Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

"I'm sure I've been in worse places. I could use a snack," Anabelle said with a glance at the others, slowly trotting her horse towards the front of the group.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Jourdain shrugs his shoulder at Eliza's statement, "I would rather drink from a filthy swineherd or even a swine itself rather than imbibe the supposed delicacy that's all the rage at elysium. I leave it up to you though."

Jourdain spurs his horse forward as well as he responds to Vezina. "I didn't have any particular plan in mind. I was hoping someone else might have an idea in that regards. I try to avoid combat unless necessary since it not only leads to unfortunate circumstances but often leads to just as much use of vitae as it gains one of our kind."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

"A small use of our power for a large return is of no consequence, particularly if we are not worried about letting the kine live. I presume your clan mate can use the Lordly gift, same as you. Let us make three of the bandits kneel and bare their necks, while we let Anabelle and the other one, Jocelyn, take care of the last."

Vezina arched a brow at Jourdain, to see if he followed her meaning.

 

[Ranger Princess]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Eliza slowed her horse, her kiwi eyes darkening under the cover of her cloak.

"My lordly gifts are not at your command girl. In case you didn't hear me before, I'm not feeding on these cretins. Slay your own meal."

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

"There is no reason to fight amongst ourselves, if you do not wish to feed simply stay out of the others' way while they do so. I myself have no need of sustenance at this time, though if need be I can keep the other rogues busy while you feed." Jourdain interjects before more angry words are said.

"The lordly gift as you put it is indeed a much subtler plan, if you need to resort to it. You might be able to simply convince them with your other gifts, if you get my meaning, it would certainly put their necks in the appropriate places."

By now they are nearing the bushes where the bandits have hidden themselves in the rainy fields. Jourdain looks around at the muddy field with a somewhat amused smile and adds.

"Granted this isn't the most romantic of spots but I doubt if the kine will mind one bit. They tend not to think with the correct head in many situations."

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

"I've never been much good at that," Anabelle said with some mirth, even as she slid down from her saddle. She looked at the others.

"We have things to do, lets just get this out of the way and move along," she said and began to stalk towards the enemy.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Jocelyn stayed where she was, moving a bit closer to Jourdain as the man mentioned just letting the others do their business. "I'll stay here, thanks." She said quietly, trying to distract herself by looking around at everything except the impending mess...

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Politely ignoring Eliza's self-important chastisement, the Tzimisce eyed Jourdain with a cool stare. "I'd attempt to woo armed brigands with my assets just as soon as you would, Jourdain. You seem to have a quick enough tongue for them to appreciate."

She turned to listen to Anabelle stalking by. "I think I'll hold with my crusader colleague. It is important to treat the kine as what they are. Food and servants. False dalliances should be reserved for necessity and Toreadors."

Urging her mount forward , Vezina began to unleash the power of the vitae within her, making her body unnaturally strong - moreso than most devoted mortal soldiers. If she had time, she would give herself unnatural speed as well, the better to dispatch her foes. She could feel the shadow of the Other within her stirring. The Feral Beast could lend great strength, but Vezina knew she must endeavor to keep control. As she neared the bandits, she stared into the eyes of her mount and politely suggested that when she jumped down from her saddle that the beast attempt to trample and kick at the armed men.

Spoiler

Vezina will spend two blood on upping her strength. In the following round, she'll spend two more on dexterity. Then she'll go to down on the brigands alongside, Anabelle and possibly Jourdain. Intent is to drain to the last drop and leave the carcasses for the crows and wolves to eat.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Anabelle looked over at Veinza, and smirked, showing just the tips of her fangs, before turning back to face the bandits. She moved towards them, sword held before her, ready to deflect and strike. She made no move to conceal her awareness of their presence, or of her intentions.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Jourdain merely smiles icily in return as he answers Vezina, "On the contrary, I would gladly resort to using my quick tongue over unnecessary violence. I see my words are currently wasted on both of you, however."

Turning his back on his violence minded allies he looks at Jocelyn and speaks quietly. "Probably a wise decision, Jocelyn. So tell me how did you get entangled with our violent friends? I expected my sister to be with them but you're certainly unexpected."

Seeing Anabelle and Vezina approaching one of the men looks down and seems to say something before stepping out with the others their spears lowered defensively. Vezina barely catches the back end of what the man says, "......be safe" as she focuses on increasing her abilities for the approaching combat. Her muscles seem to ripple and bulge more than normal to anyone paying close attention.

Spoiler

Initiative order: Eliza, Jocelyn, Men, Anabelle, Vezina, Jourdain (you don't have to wait to post till it's your turn and if your not involved in the fight you can ignore it). Vezina is currently at 4 BP after raising her physical stats by 2, you don't have to raise them individually each BP raises all three physical stats by 1.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Jocelyn's gaze centered on Jourdain as he spoke to her, looking at him like she was trying to figure him out for a moment. She didn't seem to like what she found there, and looked down and away after a short moment.

"I'm... I was just walking around, when I heard the howls. I just found them when I was looking for a safe place, told them about the runes on the guardhouse. After... I just went along, didn't want to be caught out alone again..."

Why are you lying to him?
You saw his eyes too, we can't trust him. It's obvious she's hiding amongst them, if we're going to help her, they can't know that's what we're doing.
He's not like the others, he's staying back like the creepy one. Maybe he's not that bad, either.
But we're not helping her, either. Should we be trying to fit in more too?

Jocelyn frowned and grumbled a bit, scratching at her shoulder for a moment like she was angry at it.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

The men keep standing fearfully looking towards the two approaching kindred with their spears lowered protectively. They don't seem to be very willing to instigate a fight merely watching for what Anabelle and Vezina are going to do. Vezina stays in her horse roughly abreast of Anabelle somewhat unsure of how to attack though her expression does not expose her thoughts to anyone but herself.

Jourdain looks back over his shoulder for a second towards the soon to happen fight before returning his attention to Jocelyn. He smiles again managing to look almost kindly as he responds.

"Safety in numbers is as good a reason as any, I suppose. Though you were still probably lucky to survive, werewolves are not the wisest thing to mess with for our kind. Did the runes actually do anything, I always assumed they were put up on all the gates as simple superstition. Since they don't seem to keep anything bad out, though I've also heard stories that they're keeping something in rather than out."

He looks over to see what Eliza is up to off by herself for a second before returning to Jocelyn once more lowering his head a little and speaking more quietly.

"I know my clan is known for being evil, manipulative bastards but it's not entirely true. At least I don't think of myself as evil, manipulative and a bastard yes but not evil. I didn't catch your clan by the way, though I have eliminated Nosferatu from the list."

 

[Ranger Princess]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Eliza took a deep breath, only vaguely noticing the scene around her. She glanced in Jourdain's direction as he talked to Jocelyn in hushed tones, snorting to herself quietly in bemusement. Always sniffing around female cainites was Jourdain.

Not really concerned about the battle with the humans or of Jourdain's apparent flirting, the young Lasombra began to daydream. She thought of her sire, Adria. She could see the woman with her dark curled hair and confident demeanor. The dream was one of the two occasions when Eliza was allowed to feed from her sire, and it was so exquisite that Eliza didn't care what was going on anymore.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

"You're in over yer head lads," Anabelle said to the bandits, moving forward until she was just beyond their spears, before she swung her sword towards the shaft of one of them, hoping to snap the point off before the true combat began.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Vezina decided to slip down from her mount before they reached the men, and thus fell slightly behind the Gangrel. She let the horse trot away to the side, though she had informed the animal to rush the men when their attention was focused on Vezina and Anabelle. She figured the brigands would not expect a horse to act so aggressively when not mounted and that element of surprise would serve well as she sought to end this fight quickly. She slipped the dagger into her grip while still keeping it hidden behind her cloak.

The vitae coursed through her body, enhancing her strength and speed. She could feel the raw power in her unliving muscles as they flexed and contracted. This was the true majesty of being a Cainite. The ferocity of the great Other within her mixed with the intelligence and passion of her conscious mind. A predator of potentially limitless power, given enough concentration of the blood. These kine standing in front of her were as ants to her, and they had dared to step across her path.

While Anabelle landed the first blow, smashing aside a spear shaft, Vezina used her increased speed to jump past the nearest spear pointing at her, twirling with her cloak and letting the dagger slice out across her first target's throat. If she could subdue the first man quickly enough and without too much expenditure of blood, she would consider locking eyes with her second foe and dominating him with a sharp command to bow - thus exposing his neck for her to sink her teeth into.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

The first man's spear is knocked almost from his hands by Anabelle's attack giving her a perfect opportunity to get closer to her intended victim while he attempts to recover his spear. He seems to have little idea on how to actually fight with the spear and seems more intent on picking it up than with fending of a coming attack.

The second man weakly stabs towards Vezina's midsection as she leaps up over the weapon and slashes towards his throat. She misses her attack by mere inches causing the man to step back and drop the spear in one swift motion.

The third and forth men begin to circle to the side of Vezina though they still seem wary of attacking simply pointing their spears in her direction. Vezina's horse seems to want little to do with the combat despite her orders to draw their attention and wanders slowly away from the chaotic scene. Jourdain scowls briefly before nodding to Jocelyn, "Perhaps we'll learn more about each other at a later time. I did promise to keep the other men busy."

Turning his horse quickly he quickly makes his way behind the two extra attackers who turn to face him while their comrades fight the others. Jourdain merely smiles at the obviously frightened men and commands. "Drop your weapons and come with me. Those two are wanted for murder and are to be punished. Now drop your spears and come with me, now."

Jourdain's quick words seem to work as one the men drops his spear and begins walking towards him. The other seems to hesitate for a moment before dropping his own spear and moving forward as well. Jourdain then proceeds to lead them away from the battle between their comrades and his own.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

As the bandit before her drops his spear, Anabelle pressed her attack, slashing at his gut. She hardly even noticed the other two men wandering away from the melee, only enough to notice that they were not an issue for the time being as she pushed herself closer to her victim and potential meal.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

Frustrated at her first attack's miss, Vezina decided to pounce upon the now unarmed man, overpowering him through sheer strength and locking him into a grapple, during this time she looked to make eye contact with her foe.

"Do not resist me," she intoned to the mortal man, a slight flutter of excitement in her voice. "Fulfill your purpose. Surrender to me."

Spoiler

If she makes eye contact with him during this, she'll use Dominate to command him to surrender. If and when he does, she'll sink her teeth into him and drain him dry.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

"Oh, umm, okay." Jocelyn said as jourdain set his horse towards the skirmish, staying put herself. Her gaze returned to roaming the scenery in the other direction as she did her best to ignore the sounds of the skirmish nearby.

 

[dmronny]

Re: Chapter 1: The Road Not Taken

The first man somehow manages to hit Anabelle as she moves forward to press her advantage, though the blow doesn't even cause so much as a bruise. Her own sword slices across the man's midsection causing him to drop the spear and begin stumbling away from the assault as he screams for the others to run.

The other man manages to pull a knife from his belt before Vezina can lock him up in the grapple. As she grabs him she feels the knife pierce straight into her stomach. The brief pain of the stab wound as she tries to catch his eyes causes something within her to snap. Vezina realizes to late that the other has shoved her out of the way intent on answering the man's attack with one of it's own. The wound around the knife begins knitting itself back together even as her fang's extend and she buries them in the man's shoulder. His brief scream seems to echo inside of her head even after it has ended and the man is nothing but jelly in her grasp.

Jourdain had already lead the other men out of sight of the battle by the time Vezina has frenzied. Try to avoid the horrific scene as she might Jocelyn can't help but look towards the horrific scene for the briefest of moments. Even Eliza is dragged from her reverie at the scream and has to look at the vicious scene for a moment. Both of them likely remembering their own moments of shame at other times.

Spoiler

Vezina frenzies and takes 1 lethal damage. Anabelle takes no damage.