Kathy clicked the extractor on to take away the acrid smell of smoke that seemed to permeate the small kitchen.
Eveska seemed in an almost hyperactive mood and it infected kathy somewhat and they exchanged furtive glances.

[i:45d7d42fb6]"well , we could always just sit around pondering on all that is wrong in the world.......or..."[/i:45d7d42fb6]

Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows and sighed softly.

What was it with Toreador's and either spending money or going out, it was like a compulsion.

Kathy flashed him a look and she smiled at porter who was visibly snarling at her.
[i:45d7d42fb6]" Porter really, that frown does not become you at all"[/i:45d7d42fb6]

[i:45d7d42fb6]" You mean we could go out Kathy? what an excellent idea, that is unless the gentlemen have better things to do , if so we could leave them behind"[/i:45d7d42fb6]

Eve looked mischievously at them as she poured herself and Kathy a glass of deep red wine.

((just an idea :)

The night after his reunion with the once-whorish, saintly Toreador he called “Old Woman”, Porter found himself in a bit of a quandary.

The location she’d given him had it seemed “gone cold”. Gabriel’s scent was still prevalent. But the often foolish youngster was gone. The scent was still relatively fresh, so imprinting the scent in psionic form upon the minds of his horde, the Gangrel sent waves of rats and flies off across the city searching for the template of scent and taste their undead leader bequeathed them.

Porter waited on the roof of an old patisserie before the swarms began to report back.

------------

He seeped through the ventilation system that fed cooled and filtered air into the exquisite hotel’s rooms and corridors. If the mist was examined closely, it would be noticed that it was [i:de0aed832b]not[/i:de0aed832b] mist, but a mass of microscopic cells fluttering and pulsing through the air.

The mist seemed to condense on the door. Porter stood now, unsheathed by clothes, his savagery for all to see. In this case, for the young nordic fop, Gabriel, to see.

Gabriel almost jumped at the savage at his threshold.

[i:de0aed832b]“Oh for Heaven's sake Porter, you didn't walk through the lobby like that did you?”[/i:de0aed832b]

------------

While the others commented upon Eveshka’s culinary talents, the feral seemed to day dream. His nostrils drawing in every analog of scent each of the room’s residents exuded, from illustrious French perfumes to Italian cologne. The effect was intoxicating, but something underlaid the scent. An old scent that reminded him of centuries past. Peat, soil, rotting leaves. And within it all, the stench of things forgotten.

He closed his eyes, hoping to stir old memories by draining the very room of smells. His breath ceased as his mind began to remember...and receive.

[i:de0aed832b]The wood was none he’d walked through. yet it was familiar. This strangeness was repeated in the figure that stood facing him. A woman of exceptional grace. He tried to look closer. Vines tousled from her head where hair should have been. Leaves and thorns permeating the vegetative cascade. A mouse seemed to peer from her locks before disappearing, then she spoke.[/i:de0aed832b]

[i:de0aed832b]“Porter really, that frown does not become you at all.”[/i:de0aed832b]

The illusion shattered, Porter growled at the speaker. Kathy simply shrugged and smiled gleefully.

[i:c6bdc4ab11][b:c6bdc4ab11]Enter the narrator[/b:c6bdc4ab11][/i:c6bdc4ab11]

Cast back your mind, gentle reader and remember that Julius did go to Mistridge with Morathi and the mirror bound wraith Goratrix. Though we have seen in our tale that all are once again present in Marseilles, the following relates the events and happenings of that visit. Also, gentle and forgiving reader, we beseech you to forget any geography you may think you know. Mistridge, it has been written, lies near Javielle, a village south of Foix, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Maps of Mythic Europe, however, are impossible to reconcile with modern maps of true geography, thus Mount Tierné, the River Vreis and the other surrounds of Mistridge may even be fiction, indeed, Foix stands alone as a place easily verified as existing. Therefore, let us place, in our story and in our own particular fiction, Mistridge as being but a stones throw from Marseilles, not south of distant Foix and let us create our own mountain and lost villages. It is the events that are important here, gentle reader and not the precise location.


[size=29:c6bdc4ab11][u:c6bdc4ab11][b:c6bdc4ab11][i:c6bdc4ab11]The Mistridge Files[/i:c6bdc4ab11][/b:c6bdc4ab11][/u:c6bdc4ab11][/size:c6bdc4ab11]

[img:c6bdc4ab11]http://mort.level5.net/mistridge.jpg[/img:c6bdc4ab11]

A cracked and unmaintained road marked by frequent potholes, winds its way up the side of the mountain from the ford where the village of Javielle once stood, a millenia ago. Now, as then, the tower is clearly visible, clinging to the rock like some guardian beast watching over the valley below. Whatever entrance it once had to it's precincts is now replaced by rusting barbed wire, a remnant from the war. The Nazi's who pressganged this place of power into use leaving their faded signs warning of consequences to trespassers and later signs, hung by modern French authorities giving their own warnings of an unstable building and dangers to health. Both sets of signs, giving, each in their own language a simple message. "Keep out".

A car pulls up to the gate. A man is driving, with a woman in the passenger seat. The rear seats have been folded down to make room for a large wooden box. At a gesture from the driver, the rusting fence slides away, shivering and creaking to make way for the vehicle. The stone tower seems to watch with interest, the eyes of the four stone dragons who adorn it's corners seem to watch the car and it's occupants. They yearn, perhaps, for the attention, once again to feel magic flowing in and around them, as for the first time in hundreds of years, magi have come again to Mistridge.

As instructed by their ethereal, mirror bound guide, the magi ascend the tower to the top floor. They pass the remnants of Nazi occupation. Where once Magi had sanctums, mouldering desks and faded, rotting banners fill the rooms. In forgotten laboratories, the broken remains of the SS occultists failed attempts to make magic of their own. Both the man and the woman can see evidence of half understood half truths in these remains. It is well, perhaps that they failed. The force that drove these experiments did evil enough without the aid of magic. It is on the eleventh floor that the staircase, which has spiralled it's way up the centre of the tower comes to an abrupt end. The pair step into rooms which were once the sanctum of Clavius, magi of House Criamon and more recently, of an unknown German occultist.

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"I said the top."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Said Goratrix after Julius and Morathi had unpacked him. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"There's two more floors to this tower you know."[/i:c6bdc4ab11]

Julius shot him a look and drawled sarcastically. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"Of course I know, I've been here that many times before, that naturally I know there's two more floors. That will be why the stairs end here."[/i:c6bdc4ab11]

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"No they don't."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Replied Goratrix in a patronising tone. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"Magi these days."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] He muttered under his breath.

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"What was that?"[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Said Julius, wondering where his hammer was.

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"Oh.. nothing."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Answer Goratrix with a smile. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"Just go talk nicely to the wall at the top of the stairs."[/i:c6bdc4ab11]

Julius gave the wraith a hard stare whilst Morathi struggled to hide an amused smile, before proceeding to the wall at the top of the stairwell.

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"Open up then."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] He said to the wall in hermetic latin.

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"Password please."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Replied the wall.

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"I've got enough perdo terram to blast you into nothing."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Obliged Julius affably.

The wall seemed to consider this for a moment. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"Password accepted."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] It said and slid open.

Two more floors climbed brought the threesome to the true top floor. Here the wartime occupants had never penetrated and here was the ancient council chamber of the Magi of Mistridge. A stone bench ran about the circumference of the chamber, which contained a heavy round table on the east side, surrounded by equally heavily built chairs. A wooden bannister, remarkably well preserved for it's age ran about the top of the staircase. On the southern wall, an eight foot tall map of the world, painted on to wood showed the world as a disc, with Jerusalem at it's centre.

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"Right then."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Began Goratrix, when the pair had carried him up into the chamber. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"This is, as I'm sure you've guessed, the council chamber of Mistridge. The floor below, equally untouched, contains the chambers and sanctum of Grimgroth. Not much left there, I'm afraid, as he took his things with him when he left. First, I think Julius had better fill Morathi in on our recent discoveries, then I will tell you why I wanted to come here."[/i:c6bdc4ab11]

Julius nodded and began to tell Morathi the truth of the bloodlines of Eveshka and Clan Tremere. Morathi listened carefully, her eyes growing wide with astonishment.

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"I'll need to think about this, Julius."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Said Morathi, finally. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"The implications are..."[/i:c6bdc4ab11]

[i:c6bdc4ab11]"Enormous, I know."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Finished Julius. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"Now, Gramps."[/i:c6bdc4ab11] Goratrix shuddered, Julius grinned. [i:c6bdc4ab11]"Why did you want to come here?"[/i:c6bdc4ab11]


[b:c6bdc4ab11][i:c6bdc4ab11]To be continued[/i:c6bdc4ab11][/b:c6bdc4ab11]

It wasn’t a secret that Porter had no desire to be shuffled around Marseilles various nightclubs. Nor was it secret that Gabriel, unaccompanied by Tyler, shared the ancient wild-man’s reluctance. But nothing, but nothing, was going to dampen the spirits of their two feminine companions.

You wouldn’t think, by her behaviour and present countenance, that Lady Eveshka was any older than the other women herding towards the clubs. The girlish grin that danced in Shiseido red across her sculpted face made Porter start.

By her side, dressed in equally uncharacteristic “club wear”, Kathy strode with the giddiness of a tipsy schoolgirl. Both women linked arms giggling before they proceeded to pass comment on any and every man they spotted.

[i:55854342d9]“Oh great, they’re people watching again.”[/i:55854342d9] Gabriel’s under-enthusiasm made Porter quite envious. He smiled, an expression rare when he was “squashed” into clothes, and waved a teasing finger as the two Toreador turned and blew raspberries.

[i:55854342d9]“Now now, Gabriel. We mustn’t upset the ladies. After all, it does them good to mingle with the idiots.”[/i:55854342d9] He blew a fanged kiss at Eve as she snarled playfully.

The coterie quickly made their way to the club.

The Metal Bar was something of an icon among it’s peers. Luckily it stood just a few minutes walk from their hotel, jutting up from the remnants of an old factory. Factory Chic they called it.

The manager, a portly but jovial Frenchman called [i:55854342d9]Fabron Moineau[/i:55854342d9], had strict views on who his clientele should be. Of course, the place was crawling with Toreador wannabes, artists and fashion victims, but noone looked out of place. Until Porter walked in of course.

To Eve’s and Kathy’s joy, drinks for the girls were free.

Porter and Gabriel could only groan at the oncoming purgatory.

The two watched as the two female Kindred wandered off into the crowd. Techno, dance, and Hip Hop beats filling the crevasse the crowds opened to let them through.

[i:55854342d9]“When does this hell-hole close then?”[/i:55854342d9] Porter looked truly fearful.

Gabriel could only look apologetic. [i:55854342d9]“Dawn. I think.”[/i:55854342d9]

Eveshka and Kathy had decided to indulge some male fantasies. For all intents and purposes they grinded and dirty danced their way through the male population. Kathy, though never far from her wingleader, Eve, was seen nuzzling a young beau with the typical swarthy look of the southern french. Eveshka on the other hand had come across a stunning arabic looking man who had her pinned up against a pillar kissing her deeply.
The pair seemed to be losing control over their hormones as each one's hands roamed freely around the other's body.

Porter was lurking in the corner and happened to look over at Eveshka. He let out a grunt, thinking "she isn't as changed as she led on." He heard the sounds of someone spitting their drink back into their glass as if they had found a dead animal at the bottom of it.

"What the hell is Eveshka doing?" came Gabriel's indignant question.

"Quite a lot by the looks of it," came Porter's response.

"That is Ali she is snogging," said and outraged Gabriel.

Porter just looked at him. "Ali, you know. Big man? Bald? Chopped my fucking arm off with an enchanted sword?"

Porter stood up abruptly and began to make his way over to where Eve and Ali had just been. They were no longer there. He followed Eveshka's scent outside the club and out a back alley. The narrow corridor was strewn with garbage and stank of urine, vomit, and the musky scents of illicit sex. Porter, with Gabriel in tow, crashed out the door and stood surveying the scene. Standing about 40 yards away was the man Gabriel knew as Ali and Eveshka knew as Ishmael. Eveshka was laying in a crumpled heap at his feet. Her blood dripped from his mouth. He had already opened his trench coat to reveal two glowing scimitars. With a flourish he pulled them from their sheathes and assumed a neutral stance, his right hand scimitar forming a closed 6 position and his left hand scimitar held over his head in an aggressive closed 1 position.

His countenance seemed to change to something grotesque and menacing as he used his perfectly developed Dread Gaze. Gabriel dropped to the ground in terror. Porter felt a fleeting moment of panic but conquered it. Ali smiled at him with his fangs bared. He looked down at Eveshka and she stirred. He looked sharply up to the top of one of the buildings enclosing the alley. With his gaze so too did Eveshka levitate. She soared quickly up to the rooftop where some waiting henchmen grabbed her torpored form and spirited her off.

He returned his gaze to Porter. The garbage cans and refuse exploded in a green flame that singed Porter and caught the buildings on fire. But for his lightening fast reflexes, Porter and Gabriel would have been immolated. He pulled them back into the club and shut the door before the fireball reached them. He ran through the crowd to Kathy who was looking bewildered at them wondering where the hell they had gone off to.

Gabriel relayed what had just happened to Kathy. She threw her arms around Gabriel in relief that he was ok. They raced back to the hotel to regroup and figure out what the hell to do, if anything.

[size=29:1e3ae71e5a][b:1e3ae71e5a][i:1e3ae71e5a][u:1e3ae71e5a]The Mistridge Files[/u:1e3ae71e5a][/i:1e3ae71e5a][/b:1e3ae71e5a][/size:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"I told you."[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Replied Goratrix [i:1e3ae71e5a]"About a book, I conveniently found."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Julius nodded. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"The egyptian book. With the formulae in it, that allowed you to create the clan."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"I stashed it."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"Here?"[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Asked Morathi

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"No, dear. New Mexico."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Morathi looked at Julius. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"Must we put up with his riddles?"[/i:1e3ae71e5a] She asked.

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"No, not at all. There's plenty of furniture here we can smash him with."[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Replied Julius with a smile. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"Go right ahead."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"Tell me, Goratrix."[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Said Morathi with a velvet smile. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"How do you feel about being in that mirror?"[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"I beg your pardon?"[/i:1e3ae71e5a]Replied Goratrix, momentarily taken aback.

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"I simply wondered upon your point of view, concerning the events which forced you into that piece of glass"[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"I er... Well.. Why do you ask?"[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Julius pulled up a chair, reversed it and sat, smiling, arms folded over the back of it. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"Yes, gramps... do tell!"[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"I'm simply curious."[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Replied Morathi. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"Surely you have a point of view to tell. After all, we've always been instructed that you are the dark force behind all that is wrong with the world. The Astors in particular have been given licence to seek out and destroy all of House Goratrix. It might seem to some, that your predicament is a just punishment for your crimes against your clan."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"I er... that is to say. Well, if you must know. It's rather embarrassing. Tremere contacted me. Said he wanted to make peace. Fool that I am, I trusted my former parens. The truth was that his diablerization of Saulot was not quite so complete as it appeared and so I ended up in this mirror. Stupid of me. Really very stupid."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Morathi rested a hand upon Julius' shoulder. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"And bearing that in mind, do you believe that either of us are in the slightest impressed with your endless convoluted riddles. Goratrix, please. You can act as ancient and wise as you like, however it is you, and not us, who inhabits a pane of glass."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Goratrix looked for a moment like he was about to explode, then laughed. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"Right. So, the book isn't here. It's in New Mexico. Amongst other things, that's what your... associate... is collecting Julius. I protected it though, against being found. A Kiasyd friend of mine help me weave a particularly nasty ward into the book. Anyone who even tries to read it, will be afflicted by the Riddle Phantastique."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Morathi frowned. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"I'm not familiar with this."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Julius nodded. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"I've heard of it. A faerie game. A riddle that cannot be answered, yet is so compelling it forces the victim to think of nothing but attempting to solve it. Perhaps a Malkavian could come up with some kind of insane answer, but generally, no chance. I trust you know the answer to this particular riddle, Goratrix?"[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"Not as such."[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Replied the ancient Magus.

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"And this would lead on to why we are here?"[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Concluded Morathi.

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"Quite so. The lands about Mistridge are crawling with Fey. With the help of my Kiasyd friend, I created a passage from here, to a nearby Faerie mound. The Fey who live there, know the answer. The answer must be retrieved before the book can be safely studied."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"So someone has to go talk to the Faeries."[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Julius summarized

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"Yes."[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Replied Goratrix. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"Did you know your ring is glowing?"[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Julius looked at his ring. The star ruby in the silver setting was burning intensely, the signal that Eveshka was in trouble. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"Fuck's sake Gabriel. I ask you to do one small thing.. I leave for JUST ONE DAY!!!"[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:1e3ae71e5a]"Lucille"[/i:1e3ae71e5a] Julius said in a small voice. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"I have to go. I ahm..."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

Morathi gave Julius a look. [i:1e3ae71e5a]"Okay Julius. I'll deal with the faeries. You go do your knight in shining armour thing.... AGAIN."[/i:1e3ae71e5a]

[i:9559c3d650]"[b:9559c3d650]NO[/b:9559c3d650], Garson, he's mine!"[/i:9559c3d650] Cardigan flung her hand in front of the advancing vampire and halted him, snarling, in his advance upon the obviously enraged pack member. She smiled, nastily, [i:9559c3d650]"After all, he is my....pet...project."[/i:9559c3d650] The frustrated Sabbat stabbed a look of hatred at her and growled, [i:9559c3d650]"Well then, Desiree', get a handle on him because if [b:9559c3d650]you[/b:9559c3d650] don't, I will!!"[/i:9559c3d650] Then he turned and settled back on his heels to see what the bishop would do with her prize newbie.

The coven leader turned back to the rebellious figure still crouching in the corner clutching it's toy and stared into those glowing eyes. Bit by bit, slowly at first but then gaining rapidly, the shadows gathered, seeming to permeate the bishop. Then she changed. Horns began to push outward from her forehead with a squishing sound and scales of a dull charcoal grey began to climb down the face, disappearing into the nether regions of her open neckline. Ripplings could be seen beneath the materials of silk blouse and designer jeans as it continued down past the length of the thighs and then disappeared in to the tops of the leather boots she wore.

In a dimmest recesses of her mind, Cyrilynn goggled at the art of Obtenebration. She'd heard it named in her researches but never seen it, nor experienced it, before now and it was [b:9559c3d650]almost[/b:9559c3d650] as impressive as her own Vicissitude. Her mind, buried in her own desires, shrugged it off as ineffectual until the black, inky cloud, that issued from this demon's mouth, rolled toward her and enveloped both her and the child. With a shriek of sheer terror, the child stiffened in Rogan's arms and the sound of her heart seemed accelerated beyond what a mortal could possibly endure for long. The girl's scream abruptly cut off as they were encased in this bone chilling, silent darkness.

The splash of ice clawed it's way into her brain and down her spine, causing Cyrilynn to awaken to the danger she had placed herself into. This wasn't only two other vampires of lesser skills she faced but a whole coven and she'd lost herself in a profound desire of her own making, nearly bringing her commission down around her ears! This could [b:9559c3d650]not[/b:9559c3d650] continue!! The shudders of the small body, with it's thundering pulses brought her mind back to the situation at hand. Bringing the small one's ear within range of her lips she dominated her again and whispered a command. The body went slack and she allowed the now flacid vessel to slide from her arms to the floor.

Hurriedly running through what Rogan had told her under duress, she sought and found the information she needed and promptly curled into a ball. Submerging her own personality, Cyrilynn pulled the mantle of Rogan's known experiences over her own and went deeper than she had before. She had to [b:9559c3d650]BE[/b:9559c3d650] Rogan for a little longer. As she allowed the chill to take hold of her working mind, the shivers began. Crowding into her mind, those icy fingers dug until they found images of Toisal and herself, of his death and her bleak loss. It did not matter what memories it fed on, only the results of its feasting. Blood tears began to run down the cheeks.

None too soon, the ebon cloud lifted and all that remained was a quivering mass of male flesh and a drooling, unconscious juvenile. The remainder of the room's occupants, the immigrants, were huddled as far away from the demoness as possible, silent and utterly horrified. Garson wore a smug smile on his face as he flicked a glance at Cardigan that said "better him than me". returning to her natural state, the bishop grinned in satisfaction.

She gave Rogan's rival a sideways glance, [i:9559c3d650]"He may be my current favorite, Garson, but that doesn't mean I don't know the value of well applied discipline in my pack. When he's recovered enough, have him dispose of the unnecessary meat. And that includes the girl. She's probably too insane for his uses now."[/i:9559c3d650] She gave the man a sultry smile. [i:9559c3d650]"I'm sure you can also advise him as to [b:9559c3d650]how[/b:9559c3d650] far he has fallen from grace. Then meet me in my quarters, we've much to.....discuss."[/i:9559c3d650] She left the room, the door closing swiftly behind her.

Garson strode over, glee written all over his face and kicked the young female off to the side. Then reached down and grabbed Rogan by his shirt and coat with both hands, nearly tearing the fabric. Hauling him upright, he sneered in his face, [i:9559c3d650]"You and me, boy, are going to seperate the spoils from the good food and get them disposed of, starting with your particular morsel, [b:9559c3d650]boy[/b:9559c3d650]! And then, we're going to get the rest of them medicated."[/i:9559c3d650] He banged his captive's head on the wall a couple of times to get his point across. Rogan shook his head to clear it and then, sniffling, wiped the blood from his eyes.

[size=29:1121b05937][u:1121b05937][b:1121b05937][i:1121b05937]The Mistridge Files[/i:1121b05937][/b:1121b05937][/u:1121b05937][/size:1121b05937]

Watching Julius prepare to depart, Morathi took a breath and approached the passage from what remained of Mistridge to the nearby Faerie mound, she was also concerned for Eveshka despite the recent tension between them memories of her relationship with the Toreador from the times in York still lurked deep within her. Although she doubted Eve trusted her enough for that past to ever be rekindled now.

[i:1121b05937]"...nor will I disturb the faeries in any way that should cause them to take their vengence on the House and Clan..."[/i:1121b05937]

She whispered to herself as she paused to ensure Goratrix was snugly stowed in his case.

[i:1121b05937]"Well I guess I'm going to have to be a good girl while I visit then..."[/i:1121b05937]

She shut the lid before Goratrix could remark upon that. She was well aware that Fae were best left alone by her kind and liked to surround themselves with illusions. Still... Always good to have a challenge...

She started to follow the passage to wherever it would lead her, with any luck the Fae in these lands were actually accustomed to occasional magi visits from Mistridge, she just hoped the relatively recent SS occultists failed attempts to harness magics of their own had not soured the local Fae towards guests...

[i:918c28e2bf]"Shit shit shit shit SHIT!"[/i:918c28e2bf] Kathy spat the last expletive out with an intesity that Gabriel had not seen her display in some time. She paced back and forth frantically, crossing and then uncrossing her arms. The tiny foyer of the club helped drown out much of the mind numbing techno beats, but an urgent thump could still easily be felt. [i:918c28e2bf]"Oh poor Eveshka...what are we going to do guys? What?!"[/i:918c28e2bf]

She turned to Gabriel as though he had prepared a press statement to explain the situation, but he merely transferred her gaze to Porter before reliquishing a heavy sigh.

[i:918c28e2bf]"Julius will return soon. We do nothing until he gets back to Marseilles."[/i:918c28e2bf] he said, glancing back towards the club's interior, his eyes searching for any trace of a bald headed arab.

He heard the grumble built in Porter's thick throat, like an impending storm building as it was constrained.

[i:918c28e2bf]"Do nothing?! Is that the Ventrue's plan of action? You're becoming too much like your Elders Gabriel!"[/i:918c28e2bf] he grumbled and gathered his coat from the chair he had stalked around for the past ten minutes. The gesture was quite unusual, Porter actually picking up clothes. He was obviously very irate.

[i:918c28e2bf]"Look! I'm worried about Eveshka too, but you two haven't had a chance to meet this bastard up close and personal like I have!"[/i:918c28e2bf] Gabriel pleaded, he looked to Kathy, desperately searching for some sign of reason within her eyes. But to his dismay, he found none.

[i:918c28e2bf]"Gabriel..."[/i:918c28e2bf] she whispered, her eyes welling wtih blood tears. [i:918c28e2bf]"...we can't just leave her...."[/i:918c28e2bf]

Porter already stood at the doorway, his eyes casting an unheavenly glow upon the dark lobby area. His jaw muscles pulsated with anger, his stoic maw like face darting back and forth like a caged beast.

[i:918c28e2bf]"You can hide here and wait for your warlock savior while Eveshka is torn to bits...but fuck if I'm going to give up on her that easily."[/i:918c28e2bf] he snarled. With that he turned and vanished into the streets, leaving the Ventrue and Toreador alone.

Gabriel shook his head in disbelief and let out what might have been construed as a laugh.

[i:918c28e2bf]"Can you believe him?! He's almost turned to cinder by a monster and he's off to hunt it down??"[/i:918c28e2bf] he looked at Kathy and saw her staring longingly at the door and then back at saddened eyes to him.

[i:918c28e2bf]"I...."[/i:918c28e2bf] she started before trailing off. He reached for her but she shied away, deftly moving towards the door.

[i:918c28e2bf]"Kay....don't..."[/i:918c28e2bf] he said sullenly, knowing that he had no free will in the matter any longer. He had been willing to let the primiscuous and sometimes haughty Coumtesse's safety wait on the sidelines until Julius arrived with a considerable degree of power at his disposal, but he couldn't possibly allow Kathy and Porter to rush to their final deaths with no aide.

Kathy disappeared and only the clatter of her high heels rapidly against the pavement gave the indication that she moved with urgency to catch up with the Gangrel.

[i:918c28e2bf]"Christ Julius....you had to leave NOW..."[/i:918c28e2bf] he grumbled to himself as he collected his belongings and darted out the door. Far in the distance, Kathy and Porter were rapidly disappearing, the Gangrel striding angrily along with Kay in tow.

[i:918c28e2bf]"Alright alright wait!"[/i:918c28e2bf] he cried, hastening to join them, and possibly hastening towards an early end to his unlife.

((i might try to add on later tonight...i'm at school right now on my break so i can't really expand.

As Garson hovered, Rogan straightened and shakily made his way across the room, ignoring the bundle on the floor. Time enough later for that, when suspicions were allayed Between them, Rogan and Garson seperated everyone out in to two groups. The ones destined for the bar and those that would wind up in the trailer out back. Some fought, stupid that. It only took a couple of broken necks (of the doomed ones, at least) to convince the rest that further resistance would be put down swiftly. The babies were given over to the group heading out of the room. The parents remained behind with the husband trying to convince a wildly sobbing woman that her babies would be safe, while they stayed behind to face whatever fate awaited them both.

Herding the the refuse outside with a few others called in to help, saw the job of slaughter via feeding done as quietly as possible and all bite marks eradicated. The bodies were piled up inside the trailer awaiting the driver that would later take them to an abandon quarry to be left there for the police to find. Dead from lack of oxygen and heat, apparently. That was almost a guarantee as no wounds or blood would be left behind and no one would think otherwise because of the way it was set up. It happened all the time. The babies alone, would be convincing enough. The ones with the broken necks would be buried in the quarry. No one would think to look in the ground the trailer was parked on for additional bodies.

Rogan placed the last body, his chosen ward, just inside the doors, then closed them and shot the safety bolts home himself. He'd made sure she was the last and hustled her "dead" form past the others. He wasn't sure he'd gotten away with it, or why, until he turned to retrace his path back to the house.......... and found his way blocked by Garson. Behind him stood about five or six other pack members, all looking pleased as punch. One of their numbers was Brutus, who kept smacking one meaty hand into the cupped palm of the other. A smile wreathed his ugly face.

[i:387daf7807]"Now, Rogan, me and the boys were instructed to teach you [b:387daf7807]just how far[/b:387daf7807] you've fallen from her Grace's favor."[/i:387daf7807] His voice was sacchrin sweet and mild. [i:387daf7807]"And we aim to make sure the lesson takes. When we're done "teaching" you, you're job is going to be doorman on the feast hall."[/i:387daf7807] Rogan's eyes, which had slitted with burgeoning fury suddenly widened at this pronouncement. [i:387daf7807]"But the Bishop said I could be the first to contribute to the Cup! I did what I was asked to do!! It wasn't [b:387daf7807]MY[/b:387daf7807] fault the doc didn't have all the stuff and I had to wait for it! It wasn't!![/i:387daf7807] He whined. Blood lit up the bully boy's eyes.

[i:387daf7807]"Well, now, you should've thought of that before you took a taste of that little morsel in there, shouldn't've you?"[/i:387daf7807] Garson grinned hugely and took a step forward. Rogan backed up a step. [i:387daf7807]"Now you've gone and contaminated yourself, boy, and after we tenderize you good, we're going to make sure [b:387daf7807]YOU[/b:387daf7807] get your own shots, aren't we mates?"[/i:387daf7807] A gallery of smiles broke into bloom behind Garson's smirk. The whole group stepped forward as Rogan took another step backward......and discovered there was no where else to go except in with the dying. That was not an option.

With a rush, they jumped him, fists flying in all directions. Claws emerged and left furrows in the skin in shallow runnels. He gave as good as he got so some of them weren't entirely unscathed. Never the less, blood poured out of him and pooled on to the ground in a black puddle before sinking into the thirsty soil. Not even the moon's glow could do more than to give a glint of red every now and then, before it vanished entirely. Rogan felt a rib give, then a forearm and the fight left him suddenly. Again, he curled into a fetal position and let the pain wash into him, turning it into a pleasure he could endure. When he no longer responded to the pounding given his body, they all stripped his clothes off, shredding them as they went, laughing and making crude jokes all the while.

Then Garson approached, syringe in hand. [i:387daf7807]"This should be something you're used to Roggie-boy. Remember how good it felt to take the needle? Well, here's one special for you!"[/i:387daf7807] And the needle plunged in up it's hilt in his bared butt, with the drugs inside burniing their way out of the cylinder and into the muscles. Brutus chuckled and rumbled, [i:387daf7807]"No way you're bringing any pox into [b:387daf7807]OUR[/b:387daf7807] camp!:[/i:387daf7807] They all started to leave in a merry group. Garson leaned down with a final reminder pat to an undamaged shoulder, [i:387daf7807]"Remember, boy, seven o'clock sharp, on the feast hall door. [b:387daf7807]DON'T[/b:387daf7807] be late!"[/i:387daf7807] The last part was a growled warning.

The three cainites made their way through the streets of Marseille. Led on by Porter, they followed Eveshka's rather potent pheremone trail up into the hills outside of the city. Dawn was still about 6 hours off. From behind them came the distinct low to high siren of the French Gendarmerie. The sound grew closer. The car that Gabriel, Porte, and Kathy were in pulled over as six Citroens raced past them around the hairpin corner. "Follow them," said Porter.

"What?" asked Gabriel. "Why?"

"Because they are all Toreador," said Porter who had seen into them in the split second the cars were near him.

"How did?" began Gabriel, only to be answered by Kathy.

"A Toreador Prince has just been abducted. They won't sit idly by."

Gabriel nodded and floored the car he drove. A few more kilometers down the road and they came to a small chateau overlooking the Rhone. The Toreador host appeared to be dressed in the uniforms of the COS, the French version of the SAS or the Green Berets. They fanned out and worked their way towards the chateau. Machine gun fire erupted from the chateau. A few of the leading troopers were cut in half by the fire only to rapidly disintegrate having met with Final Death.

Gabriel, Kathy, and Porter pulled up and started heading towards what looked like the command vehicle. A man in a beret turned and looked at him. He had the long hair of an 18th century courtier and actually had a small sword hanging from his hip along with an MP-10 around his shoulder.

"I am Louis, the Marquis de Montcalm, Seneschal of Touraine," he announced with steely eyes. "May I enquire as to who you are." Several of the men around him, Toreador Elders, pointed their machine guns at the small coterie of vampires. They announced who they were. "Ahh," said Montcalm. "La Comtesse has spoken highly of you. You are most welcome here."

Porter ripped off his clothing and went into Tarzan mode. Some of the Toreador troopers nodded appreciatively at the power he displayed. Kathy stayed behind as Gabriel changed into a COS jump suit and headed in with Montcalm. The fire fight was like nothing he had ever seen. It made most of the altercations Gabriel had been part of as Seneschal of Cascadia seem like tavern brawls. High tech ordinance discharged all over the chateau grounds. The sounds of helicopters could be heard in the distance indicating yet more Toreador Soldiers.

The speed with which the Toreador asserted themselves impressed Gabriel and Porter who had largely dismissed them as a bunch of fops and degenerates. Although the majority of them no doubt were, these ones had the skill and martial prowess of the Assamite. Some wielded Katanas when they got into close combat. Others wielded Falchions, scimitars, or cavalry sabres. There were now about one hundred Toreadors in combat here. Gabriel could not believe that this entire thing had evolved in less than two hours. It would have been impressive even for Ventrue standards.

Gabriel was the number three man in one of the breeching teams along the back wall of the chateau. From his headset it seemed as if they had found Eveshka and were trying to revive her so that she could be of assistance in her own rescue. It also seemed as if they had found Ali. It did not sound good for their side. Most of the Toreador troopers were now shooting one another down as he dominated them and made them fight one another. Those that resisted his mental attributes were immolated or merely sliced into neat little Tournedous des Toreadeaux.

Gabriel caught sight of Porter trying to get at Ali. The ancient Vampire was simply too fast for the old Gangrel. Not to say that Ali was not fighting hard against Porter. Indeed, Porter was giving him a rough time, but Ali continued to have the upper hand.

"[i:078dc45285] She's up!! She's Up!!!"[/i:078dc45285] came the cry through the headsets. Eveshka had been roused. Gabriel waited for his team's go signal and he rushed with them around the back stairs and up to the second floor of the chateau. Bodies and ashes lay strewn about the maginificent place. The once delicate silk lined walls now were perforated with bullet holes and scorched with powder burns. There didn't seem to be any, well, he didn't exactly know WHAT he was shooting at. They weren't Assamite, they weren't Setite, but they were Cainite. They had attributes of Assamites, Toreador, Setites, and Tremere. All in all, his enemy, though small in number, were astoundingly terrifying.

Up the stairs. Around the railing. He raced towards the sounds of Porters howls and Ali's shouts. He came around a corner and into a grand ball room lined with suits of armor. Ali saw him and smiled briefly. Gabriel was again filled with inexplicable terror which made him cower against the wall. Ali returned his attention to Porter who nearly took his head off. But again, the nimble Arab dodged out of the way. Porter was beginning to tire. He was expending blood at a furious pace. Ali was merely too old and too powerful. A glowing scimitar slashed downwards and hacked off a nice meaty chunk of Porter's shoulder. He howled in rage and pain and fell backwards into one of the suits of armor.
Ali raised up one of the scimitars and brought it down at Porter's neck. The blade was stopped by another blade. That of a black rapier. "Get out of here Porter," came the command in a tone of authority Porter had never before heard Eveshka use. Ali said nothing but began to assail Eveshka. Her speed matched his as did her steel: blow for blow.

The exhausted Gangrel made his way back towards where Gabriel cowered. He was dragging the torpored body of Montcalm with him. The man had damned near been cut in half. Gabriel was suddenly released from the the Fear as Ali focused all of his attention onto the onslaught of the Russian. From across the room all that could be seen was whirling blades, sparks, and blood spurting out. Whose blood it was was impossible to tell.

The ground beneath them gave a lurch. The Chateau had been burning for a while now. The part of the ballroom upon which Porter and Gabriel stood gave way. The two plummetted downwards. Porter managed to grab onto the floor as he fell and stopped their fall. He swumg them over to the ledge that was once a landing on the Grand Staircase. They could see the fight clearly. Eveshka did several backflips to gain some ground. She landed and then flung something at Porter. He caught whatever it was in his hand. She then summoned a cloud of wraiths. Ali in turn summoned an army of wraiths. He was simply too powerful. The wraiths battled and Eveshka renewed her onslaught of Ali.

"GET OUT NOW YOU FOOLS!!!" came the cry from Eveshka. Porter could see that she was exhausted. Blood tears streamed down her face and joined the blood streaming from the wounds of her lacerated body. Ali used the moment of distraction to slice part of her shoulder. She recoiled around and hacked his left arm off at the shoulder. Gabriel could only pray that her rapier did aggrevated damage.

He yelled in pain and surprise. He use did a feint with his right hand scimitar for which Eve fell. He buried the blade in her once perfect midriff. Blood spat out of Eveshka's mouth as he spun around behind her in one fast motion, pulled the blade out and sliced her head off on the riposte. Eveshka's reknowned image disappeared in a cloud of ash and bone as she met with Final Death.

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Porter.

"Come on, Let's go." said Gabriel who tugged at the ancient Gangrel. The army of circling wraiths again began to assail Gabriel and Porter now that ALi's attention was back onto them.

They made their way out to the car dragging Montcalm. Kathy bombarded them with a series of "Where is Eve?" and "What Happened?"

"DRIVE" commanded Gabriel. The Toreador driver spun the car around as the chateau doors burst open to reveal Ali. They rocketed down the road towards Marseille leaving Ali to shout in rage and hate. Porter finally opened his hand and found the ring Julius had given Eveshka.

[i:078dc45285] In Marseille a few moments before [/i:078dc45285]

Julius entered their room to when suddenly an enormous energy loss hit him. It was as if the life force had been drained out of him. "No," he groaned. "NO!!!!!!!" he shouted and collapsed onto the floor in tears. His body convulsed with the sobs and he pulled at his hair. His sobbing was met with a fluffly body rubbing up against his face. Measha had returned. She came and plopped down in front of him and began to rub her face on his and mourn with him. She knew, as Julius did, that her Mistress was no more.

[i:ae068defbb] In the Valley of Kings, Egypt [/i:ae068defbb]

[i:ae068defbb] The Great Serpent hissed and coiled over the cauldron. Her Ventrue slave dutifully did all of her bidding. She had searched the world over for the Great Snake, and now that she had found her, she was not going to let go of her. Suddenly, the Viper reared her beautiful alabastre skinned head and gasped. "What is it Mistress?" asked Lucinde.

She looked over at the cauldron, there in the mists hung the beautiful visage of Eveshka. "My Firebird is no more" said Khemintiri.
She got up and walked out into the desert. She came across a camp of nomadic herdsmen. All died in her grief and fury. [/i:ae068defbb]

The car roared down the road heading to Marseilles, in the distance, they could see the lights of the city, obscured by some kind of mist, clouds boiling and building above the sleeping city.

As they moved closer, it became clear that the mist was in fact rain, buckets of rain, each drop of rain like a teardrop falling from a weeping sky and with each teardrop wave upon wave of melancholy emanating from the city, as though the sorrows of the world were centred upon it and it's pain was broadcast for all to know.

Kathy opened her mouth to speak, then simply burst into tears, Gabriel pulling her close with his one good arm, as Montcalm gritted his teeth and drove resolutely into the lamenting night.

Abruptly, as if in response to some unspoken, unnamed force, the mood changed. The rain stopped for a moment, a silent pause in the elemental requiem. Then the wind began.

First as a whisper, then as a moan, then as a wail like an outpouring of anguish. A sound so full of heartache and sorrow that it seemed that all hearts must break, that every pain mankind had ever known were gathered together and broadcast upon this one wretched sigh of grief.

Gabriel steeled himself against the noise, which pervaded the being of all within the car, threatening to shatter their own hearts, even as the heart of the world shattered about them. [i:36aafe39d4]"Faster, Montcalm. He knows."[/i:36aafe39d4] He exhorted, then turned to the others. [i:36aafe39d4]"He knows and may God protect us all."[/i:36aafe39d4]

Pain to grief and grief to anger. The rain began again with renewed force, pounding upon the roof of the car, smashing into the windscreen, lightning now and thunder, crackling through the sky. The dark night, become darker, the storm brewing, greater and greater in it's intensity. The wind now blowing in from the sea, ripping the waves higher and higher. The very ocean swirling in across the harbour defences and into the city, as though the salt water could wash away the misery, soothe away the torment, cool the building wrath.

As the car entered the city, the true nature of the storm was seen in it's primal fury. Lightning struck repeatedly, randomly, without direction or surcease. Buildings along the sea front were flooded, or washed away without regard to the loss of life, or the suffering of the survivors. The earth began to tremble, minor shocks coursing through the streets, causing trees to fall onto storm tormented roofs, lamp posts to bend and snap, twisted metal lying across roads, or embedded into parked cars.

That the group made it to the hotel in one piece was a testament to the cainite enhanced reflexes of Montcalm. Rushing to Eveshka's penthouse, the foursome found a man, hovering just above the floor. The hole in the roof let in the storm, lightning crackling from the sky around the hovering figure, who sat cross legged and head bowed, his alternate wailings of grief and cries of anger conducting the storm like his own personal orchestra of destruction. On his lap, a cat lay, nuzzling him, whilst his hands moved with a strange tenderness through the immaculate fur.

[i:36aafe39d4]"Julius, I cou..."[/i:36aafe39d4] Began Gabriel, backing away as the figure looked up. His face was covered in trail after trail of red blood tears and his eyes were orbs of flame. The figure pointed and Gabriel flew backwards, smashing through the outer wall, into mid air outside the hotel, falling to land with a sickening thump on a balcony two floors below. Kathy screamed and ran down the stairs to find him.

Porter growled. [i:36aafe39d4]"Will you kill us all Wizard? It will not bring her back, you stupid fucked up excuse for a Cainite."[/i:36aafe39d4]

Julius turned his balefire eyes upon Porter, who stood purposefully, ready to bear the brunt of the Magus' next assault. Julius stood, slowly, still hovering, still at one with the storm and glided to Porter. Their eyes met, the firey orbs of the wizard, glaring into the red eyes of the gangrel. Slowly, gently, Julius placed Measha into Porter's rough hands. [i:36aafe39d4]"Take care of her for me."[/i:36aafe39d4] He commanded in a voice which dared Porter to argue. Porter nodded, slowly, cradling the feline in his arms. [i:36aafe39d4]"For I go hunting."[/i:36aafe39d4] Finished Julius as the fire in his eyes seemed to increase in it's intensity. Porter nodded again and watched as Julius flew out through the hole in the roof and into the storm.

He gasped completely out of reflex and began to choke violently on the rain. Every heaving of his chest brought row after row of an agonizing burning that he had never experienced before. As Gabriel began to gather his wits about him, he recalled his surroundings.

He looked up at the flashing night sky, packed tightly with furious storm clouds. Even as he braced himself against the balcony's wet, slippery banner he spotted a small figure emerging from the roof. The familiar form seemed to have lost a great deal of stature, and despite his obvious power did not seem as formidable as before.

[i:746962947f]"JULIUS!"[/i:746962947f] he cried, limping towards the center of the balcony to have a clear view of the hovering Tremere. Julius, his eyes still hissing in the dark, did not slow down. [i:746962947f]"JULIUS!!"[/i:746962947f]

The figure stopped for a moment and then turned his gaze about the soaked, battered Ventrue. Standing in the center of the balcony, not even a yard away from the shattered brick and tile that he had smashed with his back, Gabriel must've been a pitiful site indeed.

[i:746962947f]"What will you do Julius?"[/i:746962947f] he rasped, nearly doubling over in pain. His ribs grinded against one another as he shouted over the storm. [i:746962947f]"Will you chase Ali down? Perhaps he'll kill you too...is that your plan?"[/i:746962947f]

The Tremere said nothing, preferring perhaps to let the storm convey his emotions. As Gabriel spoke, lightning erupted from the sky, criss crossing it's spidery tendrils and creating a spectacular display of raw strength and speed. All was bathed in a momentary sea of white, but throughout it, Gabriel could still make out Julius' smoldering eyes.

[i:746962947f]"Don't be a fool Julius! You're letting your goddamned emotions get the better of you!"[/i:746962947f] he roared against the rising winds that ripped at him from either side. [i:746962947f]"If you want to rush to your death then go! Go on!"[/i:746962947f]

Julius said nothing but turned and began his ascent to whatever mysterious destination he had in mind. The winds began to die down as he grew smaller in the distance. Gabriel rushed once more to the bannister, cupping his hand over his mouth.

[i:746962947f]"JULIUS I'M SORRY!! I'm so sorry...."[/i:746962947f] blood tears began to well in his eyes, and he was thankful for the rain for the first time tonight as they swept them down his cheeks and from his face. Eveshka was gone, and there hadn't been a damned thing he could do. He had simply cowered and abandoned her. And now Darrant was off to his certain death.

[i:746962947f]"Gabe!"[/i:746962947f] Kathy cried as she emerged from the balcony's adjoining suite.