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| This story was shared with the fyrd by Joshua Mayworth, former Jarl Powyll's ghoul and her Chamberlain. "The Dance of Dod" is a tale of the Palatine Gangrel, and an outcast elder of the Clan that threatened them... | |||
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| Dod
had enslaved our clanmate Gretchen long ago, made a weapon out of her to
be thrown against his enemies. I know more than most about this, but Gretchen's
secrets are her own, not for me to tell. The passage of time brought her
to our Domain, and to the position of a respected Elder. Then her former
master came to the city to seek her out, and found us at the Camarilla
club. His haughty tongue proved his undoing there. Wore his welcome out
in short order...but he was coming to retrieve her, of that we were certain.
He actually stole Gretchen's Beast from her, so that he could sway her in her weakened state. We had never seen the like of these powers of his. We knew Dod was quite a powerful elder, outcast or not. So, a trap was laid. Dod was cunning; he appeared in the midst of the city streets. The hunt began with forced subtlety, and the Clan worked to lure him into this place, our Domain. Away from the Sleepers that might have seen too much of our hunt. Gretchen was the bait. While his allies thought she had gone to ground, I stole her away with magick, and we lured him on with pot-shots and illusions. Dod certainly responded when I attacked him with a favorite spell...I nearly had him staked with it, and that got his attention. Between his need to get back at me, and some clever tricks of the light that made Morgan look like Gretchen, we soon had baited them into chasing us to the Park. |
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| This
elder that came after us had no small number of Kindred allies with him.
One may have been a rogue Tremere, or just some blood-magician, just as
enslaved to Dod's will. We had to keep it low-key, that is, until we were
safely out of sight here in Swope. Oh, and when he finally arrived...he
threw his allies at everyone he considered a threat.
Dod's companions fell upon lady Katherine, who seemed to see him despite his Obfuscation power. He sent a horde of...cats...after me. And a panther, which I shot...before one of our own elders' ghouls, a bear, took on the panther. I imagine most of you won't remember Jermiah, the 'bear.' He had to be staked, later...but he helped us there, and I won't forget it. Then, I think Dod saw through the ruse. He must have realized I held Gretchen's Pattern in a form of shadows, safe from his grasp. So they all came at me. It's...difficult to describe what took place then. I realized that someone had to hold him off while his allies were taken care of. A flash-bang grenade struck me blind and deaf. I wasn't sure for awhile if I'd lost my eyes; that horde of cats scratched my skin raw wherever they could find it. I could sense...but not hear the battle raging around me as the Clan held off all manner of foes from me. |
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| The
Warlord Shade took on a female Kindred, who we would later learn of as
Gretchen's childe Patricia...she was driven from the fray. Perhaps some
of you have met her by now. Don't hold it against her. The Constable back
then, Michael Steiger, took on their blood-mage despite the flames that
licked at the enemy's blade. Rori helped Michael until they'd driven that
Thaumaturgist off. There was Raven, battling another Kindred who would
have attacked me; he hadn't grown so cold then. And poor Mari, knocking
those damned cats off of me...she spared me some of that pain.
I learned later that Dod had sent Gretchen's captive Beast into Morgan. I can only remember losing control...must have hammered away with the Zweihander like a club, even as its blade sparked and put off flames. I was told later how Gretchen reformed and fell at my back, when the rage threw all my power into the attack. I spared nothing, but I was outmatched. A brief trading of blows, and I was tossed aside. The frenzy broke along with my back when I was folded around a tree. By then, however...the last of Dod's allies were put down, or driven off. So the Clan surrounded Dod...the Warlord and his wolf, the Constable...even Morgan, after what he'd done to her, and Gretchen, weak as she was. No one spared themselves from that fight. Mari clawed at him in places it hurts just to think about. Raven, and Jermiah, and Rori all struck at the massive creature Dod had become...like some monstrous panther...Dod's flesh turned back all but the most ferocious of assaults. Even Dartania, who I respect not, fought with us. At least she had that measure of honor to her, and I'll remember that, too. |
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| It
took every one of us to destroy him. Every one. Don't even let Mari say
her help didn't matter. It did. Even after I stopped his relentless assault
with my sword...it struck him in the chest with the force of a cannon,
my last effort. -Still- he lived. The others cut him to ribbons, finally.
It ended when Morgan rammed her enchanted blade into his mouth, down his
throat. He wasn't so tough there! His death-cry was voiced by the animals
of the forest, and every bird that could hear it dropped out of the sky,
stone dead.
Many of us were badly injured, and it took some doing to put Gretchen's Beast back where it belonged. The Clan won the fight, though. We protected our own... |
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