Noah Gray Silver
New Member
The first time you came here. You sometimes think back to it when you enter the grand Cathedral of Florence. The place is as empty now as it was a century ago. For different reasons.
The moment you opened your eyes here for the first time was also the moment when you met the grandeur of your hunger. You had been embraced, put on the cold floor of the church and when you woke up, there were 5 juicy bodies of cattle staring at you. Around you were the 4 other new recruits for your coterie. You could hear footsteps high above, but with the state you were in, you all started a frenzied feeding. When the jester first landed before you, there was a moment of shock as you had not noticed the big smiling man before.
Now when you enter the cathedral, it was empty because it had belonged to the Borgias family. The one you were set out to put into power so many years ago. It was why you were embraced as a coterie all under the guidance of the jester. Now Florence was once again going to be under the control of the Medici, who were misleading the flocks of humans towards science as a religion and maybe more importantly were infiltrated by an inquisition of hunters, who meant to eradicate the church of all Cainites.
One thing never changed. You were not able to see the jester and as always, 5 faithful people were waiting for you to feed on them. Willingly of course, as they also thought it was an act of faith to be fed upon. One of the few people to still believe around here presumably. So it was not an accident and the jester must have been here in the room somewhere, waiting for us to stock up for the coming battle.
Uncharacteristically, the jester jumped out in the open of the church. Instantly, you feel that same maddening aura. Even for Malkavians, this felt like an unendingly deep pit of madness you were staring into. The only way to cope, was to go with it. Stories about the jester being every jester in every court felt true after meeting with them a few times. His croaky voice seemed to try to invade your ears and then bend them as ever.
“My three remaining pupils. It has been a long time, I believe 20 years?? since I have been needing assistance. As you all know, our seat of power has changed. Alexander has been killed only months ago and the replacement pope we had installed has undergone the same faith. I now want to discuss with you how we will make sure that the true faith stays in power in Italy and Spain.”
Motioning behind him, theatrical as ever, the jester nudged you to your meals.
“It took me a lot of effort to have some believers here still. As you might know, no one has a choice and I will always stay around the powerful, but swaying their hearts has become harder. I want you to visit potential new seats of power. The Borgias with their Ventrue bloodlines have had no worthy new male descendants. The second son, Cesare, who should’ve been the next pope has turned to science and warfare. Rodrigo’s (Pope Alexander who’s now dead) illegitimate lover, Vannozza has been getting a little overzealous with her ‘leadership capabilities’ and now rules a castle with increasingly loyal ghouls. A hassle to bargain with I’d say. The next pope will be Julius II, a Medici and therefore inquisition power."
You can sense the Jester and all-named almost lost his composure, which meant to run, but he regained it by twisting his head unnaturally far.
"My bet for the true faith lies with Lucrezia Borgias. She is vile and might have the true sense of our faith, I have sensed it in her, but she is also prone to the earthly temptations and might not be swayed as easily. My pupils, you have a choice to make. You will have the cathedral as your base of operations and you know that you’ll only have to think about me to summon my aids. I do not have much time to answer questions as I am to meet the new pope. Oh and enjoy your feast, they’ve been waiting for a long time now.”
A smile that only a predator before a feast could give is the last movement you see from the jester.
The moment you opened your eyes here for the first time was also the moment when you met the grandeur of your hunger. You had been embraced, put on the cold floor of the church and when you woke up, there were 5 juicy bodies of cattle staring at you. Around you were the 4 other new recruits for your coterie. You could hear footsteps high above, but with the state you were in, you all started a frenzied feeding. When the jester first landed before you, there was a moment of shock as you had not noticed the big smiling man before.
Now when you enter the cathedral, it was empty because it had belonged to the Borgias family. The one you were set out to put into power so many years ago. It was why you were embraced as a coterie all under the guidance of the jester. Now Florence was once again going to be under the control of the Medici, who were misleading the flocks of humans towards science as a religion and maybe more importantly were infiltrated by an inquisition of hunters, who meant to eradicate the church of all Cainites.
One thing never changed. You were not able to see the jester and as always, 5 faithful people were waiting for you to feed on them. Willingly of course, as they also thought it was an act of faith to be fed upon. One of the few people to still believe around here presumably. So it was not an accident and the jester must have been here in the room somewhere, waiting for us to stock up for the coming battle.
Uncharacteristically, the jester jumped out in the open of the church. Instantly, you feel that same maddening aura. Even for Malkavians, this felt like an unendingly deep pit of madness you were staring into. The only way to cope, was to go with it. Stories about the jester being every jester in every court felt true after meeting with them a few times. His croaky voice seemed to try to invade your ears and then bend them as ever.
“My three remaining pupils. It has been a long time, I believe 20 years?? since I have been needing assistance. As you all know, our seat of power has changed. Alexander has been killed only months ago and the replacement pope we had installed has undergone the same faith. I now want to discuss with you how we will make sure that the true faith stays in power in Italy and Spain.”
Motioning behind him, theatrical as ever, the jester nudged you to your meals.
“It took me a lot of effort to have some believers here still. As you might know, no one has a choice and I will always stay around the powerful, but swaying their hearts has become harder. I want you to visit potential new seats of power. The Borgias with their Ventrue bloodlines have had no worthy new male descendants. The second son, Cesare, who should’ve been the next pope has turned to science and warfare. Rodrigo’s (Pope Alexander who’s now dead) illegitimate lover, Vannozza has been getting a little overzealous with her ‘leadership capabilities’ and now rules a castle with increasingly loyal ghouls. A hassle to bargain with I’d say. The next pope will be Julius II, a Medici and therefore inquisition power."
You can sense the Jester and all-named almost lost his composure, which meant to run, but he regained it by twisting his head unnaturally far.
"My bet for the true faith lies with Lucrezia Borgias. She is vile and might have the true sense of our faith, I have sensed it in her, but she is also prone to the earthly temptations and might not be swayed as easily. My pupils, you have a choice to make. You will have the cathedral as your base of operations and you know that you’ll only have to think about me to summon my aids. I do not have much time to answer questions as I am to meet the new pope. Oh and enjoy your feast, they’ve been waiting for a long time now.”
A smile that only a predator before a feast could give is the last movement you see from the jester.