Path of the Vampire forum

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

[Verne] Verne sat on the second floor of the Cathedral. This was the hub of The Order, the place they met, slept, and ate. Anyone new member that was inducted to their circle was permitted to enter these chambers and offered a uniform, of which they only wore during their hours of operation and generally not outside in public unless they were carrying out official business.

The tall Paladin slapped his backpack down on the large square, cut out table in front of him and plucked some papers from the pack. He was to meet with a man that called himself Hans on the phone and was interested in joining The Order. His gaze went over the application, once he filled out for any new member to keep a record on them encase the worst happened; the worst being death.

A man cloaked in white and blue came up the elevator with the being Verne had been expecting. Verne got to his feet and extended a hand to their guest as the cloaked figure bowed and took the elevator to the ground floor again. “Nice to meet you finally, Hans. I’m Verne Krouse, leader of The Order.”

[Hans] The man in blue and white leads him up to the floor where someone comes to him. His cane is extended before him so that he can move forward. It supports his weight. It is only as he comes within range that his he is addressed. Verne Krouse. Hans Bauer. He expects the man of either German descent or from the Fatherland like himself. His hand extends, leaning on his cane with his elbow. It appears, once he's closer and upon inspection that his cane is two parts. That there might be a weapon inside of it.

"It's a pleasure, really. Sprechen Sie?" He uses the formal manner of speech, because he may be working for the man sometime soon. It seems only right to treat him like a superior. He glances the man over. He looks somewhat younger than himself, but not incredibly young. Most good leaders start when they are young and then continue on into their old age. He can only hope that this man will not lead him to his death. Hospital is fine, just not death.

[Verne] “Nicht,“ he informs the man, though he does speak a little. He rarely told anyone his real name, in fact no one in this city knew him as Yavok Berezin, except one, Irene… And he hadn’t seen or heard from her in at least six months. “I’m Russian,” he told the man with the cane.

Once the pleasantries were out of the way Verne gestured to a seat a few feet from his own before taking up the chair he had resided in a few moments ago. He eyed the man up and down discreetly as if to weigh him up, trying to work out how much he knew about the dangers of this city and what had led him to seek out the Paladins. Most of their members had known nothing about Vampires, or refused to believe what they were told until they were convinced. By his visual assessment he knew two things already. Firstly, the man seemed impaired physically, probably by an old injury that still gave him trouble; and the second, that meant he should never be underestimated. ”Please sit,” he offered before carrying on.

“When we last spoke on the phone you told me that you had acquired some unique skills you thought might provide a bit of support to our cause.

[Hans] Moving to take a seat in the indicated chair, there is no nervousness about him. He is mainly wishing to join the Order for the purpose of helping those he believes want to extinguish the vampire threat from the face of the city. If that is not the case, he still wants to protect humanity from the monsters. He is, in a way, asked about the skills that he has acquired. Leaning his cane next to his seat, he offers the man a smile. Hans' German accent is strong as he speaks. "Yes. I have mastered martial arts to the best of my knowledge. I am proficient with a sword. I have the identity of a few monsters."

He stops to take a breath, and allow for interjection if it's necessary. He does start to speak again just a few seconds later. I've also started to understand the necessity of rituals and how they work. I also possess personal magic." He's not really sure what to call his powers. He is calm as he speaks. He finally waits for the man to reply to him.

[Verne] Verne nodded slowly and seemed to mark a few things down on the page. “Do you have any questions for me about The Order?”

More often than not a lot of the newer members would bound in without a care in the world but Hans looked a bit more experienced than that. His body seemed as weathered as his soul and so Verne found it a surprise when he mentioned his skill in martial arts. ‘Never judge a book by its cover, nor a man by his coat,’ his father’s words echoed in his mind. “Then if we are in agreement we can fill out the boring paper work.”

[Hans] "I have a few questions." The male states, nothing really too horrible for inquiry, just a bit of things. "What does the Order need of me? What are your expectations of members? Is there a chain of command and chance of promotion?" He asks the male before him then steeples hi hands over his lap. He feels that these questions are probably for the best so that he doesn't have any false hopes when he comes into the Order.

[Verne] Just a few and all at once. Verne smiles slowly, not because he is overwhelmed but because he is thankful someone finally takes this as seriously as he does. One at a time he tells himself, he needs to be truthful and not sugar coat anything. “Perhaps I can answer the first in answering the second,” he begins.

“The Order expects its members to follow rules as all organisations require; some of us bend these rules more than others and as you know any leader must be able to bend slightly for the good of his or her team.” He thought of Jason then, the guy never listened to a single command Verne gave, but they needed him, he was more powerful than two of them mashed together.

“We haven’t made any serious moves within the city, as you’ll understand to make any kind of dent we need members and are in the process of recruiting. What I expect from members is honesty… If you are not willing to fight I would prefer to know that now rather than two months down the track when we are faced with danger and suddenly find that very few of us have to balls to back up our words.” Verne pursed, he didn’t want to overload the guy.

“The Order is split into three types of members. Pledges and non-fighting recruits who only offer aid in non-physical forms such as healing, cash or item donations, etc, etc. Then we have the Soldiers, our fighters, people like myself who are willing to risk a life in a hospital bed to make a change, and finally,” and this was usually the one outsiders didn’t like, “Vampires. There are a couple within The Order. Purged of their sins and free to walk among as Soldiers.

[Hans] The concept of Vampires among them that are able to fight alongside them makes him a little wary. He's sure that the man can see it on his face. His eyes seem to have that thousand mile stair as he looks at him. A hand goes into his pocket as he contemplates this. The rest of it is pretty standard. What he is willing to do. Is he willing to do combat, risk his life for the sake of humanity. Yes. Yes he is. He's done it before when he fought with the German forces. Hans' nods his head up and down. "I am willing to fight. I've done it before in the sands of the Middle East, and can do it again." For a moment he thinks about what he should say about the vampires. "While I am concerned about vampires so close in action with me. If you trust them... I will set aside my issues."

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

[Verne] Verne knew the problem some of his team had with Vampires, which is why he had been hesitant in saying the word, but truth was what made the group strong; as long as he was open with them all, they could respect him. While some in the group reviled Vampires, others loved them and as a leader he had to find a middle ground for all and someone would always be displeased with that mark. He wondered if this never-ending war against evil could be finished with evil; he was yet to be convinced of this. He looked at Hans; he hadn’t answered the man’s final question.

“As for room for movement, my second was recently killed and there is nothing to say that I am invincible.” There would always be room for movement within The Order, but that still wasn’t the answer Hans was seeking.

“If you display all the things that make a member of this society great, I can offer you certain responsibilities others within my faction will never rise to.”

[Hans] The concept of ranking, an order, being a part of something that he's better than. He looks to the man and grins. "Paper work?" He states that he would like to start the process of getting him in the way of getting into the Order. "I will be as helpful as I can. I'm almost always available. I will I can push, I can gain magic (anima) at a faster rate."

[Verne] Verne smiled; this one made him hope, just a little; hope for something better, for a chance that maybe they could win. He picked up his pen and scratched the man’s name down at the top of the page along with the date. “A few things… This is just in case something goes wrong and we need to act fast.”

He looked at the page and started listing the things he needed to know. “Age, Full name for the record, Next of kin and their contact details, blood type, and then you need to sign to say you are happy to risk your life fighting Vampires.”

[Hans] "Hans Sigmund Bauer." He states his full name for the first time since he met Mina. His hands firm out his pants, moves to his cane. Thinking for a moment. "No next of kin in the city. Mina can be contacted though. Mina (ign). Blood type 'O Negative'. He smiles at the man and then grins a little bit. He signs the paper. "More than happy. I killed the vampire Link... Currently at arms with Lyonel and Mkvenner when I can find them. And Masque."

[Verne] Verne took the papers back and wrote Mina’s name down on the page; he didn’t know the woman personally but was sure if the worst happened he would be able to look her up. “That is about it,” Verne offered with a smile.

“We have meetings every Thursday, Friday if things are running late but they are subject to change as a lot of our members are new and I would like a time that best suits everyone.” He looked thoughtful for a time as if he was trying to remember something he had forgotten.

“The Order will issue you with a weapon you can borrow if you do not have one, or you can buy one of the master blades from the inventory stock room. We usually preform a small ritual on new recruits but as you are not a Paladin we can skip this step completely and I’m happy to say, Welcome to the Order of Saint James, Hans.”

[Hans] "Thank you. If there is anything you need. Please let me know." He smiles as he stands and then extends his hand forward. The cane is still leaning against the wall. All of his weight is on the other leg, not the wounded leg. He thinks for a moment if there is anything else he'd like to say. He's unsure.
[Verne] Verne slipped the paperwork into a leather bound folder and put it into his backpack; he would file it away safe at home later. The tall Paladin had forgotten to mention something and thought now was the perfect opportunity. “We have housing here at the Cathedral free to members if you are stuck for a place.”
[Hans] "I may be hunkering down here quite a while then until I get to a better place where I have a home. Then again... I may just stay here so I'm always at a central area." He states this so that he is always known. "I'm also a philosophy professor and before I left Germany I was in the process of becoming a priest." He nods his head, grinning a little bit as he starts to make his way over.

[Verne] “We need another priest, the city always charges up a fortune to ran things around here… Having one in house would be perfect. If you like The Order could pay for the remainder of your training, or I recently graduated with a Fine Arts Degree and I’m sure there is work at the university for a professor.” Verne stood at the doors of the elevator and put his hand to his chin. “Could work out perfectly.”

[Hans] "I would love to be wherever I would make the best fit." He grins at the male as he watches him move to the door. He looks around the room then to the man again. This would likely be his new home for a while. "If that is as a priest. I only have a half a year left before I graduate, again... " He adds that in. It would give him another masters.

[Verne] “Perfect,” Verne said, holding the door for the man; he too would travel down to the ground floor.

“I don’t know how you feel about wearing a uniform?”

[Hans] He moves with him and then comes into the elevator. He understands now that this will not be the place for him to stay. It's okay with him. Once in the metal box he turns his head to the male. "I wore one for a few years, but it would depend on the practicality of the uniform. But over all? Yes." He feels that he's rambling sometime.

[Verne] "Black pants, top, sometimes people like to wear gloves and then a jacket style cloak with a hood; very easy to move in," Verne explained. "Yours will be blue and white, I wear red and white, and Vampires black and red; you will learn what the colours mean soon enough."

[Hans] Though he'd probably prefer robes over anything else, he can really deal with a cloak. He nods his head at the male and grins a little bit. "That sounds acceptable to me. Not like you're asking me to wear full battle rattle", he states. He remembers for a moment the way he had to wear kevlar, helmet, low bearing vest, etc. He's excited to learn the meanings of things.

[Verne] Verne merely smiles, they reach the ground floor and he exits the elevator. "I have to go and meet a friend, I'm not usually this busy," he explains with a guilty smile, he would have loved to of shown the man around a bit more. "Let me know the costs for finishing your study and I will see to it that the money is made available to you.”

[Hans] "I will be sure to do so Sir." He nods his head and then looks around the place for a place to rest for a while and read. He would do the mat later and then catch up with Verne at another time. He would also look at the armoury and then find a weapon that could be modified to fit in his cane. The shaft of the cane is carved with Latin, the prayer of the Lord.