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unfinishedlibrary2026-02-07 12:20 pm
libraryassistants) wrote in unfinishedlibrary2026-02-07 12:20 pm
Entry tags:
do you bare your fangs at us, sir? MOONLIT RIVALS LOG 2, SCENE 2
Who: Readers and Actors
What: The werewolves who are not sneaking into the party cause a bit of mischief... and did anybody actually agree to keep the peace tonight?
When: The night of the ball itself. [ooc timeline: Feb 6th - 19th]
Where: The city of Montica.
Content warnings: Please include any warnings in headers.
Waxing Gibbous Moon
The streets have emptied, particularly in the vampiric half of town. Most of the vampire loyalists have joined the masquerade, leaving their homes and shops unattended. Tonight is a special night - a once in a century event, and they wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Even some werewolves and neutral citizens have been enticed to attend. Jadis the Mystic has created a lotion that will disguise the scent of a werewolf; an effect that is broken by shifting, breaking the skin, or the gradual passage of time. It is not widely distributed, but rumours travel fast. The lotion is only given to any Guildulf-aligned werewolves, but… well, there’s nothing wrong with a little trade here or there. Right?
For all of the wolves in town - with the moon so close to being full, it’s natural for them to feel a bit more excitable. Energetic. Ready to take on the world. And seeing as Montica is so empty, it’s like a playground has just been opened up. The young wolves in particular are eager to take advantage of the empty streets, the sound of not-quite-mature howls breaking through the air in their excitement. There are hardly any people around to be scared if they play too rough or run too fast, and they are taking advantage of this with great enthusiasm.
In the highly-debated 'neutral' zone, some small packs of adolescent werewolves are gathering. There's banter and roughhousing, the not-quite-adults playfully shoving each-other over the invisible line where the vampire territory begins.
Some of the bravest amongst them take the challenge to dart over and brush their fingers over silver doorhandles - their yelps spurring courage and adrenaline in the others. What starts harmlessly enough quickly escalates as they urge each-other on, teenage excitement and the thrill of the moon encouraging all sorts of bad choices. The longer they go without reprimand, the more bold they become; and somewhere along the way, bulbs of garlic start winding up in places they wouldn't normally be found. (There is at least one group who is excitedly challenging each-other to leave the garlic in more and more absurd places. If they happen to sting themselves on some silver ornamentation on the way, all the better.)
Not all homes are unoccupied, though - sooner or later someone’s going to disturb someone else’s peace, and tensions are already so high. Hopefully there are some Responsible Adults around to curtail the worst of the mischief before someone’s temper is sparked.
What: The werewolves who are not sneaking into the party cause a bit of mischief... and did anybody actually agree to keep the peace tonight?
When: The night of the ball itself. [ooc timeline: Feb 6th - 19th]
Where: The city of Montica.
Content warnings: Please include any warnings in headers.
Waxing Gibbous Moon
In Town
Above the city, the Umbra Mansion stands tall. Its grand doors and windows have been opened, spilling light like a beacon. Music lilts in the air, drifting so far as to be faintly heard even in the neutral centre of the city.The streets have emptied, particularly in the vampiric half of town. Most of the vampire loyalists have joined the masquerade, leaving their homes and shops unattended. Tonight is a special night - a once in a century event, and they wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Even some werewolves and neutral citizens have been enticed to attend. Jadis the Mystic has created a lotion that will disguise the scent of a werewolf; an effect that is broken by shifting, breaking the skin, or the gradual passage of time. It is not widely distributed, but rumours travel fast. The lotion is only given to any Guildulf-aligned werewolves, but… well, there’s nothing wrong with a little trade here or there. Right?
For all of the wolves in town - with the moon so close to being full, it’s natural for them to feel a bit more excitable. Energetic. Ready to take on the world. And seeing as Montica is so empty, it’s like a playground has just been opened up. The young wolves in particular are eager to take advantage of the empty streets, the sound of not-quite-mature howls breaking through the air in their excitement. There are hardly any people around to be scared if they play too rough or run too fast, and they are taking advantage of this with great enthusiasm.
In the highly-debated 'neutral' zone, some small packs of adolescent werewolves are gathering. There's banter and roughhousing, the not-quite-adults playfully shoving each-other over the invisible line where the vampire territory begins.
Some of the bravest amongst them take the challenge to dart over and brush their fingers over silver doorhandles - their yelps spurring courage and adrenaline in the others. What starts harmlessly enough quickly escalates as they urge each-other on, teenage excitement and the thrill of the moon encouraging all sorts of bad choices. The longer they go without reprimand, the more bold they become; and somewhere along the way, bulbs of garlic start winding up in places they wouldn't normally be found. (There is at least one group who is excitedly challenging each-other to leave the garlic in more and more absurd places. If they happen to sting themselves on some silver ornamentation on the way, all the better.)
Not all homes are unoccupied, though - sooner or later someone’s going to disturb someone else’s peace, and tensions are already so high. Hopefully there are some Responsible Adults around to curtail the worst of the mischief before someone’s temper is sparked.
no subject
"They're doing stupid reckless shit," it says. "Some of them have gotten hostile."
no subject
Seems Rin knows about as much as he does.
"I think they may be planning something. The howling," he explains. "They're trying to coordinate. Then there's that," he says with a nod upward at the drone. "I've not seen it's like before." And he's still wondering if or how it might be connected to the growing agitation amongst the werewolves.
no subject
(Although the drone does technically have a connection to the growing agitation. Sort of. In that SecUnit has sent its drones out to try and figure out what the fuck is going on.)
"...Do you know what they're saying?" it asks. Because it doesn't have a module for fauna human yowling, ugh.
no subject
"That kind of howling is what I'd expect before a hunt. Like they're trying to get organised." It's unusual for it to be happening in the city, though, so he can't be sure he's interpreting things correctly. "Maybe they're also just being loud as a means of intimidation." Since Rin mentioned some being hostile.
no subject
And then it makes a face, because it doesn't like the sound of hostile fauna people being organised.
"Can you tell where they're going?" It asks.
no subject
"Hopefully away from the city, if they're really going to be hunting..." Because what would they hunt within the city? Yeah. This could potentially become a very big problem for the human populace, unless they were possibly gearing up to harass the local blood suckers instead. "But I don't know for sure, I'm not familiar with these wolves. The only pack I have is my brother."
A beat. "Sorry about-" Another nod toward the drone that he'd been trying to bite. Whoops. "What does it do?"
no subject
Because even if vampires were the main targets, that didn't mean they wouldn't decide to hurt other werewolves as well.
And now Kade's asking more about the drone. Fuck.
"It just scouts. It's not important." Please stop asking questions about the drone. Please.
no subject
Kade isn't sure he wants to get any more involved than he already is, so long as the unruly adolescents stay away from the neutral zone and Common Ground
oh the foreshadowing- but it seems inevitable that he'll be drawn into the fray. The fraught werewolf-vampire politics infesting Montica are so mind numbing to him that he's long thought about leaving the city entirely, but it isn't that simple, not when his brother seems to need that sense of community, and Kade isn't willing to leave the only family he has.The drone may not be important (press X to doubt...), but it is fascinating. He's been observing it throughout their conversation, curious about its construction (and not yet catching onto Rin's reluctance to elaborate).
"What mechanism enables it to fly like that?" he wonders. "Or is it some manner of enchantment?" Because bullshit magic is very much a reality in this place.
no subject
But then it pauses, as it runs a half-dozen calculations and analyses on what place might be safe for Kade. There was Illumination's place, but...that was meant to be for Readers. It didn't think Illumination would like it bringing in a local.
(And at some point, this Story was going to end. And Kade would still be here. So that was only a short-term solution, at best.)
"Do the theatre werewolves not like you?" It asks, thinking of the Blood Moon Troupe. It's been dropping injured humans off at their place all night. But those were humans. Maybe fauna people didn't like other fauna people?
(Ugh. Why did this place have to be full of stupid fauna and human eater politics? It shouldn't have to think about politics.)
no subject
"I serve vampires," he finally admits, clearly not happy about this fact. "Most my kind take exception to this." To put it lightly. "Those vampires from before - they have ties to the clan I serve, and knew I couldn't retaliate. That's why they attacked me. It's a game to them."
The latter he adds to try and put the adolescent werewolves' actions into perspective: there's just as many miscreants amongst the vampire ranks.
Something that K might later attribute to humans, even supernatural ones, just kinda sucking in every universe.no subject
"...Do you want to serve vampires?" it says, eyes narrowing. There's a distinct sense that if the answer is 'no', SecUnit might be doing something about it.
(I.e. does SecUnit need to go beat up the whole clan and rescue Kade from the equivalent of corporate wage slavery?)
no subject
Would he rather not be involved with vampires at all? Of course. It had seemed like the best bet out of multiple bad options at the time. But now, after having lived in the city for some time and with the power of hindsight...
Still, his brother's safety would always be his priority.
no subject
"With the vampires. But not the werewolves, because they don't like you," it says. In normal circumstances, it probably would make more sense for Kade to get protection from other werewolves. But apparently not, in this place.
no subject
A less common occurrence in Montica than one might expect, but not unheard of. Likely the rumours of supernatural entities prowling the city streets at night have even lured foolhardy humans to visit or move there.
"Humans are too often collateral damage in the fighting between vampires and wolves. It's part of why my brother established his sanctuary, to help them. I like to think putting myself between them and the vampires has made a difference... but I'm beginning to think it may have been better staying in the sanctuary and handling any threats directly."
no subject
But it also wanted to keep Kade alive too. Even if he wasn't actually KD6-3.7.
"I mean, probably," it says, in regards to the suggestion of Kade staying in the sanctuary. "How good is the Security there?"
no subject
Not the best, in other words. Certainly nothing compared to the privileged safety that the upper class enjoys at the expense of servants like him. But at least there are a few people other than himself willing to help keep it safe.
no subject
SecUnit already thought the Security in this whole Settlement was shit. No SecSys. No cameras. No monitoring or alert systems of any kind. All that had were physical barriers, and like, people physically standing around guarding shit.
In short: it was fucking terrible.
But that was SecUnit's opinion. Which it realised was going to be different from the people who actually lived here, and had never seen good security in their entire lives. So If even Kade thought it was limited...
...Yeah. It had to be bad.
"So what security are the vampires providing? Specifically."
no subject
So an indirect security? It does keep a good percentage of the city's vampire population at bay, so the arrangement probably isn't quite as terrible as it no doubt sounds to a stranger. But Kade's aware he got the short end of the stick. Still... it has kept a whole lot of blood suckers away from his brother and the vulnerable residents of the sanctuary, thus far.
no subject
It was also, in the end, an inevitably losing proposition.
"What's stopping them if something ever happens to you?" And something would happen to Kade, eventually. That was the problem with those kinds of arrangements. In the end, someone would always end up deciding that they'd much prefer not to have to deal with it at all. If something else didn't scuttle it first, like an accident.
no subject
"The thought plagues me. Once I've outlived my usefulness to them, or if they decide the arrangement is too much of an inconvenience... I don't expect I'll be allowed to simply walk away."
no subject
But it can't do anything about it. Just like it couldn't do anything about humans in the Corporation Rim who were stuck in contract labour. It didn't have the power to do anything.
Not for real, anyway. Sure, it could beat up some vampires or werewolves that were harassing Kade now. But this Story was going to end at some point. And then SecUnit would be gone, but Kade would still be here.
"Vampires suck," it says quietly. It doesn't really have anything else to say.
no subject
"With the political landscape being what it is, some of my problems might resolve themselves sooner or later." A grim attempt at humour with some truth behind it. Assassination attempts against the wealthy are rather in vogue these days, for a reason.
This line of conversation also has him curious about something...
"You choose to remain neutral?" he wonders. In the many conflicts amongst humans, vampires, and werewolves.
no subject
"I am not picking a fucking side," it grumbles. (Except maybe the side of defenceless humans. It could pick that side, or whatever.)
no subject
"It can be difficult avoiding conflicts here without like-minded allies." Speaking from experience here. Even regular humans could be their own kind of monsters, they didn't need fangs for that. "There's at least a few of us who feel similarly to you... too few to make a real difference, I think," he says with a shake of his head. "But if ever I can repay what you did for me, I'd like to."
no subject
"...You don't need to pay me," it says, awkwardly. "We don't have a contract."