(NSFW) VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

[Duke Danse Macabre]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

*Standing and tentatively walking to join the other approaching from the banquet tables where her outfit blended in with the bright colours where she had been huddled since the guest died in a pool of blood.
Waterlines glistening down over her cheeks from fresh tears she raised her hand clumsily plucking the mask from her face, red rimmed eyes from the tears.*

"I don't suppose I can hide forever hoping people forget about me..... Ironic I always hoped for the opposite before.
My names Arabella and unfortunately this is my first Ball"

*Clearly nervous and struggling to find words she blushed fiercely at a loss for what to do*

 

[Johnny-Crass]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Karl got up and limped his way over to the boy sitting down heavily on the table. Half slurring half growling Karl pointed his knife at the young man "Listen yer lil bookworm bastard the only way you find someone is if you are willing to kill a few innocents to do it."

 

[Nikos]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

"I don't think it is his persistent confectionary consumption that they object to" said Lucien to Kate/Marcus as he took a piece of fruit from the bowl before him.

 

[Mello]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Miheal grinned evilly as he snapped a piece of chocolate in half with one hand.

"Yes... that is why this is so exciting, no rules, no fairness. The norms of society don't apply here." he looked around him spreading his arms.

"This is a true dog eat dog situation. No chivalry will save you here, only being friendly to others and trying not to be targeted by the vampire. Should he strike again." he frowned and crumbles the piece of chocolate to dust in his leatherbound fist.

"And sadly, I'm convinced that they will. Humans need sleep. They... do not."

he looked up sadly around him, it actually seemed genuine. "If we fail, the vampire escapes, and we all die."

His eyes narrowed and a whisper of a smile crossed his lips. "Genius isn't it."

Suddenly Mihael straightened up and looked to Arabella, a look of pity, looking totally alien on his dark eyed, scarred face, crossed his face.

"On...." he sighed and slumped down, forcing a large mouthful of chocolate down.

He looked up, almost crying.

"On second thoughts it seems that everyone actually cares about living, unlike me. Not everyone here deserves to die now, there are too many innocents. For maybe the first time in my life, it looks like making friends is the only thing that will save us, no evidence, only guesswork and making sure you're not executed.

I'm... I'm Mihael."

He said weakly, drawing his knees up to hide his face. Muffled from inside his knees, he added forlornly.

"Arabella, help yourself to some chocolate if you like, it seems to be the only thing I'm useful for."

 

[Count Darvaleth]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

A long, agonised groan lazily made its way from the privy to the hall. It was, of course, much less noticeable in the hall than if somebody had been standing next to the mess that was Rosa. Many might not even hear it, it was that distant. But to Rosa, it felt like an imperial marching band all playing the same note with poor tuning, right in her hear... again, and again, and again...

She finally struggled to her feet, from some strange mattress that had been stuffed in her cubicle. Cubicle... how had she even got here? Rosa quickly checked under her dress to make sure nothing was missing and that she hadn't been taken advantage of, but fortunately nothing of the sort had occurred. She gingerly stepped over to a mirror, her squinting eyes witnessing the utter state she was in. Her navy dress was ragged and crumpled, her brown hair wildly out of control, and her wooden owl mask was still affixed to her face, albeit skew-whiff. She turned to the door, gently making her way out.

As Rosa entered the main hall, she was met with a grim picture indeed. A deflated post-party atmosphere would be an extreme understatement. Rosa slowly unclasped her mask, putting it carefully at the end of one of the tables, before moving forward and sitting down in a comfortable chair, cradling her throbbing head in her hands.

"Hello there, everyone" she croaked, "I'm... I'm Rosa, Rosa Fairbright. I'm sorry if this question is out of place or anything, but... what happened? Why did I wake up in the privy of a noble house, on some strange mattress, wearing clothes for a masked ball...?"

Anticipating that the headache had come from liquor, she added "Also, I'm sorry if I caused any damage, or trouble, or anything, I really can't remember what happened..."

 

[Bounce]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Kate turned to Rosa with a wide grin, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Oh, you poor dear, you missed the best part. That man over there was killed! by a vampire!" She placed her two index fingers next to her teeth and mimed biting someone. Then suddenly she swtopped, regaining a more composed face.
"Really Kate, that is quite indecent. The poor man..., my fair lady we are trying to figure out who could have done such a terrible deed." Markus explained.

 

[The Ice Lord]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Clearly not revealing names is liable to get yourself killed here said Obadiah, frowning at Antonio. My name is Obadiah, for all the good it will do you.

Ignoring the drama starting at the appearance of Rosa, he eyed up the knife being waved around by Karl. I thought we were trying to avoid killing too many innocents? Not that any of us are truly innocent of anything. Put that blade away before you injure yourself, or someone else does.

 

[Malochai]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Antonio frowned back at Obadiah. "Whilst it is true, we may not be innocent in the truest sense of the word, I think we can be sure that at least some of us are innocent of being vampires! And if people will not tell us their names, why should we then trust that they are, actually, what they seem?
"Regardless, whilst Mihael has now told us his name, I am still deeply suspicious of him. My vote still stands, for now!"

 

[Harland]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

"I feel it pertinent to point out," Bastian voiced slightly distractedly, "That young Mihael here is not the only one who hasn't been forthcoming with their names. Let us hope that this disdain is simply because they have not heard." He extended two stubby fingers and pointed at the growling mercenary (Karl) and the slightly crazed noble (Lucien). "Would you and you mind terribly telling us your names?"

His eyebrows rose as the drunk woman from earlier staggered into the room. "My dear, I am sorry you had to awake to such a... quarrelsome situation. There is a certain unknown number of vampires among us and we are trying to discern who they are by the only method available to us... Democracy! Always a bloody business, so what is to be expected?"

 

[The Archivist]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Gregor observed the names being given and stood up himself, hastily swallowing and stuffing the napkin into a pocket with the amulet.
"Since we are providing names, I am Gregor Hearthwell, Professor of Golemic Theory and Related Studies at Nuln."
He looked between Antonio and Mihael, his hand on his chin.
"Upon observation, the situation surrounding this first vote is full of logical inconsistencys. Antonio is casting a vote on the grounds of true suspicion, yet nearly everyone in this room is suspicious. Mihael, instead of casting his vote against Antonio in a bid to keep his head off the chopping block, is withdrawing further into his shell with every detail that he reveals."
"Might I suggest that we do something to provide more information: a bout of verbal sparring, if you will between Mihael, Antonio and a third party. Namely..."
He looked around the room, pausing for thought.
"Bastion. You seem to have a way with words. Anyway, might I suggest that this be a friendly match with a friendly wager to boot: if Mihael loses, he gives up his chocolate and spills his beans; if Antonio loses, he ceases tapping his staff and instead takes the floor to explain his rash voting; and Bastion... um... does something equal to the others if he loses. I will judge the sparring as a neutral party, and will call a halt when I see fit or consider someone to have won and the other two lost. Do any of the partys involved have any objections?"

 

[spineyrequiem]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

'Mnnaaaaacchhh...' Clemence stirred in her chair. At some point the previous night, she had sat down with a half-empty brandy glass and, the chair being comfortable, decided to have a short nap. Now the brandy was a sticky mess across her dress and decolletage, the glass was on the floor and some wag had drawn a crude, though anatomically-correct male figure on her distressingly expensive mask. A crusted eye opened and almost immediately squeezed shut again. 'Daaff! Lyyy...' A hand limped onto the table and crept along it until it eventually touched a glass jug. Fingers languidly clasped the handle and the arm painfully dragged the jug back towards its owner. Reaching the edge, it steeled itself for a moment then, with a jerk, lifted the jug to Clemence's face. Reddish liquid ran down her chin as she took a long sip.

Clemence put the jug down, opened her eyes and, with some vehemence, spat out her mouthful. 'Grapefruit. Ugh.' She looked around the room like a tortoise plotting an escape. 'Did I decide to stay the night here? How wonderful...' An experimental attempt at standing up was aborted almost at once. Her eyes alighted joyously on Antonio. 'Hello sweetie. Going to help a lady up?'

 

[Harland]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Bastian's cheerful grin faltered slightly as Gregor spoke. By the time the so-called scientist had finished, it had turned to an eye-twitching snarl. He quickly walked over to the table, grabbed a half-empty bottle of wine, and downed it. Then, he turned to face Gregor.

"You sir," he spat, "Are an idiot.

"A lip-flapping, swivel-eyed idiot.

"As a merchant, I know my way around statistics. Thus, I can clearly tell that you do not. At all. You pull figures out of the air, state you are going to run some 'equations', then claim there are too many variables. Seriously, do you even know what calculus is? No, you don't, you aren't even close. Your facts are clearly fabricated, your methods are suspect, and your conclusions are irrelevant at best! You are a poor scientist Dr. Hearthwell.

"At no point in your rambling, sesquipedalian statements have you even come close to anything that could be considered a valid point, excepting the times you repeat something someone else has said. Has actually listening ever occurred to you?

"Let us now consider your most recent incoherent string of words pretending to be a valid idea. Now, while verbal sparring is an excellent past time, the relevance it has to the current situation is entirely beyond me. In case this fact hadn't penetrated your pathetic excuse for a brain, Antonio just voted for Mihael to be killed. Do you even understand what that means? If you had been paying attention, Antonio has already stated why he cast his vote - oh wait, you weren't. Also, you state that, as a forfeit, Mihael should have to give up his chocolate, possibly the only thing helping him keep his sanity? What in the seven hells is the point of that? And, furthermore, you want to drag me into the argument? I am only asking people's names! I am withholding my vote until I am convinced. Finally, you suggest that you, of all people, would be an adequate judge. I could not imagine anyone less suited to judge a game of wit.

"Now, this is in no way grounds for me to vote for you. I simply suggest you shut your diarrhoetic mouth until further notice. Thank you for your time."

With this said, his cheerful grin once more appeared on his face.

 

[The Archivist]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Gregor looked rather taken aback by Bastian's outburst.
He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, then gave a polite cough.
"I shall explain in simple words and short sentences.
Verbal sparring allows one to examine each person sparring. Their character, their philosophy and above all, their thoughts.
Antonio has cast a vote for Mihael's death. He has no reason not to attempt to seek further proof that Mihael's death is valid: he will need more people to agree with him.
Mihael is the one accused. He has had no chance to prove himself either way, and without this chance we are all ignorant as to his true self.
You are a third party, clearly intelligent and able to speak quickly and forcibly. Merchant's often are, and that is why I chose you.
As for the forfeits: I wish for each person to have some incentive. I am not a man to dabble in death lightly, especially when my own neck may be on the line, so instead of the threat of my vote I instead offer a displeasing yet survivable alternative.
I am aware that I can be particularly verbose, and that my mathematics is rather rusty, but my field is one of logic and on that I assure you I am not an ignoramus. The few students that pass under my tutelage are in the habit of verbal sparring rather than supplying essays: it is much quicker that way.
Now if you do not want to participate, please suggest another and a reason for doing so. More data is required for us to make better decisions, after all."

 

[Harland]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Bastion rolled his eyes as Gregor spoke again. He took a couple of deep breaths before replying.

"Ah, so by verbal sparring you meant a debate. I'll just add that to my special 'Gregor' dictionary.

"Anyway, the point at hand. Firstly, a debate is exactly what is going on, which you would know if you had been listening. Thus, there is no reason to try to put rules on it - do you honestly think this is some sort of game? Secondly, you don't seem to regard a life being on the line as incentive enough, which speaks volumes about you as a person. Or, as it were, a vampire - it could be anyone. Thirdly, you have yet to provide a valid reason for why this... game should include a third party at all. Perhaps you could try dusting off some of your beloved logic?

"Now please, do us all a favour and stop making stupid suggestions. I have my own thoughts on how to proceed, but first I would like to know everyone's name."

 

[The Archivist]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

"Railroading, penalty."
Gregor responded quickly and with precision.
"A technical term I use with my students. It applys when one side makes an argument then tries to shut the opposing side down before a counter-argument can be made."
"What is currently going on is a discussion. A debate has clear outlines, but also clear goals. Verbal sparring has no clear goal but clear outlines."
"Verbal sparring works best with three or more people, allowing a more complex argument and avoiding utter opposition."
"Winning the bout does not clear anyone from doubt. The intent behind my request is for everyone else to observe and make their own deductions."
"Now, unless you have any more arguments or counter-arguments?"

 

[Shareya]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

"Oh could you just shut up."

Already Serethia brought a hand to her forehead to rub her skin as if she was suffering from a headache like no other.

"Some of you are at others throats a bit too quickly."

Casually the woman then stands up, her hands going over her head just to smooth out her dress. At least when everything is going to hell, one can still look good.

 

[Malochai]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

"Actually, Gregor, I have my own reservations about this. Why should a discussion, or as you term it, a debate, only involve two or indeed three parties, when the outcome wi affect everyone? Surely this needs to be open and freeform; only then shall we see who trips up and reveals themselves?"

 

[Mello]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Mihael looked out from under his hair.

"We're not here to discuss various meanings of the word 'debate', we're here through pure chance. Now I know that I want to get out of here alive, so I suggest we work together.

Bastion, admirable as your efforts to help are, and take no offence from this please, from a purely objective point of view your attempts to lead us all into finding the vampire could be mistaken as you being the vampire and trying to mislead us."

he shrugged moodily.

"Just pointing that out"

 

[Lynks]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Directing her question to Mihael Lyssandra replied,

"But how can we work together when anyone I choose to ally myself is potentially the vampire who is killing us in the night? The mere situation we are in automatically puts us all at loggerheads and the act of democratically electing which of us dies again reinoforces the fact that we cannot work cohesively?"

 

[Mello]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Michael smiled grimly

"Simple, if we all work towards killing the vampire as a whole, then the vampire, attempting to blend in, will only be able to aid its own destruction. Seems like our best shot if you ask me."

 

[Harland]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Bastion gave an exasperated sigh.

"I am not one of your students, and frankly I am quite thankful for that. Have you still not realized that we are no longer in your classroom? You accuse me of bad practice, when your arguments remain incoherent.

"I'm not going to explain exactly why, because I seem to be boring the others. However, I will say this: What you are suggesting is very close to what is going on at the moment, except as some sort of game. You are entirely failing to grasp the gravity of the situation, and that appalls me.

"Now, I am done talking with you. I apologise to everyone for my brusqueness, but I will not abide stupidity when lives are at stake. Antonio has said what I am getting to - this concerns all of us. And Mihael - while a valid point, the trouble is that it could apply to everyone and anyone."

Bastion took a deep breath, and turned away from Gregor.

"Once again, I apologize."

 

[Bounce]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Markus and Kate watched the two men arguing with equal amounts of confusion.
"Gravity of the situation?" Kate piped up taking control."One needs only worry about gravity if one has excessive mass." She chuckled to herself.
"Clearly for the vampire this is a game. They want to set us at each others throat for their own amusement. A better way to defeat him or her or them would be to pretend that they are in fact no threat, that we are not afraid of them and to carry on with our party."

 

[Seiuchi]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

"But why would the vampire want to set us at eachother's throats. I would think it would want our throats entirely to itself." said Flynn with a wry chuckle, moving over to the edge of the room to grab a piece of pastry from a tray of nibbles.

 

[Count Darvaleth]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Rosa was aghast when Kate/Markus spoke up, only for the other man (Bastian) to confirm the issue. Vampires.

"What did I ever do to deserve this?" mumbled Rosa, suppressing a sob. Her distraught sadness soon gained an edge of anger, however, when two of the men began arguing. Rosa's headache wasn't getting any better.

"Please!" cried Rosa, "How is this going to solve anything? You, sir" Rosa said, to Bastian, "Have acted completely out of order, despite any mistakes this man," indicating Gregor, "Might have made. Worse, you've actually indulged his plan by arguing with him anyway! Can't you see this fighting is not going to get us anywhere?" Rosa sighed, looking at the tables around them.

"By the looks of things, I was one of the few that got some sleep, even if it was as a result of my own stupidity. Why don't we all get some nice breakfast down us, and then maybe we'll be a bit nicer to one another? My Pa always did say a man shouldn't do anything serious until he's had his breakfast."

 

[Harland]

RE: VAU IC: The Fangtastical and Arousing Tale of Anita Jacqueofff

Bastion lowered his head as Rosa spoke. Then, after a few heartbeats, he slapped himself in the face.

"You're... right. I don't know what got into me, I went completely over the top. Call it a mental breakdown." He looked back at Gregor, and smiled broadly. "My apologies to the good professor."

"I would go for some breakfast now but I had a, er, voluminous midnight snack."