Path of the Vampire forum

Open to: Ariadne, Amalea, Llangort, Every, & Freyja

There is no word count requirement for posts in this thread.

For the sake of expediency, this thread will only remain active for 2 weeks (I. E. It will close on February 14). For this reason, there is no posting order. Any of the participants may post at any time (just don't post back to back).

Participation in this thread is required for consideration in chapter consequences, meaning that your character must give an answer in roleplay for it to be counted.

How characters respond to the question will determine all of the outcomes of the chapter.

The chapter question will be presented in the next GM post after a majority of the participants have posted their arrival and approached the throne.

Characters will be able to ask some questions for the sake of information gathering.

To learn more about Theodosia see this page. Be mindful of the information key and associated numbers before assuming your character would know something.

Since finding the key, Llangort had expected “something” to happen, spent the time preparing, readying himself. But ending up however far below and away from anywhere he knew, not knowing even where to start to go back, wasn't quite what he expected. He wasn't sure that even his other self could pull him out of here, not that it should try, he had made that thoroughly clear, but still, the thought was unsettling. A moments panic upon seeing the undead knights, quite obviously superior versions of what he had infrequently, but annoyingly, encountered in the tombs after lapses in concentration. Fortunately he resisted the urge to slip into the shadows and run, a habit well honed as he had delved through the tombs, deeper and deeper even after finding the key. No grabbing and running here.

But more important things needed his attention now.

The journey to the Labyrinth, the intricate path, gave him almost no time or focus to observe the others, so he took a moment. Four others had taken the same journey, had presented and used keys somewhat like his. A glance at each, the inconsequential observation that he was likely the only male out of the five, a nod of recognition for Amalea, having fought by her side before gave some reassurance in the currently indeterminate situation. Somewhat reassured about his companions, he adjusted his long leather coat and turned towards the throne, taking some time to observe the platform, the throne, and it's occupant.

There had been something in the way that she didn’t recognize the voice spoken into her mind that made Every uncomfortable from the get go. She hadn’t lingered as she had wanted to, contemplating her options as her feet lead her further and further into the darkness. She’d lost track on the floors she had spent a good part of the last month on, moving further than she had gone on different attempts without the need to fight to get what she wanted. She hadn’t understood before how the labyrinth was hardly the same month after month, and this made it just a bit more clear.

Something, or someone, had made it that way.

Although she’d thought to bring Zachary ahead of her, the woman hadn’t been able to so much as request for him to do so before leaving. He’d called out into her mind and she’d ignored him early on as she tried to focus on her surroundings, only for the paths to fall away. ”I’m fine.” She said only after she stepped through a tunnel. Her wraith and her thrall were silent as they seemed to understand that she would be fine - or so she hoped. Her fingers itched for the firearm that sat on her hip despite the odd nature of the creatures seeming to pay no mind to the approaching vampire.

Instead, she only grasped her key a bit tighter before her hand went back to rest in the pockets of her hooded sweatshirt. Freyja was recognized immediately as she finally reached the door and set her key into place, but only the man remained unfamiliar to Every who would give him a nod of her head in greeting.

As the door opened and they would enter, she felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle as she looked up at the throne. Her hand lifted to rest against it, the feelings tracing over her small frame something that causing her discomfort. ”We’ve got a heart to get.” The words that Prudence had written in the email ran through Every’s mind as she took in the throne room. There was nothing of the sort that she could see so far, but her attention kept falling back upon the mummified body on the throne. In the back of her mind, even as she wanted to approach, she felt this was a bad idea.

That amount of power, that amount of darkness radiated. There was a double edged sword just waiting for them to fall upon it, there had to be.

The red-head had spent more days than not in the Labyrinth ever since the Administrator had made their demand for the keys that could be found there; along with the caveat that the way should be made clear as well. Well, **** them, whoever they were. If they were as powerful as they claimed, they could get off their *** and come down here for themselves. She wasn’t sure what the key unlocked and in all honesty, it didn’t matter. She had learnt from the Longslade incident; it is better to acquire something and take time to decide than research and lose your opportunity. Not to mention, she was wary of leaving the entire decision up to the vampire community on their own. History showed that wasn’t always the best course of action.

The money for the keys hadn’t been an issue; her businesses were doing well enough that she could afford the time away along with the monetary cost. It was isolating for the most part, but given the events of the past couple weeks, it was a blessing in disguise. It wasn’t likely she was completely cut off; telepathy and her phone still worked. But it did give her time to ponder everything going on without unsolicited opinions. It had become a sort of soothing dance to slay the creatures that opposed her before searching their remains for a fabled key.

Then she had found it; or rather one of them. The ancient looking key had stuck out like a bit of a sore thumb from the wolf’s carcass. Wiping the blood and guts from it, she examined it a bit closer. It was certainly more than a few centuries old; closer to at least from a time over a millennium ago. She would lay money that this was one of those keys the Admin sought which hastened her effort to leave the Labyrinth. Only two were informed of her find as she valued their opinions in the matter. Each had had rather sage advice that aligned with how she thought; she just didn’t it was going to be as simple as any of them hoped.

It wasn’t until she was teleporting home from her show and tell session that she found out that things weren’t going to be allowed to develop as she had hoped. Instead of arriving in her apartment, she found herself in a semi-familiar place. She knew she was in the Labyrinth, but this was definitely an area she hadn’t laid eyes on before. She wary kept an eye on the monsters as she followed the voice inside her head drawing her towards a specific room. Reaching out with her mind, she lightly tapped the mind of the one she had just left. Looks like we don’t get any time. Also looks like my invite doesn’t have a plus one either.

Coming to a stop outside the room, she joined the others in placing her key into the rune-etched door. It really wasn’t a surprise given the number of rune-enhanced monsters she had encountered over the past month. But just like those runes, these ones were also outside the realm of her rune knowledge. She had planned to research the ones she had seen on the creatures; time just had not been on her side. She followed the others into the domed room taking her time to look around though she wasn’t about to touch anything. Nor was she getting close to any walls; this place had too many hidden passages and she didn’t fancy getting lost in a section no one had ever explored.

She stopped a bit short as her eyes laid upon the throne and its mummified ruler. Even she could tell from here that this was an ancient vampire. One that probably hasn’t fed in years if their state was any indication. Awesome. Six vampires and her the only human. This was going to be a very interesting adventure. She took another step before pausing to appraise the figure wondering if it would reveal the source of the palpable darkness she could sense.

She nodded absently to Llangort and Ariadne as she approached Every. Of the other keyholders, the only one she didn’t know was the blond woman, though she gave her a smile too. A eye was kept on the throne as she wondered if this was the heart that Pru had mentioned to Every. In reality, it didn’t matter; there was no going back now. She was just going to stick close to Eve and hope hell didn’t break loose.

Power: Appraisal on Theodosia

Okay so your characters have three distinct choices here:

1) Give Theodosia the human blood (This will lead to the rift beginning to slowly widen).
2) Leave the Throne Room, and seal it shut behind you (This will result in the rift remaining as it has, for now).
3) Kill Theodosia (This will result in the rift remaining as it has, for now).

All options have additional impacts.

All participants may ask her one question, which she will answer if she is able. Though the asking of questions is not required.

Unanimity is necessary. If even one person decides to kill Theodosia, for example, she will be unable to feed on human blood.

Any dispute over the way in which she is to be handled must be settled either persuasively, through discussion, or through combat. If the people who disagree with how you want to do things are dead, they can't object - can they?

Obviously no major action can be taken without giving people a chance to respond. For example, you cannot write your character running out to collapse the entry to the throne room and then do so without another character having a chance to do something about it (combat included).

Character actions are the answer to the chapter question here, and I can't wait to see what happens!

Her bones ached as the voice echoed inside of her head, summoning her deeper into the twisting tunnels of the Labyrinth. At some point a few floors back, she figure that she must have found a hidden passage that no one else had, or that luck had smiled upon her and led her away from the others who had been hunting for secrets to uncover so that she could find a special something.

It had to be luck, right?

The key lay heavy in her pocket, like the weight of a thousand souls pulling her down. Ari walked in a daze through the corridors until the doors were open to the treasure room, barely registering the presence of the four other individuals as they all made their way into the vast unknown. The openness of the room itself seemed oppressive. Stale air with a tinge of metal and decay slid through her nostrils and down her throat. The ache of her bones turned to an itch and a scrape as her eyes settled upon the form of Theodosia. Instinctively, she positioned herself near Amalea and took a half step in from of the human, as if the mortal needed defending.

For Ari, the unease is palatable. Thick as Christmas pudding, if pudding smelled of a thousand year old corpse. The woman's voice felt like fingers slowly trailing up her spine, under the skin. Ari closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts, reaching out quickly to assess the room and occupants in the event of an emergency situation. A question? One question. Each. That was a burden indeed. What would be the right question? For her, there was one that had stood out to her almost since the beginning of her time as a vampire.

"What would happen if we closed, or even narrowed the Rift that connects our realms?"

Powers used: Exogenous Sight

Everyone here knew one or more of the others here. Noted.
No recognitions indicated expected hostilities, even of those not known, even with all 'visibly' armed. Noted.
The tall blonde perhaps only known to the hooded sweatshirt wearer. Noted.
Amalea choosing to be near the one with the hooded sweatshirt. Noted.
The immediate question poser adopting a somewhat protective stance towards Amalea. Noted.
Headache coming on from trying to make sense of a couple minutes worth of suppositions. Noted.

But yes, that was the immediate question. Not his first thoughts of “How much blood how often and whose and how and if?” The 'what happens if we do' question.

This was not going to be easy.

Every usually liked a challenge, but this? This was not her cup of tea. The fate of everything was right there in front of them, and as she received glimpses of the past, she knew her initial plan would not work. A trade wasn’t going to happen, not information for the key, at least.

As Amalea drew closer, the shadow reached out and softly curled her fingers around her wrist. There was a light squeeze that followed, an indication that she had her back. It didn’t surprise her that Ariadne was the first to speak up. Her lips twitched in satisfaction that she wasn’t the only one that who had protected the masquerade from the vampires end, there.

”Perhaps we should try to form our questions after every answer to judge what would be best?” Every asked quietly into the minds of those around her, purposely skipping the queen. ”I was killed by someone saying they had to get to the heart. I’m wondering if it’s the heart of vampirism.”