VAU: Tale of Quitzal; IC Thread

[Lord_Mortis]

As Clementine's sickening dizziness subsided, she spotted the glow of a setting sun, signifying the arrival of the night. But what would happen? Would she be attacked by vampires? Would she be killed? Obviously, she hoped this was not the case. She no longer wanted to travel the old world and the new, she just wanted to go home...

Before darkness approached, she made her way to the sacred fire for warmth and light. She sat down near it and hugged her knees to her chest, tucking her face away from the world. Tendrils of shadow crept towards her, but stopped as they neared the light, meeting their ancient match. She tried to calm herself by humming an old folk song but thoughts of her possible demise silenced her. What worried her the most was dying here in some strange land, where her mother would never find her, and leaving her all alone in the manor.
A tear came to her eye and she tilted her head to wipe it away then buried her face in her knees again.

 

[Mello]

Mihael retreated into the safety of the shadows, where he would not he seen, be it by vampire or human. His eyes glinted in the darkness.

"Night.... Dont let the vampires bite"

The glint of his eyes disappeared under his hair accompanied by a husky chuckle.

 

[Bounce]

The sun rises above the jungles like a molten ball of fire. In the distance can be heard the shrill cries and guttural roars of many different weird and wonderful animals. Some of you have slept soundly and some not so much.

You make your way upstairs to have breakfast and are met by a startling sight. The floor is covered in scarlet red blood. So much of it that it is hard to imagine it could all have come from the one person. However everyone is still alive and looking reasonably well.

Quitzal arrives while you are awaiting upon his Terradon. At the sight of the blood he hisses sharply and then barks some commands at the temple guard but they respond negatively. He turns then to face you all.
"The dead have struck this night. You must find out who they are! Quickly! I shall be back at sunset and you shall give me a name!"

Day has begun! You have until Thursday Night to determine who shall be thrown to the carnosaurs. Remember you may only abstain or miss 1 vote. Also you one dramatic accusation may be made today. If there is a tie in votes the person voted off first will lose.
i.e Bob votes for Fred
Jane votes for Tim
Fred votes for Tim
Tim votes for Fred.
Tim loses and gets killed.

 

[Mello]

A glint of light reflected off Mihael as he emerged from the same shadow as from the night previously. A ghost of a smile whispered over his face as the first snap of chocolate reverberated around the room, sending ripples across the blood.

"So... the vampires are using their sleeping magicks again."

His eyes barely being able to be seen from under his hair he squatted down at the edge of the sea of blood and his eyes unfocussed once again, staring at the group assembled through their reflection in the blood.

"So.... who caused this then? A vampire turning another human? Perhaps two vampires fighting.. Assuming vampires have regular blood. Or something as boring as a vampire hunter luring the vampire out. And yes I'm certain there's a vampire hunter amongst us, its too good an opportunity to miss."

His eyes flicked up and scanned blankly over the group slowly.

"I learnt that one from experience."

 

[Aren]

Syntath blearily shrugs his garment back on after the swelteringly hot night and sprints to the sacred pool, still trying and ultimately failing to do up his belt while in full sprint. At a dizzying speed he dunks his whole injured hand into the water and keeps it there a long while, muttering under his breath.

"By Sigmar's hairy ass, this water is freezing..."


With his hand still in the water he glances at Mihael.

"Again?" he sighs "Boy you need to start explaining yourself: you blatantly ignored me yesterday when I politely inquired you about your limp and now you are making yourself out to be a bleeding..." here he looks at the blood on the floor "...vampire expert! Say what ye mean and in simple terms, not convoluted riddles. I had enough of them at universities and no philosophy of yours can surprise me - careful, if you do not satisfy my curiosity, which I think we can agree is well founded, I might take a dislike to you." Here Syntath slowly rubs the hilt of his sword now visibly protruding from his hip.

Mihael had been mysterious all along, but firstly ignoring his remark on the limp and then making himself out to be a vampire expert has been too much in such a short space of time for the usually short tempered knight. The blood unnerves him and for no frivolous reason - he has had his run of vampire hunts and stories throughout his life, often when the vampire hunter had been seen entering the haunt of the undead beast he never came out, only leaving a pool of blood to testify for his existence, then suddenly after a few days the number of vampire attacks doubled in a disturbing and gruesome way. It may be possible that there is yet another vampire in the room and one less human.

Muttering another curse Syntath wills the water to heal his hand, praying that such a thing is possible.

 

[Bounce]

Syntath
The water of the sacred pool does have healing properties. As you watch the blisters fade and disappear! Your arm is as good as new. You also notice deeper in the pool a glimmer of metal. A key perhaps? If you wish you may pick it up.

 

[Wolfen]

Torormr gazed warily at the blood on the floor. He didn't like being stuck here in the lizard temple, especially when it was complicated by the bloodsucking undead. He had the urge to hit something with his fists. Mihael spoke and caught the Norseman's attention. The big man walked towards Mihael and addressed him.

"Sounds like an interesting story. Why don't you tell it now?"

The way Torormr glared at Mihael conveyed the message that his statement was not a request.

 

[Lord_Mortis]

Clementine wearily awoke, Quitzal's booming voice wrenching her from her slumber. She sat up and looked around, she had fallen asleep in front of the fire. People had begun to gather around upstairs, she could hear them. She stood up and easily wandered up the stone steps, her bare feet padding on the floor. As she reached the place where the people had begun to gather, she saw that the ground was completely covered in blood. She gasped and feared for the worst as she continued upstairs.
"Did... Did somebody die?" she asked cautiously.

 

[Mello]

Mihael's eyes looked sideways at Clementine as she entered, narrowing a little, before turning back to the knight.

"I had a limp because if you go through that wooden door and take the entrance with silver snakes on it, you find a pit of snakes."

He rolled up his trousers to show to partially healed puncture wounds. Mottle red against alabaster white, almost like two eyes.

"And before you ask whether that was a vampire turning me into one of them... do you really think I'd be so stupid as to just give myself away like that? Why would they even bite me on the leg anyway, and the puncture wounds are too close together to be of a human mouth anyway. Come I'll show you the room as proof, or if you're scared of me you can go alone.." Mihael's eyes narrowed slightly in amusement.

Suddenly his eyes narrowed a little more as he saw something shimmering off the knight's face. Looking down into the pool of water, he raised an eyebrow.

"Looks like something we could use. Don't worry I won't steal it from you, it's all your if it helps us against the vampires." Mihael smiled innocently, as he snapped a chunk off and chewed slowly.

 

[Aren]

Syntath tests his newly healed hand, first flexing it and then slowly taking out the object in the pool which may-or-may-not-be-a-key.

He scoffs at Mihaels response:
"You still haven't explained your vampire expertise...".

 

[Bounce]

Syntath
To grab the item you need to wade a little bit into the pool. the water is cool and feels very nice. You reach down and pick it up. It is indeed a key. A large old fashioned one that looks very stylish and also quite likely to fit in the locked door.

then you notice the piranhas...

You run out of the pool at top speed but not before a couple of the tiny, brightly coloured fish bite you.
Lose 2 Hit Points, however now you have the KEY!

 

[Duluoz]

Alex'zor watched the mornings happenings with a steady gaze. Feeling confused but alert, he attempted his own interpretation.

First, well done Synthat for spotting that key - I'm curious to see where that leads.

Secondly, Mihael, why is everything you say so damn suspicious? I to find your explanations suspect. You seem very knowledgeable about what happened.

Thirdly here is my logic, whatever worth it may be. As clearly said the blood seems an awful lot for one person. So either someone died, or the blood is from two or more. As clearly no one has died, then logic dictates that the blood is from two or more.

So what would cause this amount of blood to be spilt. The wrecked furniture indicates a struggle.[\b]

 

[The Dread King]

The quiet of the entrance to the temple of the Lizardmen was assaulted by a sleepy "Arrr..." and then, much louder, a shout: "Arrrrr! Get off me, ye foul lizards!" The speaker waved his hand feebly in the air above him, as if still in a previous struggle. The self-styled "captain" Omnilosa blinked twice, and brought his mind back to the present. With a tremendous effort, the portly man lifted himself up into a sitting position. Where am I?, the eccentric thought, before seeing the pile of blood on the floor nearby and drawing himself up to his full height in shock.

Panicked, the man glanced around once more. "Where am I?" he asked to everybody in fear. Suddenly realising how foolish he'd made himself look, he said, "One of ye'd better answer, for I am Omnilosa, feared captain of the...er...the big boat, and I have a punishing stick!" He held a cheaply made, childish-looking wooden staff in the air. A painted feather fell off it. Omnilosa gulped. Perhaps it would have been better to say nothing.

In an accent noticeably less Sartosan, he quietly inquired of Quitzal, "What is happening? Why is there blood on the floor? Can I leave?" Fearing a price for the answers to his questions, Omnilosa hesitantly asked, "Do...do you want some jam?" He brought a jar out of his jacket pocket, offering it up to the skink mage-priest.

 

[Malochai]

Cailas strode away from Celementine, who had been talking to him, and walked to the table full of fruit at the centre of the large room, and grabbed a piece of exotic fruit, sinking his teeth into it gratefully, finally breaking his fast. He grabbed a piece of cloth and cleaned up the juices which had spilled out of the fruit and his mouth, before swallowing and smiling wanly, looking at the people who surrounded him.

"It is a disgrace that I am here, truly. The Elder Races of this world are not capable of becoming vampires, and we have no need to - we live long enough without it, and have wholesome lives, not the half, blood dependant lives that those who fall to vampirism are subject to. And, you are human. The fact that I am quartered with you all is offensive.
"Regardless. I care little for your lives; they pass in the blink of my eye, and someone has to start voting. So, I shall name Mihael a vampire. Something about him just seems ... Off. And his comment - that the vampires are using their magicks again. He has previous experiences with them. Kill him. None of you know him, or well, at any rate. What does his life matter to you?"

Vote: Mihael/Mello

 

[Wolfen]

"Hey, Pointy-ear, you can't order us around!" Torormr stared at the elf, clenching his hands into fists. "We aren't your slaves and you aren't our master. But I agree that we need to do something to get out of this temple." He turned back to Mihael and grabbed the front of the smaller mans clothes, hoisting him off the ground.

"Story. Now."

He released Mihael and waited.

 

[Malochai]

The elf titled his head very slightly as he looked at Torormr, his eyes questioning. "Firstly, I wasn't ordering you. I was simply stating that it would be practical, and wise, to kill him. Secondly, who are you to tell me that I have no right to give you orders, and then start ordering others around?"

 

[Wolfen]

Torormr stared back at the elf, confused that the answer wasn't immeadiately apparent.

"Uh, cos I'm the biggest and strongest."

 

[Malochai]

"Size does make strength, human, and understanding this is why the Asur will ever be more advanced in all things than the people of your semi-primitive race. In any fight between the two of us, I have no doubt at all that I would render you dead within minutes. Currently, the mind will win this for us, and I am determined to survive this, thus the use of intelligence, which the Asur are also famed for, makes me the most valuable person in this room. Stop your inane posturing, sit down and let the smart people try to figure out the answers," he said, a sneer of utter contempt written across his features.

 

[Mello]

Mihael cocked his head to one side oddly at the man holding up, despite everything his eyes flickering across the man's face with apparent interest as he absorbed information.

"You need me to explain that to you too? I'm sure the elf here has already figured this all out." he half-smirked.

"If he's as intelligent as his mouth says so."

His head swivelled back to the cruder human in front of him, eyes locking on a little later after they lingered with equal interest on the elf. He sighed at the man's seemingly inferior intellect compared to the Asur."[/b]

"Firstly, I'm a child, I read a lot of fictional books, vampires are quite popular by authors nowadays. I was working on the assumption that somewhere amongst the fancies there are elements of truth. Either way all I've mentioned about vampires is that they are capable of turning us into one of them, they can use magic, sleeping magic being one of the most simple, and that there could be more than one." He indicated towards the puddle of blood, in the same movement drawing a new bar of chocolate and snapping the end off, despite still being held off the ground.

"Looking at the pile of blood we have I wouldn't be surprised, considering that no one here is injured and there's at least two people's blood here, the only logical conclusion is that the two vampires fought each other. I wonder why they would though... " his eyes grew distant.. misty.

"If I were a vampire.. I wouldn't attack another vampire in the night.. I'd vote for him in the day to gain the humans' trust. So... whomever initiates a vote against a person who turns out to be a vampire... could be a vampire."

His gaze snapped back and an innocent smile crossed his face, he twirled the chocolate bar around in a circle.

"Figuratively speaking of course."

 

[Malochai]

"Or someone who votes against someone who turns out to be a vampire could be truly innocent. After all, should the damnable vampires not work together to escape this place, lest they are all revealed and killed?" Cailas countered, sitting and leaning forward, placing his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together and resting his chin on them. He then proceeded to stare intensely at Mihael. "I think you are merely trying to sow discord amongst the innocent in the case that you turn out to be a vampire, which I find increasingly likely."

 

[Mello]

Mihael turned back to the elf.

"Well said, Asur. Apologies if that was mispronounced." he muttered waving his chocolate flippantly.

"On the point of 'He who reveals a vampire', I was merely saying we couldn't be absolutely sure they're human, obviously it's very likely they're human, but the possibility still remains.

On the subject of my own suspicion.." His eyes drew distant just a second before a small smile returned to his face as he licked a sliver of chocolate off his lips.

"Now if I were a vampire, why would I want to give away possibly the best route I had of proving my own innocence? If I put myself in the position of a vampire, I would be sure not to aggravate any of the other possible vampires so that I can vote them to death without them learning of my.. condition. Indeed I wouldn't even attempt to draw anyone's blood, and just stay as low key as possible"

His eyes looked skyward as if he was picturing the whole situation.

"Act like a human totally and no one has any reason to suspect you, the vampires all die and you're let free. Seems a win win situation to me."

He chucked an empty wrapper carelessly into the pool of water, the pihranas had a brief prod, but soon gave up and swam away.

"Soooooo that's what I would do if I were a vampire, instead of what I've done which is stop them from using possibly their best chance of proving their humanity."

Smiling innocently he cocked his head.

"What would you do if you were a vampire?"

 

[Wolfen]

Torormr looked at the elf, then at Mihael, then at the elf again.

"Uh, did one of you just insult me?"

The big man continued to gaze confusedly at the two beings before him. He considered their words for a few minutes.

"Ok, you," he said pointing at Mihael, "still haven't told us about your experience that you mentioned with vampires. Maybe they made you one, eh?"

"And you," turning to the elf, "well I just don't like your stuck up attitude. Maybe I'll smash you one day, just to show that you aren't so high'n'mighty. Nevertheless, I agree with your suspicions. I think he is 'off' in some way."

 

[Mello]

Mihael glanced oddly between the two.

"A human agrees with an elf that another human is off."

He got off the ground and stood up slowly, a sharp crack reverberating from his mouth as he crunched down on a piece of chocolate.

"This has become very.. fun."

Mihael flicked a second square into his mouth.

"Oh, and being 'off' doesn't make me vampiric." he shrugged too innocently.

"Who knows, I could be a worshipper of chaos?"

 

[Aren]

"In that case, you will die."

Syntath's whisper falls like a cold shower on Mihael's back. He stands close, VERY close.

"No worshiper of Chaos will taint the same room I am in, I will shift Heaven and Hell if that results in the eradication of chaos. Now, lets have some honest, decent logic here. You Mihael do not disagree that there is something "off" about you, you have yet to deny it. In fact, in your hurry to deny being a vampire you even prefer to be called a worshiper of chaos, that is true desperation. You claim to know so much about vampires, yet you say that you got it from the "teen fiction" section. Well, news for you, there they make out vampires to be sexy men and women who have well flossed teeth and a constant glittering robes enchantment on them. That is only in the safety of your bed; here there be monsters."

"So firstly there is the above. Secondly you are yet a child, small of stature and not too battle worn, lizardmen do not steal innocent kids from their cosy beds just for the fun of it, indeed I think your age is far greater than that which you would have us see. Thirdly, every child knows that eating chocolate constantly will give them stomach ache and constipation, however I have yet to hear from you about your bowel problems and seeing as a vampire has different digestive tracts, a fact obvious as they drink blood, they would not need to worry about something as trivial as that."

"For all these reasons and more, plus my gut instinct and especially because you are not constipated from all the chocolate you eat I condemn you to bear my vote, may your pathetic vampire carcass rot in the deepest reaches of the Pit!"

Vote Mihael/Mello

Also, Syntath after delivering the accusation strides over to the locked door and shoves his shiny key into the lock.

 

[Malochai]

"Which would be all the more reason to kill you," Cailas reasoned, lightly gripping the hilt of the Emeraldsea sword which hung at his waist. "A follower of the Dark Gods worships death and destruction for the sake of it; if one has been poisoned with vampirism against their will, I could at least understand. Those who choose to side with destruction are worse than any other scum that has been created," the elf spat, anger burning in his eyes. "Do not quip like that. My people have paid more than any of yours to keep the Darkness at bay. I will not have that sacrifice made light of." With a final disgusted look at Mihael, he finally turned to Torormr.

"I am not stuck up, I am an elf. Thus, I am naturally smarter, quicker, stronger and prone to looking a damn sight better than yourself. The Elder Races, especially the Asur, do not need to worry about the threats of mewling humans!"