VAU: The Tale of Ivana Hoompalotte - Game Thread

[Wolfen]

(to Nicholas)
"While I am sorry for the death of thine adopted father I cannot trust a Bretonnian who has turned his back on the Lady. Thy father has been taken into Her rest and thou demeaneth his faith with thy unbelief. But this is neither the time nor the place for lectures on faith. Thine obsession with this creature could be to wreak vengeance or it could be a mask for thy true nature. Perhaps thou seekest to become like him or perhaps thou already art. My suspicion of thee hath not been quenched."
Abel eyed Nicholas for a few minutes before turning to Erik.
"Thou casteth thy vote against this priest simply because he is dangerous? Is he more dangerous than the assassin? Or the soldiers amongst us? Or even thyself? I had thought thee a better judge of character than that my friend."

 

[untitled_musketeer]

Borgo, had once again been ignored by the room. Perhaps it was the consequences of being short, or perhaps the others were as large in character as they were in stature, either way Borgo was fed up.

"When you have sorted out your grievances I will return. I cannot bear such company that ignores my existance. Besides which, like master Tormund over there, I have had too much fine ale to make a reasonable judgement. I bid you all good night. May we all fare well."

With that, Borgo left via the table taking with him a small keg of Bo's Gaaten, three loaves of bread and a leg of venison.

VOTE: INEBRIATED

 

[The Archivist]

To Frederick
"It is but a simple ritual. I must layer my axe, or any blade, with some bodily fluid, preferably from Ulric's enemies although mine will do at a pinch. Second, one must place a quill or writing implement in a cold place. I carry a special flask of cold here, but I could make do with a cold spring. Third, I must place a hair from a wolf in my shoe, which isn't difficult when I can become one at will."
"If you were to deprive a man of these things, it would be like removing a lifejacket from a drowning man - a deliberate act. Such things Ulric can sense, and in these circumstances blind faith can suffice."
Gurter continued, dipping the rod in and withdrawing it before freezing a small patch of skin on his chest into the shape of a snowflake, gasping at the cold.

 

[Malochai]

Alessandro held up his hands,

*To Gurter*

"I didn't mean to cause offence, sir, but that is how it is commonly portrayed, and how I was brought up to see it ... As I said, I didn't mean to cause offence..."

 

[The Archivist]

To Alessandro
"No offence was taken. It is the social stigma. It is not as if I could not discard the blessing, but I wished to enter the priesthood."
He sighed, covering the frozen skin with a leather strip.
"No chance of that now. I'll die today, no doubt. If not today, then sometime after."

 

[Malochai]

*To Gurter*

"As will we all, most like ..."

 

[Harland]

to Gurter
Frederick sighed.
"Knowing what the ritual is will not consol me: I will not put my life in the hands of a religious act. I'm sorry."

 

[Nelganis]

His curiosity piqued, Isaac hurries to Gurter's side.
"And what kind of ritual is this, priest? Last time I checked, Empire priests weren't allowed to do any sort of sorcery or divination outside of their temples..."

Pulling back from Gurter, he hesitates. "Or will this ritual do something to change your werewolf state? Magic is a dangerous road, priest. And you are not so blessed to be defended from it's consequences."

 

[The Archivist]

To Frederick
"Do you think I haven't realised this? Why else would I prepare myself for death as lone warriors do before a fight?"
Gurter replaced the glass rod and secured the flask tightly before repacking the bag, leaving out the vial of hair.
"There. I am ready for whatever will come my way, besides instant death."
He placed the vial in a cloak pocket before reshouldering the pack. He got up from the table.
"I place no blame."

 

[Malochai]

*To Isaac*

"And who, good sir, are you to say that?" Alessandro asked, obvious curiosity in his voice.

 

[Chaos_Born]

'CEASE, FIEND!' Kristof shouts with full fury at Gurter. Since Gurter had revealed his secret, Kristof had closed his eyes and quietly muttered to himself. Now his eyes were filled with fire and his warhammer raised and pointing at Gurter.
'I have besought Sigmar to guide my actions, and he has decreed that your corrupted mockery of a man's form should be destroyed. It matters not whether you are a vampire-yours is simply a different form of evil!'
His voice lowers as he regains his control. He lowers his hammer and continues through gritted teeth.
'I would strike you down now if it were not for the presence of so many others who doubtless would be endangered by an enraged beast like you.' He spits out these last words with thinly veiled revulsion.
'Thus I cast my vote against you, abomination.'

VOTE: GURTER FALLOR

 

[The Archivist]

To Isaac
"It is simply an expression of faith and trust in Ulric. It merely prevents the mind degenerating during the only forced transformation that affects the blest."

 

[The Archivist]

To Kristof
"Let me be. Sigmar can grant you great strength, can he not? Ulric is no different - only his gifts can be hereditary. Were that men such as you were willing to see that the gift is no form of mutation; without stigma, we would be a much greater force for good than we can currently provide."
"If you survive, priest, remember this. Go fight alongside the priests of Middenheim against the chaos warriors with open mind, then try to say to yourself that we are evil."

 

[Bravo_10]

During the multitudes of arguments of conversations that arose since her unmasking, the Masque of Death remained silently seated at the table, immersed deeply in thought. Finally, she arose and walked towards the place where the crowd was gathering around Gurter.

*To Isaac:*

"Calm yourself. Cast your vote if you wish, but losing your temper will not help anything. If you're going to condemn someone to death, it is better that you do so with dignity, for both yourself and the accused."

She then pulled up a chair and sat down amid the throng.

 

[Nelganis]

(at Alessandro)
"I'm merely asking Gurter what his ritual does, because in case you didn't know, vampires tend to be very adept at pulling the strings on anything connected to the winds of magic. We seem to be fond of Gurter so far and I'm questioning his actions so that he doesn't become a thrall to our 'loving' hostess. So that is all, Alessandro." He dismissed his gaze at Alessandro and turned to the assassin known as the Masque.

"I dare not condemn Gurter to death, assassin. I worry about the man's decision to transform at this dire location, but I'd rather have a werewolf that we can call our ally than a bloodsucking fiend who'll stab us in the back at every corner. Also, a being of both vampire and were is unheard of...So in some ways, this ritual could prove Sir Gurter's innocence."

With his explanations out of the way, he went back to leaning against the nearest wall, gently sipping wine from his glass.

 

[Harland]

to Isaac
"Not quite unheard of. There are... beasts. Giant wolves with bloodlust far beyond their kind, and no control over their rampant killing instinct once they transform. The government tries to keep the stories of these beasts under wraps, because if their existance was known to the general public, then mass hysteria would break out."

 

[The Archivist]

Gurter smiled sadly at Isaac.
"My transformation is not one of magic, although it would be impossible to tell without some way of measuring the winds. I could do so now - tommorrow is merely a time when I must transform. If no-one here were to kill me at first sight, then I would happily do so."
"However, the very fact that it cannot be distinguished from magic means it could never prove my innocence."

 

[Raizi]

(To everyone around the table)
"I kindly thank you for coming forward with your stories, but now my eyelids grow heavy from the wine and food. If I die tonight at least I will die with a full belly."

(To Gurter)

Duality looks at him with sad eyes.
"Seeing as how it is, I believe I will be joining you shortly if this group passes judgement only on the notion that someone's different. May whatever guides you welcome you in the afterlife."

When climbing the stairs, Duality mutters to himself:

"But come tomorrow and when we count our number, I will seek out the walking gorilla and see what he is all about..."

Then Duality retires to his own bedchamber.

 

[The Archivist]

To Frederick
"You speak of the Dire Wolf. It is no true creature of Ulric, for it is bolstered by the dark winds of the vampires, and as such must be destroyed whenever encountered."

 

[Harland]

Frederick's eyes widened as he turned to look at the table. Sure enough, there was a massive hulking lump of fir snoring loudly there.
"Sweet merciful Zeus..."

 

[Harland]

to Gurter
"You mistake me for a fool. The dire wolf is naught but an undead wolf sustained by dark magic. I speak of something else entirely."

 

[The Archivist]

To Frederick
"Do you perhaps refer to the Thing? Or to the bestial degenerate forms that vampires are supposed to take? Or are you refering to the renegades hunted by Ulric's fanatics, those who have chosen to abuse the blessing instead of discarding or looking after it? Or even to the beastmen who have been twisted by the forces of Chaos to some grotesque parody of the wolf?"

 

[Nelganis]

His eyebrows raised at Frederick's comment, followed by a look of confusion.
(to Frederick) "I...never heard of such things. Could these be just alpha werewolves? Is there any other explanation to them besides them just wanting to kill? You heard it as well as I that Gurter has a ritual that will give him control over his feral side. With that in tow, should it be true, we could use him to help the lot of us escape."

 

[Harland]

to everyone interested
"There have been many theories. The feral vampire you speak of is known as a varghulf... but it resembles an enormours, loping bat, whereas what I am talking about is most definitively a wolf. We would still be unsure as to what these things are, if a specimen had not been caught a few years back. To our horror, it was nothing that we expected... but it was most definitely a vampire werewolf. The dead yet living flesh, the eventual change back into what was a poor excuse for a man... we were left in no doubt."

 

[The Archivist]

Gurter stared in horror as Frederick divulged the information.
"You are sure it was a were-wolf, and not some vampiric magic? If so, could anyone who survives this take a message to the Temple of The White Wolf? The priesthood must be informed of this threat."