues that need to be addressed."

Antoine, seeing "that look" in Ashe's eyes, puts his hand on her waist and pulls her gently but firmly along with him as he moves to take a seat. He sits himself gently into a chair, long legs stretched and crossed in front of him and then pulls Ashe to him so that she is reclining onto his body. He wraps his arms around her and bows his head to hers, inhaling the delicate scent of lavendar and roses from her hair.

"Still your beast my love, something tells me this is neither the time nor the place," he says in the barest whisper into her ear, his lips touching her skin in the barest and softest ways.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Antoine LaSalle

He sits himself gently into a chair, long legs stretched and crossed in front of him and then pulls Ashe to him so that she is reclining onto his body. He wraps his arms around her and bows his head to hers, inhaling the delicate scent of lavendar and roses from her hair.

"Still your beast my love, something tells me this is neither the time nor the place," he says in the barest whisper into her ear, his lips touching her skin in the barest and softest ways.

Ashe relaxed visibly like a cat and for a moment it seemed as if she was actually purring. His voice was like a soothing balm that quenched her beasts furious nature.

"You're right, love... but yet I can't get this off my mind.", she still had her eyes set on the huge frame of the Crusader and though she reclined over Antoines body it seemed as if she could jump into action any second if she wanted to.

[SalmonMax]

At the Harpy's words, Angie quickly sits down in the nearest seat and does her best to shrink down into it. She finds herself hoping that she isn't one of those matters that needs to be discussed.

[Sam 'The Crusader' Hill]

Sam had - as usual - become distracted from the conversation, and others had dived in to fill the space. Just as he was preparing to give a long-delayed answer to Adrian, however, the Prince made her theatrical entrance, and that drove any hope of finding the feeble thread of thought completely asunder.

With an odd grace, Sam gave a deep and sweeping bow to the local dignitary. Had it been anyone other than him, it might have been taken as an insult by way of exaggeration... but this was "the Crusader", and his neurotic attachment to theatrics was well-know.

As requested, he took a seat, squeezing his bulk into a theatre chair that was never designed with someone of his size in mind.

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian gives a quick bow then sits down next to Angie. It is more a gathering of field mice than two kindred combining for mutual support though. 'Pick her/him, not me,' they seem to say. They must make a quite the contrasting couple compared to Antione and Ashe.

Adrian's mind is whirling with the possibilities. Too bad his less than sterling intellect can't pluck most of them from the information gathered in his mind. Instead, he cringes next to Angie and waits for the Prince to speak.

[Hyoseph]

The Prince watched patiently as the assembled kindred took their seats.

"Good evening, I would like to thank all for attending. To all the new faces, I bid you welcome and would like to formally Acknowledge your presence within my domain. You are hereby granted all the rights and responsibilities of independent Kindred. From this point all your achievements shall be your own to bear, as will your failures.

'I would also extend the opportunity to prove your worth as contributing members of the domain. A chance to step above and beyond our simply acknowledging that you exist and are permitted to remain, and receive Recognition for your achievements and service to the city you live in. Who among you would be interested in such an opportunity?"

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian stood up without fully understanding why, what he was doing, or what he was going to say.

"I ... I would serve the domain and its regent ... in any capacity that I can full-fill."

'What have I just done?' he thinks.

"I am an investigator," he adds after a moment. Another pause then Adrian looks around slightly and sits down.

[Joani]

The moment Adrian sat down Ashe stood up and bowed devoutly to the prince.

"My Name is Ashe, Gangrel of the most esteemed Ordo Dracul. I thank you for the great honour you've granted us. I humbly offer my claws to defend your domain from any inner and outer threat, my Prince. I hope to prove my worth as the Sheriffs Hound.", Ashe curtseyed briefly before she sat down again.

[William Rose]

Antoine barely registered the Prince's, he had little intrest in getting himself entangled with the court. Instead he drifted along in Ashe's wake, finding that he was perfectly happy to continue along his path so long as she was with him. As he welcomed Ashe back into his arms he peered out at the others.

The kid looks to be trying to make a name for himself. He's nervous as hell though, he'd better get control of that. The three fuddy duddies will jump at this shit, most likely they Feel entitled. The girl seems shy but she has a head on her shoulders, she might even ally herself to the kid, who knows.

[Joani]

Ashe noticed Antoines peer. He did that alot when they were at the nightclubs. She knew something was on his mind but he wouldn't bother telling her if it wasn't really of importance. Yet she was curious and as she made herself comfortable again reclining over his huge body she asked him without looking up, "What is on your mind, love? Are you getting bored again?"

[William Rose]

Antoine smirked, "How could I possibly be bored? I mean i do so love the more intangible elements of vampire society." Antoine's voice was outright drenched with sarcasm and he twisted the word "vampire" just slightly indicating his distaste for the polite term of "Kindred".

He sighed though and gave Ashe a gentle squeeze from his massive arms, "I'll survive, maybe Sam will do something stupid. I can hope anyways. Besides, I know it makes you happy."

[Joani]

Ashe turned around intrigued by Antoines words and reached up to lock her hands around his neck. "I'm not really thrilled by that idea. You see, Sam is excedingly more dangerous to the Carthians walking around and making a fool of himself than dead. Maybe we shouldn't credit him that much attention."

She leaned a bit closer almost kissing him but resisted instead releasing her locked hands and stretching herself on his lap. "I do know what would make me happy..."