1404

Izra'il took a step out of the night, seeming to just step out of the Shadows. He placed his bow, swords, shield, daggers and a pair of stakes at the door before adjusting his tunic. making a motion for the man following him to wait out of sight and out of mind.
"If we do not wish this to be a breach, I can take care of it. If you want them broken out or silenced makes no difference to me. But it will be done, just say the word." He glanced back at his Ghoul, "That one needs to learn the ways sometime."

"I am well versed in the Last Rights of all the Abrahamic Religions. You are too important to spend your time on this Madam Volka. Allow me to make your gaze worth the effort."
Izra'il bowed his head to Finn, before turning to Lupo. "I would welcome your assistance if you know anything about the prison. I have yet to get familiar with the local prisons, though I have been meaning to do so."

"I am good at both negotiations and infiltration so I would likely be a good candidate to assist with this. If it turns out to be an unacknowledged kindred this would fall under my duties as Scourge anyway."

Duccio looks up from the far table he had taken over with piles of loose papers as he organized all of the information he had been gathering before finally taking in the conversation. "Given my position in the Church I am sure it would not be hard to convince the guards to hand the man over to the mercy of the Church, as well as I have other methods should they prove staunch in they decision for execution."

"Duccio, I feel your position may draw attention, the less of us who reveal our identities the better. I'll make sure this is dealt with quickly and hopefully quietly. If you wish to join me Scourge then I'll send Ambroos to some location of your choosing so we can hammer out a meeting place. Until then I bid you good night." Izra'il turned to follow Lupo before stopping, "and Ambroos, stay here until sunrise. Keep me informed."

Gwynne enters, looking troubled. "Um... So we have a problem," she says, speaking to the room, "Turns out, um, that the East forest problem is... Well that is to say... They're actually, um, spilling over from the South forest problem. Which is the issue of, um, something in the South forest corrupting all the animals and turning them into uh... Well, you see, they're kinda monsters, in a sense..."

The doors to the Abbey open wide, and in strides Aserymus with a slightly more assertive gait to his step. Behind him are two other figures, their height and corded musculature similar to that of the Tunisian but wearing none of the armour that he and others in attendance adorned themselves with.

Moving to one side of the court, he led the other two away from the open space in the centre of the hall, taking in the various other men and women having their own conversations. Never taking his eyes from the other Cainites, he nevertheless turns his head ever so slightly towards his companions.

"And this is where the true enigma at the heart of our society lies. Here, in these halls, no decisions are truly made, and yet all are made. Words and courtesies and favours are bandied about, and most here believe themselves the master of the spoken word the moment they open their mouths."

Thinking for a moment, he glances about the room to assess the mood within, noting several prominent figures and the absence of others.

"I do not expect you to be here much after tonight, as this area will likely remain closed to you outside special circumstances. We shall see. However, if you tire of the overly-polite facade, as I do, treat it as a hunting exercise. A predator imitating the behaviour of the area he's in, to remain unnoticed and unremarkable."

And with that, the Lion waits. Patience itself could be a weapon, and he would learn to wield it expertly.

"Um... Well, you see... They begin killing other animals for sport... Then they get sick, and then they die. I, um, spoke to a nice old woman named Haggith, who has been helping the animals out when they're hungry, sick, or injured... She said she wasn't able to help animals who had been corrupted with this evil. She also said that it was only animals going into the South forest who were corrupted, and it doesn't seem contagious between animals... just animals who go into the South forest get corrupted. She said something evil lurked there but wasn't sure what. She didn't know if it was related to the wolves or something else."

Gwynne seems taken aback by the outburst. "I- I mean... she does seem pretty elusive..." she stammers, "It seems like she, um, has some way to keep those she doesn't want to meet from finding her... Err, by the way, what did you see from your side when I uh... left?"