VAU I - Vampire Amongst Us (game thread)

[Drainial]

"At the moment there are no clues, no trails to follow, no rationales behind a vote. The vampire could be anyone of us, further more anyone of us might be working with the beast; we have no way of knowing. One needs only look at the fate of the Strigoi vampires to see that we must look beyond those of means, it could just as well be you as Gunther, or Theo or Jessica. We must assume nothing," Medly replied to the drunkard

"Your assertion that the creature must be amongst the wealthy, and so exempting you from scrutiny, is rather self serving for all that you have wrapped it up in altruistic terms. If we had anything to go on I would follow that lead but as we do not and as I believe that the best way for us to progress is through unity I shall change my vote. You already have two votes against you Poiter, and your attitude makes you seem slightly more suspicious than anyone else."

Vote Piotr

[Darkdoom]

Even though she deems it below her honor to direct her words directly at dimwit like Piotr, she replies, as this is not an usual occasion:

Even scum like you Piotr should at least know that some people think before they open their moth as I did, even though this does not seem to be a habit of yours. Additionally do you think we would be in this situation if our vampire friend would be stupid enough to look like he jumped out of a children fairytale? A stupid drunk is the perfect masc. Now one to get suspicious if you don't come home, or behave abnormally, no one to care a damn about you or miss you. And of cause you haven't yet agreed with the logic in our system witch is the only way of saving us from certain doom. Enough reasoning for you?

[Raneth]

Beatrice merely sat idle as democracy's stranglehold quickly closed around Piotr's neck. Coughing to get her voice in order, the Marquesse finally spoke up, first addressing Piotr: I don't take kindly to commoners blaming their noble masters for the troubles in their lives, you drunk ruffian! Yet something else stirs my thoughts... Richard, you really deemed it necessary to change your vote when the odds are already stacked against Piotr? It strikes me as the coward's way of going about matters. For this, you shall have my vote tonight.

Vote: Richard Medly

[Dragonsbreath]

Jessica watched on as the other occupants of the room began placing votes upon each others lives. Soon, votes began piling up against Piotr. Frustrated by the seemingly callous attitude of her fellows, Jessica rose to the drunkard's defense,
"I know little enough about creatures of the night, truth be told, but I would defy you to tell me they lived such pitiful existences. That they eke out their unholy lives as old drunks?" She shot a quick sidewards glance at Piotr, hoping he wouldn't argue with her somewhat discourteous defense.

"I find it chilling, Sir Medly," she continued righteously,"that you would vote upon such a serious matter in such a random fashion. I do not like this at all, but your behavior is the most condemning evidence I have seen this night," wearily Jessica slumped back into her seat, looking over at the banker and trying to convince herself that she was right.

Vote: Richard Medly

[Lord damian valar]

As the votes pile up against him Piotr becomes paler with each one. Knees trembling and beads of sweat forming on his bald and spotted head. As suddenly both the Marquesse and Jessica come to his defense he swallows hard, looks at the bottle in his hand and then places it back on the cabinet, before slowly shuffling back to the table. Stopping in front of Beatrice he inclines his head and mutters:"I thank ye M'lady"

Walking further he takes the seat next to Jessica and adresses her as well:"You too little lass. Sorry 'bout before. I...I guess I've had enough to drink for today."


Composing himself somewhat he speaks more in general:"I know I'm a drunk and at times a begger. I know I'm a dirty old fleabag and I have a bad mouth......I am however not a Vampire, nor a violant man. I find it hard to casually pick somebody and sentence him or her to death, without having any clue whatsoever pointing in this persons direction."

Taking another breath he goes on:"Since it seems we must choose and allready 3 people voted against me and 2 against you Medly, it is for this reason I also vote your name..."


Vote: Richard Medly

.

[Kinslayer]

OOC - Please remember to post votes clearly at the bottom of your post in bold as follows "Vote: Name"

At the time of writing this Dragonsbreath had the last vote. Sorry Lord Damian Valar but your vote will not be counted (call it you trying to vote to save yourself a little to late)

IC -


Karlos Petersson listened intently as votes began being passed around, sometimes back and forth, and accusations were made and enforced. The old Mayor was pacing the chamber once again, listening to the bickering as the accused fought to defend themselves and the Nobles and the poor almost turned on each other. Peering out through the edge of one of the high red curtains, the Mayor decided he had heard enough and suddenly called for silence.

"Night has fallen my friends, the last of the suns rays are fading on the distant horizon, though the dark stom clouds still linger here overhead."

Piotr and Medley exchanged fearful glances as some of the others sat back in their chairs with victorious looks upon their faces. The time for voting this day had come to its end.

"These are indeed dark times we live in. Richard Medley, you received two votes. Perhaps you're the vampire, perhaps you are not, but that decision will have to wait until another day. Piotr, you drunken excuse for a man, you have the most votes."

The Mayor had finished sharpening his stake at some point during the day, and now he pointed it at Piotr accusingly. The drunk began raving his protests, smashing the wine bottle he was gulping from against the edge of the table in anger and waving it threateningly about himself. Karlos rose from his chair and called for the others to restrain the poor man, which a few of the braver men did so without taking a hit from Piotrs' wild swings. Karlos himself stayed well out of harms way until Piotr had been disarmed and dragged onto the table, where four members of the gathering each held one of his limbs down, pinning him in place.

Karlos advanced slowly, a solemn look of regret in his eyes, and lifted the wooden stake above the drunken mans chest. Piotr was still fighting in the grip of the others, ranting his innocence and going wide eyed in fear. I'll never drink again, he stuttered, I'll do a good days work, I'll find a job and do good for the community. But it was too late for all that, and the Mayor hushed Piotr with a few quiet, calming words before speaking aloud.

"I am sorry, Piotr. I truly am sorry. Let us hope for all our sakes' we picked the right man...

A moment later, Karlos plunged the wooden stake into Piotrs' chest...


The drunk screamed in agony as he was stabbed through the heart, his eyes going wide and his limbs going rigid in the grip of those pinning him to the table, but it only lasted a moment. Piotrs' death was swift, and he collapsed back to the table limp and lifeless. For a few moments, nothing happened, the room was silent and still as the gathering waited to see if they had murdered the vampire beast. Then, breaking the silence ever so slightly, the last of Piotrs' ale stenched breath quietly left his lips. As he exhaled for the last time, the air that left the mans lungs turned dark and purple, billowing up from his body in a most unusual fashion. The purple cloud of breath rose up above Piotr and turned into the visage of a leering skull, before dissipating as quickly as it had appeared with an arcane hiss.

A few moments later, someone broke the silence that followed. "Is that it then... did we kill the Vampire?"

Karlos made his way back over to the window and looked out as darkness finally took its hold over Drakenvale.

"The dead still walk outside. Whatever that was, it was not what we were after. I'm afraid to say we did not kill the Vampire."




It is now Night. You do not have to post in this phase but you can do so if you wish. Players with special rules can use them if necessary. Day will commence again 2 real days.

Votes received this turn

Piotr (Kharevish): 3
Richard Medley (Drainial): 2

Deaths

Piotr (voted) Unwitting Slave

[Belial]

The heavy silence is broken, as Theo speaks up.

"Not bad, gentlemen, not bad at all. And yet, this carries dark implications. If our poor drunk was something else that the vampire we hunt, what was he then? And are the more like him?"

Theo, rises, the first to do so, from his chair, and walks to the door.

"I shall retire to my room. I bid you goodnight, and hope to see you all on the morrow."

[Kinslayer]

OOC - Please remember you can only post once during the night if you decide to do so.

IC -

Karlos Petersson was standing by the door as Theo spoke up and tried to leave, but the Mayor gently closed the door before the old solicitor had the chance to pass through it. Karlos took out an old golden key from the pocket of his tunic and waved it in Theos' face.

"Nobody is to leave this room, we can't risk the Vampire sneaking off and letting his undead minions inside.

We should throw the body of Piotr out into the hall and then lock ourselves in. There are cushions and blankets in a chest in the corner, and this is also where the servants store a lot of the food, so we can sleep in here."

With that, the dead body that had been one of their number not ten minutes beforehand was thrown out into the hall, and the Mayor locked them in.



Posting Deadline: Night will end at 4pm Friday GMT (now around 36 hours time)

[Dresden]

Gunther sat back as the others continued to bicker. He thought they overestimated the vampires boldness if they thought it would expose itself by openly feeding them lies, but they did have a point about the myriad nature of the beasts. He felt a sickening sensation in his stomach when the voting began, but knew it had to be done.

Gunther himself, however, would wait until he had something more concrete to go on. It may have been an unseemly necessity, but he couldn't bring himself ot randomly condemn someone to death. After all, someone had even accused him!

After the votes were tallied, Gunther lent a hand in restraining the old drunk. All things considered, he wasn't the greatest loss, even if he was innocent. Even so, Gunther silently said a prayer for Piotr's soul, if he was innocent, as the stake was driven down. Whie the death's head cloud that escaped with his dieing breath was ominous, the corpses still shambling outside indicated that he was not the beast, though they likely did him a favor by putting him out of some misery.

After words, the mayor informed them in no uncertain terms that they were not to leave this room. Fine enough for Gunther, the cusions were likely more comfortable thatn his cot anyways, and he didn't fancy sleeping too much with a vampie in the room. He did have one pressing concern, however.

Might I suggest, he said, that we devise a better system for the execution. After all, I highly doubt some undead hellspawn would allow even the strongest of us to hold himm down for a staking, if the tales are to be believed. As to what such a method might be, I'm open to suggestions, but I'd say it's worth thinking about.

[Drainial]

Watching a purple deaths head erupt from poor Pioter upon his death gave Richard a slight sense of satisfaction, they had surely accomplished something with their first largely random vote.

"Well I hope this fortunate beginning will continue and that we are only forced to kill dark spawn and not the innocent, though if we are to root out the beast we must accept the possibility of losses.

"Well I am for my bed, such as it is. I hope I can great you all again in the morning."

[Deroth]

As the cloud formed into the shape of a skull in the air Dietrich shivered. I dont even want to know what that was all about.

Bunking down into a corner he pulled up some blankets, But some measure of success though, it wasn't the vampire but I guess it was the next best thing. Hopefully we can have continued success in the morning.

[Raneth]

Piotr's death's revealed him to have been a pawn of the Vampire. As she trudged to her sleeping quarters, Bea mumbled to herself: How could anyone have guessed? Was it merely luck, or does someone know more than they are willing to reveal?

[Dragonsbreath]

The old drunks death, followed by the hideous skull which spouted from his lips, made Jessica shiver. She watched with horrified captivation as his body was thrown out of the hall, and her fellows began congratulating themselves upon their success. While the skull-like smoke certainly portended something unnatural about Piotr's demise - the manner of his death still seemed unnecessarily gruesome.

Shaking her head, Jessica retrieved an old blanket from the chest. She listened to the comments of the others, but offered nothing herself - settling down for what was sure to be a long night.

[Kinslayer]

They awoke to the sound of the Mayor crying out, startled back into conciousness and immediately jumping from their sleeping mats and glancing about in suprise. It quickly dawned on them that Karlos was knelt down beside the table, cradling someone in his arms. Confused glances passed between them, hadn't they thrown the body of Piotr out into the hall the night before? And then it dawned on them. Someone else had died.

Karlos looked up, his eyes teary. In his arms lay Theo, the towns solicitor. The other members of the gathering walked in closer and looked down on the dead man, all eyes drawn to the pair of red puncture marks on the side of his neck. It was obvious that the poor fellow had been slain by the vampire at some point during the night, a thought that sent a shiver down all of their spines. If the vampire was killing, their numbers were weakening and the beast could only be growing stronger. They had to find him fast.

After some words of passing, a couple of those gathered took Theos' body out into the hall, Karlos locking them in again as they returned. The old Mayor showed them the cupboards they could find food, and then took his seat at the head of the long table. Once they were done eating the meagre selection of rations left in the room by the houses servants, Karlos made the suggestion that they get straight back to voting. The beast was still amongst them, and now they were sure he would likely kill again the following night if they did not find him first.





It is now the Day phase. All players should post in this phase and can vote if they so wish. Day ends at 6pm Sunday GMT.)


Deaths:

Piotr (voted) Unwitting Slave
Theo (killed by the vampire) Human

[Dresden]

Gunther, despite his intended vigilence, was not as young as he used to be. As such, he eventually succumbed to the sweet oblivion of sleep. After several fitfull ours, he was awakedned by the mayor letting loose an entirely undignified scream. Along with the others, he rushed over to see what the commotion was about, only to find Theo dead at the hands of the fiend.

This saddned Gunther. Theo may not have gotten along well socially with his elite piers, but amoung the lower class he was well respected. He'd even helped gunther out of a bind or two, for no charge. That being said, wasn't the worst possible outcome. It's not like they had killed him, or even worse discovered the kind old gentleman to be the fiend in disguise.

This made their situation that much more urgent. Gunther had to cast a vote. He thought through previous events, looking for a clue. Finally, he addressed his companions. It seems that the fiend is not content to merely lead us to whittle down or own numbers. If that bizzare site at Piotr's death is any indication, he may have been a thrall to the beast, if unwillily, and the death of a pawn perhaps unerved it. A conered beast is all the more dangerous, so I suggest we get down to the business at ahnd: voting.

It is my opinion that the vampire would not kill one of its own but would in fact try to avoid such a fate. As such, I believe the vampire must be one of those who voted for someone else. This leaves Jessica, or Beatrice. Between the two, I find the old crone to have far more damning evidence against her. He's disdainful, haughty, scornful, old, and a foreigner to boot. I've cast may vote, the rest of you can say your piece.

Vote: Beatrice

[Drainial]

"Well tragic as Theo's death is at least we have some facts to go on now. We know that Piotr was guilty of something foul even if he was not the vampire himself, we know that the solicitor was innocent and we know who everyone voted for.

"It seems unlikely to me that the creature would vote for one of its own pawns so quickly, it was never inevitable that Pioter would be voted out so that provisionally rules out Nina in my mind. Of course ruling out those who voted for Pioter also puts me in the clear which may seem self serving but these are the facts as I see them.

"Then there are those who voted elsewhere, namely for me, Beatrice and Jessica as Gunther says. Given that we now know Poiter was guilty this must make them the prime suspects.

"However I think we also have to consider those who did not vote at all, Dietrich didn't and Kristoff is yet to say a word about finding the vampire, indeed his major contributions have been snide and condescending remarks. Whether or not either or indeed both of them are bound up in this evil I do not know but they shouldn't be forgotten.

"I will forbear from voting for now until we have heard what the others have to say but as of now I am leaning towards voting with Gunther against the lady Beatrice for much the same reasons he has stated."

[Dragonsbreath]

Another disturbing death, this time at the hands of the beast which walked among them, caused Jessica no small amount of unease. She squeaked with fright when she saw Theo's corpse, rubbing her neck nervously when her eyes were drawn to the puncture marks upon his.

There was a long pause in the room, as everyone considered the implications of the death. It was Gunther who spoke first, and Jessica was shocked when she heard her name - grateful when his vote was not cast against her. Medly seemed to agree with the woodcutter, though Jessica was somewhat surprised that he seemed to be open to other possibilities.

Desperate to prove her innocence, Jessica looked round at the others,
"If indeed Piotr had some connection to the creature, then I too find it to be unlikely that it would actively have sought his death, but there are those present who did not vote at all, as sir Medly has mentioned. Perhaps the creature saw the vote going against Piotr, and kept it's silence - in order to provide no 'evidence' against itself"

[Deroth]

Looking at Theo's corpse, Dietrich shivered and thought to himself, So we are not even safe in here, damn beast can kill us in our sleep without alerting any of rest of us. It's bloody toying with us, the sooner we can find it the better.


Then listening to the others speak Dietrich put his thoughts forward, "I agree with Gunther at this stage too, those who voted for others or did not vote for anyone are under the most suspicion right now. I know that also includes me but I am not going to miss voting this time, we had some luck with the first vote being correct last time, I am happy to go on a gut feeling this time and vote for Beatrice too."

Vote: Beatrice

[Raneth]

Commotion outside her chamber roused the Marquesse, quickly donning her attire she joined the rest to find the town's barrister had been slain. Bea had not liked the man but relied on his expertise all the same; after this ordeal she would have to find a new associate to manage her wealth.

Her horn pressed against her right ear as she would, Beatrice listened to Gunther's reasoning, a slight smile forming on her face. Medly seemed to take to his words, yet Jessica kept a level head and explained things might not be what they seemed. She deigned a small nod of respect to the seamstress, then answered the burly woodcutter. Gunther, if my bearing does not please you I can but reciprocate. It is not without reason that my ilk tends to avoid yours; your odour is about as appalling as your capacity for logic. Yet I would not cast my vote on anyone for these reasons, tempting as it may be to rid this place of the smell. No, I will hold to my earlier judgment, until convinced of the contrary.

Vote: Richard Medly

[Dresden]

In response to Beatrice's goading, Gunther said "I appreciate your restraint in not letting personal feelings cloud your judgement, if nothing else. I too must say that if things go sour for you and you turn out to be innocent, know you have my sincerest appology. After all, the crimes of being a self-absorbed, scornful, rude old Brettonian windbag well past her prime but refusing to admit it, while repugnant, are not worthy of a stake through the heart. As for my odour, I find I quite prefer the smell of a hard days real work keeping this town running, with a good fire, hot cooked meal, and a mug of beer at the local tavern to be much preferable to those infernal prefumes and smelling salts you insist on keeping on your person.

Regardless, I stand by my choice. Piotr was obviously touched by something foul, and I find it unlikely that under the circumstances it would be unrelated to the vampire. This, given the stories I've heard of them, likely made him a pawn or thrall of the creature. I find it unlikely it would vote away one of it's minions. Further more, Piotr was only behind 2 to 3, with several votes not cast, hardly unsurmountable odds. So, while it is possible the vampire didn't vote in some grand scheme to avoid suspicion, I find it unlikely it would be so rattled already, especially when it's bold enough to kill us while we all sleep in the same room, and believe that it would attempt to vote to spare Piotr, in the hopes enough of the rest of us would follow suite. Of the two candidates this describes, I find your ladyship to be a far more likely choice.

[Raneth]

Hmph, snorted Beatrice. Had that been my motivation, I'd have cast my vote on the easier target; the one that Richard Medly initially proposed yesterday. YOU, Gunther. Ungrateful, smelly whelp...

[Darkdoom]

Nina could not help but feeling proud of her self: with her vote she had led the others to killing a pawn of the vampire, bettered her own chances of survival and got rid of that most unappealing man. Unfortunately she doubted whether the others were on the right track with finding the vampire. An old and grand vampire will be smart. He might willingly sacrifice a pawn just to clear himself of any suspicions in the future. Otherwise it is not unlikely for him just to listen and stay passive, not to attract any attention at all. For her Mendly still seemed the most suspicious, but why would the pawn act against his master? For this to belong into the vampire’s scheme it was way too risky. She decided to sit back and listen to the reasoning of the others first.

[Drainial]

"Well as no one has convinced me otherwise I will now make my vote official."

Vote Beatrice (Raneth)

[Dragonsbreath]

With Medly's vote for the Marquesse alongside the others, it seemed to Jessica that the old woman's fate was all but decided. However, she spoke up once again,
"In the interest of sparing the life of one I believe to be innocent, I shall place my vote alongside that of the Marquesse. I admit that I am no longer so adamant of your guilt, sir Medly, but we can ill afford to lose a human upon the grounds of them being disliked."

Vote: Richard Medly

[Drainial]

"Being disliked does not enter into it, you yourself are just as likely to be guilty in my book but we can only vote for one person at a time."