Saturday, 1 November 1800. 3:05 a.m.
the sitting room.
Carleigh rubbed her temples with her fingertips. She hadn't felt this drained and exhausted since the night of her Embrace.
Explaining orders and bringing things under control was a lot easier said than done. It was very difficult to put fourteen people all in a room with limited seating. And it certainly didn't help that the vast majority of them didn't want to be within ten feet of anyone else.
Finally, she decided to just start. It didn't matter that they kept shifting position every five minutes, so long as they kept quiet and listened to her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention!" Carleigh began, opening her notebook and standing.
"Is the circus starting?!" Alectz exclaimed excitedly from her perch on top of the bookshelf.
Carleigh chose to ignore that remark, and the scattered snickers that followed it. Instead, she began her prepared speech.
"As you know, we have been appointed by our respective clans to fulfill a vital mission. For centuries, almost since the beginning of Kindred existence, we as a race have been plagued by one force: humans. They are the one eternal threat to the Kindred, they are the reason for the Masquerade, and they are, quite simply, the bane of our existence. Our mission, in short, is to eliminate the concentrated human forces that threaten all Kindred, Camarilla, Sabbat, and Independent clans alike.
"Now I'm not talking about angry mobs of peasants with torches and pitchforks burning down old Count Dracula's mansion. Those can be dealt with with a flick of the wrist. What I mean is the informed forces. The ones who know who we are and what we are. The ones armed with more than a torch and a crucifix. I'm talking about--"
"The Society of Leopold."
All eyes in the room turned from Carleigh to Michaela. The Gangrel was still standing by the window. She had looked gloomy and unfriendly from the beginning, but now she appeared to be seething with rage. She had nearly spat the words as well, as if they were a curse.
Slightly flustered, Carleigh attempted to continue. "Y-yes, the Society of Leopold is one such organization. In fact, they are one of our major targets. I was just getting to that."
The Gangrel seemed to be satisfied by the assurance that the Society was a target. Carleigh wondered if Michaela perhaps had something personal against the Society. It would certainly make her a good person to send on a mission like this.
Once again, Carleigh resumed her speech. "Of, course, it is not the only one. There hundreds, if not thousands of organizations like the Society of Leopold everywhere in the world. While most of humanity remains blind to our existence, these kine have spent hundreds of years perfecting the art of vampire extermination. Our goal is to destroy them. All of them. Do you have something to add, Ms. Dvorak?" she added the last part with no small bit of annoyance.
Carid Dvorak, who had been standing by the bookshelf shaking her head all through Carleigh's speech looked up with what seemed to be becoming her trademark smirk.
"You're making this whole thing sound like one big reinforcement of the Masquerade. Maybe you and some of your other Camarilla cronies came here to cater to the expectations of the justicars, but that's not why the Sabbat and the Independents are here. We came to slaughter cattle. Just like we've BEEN doing. Do you think the Sabbat needs your help to wipe out kine who know too much?"
"Then why ARE you here?" Carleigh challenged.
"Because the kine are getting in our way. And we have more important things to do with our packs than send them after little hovels of would-be mages." Carid sneered. "It's easier to use this team to deal with them. I don't know how this job was described to you, but the way I heard it, we keep the kine out of the way while the rest of our clans worry about the Jyhad."
"It just makes our unlives a little easier to do it your way this time." Courtney added. "But don't think for a minute that we need any of you."
The room stood in silence for a few seconds while Carleigh attempted to nurse the beginnings of a migraine. Finally, Seldes spoke.
"Okay, everyone, let's try to put clan politics aside here. Our objective is to destroy the Society of Leopold and all the organizations like it. That's what's important. That we do it is more important than WHY we do it."
"The Nossie's got a point." Sugar said from her place by the painting.
"Fine." Carleigh sighed, barely surpressing a groan. She flipped the page in her notebook. "That was the general mission plan. Now, on to specific rules. Number one: there will be no killing, diablerizing, or incapacitating of any member by another, regardless of clan policies or rivalries, on pain of the aggressor's death."
Carid looked disappointed.
"Number two: there will be no destroying of any part of the house. For training and sparring purposes, there is the forest and the padded room downstairs."
"PADDED ROOM?!!!" Alectz screamed gleefully. "You have a padded room?! I wanna sleep there!!!!! I wanna live there! Nobody can come in the padded room but me!"
"Um...I believe only the floor is padded." Carleigh added, trying not to look at the way too happy Malkavian.
"WHAT?! Oh, that's boring!" Alectz whined. "HEY! I've got an idea! We'll get some mattresses and staple them to the walls and--"
"NUMBER three!" Carleigh practically shouted. "Room assignments can be found on the placards next to the rooms themselves. Room assignments will not be changed under any circumstances. You had best learn to deal with your roommates, because they will also be your partners in battle and field work."
"So basically we can't get rid of the person?" Sugar interrupted Carleigh AGAIN.
"I suppose you could say that......" Carleigh allowed. She was getting quite irritated with this Ravnos.
"So who are our partners slash roommates?" Cathy asked.
Carleigh shrugged. "Like I said, it's on the placards. I wasn't given a list."
"You telling me its not somewhere in that notebook? Unbelievable." Cathy smirked.
Carleigh ignored that. What was so bad about being organized? "Well, those are all the general rules. Those of you who have packages and other belongings coming will receive them tomorrow night, I believe. In a few weeks the council will provide us with ghouls, which is why you were all told not to bring any of your own. And also in a couple of weeks we will be receiving specific assignments along with sources of information on our targets."
"Wait a minute." Carid cut in. "The council is telling us what to do?"
"For the time being. Once we have ample sources of data we will be able to monitor the dealings of the targets on our own, and we will no longer require the council's assistance. They're just getting us started." that seemed to placate the Tzimisce. "Well then. Any questions?"
"Yeah." Sugar raised a hand. "Why does nobody here look over the age of twenty?"
"And why are there so many girls? The gender ratio is really uneven here....." Ben added.
"What the hell happened to that horse out front?"
"What's with that little notebook of yours?"
"What are we supposed to do for a few weeks with no ghouls?"
"Do we still get to go hunting?"
"Can I please staple mattresses to the walls? And the ceiling...?"
"How come there's a Cappadocian here but not a Salubri or a Daughter of Cacophany or one of the other obscure clans?"
"Because they're not important enough!"
"And the Cappadocians are?"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!!!??!!"
Carleigh, realizing these questions were no longer aimed at her, collapsed into her chair. Amy, who incidentally had not said a word the whole evening, gazed steadily at her out of the corner of her eye.
The Ventrue wasn't doing to well. No one was listening. That was the problem with being the one who appeared to be in power; no one wanted to listen to you. That was where Amy came in....soon. Very soon.
Mika tried to sink a little further into the stone wall. This room was way too crowded. Mei was trying to strangle Sobek a few feet to her left. She wasn't having much luck. Mika averted her attention to the other end of the room.
"So, who DID leave that coach there?" Cathy asked Sugar. The Ravnos cocked her head in the direction of the Lasombra...who was still glaring at her.
Courtney got up and crossed the room. "I assume you are referring to the carriage that, in an attempt to avoid your flea-bitten nag of a steed, met with an unfortunate accident?"
"Flea-bitten nag indeed. I take better care of him than you take care of your ghouls, it seems."
"Yeah, he was dead when I found him." Cathy said.
"Expendable." Courtney waved her hand dismissively. Then she turned back to Sugar. "But you ran my carriage off the road."
"Oh, bull--"
Courtney grabbed Sugar's throat. "Watch your step, gypsy."
Sugar calmly took Courtney's wrist and pulled it away from her neck. "Maybe you should take that advice yourself." with that, she shoved Courtney backwards.
The Lasombra barely stumbled. "You think so? We shall see." She then turned and made a big show of leaving the room. Sugar rolled her eyes in disgust.
Mika leaned against the windowpane. She wished she were outside. Annihilating the Society was a worthy cause, but did it have to come at this price?
"HI!"
The Gangrel nearly jumped through the window. Alectz just grinned.
"I like stars." she said, pointing out the window. "Do you like stars?"
".....yes...." Michaela said after a pause.
"Do the stars ever talk to you? They talk to me. Do you think they talk to anyone else?"
Michaela followed Alectz gaze to the north star. "Depends on what they're listening for."
"I mean, that one obviously says 'this way is north', but the others are more fun." Alectz smiled. "That one tells me how to get to Faeryland. Sometimes. But not tonight."
"I'm....sorry."
"That's okay. Maybe it'll wanna talk to me later."
Mika half-smiled. "Maybe."
Behind them, Carleigh sat slumped in her chair. This was certainly a challenge. But she was up to it. Really she was. She would prove her leadership abilities. She looked back at the clock. Wasn't it morning yet?