Grand Theatre - Déambulatoire Monday March 28th 2011

No good, I must find them immediately!
Unless prevented, Fred rushes out of the theatre again.

He looked upon Alicia for a moment as she approached, quite impressed by her appearance. He offered a light bow and if allowed took her hand to place upon it a light kiss.

"I am Felix Sommier."

He explained before standing fully.

"Your reputation proceeds you. Jerome has told me much about your exploits both inside and outside of the court."

As she discusses the matter with her ghoul, he gives a thoughtful nod.

"That's rather unfortunate news. Do you have any possible leads as to who might have thought to do such a thing?" He asked.

Seeing and recognizing Felix's gesture, Alicia gives her hand willingly and then makes a slight feminine and very graceful bow as a proof of appreciation.
(Alicia) Oh the poor Jerome, so he came around and has managed himself? I'm glad he has decided to clear his mind and get better.

She glances around to observe the surroundings, to see if indeed Jerome is there, and nods as she sees he's not in a pitiful state as she seems to think. Laure and Jerome have sat together and are discussing. Laure took one of Jerome's hand and is holding it in between her own hands. They really seem like close friends who understand each other. She sets her eyes again on Neb, then on Felix.
(Alicia) Welcome to our world, then. Yes, unfortunate, indeed. I have a few plausible guilty parties in mind, but I first wish to clean my name to our Prince before I start a proper investigation. After all, they must have taken him for a reason of some sort to throw dirt at me..

perception+alertness>4:

Duncan enters the Theatre with Fred and William, and probably Miriel too.  Then the young Brujah looks around for Celine.  If she looks at them with concern (likely, since Fred was just in here a moment ago and left just as quickly), Duncan will give her a little 'okay' gesture, although he hides it from Fred with his body.  The look on his face will be one of confidence, as if to tell her, "We've got it under control."

With that blatant lie out of the way, Duncan will steer the party into a deserted corner of the entry area, so they can talk.

Sorry; the guys asking for money out there didn't seem like the usual beggars.  I thought we'd be safer in here.

Duncan looks at William, and asks:
So what is the issue?  Fred's sire might have done something bad to him?  No offense Fred, but we already know he was killed by Laure and the Sheriff, for helping the Sabbat.  I'm sure it's painful to discover any more unpleasant news about a man you respected, yet we need to stay calm.  The Prince obviously knows you're not to blame for your sire's actions, or you wouldn't be walking around free.

I think the Sheriff will be busy with the trial at first; but maybe afterwards you can approach him with whatever information you've discovered.  How does that sound?

Perception+Empathy>4:

ST:

William leans in close to Duncan, somewhere on the way to the Theatre, he had folded the papers and put them in his jacket inner pocket since Fred was pretty much a walking wall ornament with a background noise and slink forward option.

Duncan & Auspex 2 + perception >= 4:

Straightening, he looked at Fred.
"Come, let's get you something to drink, a little blood in your system will be good for you... I think..."

Celine gives a studious look at Duncan but she doesn't act on it, probably having witnessed Fred's issues, and indicates they can go inside, even if they don't go upstairs. It seems they have earned the Seneschal's trust. That or she's glad someone is dealing with the Malkavian

Miriel follows nonchalantly and smiles.
(Miriel) Ah, Fred is dead but his sire has died twice. Fred wins, that's all, isn't it ?

Speaking of meals, a man in a costume is leaving the play to go to the bathroom, and seems fairly lost. He might go and ask Celine if he can't find if after a few glances around. He's about to walk past the Neonates as he looks in the corridors.

He watched Alicia's behavior closely for a moment. He then glanced to Neb before his eyes returned to the harpy before him.

"I was planning to go looking for some information this evening. If you'd like, I could see if I can't turn something up regarding the situation for you." He offered.

Duncan nods in acknowledgment at William's whispered comments, and eyes the costumed actor with a wary look, glancing at Fred to gauge the Malkavian's self-control.  However, since Fred doesn't seem to pay the man any attention, Duncan visibly relaxes.

William has a good idea.  Now that we're here, why don't we go upstairs to the deambulatoire and take advantage of the Prince's hospitality for a drink.  We can all have one, to look less conspicuous.  I'll text Nyx again, to let her know where we are.  Doesn't that sound like a good idea, Fred?  A drink will help us all to relax while we wait.

Manipulation+Subterfuge>5:

ST:

William, are you to be presented before the official trial, or after?  Or have you been told yet?

William just shrugged. "Nope, I figured it would take place after, when the Prince has less on his mind... or something like that"

His eyes briefly drift towards the human, before settling on his phone as he took it out to check the time.

"It's quite early, but may I however suggest we move towards a locations less frequented by the uninitiated?" William whispered towards the other 2 kindred. (actually 3 ^^)

Three kindred. Fred might not count tho XD


Miri seems to observe the mortal a moment, intrigued by his looks. Surely an actor knows the Theater he performs in... She then gives a curious glance at Fred, and puts her hands on the Malkavian's arms.
(Miriel) If I shake it, may something fall from in between his ears?

Fred wakes up a little from his "mindlessly following people" mode when Miriel grabs his arm.
He doesn't look much better than before.

A drink sounds curiously appealing; perhaps we shall follow the advice of mister Duncan?
Mister Xavier may enter while we indulge.
Fred is avoiding eye contact and sounds a bit monotone when he speaks.

Despite the monotone reply and distracted manner, Duncan is pleased at Fred's reply, and his willingness to continue upstairs.  The Brujah claps Fred on the shoulder and motions for the group to continue towards the Deambulatoire.

Good!  I'd like to meet M. Xavier... I haven't seen him in Elysium yet.  Even if he doesn't show up, Victor might be here later.

As they begin to move again, Duncan looks back at the mortal with a thoughtful gaze; but he glances at Celine, and shrugs.  It's her job to keep out the riff-raff; not his.  He concentrates on not tripping and falling down the stairs.

As they climb, he comments in a quiet tone:
Hmm.  They cleaned the stairs up quite well.

Duncan enters the deambulatoire with William, Fred and Miriel.  For those who have not seen him before, Duncan is about 1.83m tall, with dark hair and striking blue eyes.  He is sort of good-looking, but his appearance is more rugged; definitely not a pretty boy.  His physical build is healthy, yet he is not particularly muscular.  He is currently wearing a black, button shirt, with dark slacks and black, rubber-soled shoes.  The jacket worn is a dark grey denim, although he is wearing a tie, so the effect is sort of a 'business casual' look.

As the group enters Elysium, Duncan's eyes scan the room briefly to see who is there.  His eyes stop briefly on Jean-Pierre Griffin, and there is a slight, respectful bow of the head toward the elder Kindred; but Duncan does not attempt to approach, or interrupt his conversation.  He finishes his inspection of the room, and turns back to his companions.

The young Brujah nods at William's gesture, and heads toward the table he indicated.  Before they get there however, Duncan grabs a seat and offers it to Miriel with a flourish.  Wearing a slight smile, he says in a clear voice:
Please, mademoiselle; allow me.

Perception>3:

As they are seated, one hand is raised to get the attention of the servant, although it is not an urgent gesture; more like 'when you get a chance.'  Then Duncan turns to the others and whispers in a low tone.

Auspex=1, if actively listening, Miriel, Fred, William:

OOC:

William was slightly above average height, 1.8m, lean but nowhere near muscular, perhaps, he looked slightly frail, albeit everything was covered up by a dark red suit with appropriate dark gray dress shoes. He wielded a dark brown cane and was connected to a silver looking wolfs head handle, which tapped with a soft tap whenever he leaned on it while walking, not particularly heavily, more like additional support. His eyes were grayish light blue, his face had no wrinkles other than 2 lines at the corners of his mouth, indicating he was a man who smiled or laughed often when he was still a mortal. His eyes would dart around to everything, particularly the 2 new kindred with brief flashes of interest, although the rest of his face portrayed a sense of calm.

His hair was blond, with several streaks of hair, lighter of colour spread throughout, and all had been carefully gelled back. With the exceptions of a few loose locks. Once he had observed the room, his glance moved towards Fred as Duncan took him up on his suggested table, and he made sure to pull the man along with them.

Once they reached the table and he pushed Fred into a chair, he grinned wickedly at Duncan and Miriel and chuckled.
"Always the valiant knight, Ser Duncan, mayhaps you should fetch a pillow for the lady as well? What do you think, Fred?" He added to keep the Malkavian occupied.

Duncan nods at the Tremere's question, and responds in a similar tone.

Auspex=1, Miriel, Fred, William:

Duncan looks at Claudia sitting with Laure and Jerome, and holding the latter's hand; but he doesn't comment.  Instead he continues to reply to William's earlier comment, in a more conversational tone.

Gosuin could have been here earlier, though... maybe he's got some of the Primogen in there.  Or perhaps he's attending the opera.  Either way, I guess you'll have to wait until Horsman is here for your Presentation.  I doubt Kersten will be back yet.

"From what I learned about my new Regent, I'm partially expecting him to appear any minute now with a straw hat, bermuda shorts and an hawaiian shirt sipping a bloody mojito." William said as he leaned back.

Duncan grins at Williams description of Lyle Kersten, until he gets to the end and mentions a 'bloody mojito.'  For some reason, Duncan's grin turns into a grimace, as if he'd tasted something bad.

Gah.  You are closer than you know.  If your Regent Kersten offers you any kind of blood cocktail, refuse.  Trust me on this.

The young Brujah exchanges a knowing glance with Miriel, as if she knows exactly what he's referring to.

"Did you fall for the ol' Mojito switcheroo gag?" William said with 'I'm impressed' written on his face after he rolled his eyes.

"Never accept a drink of blood unless you're in a verified Elysium. Remain suspicious even then. Words to live by. Or Unlive... that's a rather dual sided concept to explore. We are undead, but technically, we're alive during the night, and sort of 'dead' during the day in the concept of existing, not the concept of form of life definition. I wonder which term would be more appropriate. Although live does provide the merrith of blending in and streamlining with the regular language context, unlive would propose to undo conventional speech patterns and thus cause disruption during conversation depending your crown and their irritability and their factor of knowledge. I'm just saying, stuff to keep you up at night... or day... Albeit there is another rather conflicting saying, for a kindred eventually needs to slip into sleep, no matter what he wills or is able to, there are limits, unless older, and more powerful vampires, and I'm talking like way to the top, are able to stay awaking for at least a day. But that proposes another question that if they do not sleep during the day, would they have to catch up during the night, with possibly be sleep trapped during the day that follows, or would they be unable to sleep during the night and thus are able to exist in a state of constant awareness with merely drowsiness, if even present due to their power, for a minimum of 36 hours on average? Would there be complications? Side effects? What would the aftereffects be? Food for thought. But does that warrant a change in the language context of things to keep you up during the night into a reversed kindred factor to keep you up during the day. or does the kindred condition make such a change impossible by it's very nature? I'm just saying... if one wishes to be actual, factual and correct, or does one wish to conform to mortal language standards. Maybe there could even be a possible reason to have a Vampire orientated language, if such a thing doesn't already exist or has existed. And if it has, are there still sources? Would modern kindred allows such a change? Older vampires might not, depending their personal adaptation level, they could be stuck in their old ways due to the age they have obtained, which impedes their ability to change unless they were a very adapting person. Much like older mortals have problems adapting to the internet age while there are still some who adapt almost flawlessly bar a few concept which will loosen by time. Or maybe they merely adapt to the setting and interpret it in their own special way which seems weird to us should be consider the thought process...

What do you think?"

Hmm.  In hindsight, I wish I could have tuned out that discussion after the "Words to live by" part.

Thank you for the unnecessary warning; I know about not accepting blood from Tremere... well, other Kindred in general, but Tremere specifically.  This wasn't really by choice.  I won't go into detail, since Kersten might regard it as Tremere secrets, but he offered me a drink after the attack on St. Eloi-- some awful-tasting concoction that made me want to drink from a week-dead wino, just to get the taste out of my mouth.  I feel confident that there was no Kindred vitae in the mix, or it would have tasted better.  I suspect the real purpose was to ensure that I wouldn't want to drink anything for a few hours, rather than to satisfy my hunger.  Blecchh.
Duncan gives another grimace for effect.

As for staying awake... we may be clinically 'dead' during the day, but we can dream, although I usually don't.  So I would still refer to it as 'sleep'.  I think it's like when you were alive... you can stay awake if you have to, but you're tired and mentally drained until you catch up on your sleep.  Since many of our powers depend on a certain amount of willpower, that makes us particularly vulnerable.

In fact, I've heard some Kindred say that our powers are based on "Blood, and will."  There's some truth to that.  Focusing your will can allow you to ignore damage that would normally slow you down-- for a few brief moments, anyway.  Once, I saw a Kindred ignore the fact that his leg was broken, and sprint down the street... but then the pain sank in, and he resumed hopping away on one leg.  We don't have adrenalin anymore, but I've also seen someone display brief moments of strength, without having to use the blood to boost their muscles.

Duncan shakes his head, as if to clear it of distraction.
Never mind; I don't want to get too hypothetical here.  That's your area.  I doubt you will have much success with a 'Kindred-only' language... we're kind of resistant to change.  Too many Kindred want things to stay the same as when they were mortal.

Gracefully and with a slight bow, Miri accepts the given seat by Duncan and offers him a wide meaningful smile ; good friends indeed.

The Tremere Harpy spares a glance at Duncan, Miri and William as they go and sit. He nods at the salutation, which Neve does as well, and they resume their conversation.

Miriel sticks out her tongue and makes a pout to show disgust, but also a certain dose of amusement, agreeing with the Brujah and meeting his glance with a meaningful smile. She mimics his bleeeechhh with one of hers.
(Miriel) If only they had been mixed with anything else than tap water.. I wonder... Bleeeecchh...

The Toreador zones out a moment, thinking with what she just said. She also seems to be listening the discussion with one ear. Then she puts one of her elbows on the high table, opening one hand to lean her head on it, breathing softly, blinking as the words spoken by her two fellow neonates go through her (empty ?) brain. She then stretches both arms up and resumes her semi bored position with a smirk.
(Miriel) Some sleep.. some just lie there, mhm? Will is all important, yet I believe I am a little too young and uneducated to understand this. Say, what a shame Claudia's little gran-pa has gone away! He seemed well informed in this. However- She says as she puts her face on her hand in a way to be able t observe William. I'm up for vivisection.. uh, deadsection ? undeadsection ? I'd gladly perform it for you to study.. on somebody for you to observe.

She says so, blinking her eyes slowly. She's starting to look tasty, now. She sticks her tongue out to William and adds idly.
(Miriel) Oh, you, however, are a naughty boy.. fishing for what we know or think. I say we're zombies. With the free will, with a different thirst.. and no decomposition. Or not for most of us...


Her eyes fall on the entrance of the Deambulatoire. Igor walks through the door as she talked of decomposition.

The Nosferatu seems very happy as he enters, and fairly enthusiastic. He looks around, pulls away his cowl now that he's not among mortals, feeling more at ease to show his ugly face around. He sees Laure, Jerome and Claudia, and approaches them, letting his sandals fill the room with little "tap tap" sounds.


After having finished their discussion, Neve and Jean-Pierre leave each other, leaving Neve go to Emilio, while Griffin chooses to approach Duncan, Miriel and William, calmly. He looks a bit annoyed, but it seems it was because of his past discussion than his choice to approach the neonates.