Avalon (open)

~No looking people in the eye, Mel. That's not smart.~

He wants to roll his eyes, but rolling his eyes in front of new people would make him look immature, and would probably be disrespectful, and the guy outside had called someone in here 'Majesty'.

~Means Prince, Mel.~

He can't keep himself from scowling a little. He already knows that.

So which is The Emperor? Is there an Empress? A Hierophant?

Time to find out, eyes flickering between the two. If he has to guess?

It's the one at the desk.

With the Beast that makes him want to claw his own eyes out.

He straightens his sweater. Kicks his foot against the other. Tilts his head to the side.

And claims the name again, a hand on his chest.

"I'm Mel."

Regina keeps a watchful eye on the crowd, looking for anyone who might be kindred.

Dr. Lazarus, growing tired of sitting and doing nothing, stands and looks toward Regina who appears to be surveying the room.

"Excuse me, I am Mister Lord Warden Ith Lazarus of the First Estate. I have traveled from my home in Amber Hill Asylum to find an audience with the Prince." His voice is raspy, as if not used very often, but holds the firm authority of someone used to being in charge.

Arnold bows "Yes, Majesty." He straightens, inclining his head respectfully to Erika. "Madame Seneschal."

He turns, opens the door. "Come along, Mel."

He escorts the funny little kindred outside the office, and finds himself creepy face to creepy face with Dr. Lazarus.

He smiles "Mister Lord Warden Lazarus. How good to see you alive. The Prince is not seeing anyone else tonight. He will be calling Court on Saturday evening, after which you will be interested to know, a meeting of the First Estate will be called."

While he addresses Dr. Lazarus he scans the club, seeking other Kindred who may have come here to be acknowledged.

Dr. Lazarus looks to Arnold, turning his attention away from Regina. At first the news that the Prince was not seeing anyone else this evening was a bit discouraging, however Lazarus understood that some kindred were more busy than others -- especially those of the First Estate. Lazarus nods in understanding to Arnold. "I see. The information is very appreciated."

Lazarus nods respectfully to Arnold and then takes notice of Mel, giving him a disapproving glance.
The Prince will see this individual and not me? I wonder what his importance is...

Suddenly there was another beast present. Lazarus moved his masked face slightly to look upon the new arrival. Heathcliff. Lazarus remembers him from the Nosferatu meeting not too long ago...

Arnold looks down at Heathcliff, his smile remaining on his thin gray lips "Ah, Heathcliff. I do remember you. I was just explaining to the good Doctor here that the Prince has decreed that he will not entertain any more acknowledgments tonight. He will be holding Court on Saturday night at which time you can be recognized."

"In the meantime, Heathcliff, how have you been? I must admit, I am surprised to see that you still live."

The doctor simply offers a nod to Heathcliff's greeting. Lazarus did not know too much about the new Priscus, O-Yama. The last time he had saw him was at the Nosferatu clan meeting and had not even heard so much of a word from him. However, it was interesting to hear that Heathcliff also experienced similar side effects from the night before.

Leaning in to the private conversation, Lazarus speaks softer but still with the authoritative demeanor of a physician. "I have not heard from Priscus O-Yama. Did he seem to have been subject to the previous night's affliction as well?"

Regina watches all of this silently. She notes who is invictus, and who is not.

They leave, and Mel sort of looks...up at the others who suddenly gather about, though his attention is quickly taken by something. Flickering about as though he's watching and listening to a conversation that's either invisible or in his own mind.

One would swear he's seeing something though.

A head-tilt, and his eyes suddenly come back to the 'real world'. Still standing there listening to a conversation he's not a part of.

Yet anyway.

"Sickness?"

Best way to help?

Know what's going on.

Arnold clears his throat, speaking up to be heard over the quiet conversation.

"Yes. A sickness. The Kindred of Sacramento had been affected by a mysterious illness of the blood that has thinned our ranks somewhat."

"I have since then fully recovered, as has the Prince and those near to him. I am relieved to hear that Priscus O-Yama is also still among us."

Obviously secrecy and quietness about the situation was no longer applicable. Lazarus puts his right hand into his wrinkled lab coat's pocket and turns to address all those who were listening. "Does anyone present know anything about the sickness, or even if it's a sickness at all? Is it of magical origins, chemical, biological? How was it transmitted? Air, water, radiation?" His hand emerges from the pocket with a small notebook and pen. "The more information the better for me to research the cause of this."

Arnold is not comfortable talking about this in such an informal way and in front of those who are new to the city - Kindred who seem harmless enough, but he doesn't trust a one of them.

He clears his throat "Yes, well. I do recall some things about the last few nights, perhaps we can meet in private some time soon so that we can share our mutual experiences, yes?"

If the expressionless mask over Lazarus' face was able to give a look of contempt it would be doing so at this moment. Instead, the doctor only gave a cold glare to Mel.

He continued to speak with the demeanor that only a detached professional could have. "Yes, perhaps we could meet in private sometime soon; Reeve Arnold, Heathcliff, and myself." He looks at each one as he says their names, then back to Mel. Hopefully his loud questions followed by this would get the point across about the importance of not eavesdropping.

Regina continues to watch, and has written something down on a small piece of paper.

Spoiler:

Regina finishes her second copy of the note, and interrupts the conversation.
"Pardon me gentlemen, but I have some notes to deliver." She hands a copy of the note to both invictus members, then goes over to the mortal whose been looking at her funny.
"Can I help you?" She asks, consternation evident in tone.

Arnold takes Regina's number with a nod, placing it in his pocket. Then to the remaining Kindred he says "Excuse me, as well. I've duties to perform."

Arnold leaves the Avalon.

Dr. Lazarus reaches in with his left hand into his pocket and pulls two white business cards from it. Written on the cards is simply, "Dr. Ith Lazarus PHD. Amber Hill Psychiatric Hospital. ###-####" He hands one to Heathcliff and one to Regina. "This is my office number, it is a direct line to my desk phone." After a moment of consideration he adds, "I do take impromptu appointments, however. If you are willing to help my research into what afflicted us the past evening, then I'm willing to allow you access assist -- and access to my herd if you require it."

Without another word, Lazarus turns and begins to walk toward the exit.

Circe, tastefully dressed in a dark grey skirtsuit and blood-red blouse and heels, enters the Avaalon. Her gaze scans the area, skipping over kine and finally stopping on two Kindred: a youngish-looking male with unruly, black hair, and a female with an out-of-date hairstyle but a distinctly regal bearing. Though comparatively weak of blood, the woman looked the most likely here to know anything of import.

Circe approaches Regina, saying "Greetings. My name is Circe." Looking back and forth between Regina and Mel, she says "I was told this was a good place to come to find those with whom I might have something in common."

As the Avalon sounded rather upscale, Mariel had changed to a beautiful bronze cocktail dress that showed off her perfect, pale skin and set off her red hair nicely.



She wore delicate bronze strappy sandals with four-inch heels to give her a little more height.

She entered the bar and looked around, knowing that she carried herself like a princess.

Mariel spotted Circe right away, talking with some Kindred. She looked around to see if ANYONE else was available, not wanting to have anything to do with her.

I'm going to get that bitch....I don't care if it takes years.

She walked to the bar and ordered a glass of Chardonney, to better show off her beautiful hands and carefully manicured nails, while she surveyed the crowd.

Suprised by this woman's abruptness and rudeness, Regina turned to Circe. "If you are referring to Princely meetings, madam, you are out of luck. There won't be any more appointments tonight, although I have heard there is a meeting this Monday."



edited by ST to change Court from Saturday to Monday due to player availability

Circe pauses for a moment, then replies. "I had not heard of a 'princely meeting', as you put it, only that several of our kind were gathering in this place. And you are...?"

"I am Dame Lady Knight Regina Pia, at your service miss?"

Mariel is enjoying seeing Circe look a little discomforted, watching her conversation with a clearly older vampire lady.

Serves her bloody right, she thinks, smiling.

Meeting Regina's eye, Circe says "Well met, Dame Lady Knight. I am Circe, Mother of Monsters, High Priestess and Faithful Servant of the Crone. Would you be so kind as to tell me where and at what time this meeting is to occur?"

"Regretably Miss Circe, et cetra, I am unable to do so, as I am unsure of the exact timing as well. If i find out, would you like me to inform you?" Civility and politeness, with a nice serving of ice.

Mariel looks at the new vampire. He seems to actually have an "L" on his forehead. Well, not literally.

Great. I'm talking to the vampire equivalent of the kid who eats paste in kindergarten.

Mariel sighs, and holds out a limp hand. I'm Mariel.

She adds, If there are only the five of us left in the city, that is SO sad.

"At the moment, I am difficult to contact, Dame Lady Knight," Circe replies, also icily. "Perhaps you might be able to direct me to one who might have that information? The domain's Herald, or perhaps the Seneschal? Also, I must respectfully ask that you address me appropriately. 'Miss' will not do. Either 'High Priestess' or 'Hierophant,' alone or along with my name, is acceptable."

"Please forgive me, Hierophant Circe, I was unsure of how you wish to be addressed amongst..others." She glances sidelong at the kine nearby. "As for the Seneschal, Dr. Brady did not grace me with her contact information. It is however, to be held at the Sterling Hotel. If have any further questions, you can reach me at this number." She holds out a slip of paper with just a phone number, and the word Knight. "If you will excuse me Hierophant, there are others who must be notified of the meeting as well. Until then Hierophant." She gives a respectful nod of her head, before turning back to Sabina.

Circe takes the offered slip of paper. "Until then, Dame Lady Knight. Thank you for your contact information." She nods her head as well, though just a touch less than did Regina.

Miss? How modern. Time to fix that. "Madam Nidra, thank you for making your presence known. I'm sure your sire will be quite pleased with your work here." She takes Madam Nidra to a darker corner, still keeping herself by the door. "and what does your sire desire you to accomplish here?"

"I see. Well, I wish you luck in your dealings. as you are fellow Invictus, but new, you may not know of the knights, so I shall explain. As a Knight, it is my sworn duty to protect each and every Invictus, to perform their orders as they see fit, till my dying day. The best of Invictus use us as we were designed, to protect them and their belongings from attacks and threats, to be used as a show of force as needed."

"Keep us in mind. We are the Line." "I never heard what clan you were. I myself am a Daeva."

Benton Black found himself parking his bike up across the street from a place called Avalon. It wasn't the first place he had visited since waking up from his torment and feeding. First he had gone to All Hallow's Church. He had hoped that the city's Kindred might turn to God in their time of strife, but he was sadly disappointed to find it empty save dust and bodies. Disheartened he headed here, to the rack and to one of the trendy clubs vampires liked to haunt and act like sexy socialites and pretend not to be monsters or whatever they did here.

As he walked in he still looked fairly ragged from the ordeal but he could feel the presence of other Beasts and feel his own snarling in challenge.

Seems I'm not the only one spared the Lord's scourging, he thought to himself as he looked around at several unfamiliar faces.

Her sharp senses having detected the veiled woman claiming affiliation with the First Estate, she turned her interest elsewhere. She noticed a nondescript, rather anxious male approach the too-willful child, Mariel, and supposed him to be hiding his Beast in the same manner she did. "He doesn't seem to have much to offer," she thought to herself, "...but then again, unimpressive raw materials can sometimes be forged into something vastly stronger, and no forge burns hotter than that of adversity." She decided to keep an eye on him.

For the moment, though, she focused instead on the distracted-looking young man, and thus does not yet notice the newly-arrived vampire.

Spoiler:

((ST Note - Quinn, please supply a description of what Circe would notice about Mel's aura. She received two successes at the -3 level (subtle shifts in the mixes of color and pattern))