1401 CE

"Deus meus, this is the last thing we need. The Inquisitor previous was an delicate balance but was just sniffing around, but now we have a actual Hunter to deal with along with those hiding in the shadows... And I am guessing the Mages they are referring to will probably be that secretive library with the way they treat our kind and how deeply the roots of that place are hidden." Duccio sighs and crosses himself almost absent mindedly after his curse before rapping his cane upon the ground while talking and thinking.

"It seems that either people are not being ad careful as they should be in their actions and feedings or, and this would be much more troubling, someone has spread the news purposefully... Well that is if my worst fear is realized and this Siegfried is a true Hunter. It would be best for all of us to avoid contact as much as possible, as if he is they are often resistant to our gifts and wield power combined with a true and unshakable faith."

"He was a guest at Van Doorn Manor though he did not stay long. As soon as it became clear to him there was nothing other than mundane activities at the party he left in a huff."

"For all we know it was Mr. Delcamp, or this Hunter is just passing through on his way to Spain." Abdul rolled his shoulders, "Regardless we should do something. I am not too keen in waiting to be killed in my sleep."

"What can we do though? If we were to do anything violent to him wouldn't that just make more come to investigate? And wouldn't he know what to look for in terms of more subtle ways of moving him along? I'm going to take a look around the inns and church yards for that carriage soon as it is quite distinctive. But even if it is Delcamp who brought him down on us we should still be very careful."

Gwynne shivers reflexively at the mention of the hunter.

She turns to Kristophe as he approaches. "Well, we, um, didn't see much of them... they, um... they ambushed us and ran when we, um, fought back. It was dark and we didn't really get a good look, but they seemed human enough." She nods in the direction of Aserymus and the dagger recently pulled from his back. "That dagger might tell you more than any of us can. I was thinking of, um, maybe taking a look myself, actually."

"Gwynne you seem to be a skilled tracker. Did you obscure your trail after the fight and make sure they didn't follow you? I would hate to think what would happen if whoever it is discovered this place. Also it might be a good idea for those who have been attacked to be unseen as much as possible in public for a while."

Turning now to Isaac, Gwynne replies "I think it goes without saying that everyone is always very careful when approaching this place, Isaac. As Aserymus mentioned, we also kept an extra eye out to make sure we weren't being observed or followed on our way back." She pauses, considering. "That's a good point about being in public less, though I think that might be a good advice for everyone with a hunter around."

Isaac, who still looks like the hunter, sighs.
"I'm sorry Gwynne. You're right. I spoke out of fear there for a moment and I didn't mean to imply any of us are careless."

Gwynne smiles ruefully. "I know. Things are getting a bit crazy and I think we're all on edge a bit..." she furrows her brow a bit. "Errrr... speaking of which... you can probably drop that now," she says, gesturing to Isaac's false appearance.

"Oh right. I had forgotten."
Isaac's form returns to normal.
" So what can we do about the inquisiton? I assume if any of our kind had enough sway to simply stop it they would have by now. Is there any way to move the inquisitors along without them realizing thats what we are doing?"

Duccio shakes his head and sighs, "Yes we could not get a good look at them they were humanoid in shape but one was impaled into a wall by a spear and was able to be brought away, still appearing to be alive, afterwards speaks volumes of their physical resiliency. It also seem very unlikely that Mr. Delcamp's capture is directly linked with the Hunter as the Inquisition's interrogation methods differ greatly from what has happened to our poor Malkavian."

"Originally I was planning on trying to direct the Inquisitions eye towards the woods and the Lupines due to that ritual site in hopes that it would be a good target to sate their need of a target. Now it seems that this Hunter is here with tools specific for hunting our kind makes that plan less likely to succeed due to not meeting the expectations he has and only cement the idea of this cities 'corruption' in their minds. And while I do not like the idea of 'just waiting around' if we are not careful and the court is exposed then this city will become a target of an inescapable deep cleansing and burning. As for a way to lead them away without knowing the exact cause for Siegfried to journey here it will be hard to find a suitable bit of bait to lure him away outside of just hiding deeply in hopes he is impatient in his cause."

"Hmm..." Gwynne looks thoughtful. "Duccio's right, they did seem to take quite a lot of injuries before escaping." She taps her finger on a table idly, staring at nothing in particular, deep in thought. "But they weren't fey. They weren't werewolves. They weren't mages... But if they were ghosts or undead or something I wouldn't be able to detect that." She snaps back to the present, and looks towards Duccio. "Maybe this IS related to the hunter, just not in the way you think... Is it possible that they were vampires too? And maybe the hunter is here for them?" She looks back towards Kristophe. "Though I admit, I, um, really don't know anything about the various types of undead possible... Do you have any other ideas in case they're, um, something else?"

"If they were also cainites shouldn't they have announced themselves to the Prince and asked to be acknowledged when they arrived in town? Why would they be attacking us? I'm not trying to dismiss your idea Gwynne I think it was a good possibility to bring up given what has happened when you fought them I just don't understand what others of our kind would gain from this. Not understanding something yet doesn't make it not so.This could be very bad."

"There are those who shun tradition and act on their own. The current revolts in Spain are proof of that." Abdul sighs, "But it could very well be other vampires trying to indirectly attack one of us."

"Yes it seems that our extended longevity brings many Cainites into deep selflessness abandoning co-operation to achieve their own goals... Not to mention our Prince is not without enemies, maybe even another court has grown offended and sends agents to disrupt in order to expand their own influence, we may have changed but our human tendencies of greed are still there. Although if it does turn out to be other Cainites not part of this city it could prove the distraction needed the throw this Siegfried off of our trail if we could point him in that direction." Duccio slowly rises from his seat before slowly moving towards the exit.

"There is much to be done, if anyone can find any information about those running around in the shadows please let me know but be cautious as my domain is the Church so members of the Inquisition will often be around. Also the word Leviathan was left behind in a pile of burned documents, might prove a good point of investigation for those who have the time."

" I should go continue warning folks. Warn everyone you can."