Path of the Vampire forum

The answer that the undead queen gave to Ariadne was too quick for Every's liking. She had always been skeptical about the rift, how it could be sealed, but as it was said, she believed it just slightly. Even shattered urns could be shattered once more, sometimes even beyond repair and as the shadow considered their options, she hoped she wasn't the only one that would need more information before acting. If the moment had been written in the stars long before they were of existence, then it could wait a bit longer before a decision came to light.

It didn't escape Every's notice, too, that the majority of words spoken in regards to the demifae reflected upon vampires, as well. She'd been called enough of them that she knew there was always more to meet the eye - even if she didn't like the creatures. Would they really be weaker if it closed? She recalled the fractures again - the power that some had felt when absorbing it had been so signficant. It'd been almost heartbreaking in the end to see the masquerade fall after everything that she and the others in her family had put forth in trying to protect it all.

There had been more than vampire life at stake and deep down, Every still knew that she didn't quite think a larger scale rift would be beneficial. She recalled the conversation she'd had with Jesse. "If not for you, do it for me." Hazel eyes moved to Freyja as she looked at her friend and considered the blondes feelings on the matter. She knew that Freyja wished for it to be open, but would the freedom be worth it, in the end? Her lips turned downward into a fall. Although she'd developed more friendships as the masquerade fell... survival was much more important to her.

"What will happen if choose to open the rift between the two realms?" There was the knowledge it would be the opposite - the rift opening would allow them to become more powerful, but the devil is in the details.

”With all due respect, your highness,” Every had the mental image of being killed twice in two weeks time, ”that doesn’t quite answer my question. Yes, freedom is a nice benefit, but it hardly scrapes the bottom of a barrel.” The words were spoken clearly despite the little voice of ‘what the hell are you doing?’ whispered in the back of her head. It wasn’t a question asked once more, so the rules still would remain in play.

Right?

Her hand went to where she kept her blade, an unconscious action that she stopped when caught. There was no need for her nerves, for her instincts to be slowly setting back into place. The queen herself had mentioned she was answering on good faith, and in good faith, Every felt if they were to act, answers were needed. Then again... did she know the answer that the shadow had wanted? Was she unaware of what the rift protected the mortal realm from?

Her thumb and forefinger moved over the relic worn on her hand. At least she’d get a little warning, all else failed.

The woman seated upon the stone throne certainly showed her age, physically. There was no doubt that this was a rather emaciated form of what was likely a formable woman in her prime. The bejeweled cuff was testament to that; it had the red-head wondering if it was just a status symbol from her human life or if it was some unknown relic. Given the headache she was currently nursing thanks to trying to peer into the woman’s mind, she sincerely hoped it was just jewelry.

Don’t try to appraise her, she warned the other keyholders with a light touch to their minds. All you get for it is a nasty headache.

Well, she certainly had some sort of telepathic capability judging from her method of conveyance for her words. Not that made Amalea feel any better about this situation; she’d seen The Mummy too many times for that. Being told that this group was the ones that destiny chose did little to ease her mind particularly coupled with the images that accompanied the thought. A couple had caught her attention making her wary of their host.

Christ this woman seemed to speak in riddles. Granted, Amalea, herself believed in and practiced the art of divination, but she’d never say things like that. If the mummy-woman was to be believed, they were all meant to find the keys that had brought them here and had been for several years. She wasn’t keen on the idea, if she was honest, but what had occurred was done. It was time to focus on the present and the challenges being presented.

At the mention of human blood, Amalea took a half step behind Ariadne and Every. Of course it would require human blood, she had suspected that based on what they had been shown. But whatever happened to using goat blood for **** like this? It wasn’t like she ever put up a fuss about someone asking her for a pint or so of blood, but this was different. This was a woman who obviously hadn’t fed in years, for one. For two, she wasn’t really too specific on the details of needing blood.

Granted the throne sitter was offering to allow them a question each, but that seemed a bit stingy to the human given the decision they were being asked to make. There was a distinct lack of information about the rift and there was no real way to cover every detail needed of the possible choices and the mechanics of the choice in a mere five questions. That assumed the answers were even honest.

Ari’s question was a sound one. The offer to close the rift wasn’t one on the table, but given the Administrator’s claim that the Sirens wanted to close it, she could see the relevance. She had her own thoughts on the benefits and consequences, but she was interesting in the ancient one’s reply.

She smiled for a moment at the idea presented by Every. It was sound and gave them the best chance at acquiring the greatest amount of information from this mystery woman. I can certainly concur with that plan. No sense in duplicating questions when we get so few. She replied with a gentle brush into the mind of the other keyholders. Eve’s comment about the heart of vampirism caused her pause as she considered the possibility. While perhaps not the literal heart as it was rumored vampires had originated in Europe, she supposed it was possible that this was the vampire responsible for bringing it to the Americas.

She had to give the woman credit once she began to reply to Ari’s question. The image of a shattered urn always having cracks made sense; it was usually impossible to repair something in such a way to make it like new again. The red-head had doubted that the rift could be completely closed, but had to wonder if the small cracks would be enough to allow escape from the dreaded Shadow Realm. If this being was to be believed, their power (hers included, she assumed) was drawn from the SR. At face value it all made sense, but was it accurate? She couldn’t really argue with the fragileness of the peace currently uneasily settled over the city, but the rest was out of her depths.

Of course, she had her own opinions on the rift. Someone with her knowledge and longevity in the city always would unless they were oblivious to the happenings around them. Whatever happened to it would affect the entirety of the city, not just the vampires, which she hoped those around her would keep in mind. It was a multi-faceted issue that was complicated even if it looked straightforward at first.

Every asking the opposite version of Ari’s question made complete sense. Of course, one would think that such information would have been volunteered by their host when she had made her offer to widen the rift. At least, the positive bits, anyway, as a way to entice them to want to take her up on her offer. But alas, it had come to the need to ask about both sides of the coin.

The red-head was rather disappointed with the answer that was given mainly because it was such an incomplete answer that didn’t come close to providing the requested information. It was as if she was telling them freedom was what they would get not that they understood anything about that. That was fine but it didn’t tell them about the cost of that freedom or its parameters. Was it the ability to go anywhere without fear? Was it greater power? But at what cost?

Her breath was held as Every informed her highness that the answer wasn’t really acceptable; politely, of course. She was certainly a brave woman to poke at the ancient in such a matter; Lea hoped the vampire wouldn’t be making a return trip to the Shadow Realm for it though. The ancient’s reply wasn’t exactly unexpected, after all, they were playing by her rules here and she had given what she thought was a complete answer. The red-head could understand how she likely saw freedom as the only information that was needed; wars had been fought over it in the past after all. But, at the same time, there were just five of them trying to make the best possible decision for their community.

She frowned lightly as she realized that she, herself, was no closer to choosing a question to ask of their host. She had too much she wanted to know and no way of asking it all. Things like how much blood, what did the woman get from opening the rift aside from the blood, what were the bounds of the proposed freedom and many others. She hoped one of the other two would ask their question soon and that it helped her narrow her choices down. Otherwise, she might be flipping a mental coin.

Llangort shrugged uncertainly then turns to the others.
"Given the amount of thinking going on, I am starting to suspect that I am quite definitely the newest of our merry bunch of champions, and I hope to hell that one, preferably more of you have a clue what those two answers meant. I am very deliberately speaking in sentences, statements, even if I end up rambling, for fear of wasting, I assume my, question. So for now, unless anyone has objections”, then with a quick glance at Theodosia “or even free information regarding the matter”, before facing the group again, “I will shortly present a question intended to clarify the details around the aforementioned requirement for human blood, as that is the only part of this thing I can yet quantify a response to”.