The Seneschal shook his left foot disdainfully, eventually resorting to smearing the rich soil that clung to his shoe in a wide arch across the pavement. Really...an Elysium in the middle of woods? Putting the unpleasantness behind him, Gabriel did something that he had not done in quite some time. He stepped into Elysium.

The room was dimly lit as usual, the figures within unknown and silent. Several Ventrue chuckled about the latest development in the stock markets, prompting several amused glances towards Gabriel. Gabriel grumbled and made his way past the front desk, where tome upon tome of dusty books lay stacked upon each other. A rather meek and dilapidated Ravnos stood silently dating the books before loading them onto the cart that would service them back to the shelves.

The Seneschal moved through the upper level of Elysium swiftly, barely stopping to say his usual hello's. As he descended down the long stone stairway to the bar, he could already hear the muffled conversations echoing through the anti-chamber. Soft torchlight lit his path, flouresence dancing off the walls and clinging to the tiny slivers of moisture and algae.

Then, as true as rags to riches, he slipped out of the dungeon like exterior and into the posh, well lit bar and recreation area. Without a word or glance, he made his way to the bar area....


((soz it's short, but i'm at work..first time i've posted from here. SOCIALIZE everyone!

He had slept in the wilderness. Melded with the earth he left only the barest of awareness awake. As dusk settled he felt the soil cool, rising up through the sun dried dirt before stepping free. Bathing in a stream he washed the worst of the grime off before heading towards Elysium.

The passageway he entered through was barely lit by torches, the flickering light suited him better than the harsh electric light that soon enveloped him.

He reached the chamber Seneschal Gabriel had prepared for him. Bathing more completely in an uncomfortably warm basin of water. Soon freshened and even perfumed from the cleaning and shaving, he dressed in a casual suit.

Gabriel had tried to impose the Italian designers upon him. Porter chose however to honour his heritage, instead choosing an electrostatically fastened casual suit by Alexander McQueen. Dressed in an indigo fabric he grunted, tugging his hair into a ponytail, the sensation irritating him to no end.

He stepped into the main hall. Turning to ascend the marbled steps into the bar lounge. His senses awash with sounds, sights and scents as the gathered Kindred made idle chatter, a few bookworms pondering the "meaning of things", they brought a smile to his face, forcing him to shake his head in amusement. As he entered the bar the click-clack of his leather soled shoes informing Gabriel of his arrival.

"Mr O'Brien?"

Gabriel turned to face the voice, which despite a certain air of familiarity, was almost completely alien to him. In front of him, groomed to a tee, stood the one time feral Gangrel who had only recently contacted him about some sort of business arrangement.

"Ah, Mr. Porter...." the Ventrue smiled broadly before turning back to the assorted Kindred he had been speaking to, "Ladies and Gentlemen if you'll excuse me." he began making his way from the crowd despite the pleas and objections they barraged him with. He clasped a firm hand around Porter's shoulder as they made their way through the crowd. The confining gesture clearly made Porter uncomfortable, so Gabriel increased his grip. "Now that you're cleaned up, we can discuss business as gentlemen."

Porter nodded, casting a wary gaze around the room. Kindred from throughout the city were in attendance tonight, and the air twinkled with excitement as the Prince's first annual ball got under way. It was known as the Prince's Ball, however it was clear that it had been more Gabriel's doing than the Dark Cappadocians.

The main bar room had been outfitted in gold, even the old wallpaper having been torn down and replaced. Highly decorative chandalliers dangled from the ceiling, the perfect diamonds beaming brightly from the lit candles. Ghouled humans, primped and perfected, carried a variety of vitaes to the attendees. The biggest attraction however, was the bar, which Gabriel had completely overhauled. The entire stretch of bar had bene replaced with polished marble, the pole that extended down the front now gleaming of bright gold.

The bar was engraved with various runes and carvings, depicting the history of the city. The guest oohed and ahhed as they retraced the city's turbulent history, many of them recounting stories about the particular event. Several feet remained unchanged, awaiting future events. Perhaps Gabriel hoped to see his own likeness carved into the marble, reigning as Prince.

"It's all very nice Mr. O'Brien." Porter grumbled as they stepped out of the main area and into the hallway. It was clear he was trying to be polite more than being earnest, but it was a novel try in either case.

"Why thank you Mr. Porter..." Gabriel responded, deftly snagging two cups of vitae from a passing ghoul. He presented one to his companion, who took the cup gingerly, not at all pleased to be drinking from a vessel instead of prey. "Now, I hear you're seeking employment?" Gabriel grinned devishly, fully believing he had the upper hand.

Porter returned his smile, having schemes of his own.

"Actually, I hear you're seeking protection my dear Seneschal."

Porter felt his brow furrow as the Seneschal took a careful, and ludicrously dainty, sip from his glass. The Ventrue, though substantially younger than himself, certainly had that air he had grown familiar with in the presence of Sorenti.

"Protection? Hmmm well certainly recent events have left my security somewhat lax. What do you have in mind?"

Porter relaxed, the angular restrictions of his suit irritating him less as he sipped gingerly.

"Well. I have an arrangement in mind, that would profit both of us. You seem to be lacking a "Head of Security", and I have certain needs of my own."

"And those are?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows, the expression was more etiquette than genuine surprise, but the effect was adequate.

"I expect Sorenti made you aware of my recent..."origins"?"

"Ahhh yes. You mean the pack you were taken from?"

Porter's eyes seemed to shimmer with gold splinters as he thought of the others. "Yes as much as it pains me, even an old Gangrel like myself becomes painfully aware that humans are rapidly dominating the wilds."

Gabriel nodded, his manner slightly apologetic as the suited feral spoke of his lands' invasion.

"I require little if any payment for my services. But to sweeten our agreement I want my pack relocated to a safe, necessarily confined estate. Somewhere they can be "free" and safe."

Gabriel nodded, pausing a moment to consider Porter's suggestion before answering.

"You wish to offer yourself to me as my "Minder"? I am fully aware of your abilities and your credentials, but why would I employ a Gangrel instead of a clan brother?"

Porter grinned. His suit seeming to heave as his powerful frame flexed.

"You desire a "road test" Seneschal?"

Vincent had been siting there all night, but it did indeed feel good to be out of the Cathedral, even if he did feel weary around kindred. He had tamed his slight beard into a traditional Spainard gotee-and mustache. His hair had been allowed to flow freely just below his shoulders. He was wearing his Favorite custom black Armani Suit. He prefered to dress up, although either way, it phased him little.

A handsome man walked in, His Aura read Ventrue, and moved directly to the bar. a small crowd moved towards him, they conversed some meaningless dribble. The ventrue seemed uninterested but did his best not to be rude.

A short time later a well dressed man entered, amazingly his aura read Gangrel. His first words proved helpful to Vincent, "Mr O'Brien?".

"Ahh, this is Mr. Gabriel O'Brien. I must go speak with him." he thought to himself. Finishing the last of his wine he walked to the two kindred.

"Gabriel O'Brien, At last we meet." His words sounded noble, his accent forein and undeterminable. He smiled. "I would like to thank you." He extended his hand to the handsome Ventrue.

Thoughts of the wholesale slaughter of his enemies flashed through Gabriel's mind. The Gangrel's wrought claws slicing through expensive linens and flesh like so much paper. He did not entertain the thoughts long however, such an attack was unthinkable with the scrutiny he had recently come under from his superiors.

"Although I do not doubt your abilities Mr. Porter," Gabriel started, being sure to draw each word out to it's maximum effect, "I do require some proof of your tactics."

"I've already offered a display of my abilities Mr. O'Brien, I merely require a task." Porter's face was blank and neutral, his heavy brow kept at a safe distance from his eyes, as to display neither fear nor aggression. But Gabriel could see past the facade, he knew that the inside the Gangrel had little tolerance for these games. Indeed, it must've been eating him alive. It only increased Gabriel's admiration of the legendary Cainite.

"Then a task you shall have!" Gabriel said cheerily, clapping his new associate on the shoulder. He would have agreed to Porter's terms without a demonstration, but if Porter wished to perform a task free of charge, Ventrue etiquette (sp?) forbade Gabriel from passing such an offer down. "But for now, what say we enjoy the party?"

Try as he might, Porter could not disguise his distaste for Gabriel's request. The last thing he wanted was to be cooped up inside a flashy room is these undead corpses. But Gabriel knew all too well what Porter was feeling, and although Porter didn't know it, Gabriel was testing him already....

A sudden cold breeze made its way down the " dungeon " area stairs, blowing off the fire on the lit torches, strange whispers were heard coming from the up part area of the Elysium, Gabriel’s head turned to face where the whispers were coming from, unusual they were for most of the Kindred in Cascadia, but very familiar to the Seneschal for him and Prince Valek had been working together for decades now. Six Cappadocian’s were making their way down the stairs, each of them holding a black lit candle, the dim light of the candles were digging deep inside their empty eyes, Valek’s personal Cappadocian’s servants only expressed a tremendous amount of hate inside them, though it was a mere nothing compared to Valek himself, five of them turned left as they reached down the stairs, repeating the same whispers made them able to float over the dungeon water that the underground Elysium held. However one of them made its way toward the Seneschal O’Brien. As Gabriel looked toward the dark cloaked Cappadocian, Gabriel said, “ Yes? “

The Cappadocian looked at the crucifix that Gabriel had around his neck, the Dark Cappadocian’s eyes started to bleed, the simple view of an holy item obviously irritated not only Valek himself, but his servants as well. The Cappadocian bowed his head and then mentioned in what seemed to be the voice of a wraith “ Ahhhh , I see the preparation for the ball have all been taken care of … “ Gabriel nodded as he clearly noticed that this was one of Valek’s personal servants, Gabriel could feel the hate radiating from the Cappa servant ..

Gabriel - “ Yes, yes indeed. I did most of it. “

The dark Cappadocian nodded and asked permission to speak freely , Gabriel nodded as he granted it .

“ We do appreciate the effort put in this “ Event “ Seneschal O’Brien , we didn’t helped as much as planned , but we do have other matters of high importance to take care of , unfortunately most of the Clan of Death wont make it to the ball , we do like our loneliness .. “ Said the dark Cappadocian

Gabriel nodded and said “ Perhaps the Prince will be present I presume ? “

“ Most likely , unfortunetaly I do presume he will have to leave sooner to be present at the ball , I shall slip a word of it .. “

Gabriel nodded and replied “ Please do so .. “

The Dark Cappadocian made his way back to join the five others who were already in the dark library pass the torture room , where Valek was sitting , writing the latest results of his Demonic experiments …

(( Bit short but I just wanted in hehe lol , ill post more soon hopefully ))

((*reserved* let me do a bit of studying and then i'll post in reply to both Valek and Vincent :)

The Dark souls had disrupted the whole event momentarillyand once gone the event resumed as normal.

Vincent still by the side of Gabriel and the Gangrel, set a solidatry tear.
"I cry for i know that thier tortured souls shall never find rest. They are beyond the light of god. They are in the heart of the snake. I hereby Disown this new Dark breed of Cappadocians. I am True Cappadcian. " He looked up to Gabriel, and then the the gangrel. "My name is Vincent Fredrick Locke, and i am abliged to meet the both of you gentile men."

(Whoops sorry gabe. ill wait for you to post. lol)

"I assure you Mr. Locke, the pleasure is all mine." Gabriel replied, shaking the Cappadocians hand graciously. Porter nodded quietly, his brow lifting, obviously trying to size up the new arrival. Gabriel and Vincent exchanged trivial chit-chat, gradually revealing a portion of the vampire's past and how he came to arrive in Cascadia.

By the end of the brief conversation, as the three Kindred placed themselves near the back of the room, Gabriel was quite intruiged by Mr. Locke, although he dare not show it.

"So Mr. Locke..." Porter spoke for the first time, his drink had began to congeal, the blood wrinkling in a thin layer at the top of the goblet, "what kind of Cainite appears out of nowhere and begins denouncing his Prince?" Porter's question was neutral, carefully crafted to be devoid of any semblance of conflict. Vincent's response was equally structured.

"I simply answer to a higher source than any Prince or Archon Mr....." he trailed off, awaiting Porter's reply, who now sat on the opposite side of Gabriel. Gabriel nearly coughed at the social blunder, he had failed to introduce the Gangrel.

"My apologies Mr. Locke, this is Porter of Clan Gangrel." he watched the surprise register in Vincent's eyes as he took in the dapper Gangrel, his impeckable suit crisped cuff to cuff.

"A pleasure Mr. Porter." Vincent concluded after a sizeable pause.

"Likewise." Porter responded, setting his goblet upon the banquet table with a certain degree of disdain. The Seneschal chuckled at the pair and excused himself, citing the need to freshen his drink.

Slipping nimbly through the crowd, he approached the bar once more...

((not avoiding either one of you, just giving an opening for anyone else to jump into Elysium :D if no responses erupt, Gabe'll make his way back to Porter and Vincent

" Mr.Porter, You seem uncomfortable...Do you not like parties?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I like parties..."He grumbled, He seemed to have something on his mind.
Vincent looked carfully into his Aura.

"You dont like large crowds either?" He smiled wide, perhaps he had more in common with this Gangrel than he had originally thought.

"I suppose..." He obviously wasn't intrested in the Cappadocian, he was watching Gabriel, he was obviously here for only one reason.

"Less people to watch out for." He released a small chuckle as he turned to see what was taking Gabriel so long. "The line at the bar is quite long, Mr.O'Brien may be a few minutes. "

Porter rolled his eyes and then looked about the room. He wondered what sort of test Gabriel had in store for him. What ever it may be he would do it to the best of his abilities.

Vincent released a small sigh. Hopefully the prince would not attend this Festivity. Vincent feared the war between them would urrupt among these innocent Kindred. Sitting there he promised if it came down to that he would run rather than fight here, among the innocent Vampires and ghouls.

"I have no tolerance for fallacy among our kind, Mr Locke. All this pomp and festivity. All the trickery and lies. It goes against the grain if you will. And the conflicting perfumes and scents don't make it any easier."

Vincent frowned slightly as the Gangrel grumbled his dislike of such gatherings. The feral hungry look offset to the extreme by the sharp line of his attire.

"I trust you have dealings of some importance to draw you here then?" Vincent smiled, he felt an unusual fondness for the honest, glib manner the Gangrel employed.

"Yes...yes..otherwise I'd be out digging in the dirt." Porter chuckled, mocking the other clans' view of his own. "After all I have many bones to bury for later."

Vincent joined the wily wolfen in his laughter. Offering him a fresh glass of vitae.

"No thanks Delocke. It may be fresh to your dulled tastes, but to me its cold and stale. I prefer my food fresh and still hot." He licked his lips, slurping comically. It reminded a passing ghoul of Lecter's own actions in the "Silence of the Lambs". DeLocke felt his eyebrows rise, then shook his head slightly.

Porter returned his gaze to watching for Gabriel's return. For a Cappadocian DeLocke was remarkable, his gentlemanly manner, and apparent "light" mindset made Porter think. As he watched the assembled Kindred, his thoughts turned to himself. I expect DeLocke sees me in similar light, he mused.


Below the parapet they'd stopped at a Toreador and a Ventrue spouted such foppish nonsense that the Gangrel and the Cappadocian growled before sniggering at the paralleled response.

((yay a party :):)

Kathy sat and looked in the mirror and smiled widely.

"that's amazing shirelle" kathy turned her head to aside and looked at her hair.It had been piled up using tiny clips and tendrils of it hung down around her face, tiny miniscule diamonds had been glued alternately to seperate strands and as she moved her head they shimmered in the candlelight.

"thankyou...it was my pleasure believe me " shirelle nodded as she looked at connor who lay lounging on kathy's bed.

Kathy caught her sire looking at her and smiled at him " so.....where's the dress that you said that I would love?"
Kathy got up from her dressing table and walked across to him, her silk negligee parting slightly at the front.
Connor frowned and then grinned at her.
"are you sure Gabriel will approve .......I think he will be in for a bit of a shock, you dont look like a vampire at all"

Kathy looked at him confused then followed his eyes, her once white body was now a pale golden colour. shirelle had brought with her some st tropez fake suntan cream that had become a craze among humans and after much giggling the two of them had emerged a few hours earlier from the bathroom, their skin colour transformed.

"im sure he will love it" kathy laughed as she jumped onto the bed alongside him.
"now come on where's the dress I ordered, youve been very secretive about it, we have to leave shortly for the ball and I just have to see it"

Connor laughed at her and nodded to Tobias.

Kathy watched eagerly as Tobias walked back into her bedroom with a large dress suit bag and hung it up on the side of the wardrobe.

"well go on then little one....go open it"

kathy walked over to the wardrobe and her delicate fingers pulled the zipper down .
Her eyes stared as she looked at the gown.
It was a deep purple silk chiffon and tiny diamonds had been sewn on to it,the neck was a halter one and as kathy unhooked the dress of the wardrobe she turned it around and smiled as she saw the deep plunging gash at the back.

"is it good enough for the prince's ball?" connor asked as he walked up behind her and kissed her on her slender neck.

"It's perfect but I never asked for the diamonds....they are far too expensive"
"nothing is too good for you little one and I felt like treating you, Henner Buse did the design and he made the dress himself, so he told me, hes an old dear friend and was ony too pleased to help me at such short notice"

[u:7c169242a8][i:7c169242a8][b:7c169242a8]Dungeon library, Elysium[/b:7c169242a8][/i:7c169242a8][/u:7c169242a8]

- The six Cappadocian’s passed by the torture room in the Elysium to go the dark library where was sitting their master Valek. Once they arrived in the dark library, the six Cappadocian’s bowed to their master Valek. Valek pointed to the chairs around the table where he was sitting, the six Cappadocian’s sat and remained silent, as Valek was finishing writing the latest of his experiments in his own journal. Valek then raised his head to look at his six personal servants revealing his amber red eyes to them and said in a demonic voice " What is the reason of your coming in Elysium tonight …. "


The Cappadocian who went to meet the Seneschal O’Brien earlier on spoke
" We hold news of the highest of importance.. We went to Nazareth to capture the nun named " Ekaria " as requested by yourself nights ago dark Prince. " Valek smiled evily and said " Excellent, I take it you slaughtered the rest of them as I ordered you to do as well? " the Cappadocian nodded as Valek replied saying once more " Excellent "


- Spinal - " It also appears that the kindred Vincent Locke keeps his doings on progress, shall we pay him a visit oh dark one .. "

- Valek - " Things in due time spinal, i am sure Vincent enjoys the nightmares he his having lately " said Valek as he smiled evily right after.

- Valek - " Darkness is once again challenged, we shall once again prevail as we did many times in the past, Vincent might have an idea of who i am, but yet again he does hold no valid proofs, and what he doesn’t know, is that Darkness already roam free in this city, the unholy father Midian is already by our side ... "

The Cappadocian's smiled evily , spinal then said
" What shall we do about this ball my prince ... "

- Valek - " I hold no interest in going to it, but i do not have much choice as the Prince of this city, we shall go, and watch every kindred closely, this might just be where unanswered questions will be answered. "

(( Nice posts everyone :) , im gonna add to it again later, for my post is a bit short lol ))

"Well, I suppose you'll have to take him with you..." Gabriel whispered into his phone, detaching himself from the jubilee once more. The Kindred grew louder as the festivities increased, several Tremere casting blood magic in a wild display of shapes and patterns. Gabriel cupped his hand over the phone, "Well I don't know what the wolves look like, do you? Fine it's settled. Now work on acquiring the appropriate amount of land, speak with the zoning board, I have several contacts there. And I'm sure I don't need to tell you to keep it quiet."

The Ventrue hung up the phone, gradually allowing the expression of condensension fall from his face. Making his way back into the squal of bodies, he greeted several Primogen Members and otherwise important vampires. Through the crowd, he could see Porter still chatting idly with Mr. Locke. Neither of the two seemed too pleased to be in attendance tonight. Gradually he made his way back to where they stood.

"Where's your cup Mr. O'Brien?" Vincent asked casually, noticing the Seneschal's now empty hands. Gabriel for the first time noticed that he had lost track of the goblet back near the bar.

"Ah...the line was too long." he said, adding a trivial smile. He turned to Porter, who's compelling eyes darted from motion to motion in the mayhem. "So, Mr. Porter, are you enjoying yourself?"

"It's nice Seneschal...as always." he stated dryly. Suddenly the room fell silent, save the glitter of whispers and hushed words. The trio glanced towards the portico, where gradually the throng of bodies began to part, creating a flesh filled hallway. One of the ghoul's on door duty stepped forward.

"Ms. Kathy Belvadere of Clan Toreador!" he announced, his face turning red from all the attention being paid to him. Gabriel's eyes fell on a slender figure, a thousand white embers sparkling off the contours of her body. As she entered the light of the main hallway, her skin was flesh colored, as if the curse of Caine had never touched her.

"My word..." Vincent murmured. Gabriel said nothing but only moved forward to meet her. He could feel the steely eyes of the undead analyzing his every move, searching for a weakness or an oppurtunity. Taking her hand, he kissed it gently before standing stiffly.

"Ms. Belvadere..."