At the end of the first full day of the Story

[shakenit]

[Sumire is treating her journal... like a journal, because why not. It's not like any of the people she'd talk to about this stuff otherwise are here.]

I suppose I've at least found one useful inroad, but I still feel so lost, trying to make sense of this. Akechi-san would have it all figured out by now, I'm sure.

What we need is a way to coordinate without drawing attention to ourselves as outsiders, but I don't know what that would be.

[Guess who learned Reply All and doesn't know it! Someone may want to let her know this isn't quite as private as she intended.]

[Added after Hikaru's comment:]

Sorry about that, everyone. This is Sumire. I suppose I got what I asked for.

I found Siobhan-san - Sigrid, at the moment - and she's offered to help me get ready for the masquerade. At least I got to choose my own mask. Does anyone have much sense of what's going on besides that yet?

Comments

[ohaiyo_isekai]

I have good news on the coordination front.

Picked up an Editorial trick without realizing, have we?

-Lucas Azuresky Du'Tremere
光(ひかる) 青空(あおぞら) ヅ'ツレメレ

[shakenit]

oh good gods. I'm so sorry, I didn't

[Not warranted, Akechi is snarling at her, even though he's not here. Sumire takes a breath before writing again.]

I suppose I did. oops?

[ohaiyo_isekai]

Now you are aware. If not a were. Now we have a way to speak freely about our plans, through your journal.

And now that I know it can be done, I'll bend my next level-up to picking up that Perk, in case one or the other of us is lost in our role.

And it's quite alright. I shall pretend not to see the rest of it.
- 光

And to the main check-in post:

[ohaiyo_isekai]

This is 光 青空 - call me Lucas Azuresky of Clan Tremere - turned a vampire, for the moment.

I've secured a place as the court mage of the house of Umbra, under the direct command of Lord Nero Umbra, almost certainly the self-described Warrior of Light called Nara'a. I suspect frankly that they think I'm too dangerous to let slip out of their fingers, given that for all their parapsychic powers they have no idea how to do basic combat evocation.

Do not under any circumstances lie to Lord Umbra. He can read your surface thoughts for lies with his gaze. I am damned lucky that I sincerely admire the lord Nero.

This place reeks of being a Shakespeare play with a supernatural twist - specifically Romeo and Juliet (and retellings like West Side Story, et al). For the Montagues, read the Umbra; for the Capulets, the Guidulf clan pack, sorry, 'clan' implies vampires, pack werewolves.

I suspect that Nero and Sigrid Guildulf are shortly to become starcrossed when she crashes the Masquerade.

Can we agree we want to turn a tragedy into a classical comedy? Or at least a tale of peace and reconciliation?

[shakenit]

Something that doesn't end in people dying is absolutely preferable.

[icanhearscreams]

Oh good, someone can do this. Coordinating will be a lot easier now.

[He hates having to talk to people, especially ones he doesn't know, but...]

Ushiro Jun - "June", for now - and I have the disadvantage of looking exactly as old as I am, which is thirteen. People don't take someone my age wandering alone all that well. Whatever.

Anyway, I've sort of made nice with Amalia, who seems to be a decently big deal at least at this one inn where there's a bunch of actors? Whatever works, I guess. And just to be clear I don't want anything to do with having to coordinate the romance part of this. I'll leave it to people who actually care about that stuff.

[shakenit]

I've heard about the acting troupe, in passing.

The good news is we may not have to coordinate a romance, as long as we can pull off 'not a tragedy.'

[icanhearscreams]

I'm not much use in that way either. I'm not exactly some kind of superhero. Planning, maybe... but I don't know anything about vampires or werewolves.

[curzed]

[He's made it a point to write in clear gothic this time instead of his usual runic script.]

Lovely of you to announce yourself like this. I had only been checking my notes!

I am one of the four giants in your midst. It seems I am temporarily a vampire, though I retain my original size and natural gifts as well. I can confirm our purpose here is to resolve the story by uniting the two rival Houses. Romance is not required. A good ending narratively is any ending at all, if our two young heros are reluctant to fall in love, they can be encouraged to friendship. Has anyone located our "Jacob" or "Tybalt", if we have Bella and Edward in play?

My currently eldest brother Roboute is Lord of the wolves. He is a practical man even as he is now. He can be maneuvered into peace, if it is sensible.

The wolves have a psyker aware of what we Editors are, she is I believe, the harpy woman. She is pleasant to work with but is utterly loyal to her Lord.

[shakenit]

I'd say 'give them a problem to use their shared and separate strengths against together,' but we'd have to make sure that problem isn't us, or they'll probably just slide back into squabbling when we leave.

[curzed]

Giving them the tools by which to construct their future does not obligate us to carry those tools for them.

Show them it works. Let them choose from there.

If you need a problem to conjure up for them to rally against, I am certain I can oblige.

[ohaiyo_isekai]

Gods, if our Tybalt is Amalia with her Blood Moon theatre Troupe, that would track.

Almost certainly Mei Torioi, who ever has chafed against cruel restriction. Beware that she’s chasing her doppelganger, the Luna Argent of the Blood Moons.

[curzed]

Ah, that's the shadow then. I believe we briefly crossed paths. She seems too reasonable to be playing the troublemaker in this tale, I wonder if that will change?

[thebluegumball]

[Right, he should actually look at his book more often. He'd pulled the book out of his quills on a whim and realised there was someone writing.

His own handwriting is a bit of a scrawl, that would look lazy if it wasn't written out at the same speed as someone quickly typing.]

while we're all talking together, has anyone seen Shadow? i can't find him and i feel like another hedgehog would cause a pretty big fuss right about now. i know everyone keeps thinking i'm a weird werewolf but I kinda figured there'd be more noise if there was two of us

this is what he looks like

[And scrawled quickly below is horrendous, but still recognisable sketch of Shadow.]

[ohaiyo_isekai]

He’s two for two on acting. This time the story made him Lord Umbra, the patriarch of the preeminent vampire clan.

Umbra. Shadow. Hell’s bells.

Any clue who his lost Maria is? I’m guessing she’s not a West Side Story reference, but a real figure from his past that’s why he’s Like This.

- 光

[noonlight]

I've taken and warded an abandoned house in the no man's land. You're collectively welcome to stay or visit as needed.

Beyond that, unless this rapidly turns to civil war and the plotting of kings, I read the wrong flavour of Shakespeare.

Lu.

[shakenit]

I don't know if that's the wrong flavor so much as a good idea of what we're trying to prevent.

But thank you for letting us know about your safe house.

[flantastic]

Rakia here. First werewolf I ran into immediately sniffed me out as being something that wasn't human, vampire, or werewolf, so there's that.

Just saying I'm a Granute from the Granute realm is easier on me anyway.

[shakenit]

That

sounds like an unusual problem to have.

[ordainedbarkeep]

[Iren writes in elegant cursive.]

It's good to know there are others who haven't lost their minds. I was starting to think I was alone once again.

Personally, I suspect that if we all just got a table at a restaurant and discussed the situation openly, most people would be too polite to confront us not making any sense. It's not like we're a group of convicts or outlaws.

I have some how secured employment at a theater, serving drinks, but beyond that I am not sure what it is we should actually be doing right now. Perhaps a gathering wherein each of us could pick each others' brains would offer us some insight.

Your faithful servant,
Iren Suto

[shakenit]

You know, we probably could. At worst, the locals might assume it's a shared delusion of some kind. [At least she'd be sharing this 'delusion,' and not locked into it by herself...]

Something big is likely to happen at the masquerade. Hopefully more of us than just me will be there.

[telecosmetic]

This is Eliza! I kind of forgot to give a different first name, but I'm going by Eliza D'ysquith and kind of pretending to be from a faraway noble family? [It's "kind of" because hey, that's her actual adoptive uncle.]

I'm a werewolf, and I've made friends with the Red Moon Troupe! They don't really seem interested in the vampire/werewolf fighting, they even recommended some vampire performances.

[ohaiyo_isekai]

Actively trying to stop the fighting, according to their patron Amalia Hunter.

A few days in

[thickasacastlewall]

[Instead of a written message, Sumire will hear a voice come out of the page.]

I hope this works? Lord Azuresky and I have been doing tests on the reading stone the maester librarian gave me.

This is Ser Duncan the Tall. I'm acting as Lord Azuresky's bodyguard while we're here, so we're both at Lord Umbra's Manor? We can probably get jobs for people there if they want them.

[shakenit]

Oh! I didn't know we could make these talk for us.

[Sumire's not sure she wants to, honestly, but she can decide about that another day.]