Prelude: Life Begins at Night

Silas intrigued by Eve and Ezra's conversation about the cats and catacombs decides to interject himself. Shortly after Eve and Ezra's conversation finished and they departed, Silas approaches Eve as he sees her talking to a familiar Fae face. Still overwhelmed by the amazing music, he leans in and asks, "Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help overhear your conversation with the gentlemen back there. I happen to be well-versed mysteries like this. I would like to lend a hand to the situation. What say you?"  Silas waiting for a reply gets interrupted himself by a piercing howl that is sure to set the scene of things to come. 

"I guess that's our cue?"  He stashes his bass quickly in it's case and puts it under the stage, hoping it will be safe before following Mehdi to where the others are waiting. "This does not sound good. What is going on?"

As Silas approaches and offers his assistance, the piercing howl causes Rae to bring her full attention to the courtyard, instinctively scanning the area. Fear flutters across her limbs, her undead muscles becoming tense in anticipation of an incoming threat, and unconsciously, she crouches ever so slightly. "Eve? Catacombs? Now?" She hardly registers the return of Mehdi and Liam.

Khalid who had been quietly observing a strange, seemingly out of place cat with an unveiling vision found it's form swarming with small pinpricks of light, that followed the creature but never touched it.  Clearly some form of magic was active upon this creature, but its form was true.  Perhaps a familiar or some scrying spell was influencing it. While distracted by his more in depth analysis, Khalid was not prepared for the sudden interjection and jumped at the sound of a piercing howl.  Quickly spinning towards the sound he found reassurance in the surprise elicited by the other vampires.  That elicited an musing thought as Khalid turned back towards the first familiar face, What do vampires fear?  Seeing Rae he shifts towards her and Eve, "Can't say I'm familiar with these gatherings.  I assume this isn't part of the usual festivities."

Hmm not fae then. Eve nods at Mehdi as he leaves, still without any idea why these cats are behaving so strangely. Before she can ponder any longer, Silas interrupts her thoughts, offering his assistance. As she opens her mouth to ask what insights he may have on the matter, a loud howl rings through the quad. Rae is immediately at her side. ",,,Catacombs? Now." Eve hisses her agreement and grabs Liam's arm. "This is your college, do you have a catacomb entrance on the grounds?"

Liam flinches at being grabbed but says nothing about it and resists the temptation to pull his arm free. "Yes, of course. This way," He leads the way to the catacomb entrance, looking nervously over his shoulder at what might be coming through the gates. "You might want to lose the cats first?"

When Liam looks around he sees that their small group is in fact now being accompanied by four cats. A slim black cat, a shaggy tortoise shell maine coon and a pure white short-haired cat.

Off-put by the organized and deliberate manner in which the cats are now acting, Rae pierces the veil of mundane cognition and looks towards the slim black cat. Above the cat hover two, golden orbs that trail its movement. As she continues to look on, they begin to float up and away from the cat, eventually becoming nestled into the eye sockets of a shadowy humanoid figure standing close behind the felines. A moment later and the figure's form comes into clarity, a woman...with the head of a lioness. Rae is confused for a spell, cycling through historical figures and obscure deities stored in her memory, then it comes to her.  "Guys, this could be very bad. We need to lose these cats. Now."

Liam shrugs. You want to eat them? Or just shut them behind the door?" He covers the code to the door as he enters it and pulls it slightly open, careful not to leave enough space even for a cat.

The white cat sidles between Liam's ankles, rubbing up against them with a soft purr as he pulls at the gate.

Liam reaches down to cradle the cat's head in his hand, stroking it firmly. As he gains it's trust, on one downward stroke he firmly takes it by the scruff of the neck, lifting it up facing away from him, relying on its natural instinct that it will go limp. "I suggest you hold yours firmly too, then we fling them away and close the door behind us."

The cat meows in indignant protest, but does not struggle.

Hearing Liam's suggestion Khalid kneels down towards one of the cats, "Actually let me try something."  Whispering under his breath in a language that seems gibberish to most, Khalid intones his truths.  Comprehension's subjectiveness is briefly muddled as the barriers between species are lifted.  Khalid's reach is ambitious, with a continuation of three active truths upon his person it is a difficult task for someone of his skill level to call upon a fourth truth.  To prevent any undesired consequences Khalid grounds himself by gripping his gloves while completing his mantra.  The spell complete Khalid goes to scratch a cat behind the ear while attempting to replicate a cat's meow, "Why are you following us?"

The cat looks Khalid up and down with disdain. "I am not following you ."

Khalid sighs it was going to be one of these conversations , "In that case why are you following these people?"   Khalid broadly gestures at the group while conversing with the cat.

Rae looks on with great interest as Khalid appears to hold a conversation, watching his expression change with the cats response.  "What I just saw when I looked through one of them leads me to believe that someone very old has taken an interest in the Kindred of Oxford. Based on the features that I could make out, Sekhmet is the most likely name that comes to mind." She says to no one in particular.

"This one is acceptable," the cat replies with a glance in Eve's direction. "I think I'll keep her."

Khalid quickly relays the cat's response to the group before turning his attention back to the creature, "Did someone or something send you to follow them?"

Mehdi watches Khalid with a slight indifference. For the changeling it was almost a surprise that the cats couldn't talk, so the mage fixing that problem wasn't exactly extraordinary. He was more interested in Rae's information. "Sekhmet... guess that makes sense. She's quite the bloodthirsty goddess and you all are blood drinkers after all. Too bad this isn't a fresher party, we could've tricked her into doing a keg stand." he jokes through his nerves.

The ginger cat gives Khalid a quizzical look. "People do not tell cats what to do."

Silas following along with the group cautiously observing and keeping a distance from the cats. Intrigued to see the magic Khalid is invoking he wished to study it even more. However, his wonder was broken when he heard Rae mention Sekhmet. In a concerned tone in almost disbelief, Silas looks to Rae ad utters, "Did you just say Sekhmet? Oh, this is not good. Not good at all."  Silas takes his hand and covers his mouth in a thinking position as he looks down to process the information he has. He begins to mutter to himself under his breath, "Sekhmet..., Bast..., Elder gods..., catacombs..." are the only discernable words anyone can hear from Silas's babble. He looks to the rest of the group, "We have to go now. This could be much worse than any of you may realize. We have to go now and get the cats far away from us."  He looks down to Khalid "Khalid, are you still able to ask it questions? Ask it who it is why it is here." 

Eve doesn't look all too pleased about having the cats so close to them. To her, cats were animals that kept house and barn free of mice, not pets. Her brows furrow when Rae offers more information and she crosses her arms, tapping her fingers impatiently.  "I'm with Liam, we can't bring animals into the library, that would be entirely unacceptable."

Khalid looks back towards the group, "Well from what it is telling me they are here of their own accord.  People don't tell cats what to do, apparently.  Also from my very minor knowledge of Egyptian mythology both Bastet and Sekhmet were protector gods."   Khalid returns his attention to the cats posing yet another question, "Why are you here?"

The cat gives Khalid what can only be described as a Cheshire cat grin. "I am following her , of course," it replies, nodding to Eve.

Khalid took a moment to think.  These creatures are fickle, but why not play their game.  "Of course you would follow her it only makes sense.  Why did I not see it before, you truly have a mind beyond comprehension."   With a stroke of the ego, Khalid awaited a response determining his next action.

The cat stretches and peacocks, brushing affectionately against Khalid as it walks on past him, before sidling up to Eve's leg with a low purr.

Khalid muses looking off deeper into the gardens, "But I wonder, what did those other creatures mention.  Something about a perfect candidate, huh I don't exactly remember."  

Eve pulls her leg away. "I have no idea, they are only creatures. Let us be off." With that, she swiftly slides past Liam through the door, making sure not to leave any space for the cat to follow.

"If they were 'only creatures' we wouldn't be running away from them." Mehdi responds as he follows behind Eve into the catacombs.

The cats eye Khalid with interest as he speaks, but as soon as Mehdi opens the gate they begin to dash between his legs, hurrying inside after Liam and Eve.

Khalid mentally curses as his attempted bait fails.  Externally he shrugs as both Liam and Eve enter the gate and waits for Rae and Silas to follow before entering himself.

Eve spins around and grabs the first cat she can, throwing it right back out through the door. "This won't do at all! We cannot let animals into the library tunnels!"

Silas follows Eve through the corridor and heeding her concern, he trie to push the Maine coon away with his foot as he maneuvers himself as he enters, to no avail. The large cat managed to slyly make its way through his legs and enter through the door counter to Silas' will. Realizing his failure Silas bends down to pick up the large cat to manually vacate him, but to his surprise he was met with an unprecedented affection from the stray. Feeling the purring and the head rubs against his chest as he held the large cat, Silas reciprocates the affection by continuing to hold to the cat and not throwing him out. Internally he uses his curiosity about what the cats want to internally justify his decision, but deep down he senses something more from what just happens. Holding the cat he looks to Eve and sternly says, "I'm sorry Geneviève but I am going to have to make an exception for this one, at least. An opportunity like this is too rare to not try to learn more."

"I'm afraid I must object most strongly. As a librarian, I know there are many old manuscripts in this collection that are highly fragile. Bringing any kind of contaminant into this space, such as fur or whatever else may be living on this cat, could destroy works hundreds of years old of which there are no copies preserved anywhere else in the world. It is simply beyond discussion." She crosses her arms; there is nothing more to be said on the matter.

As Rae slips through the door, the cat following her manages to evade her outstretched hand and enter behind her. Looking at the cat in resignation, she puts her hands on her hips and turns to Eve. "What should we do?"

Liam lowers his arms. The cat had managed to run back between his legs before he had even closed the door behind him but he had scooped it up and at Eve's words it was most of the way to his mouth. His fangs poised above its neck for a second longer he pulls away, closing his mouth. The cat sits, purring in his arms, unaware of the mortal peril it was in just seconds before Silas' intervention. Now Liam waits further for the Elder vampire's decision.

Mehdi raises an eyebrow at Eve's staunch response. They were potentially dealing with an ancient Egyptian deity, shit was howling ominously somewhere on the grounds, and this woman was worried about old books. He doesn't say anything, but his eyes flash to Liam, hoping to find some direction. His gaze follows the professor's to Silas, and for the first time since Mehdi met the old vampire there is some warmth in the kindred. In fact the newfound feeling of affection is quite intoxicating, so ripe in comparison to the loneliness Silas normally carried. But this is not a time to harvest, and Mehdi pulls his eyes away to no one in particular. "Whatever we do, let's do it quickly."

"I was close to convincing them to leave, but I'm afraid it's too late for that now."   Khalid enters after Rae.  "Also may I note that both Mehdi and I do not have a cat to our name."   Khalid double checked around him and Mehdi ensuring his statement to be true as he made his assertion.

The Norwegian forest cat following Eve twists in the air to land on its feet and runs back towards the entrance to the catacombs. The librarian barely manages to close the gate in time to keep it out. The animal paces back and forth on the other side of the gate, meowing loudly at her.

"See if you can catch another one, we don't have a lot of time, but I do hope we can get them out."  Eve instructs Rae with a sigh. To Khalid, she replies: "Yes, they seem to just be following the vampires. As they were at the party." 

Liam, looking slightly disappointed, tries to manouver his through the door, but once again it twists itself from his arm and climbs up his back onto his shoulders where it sits behind his neck. He tuts in vague annoyance, but waits for further instruction. 

Silas feeling the weight of all these stares as they are looking to him for guidance, pauses for a moment to think about the situation. Hearing Eve's rejection and seeing her reluctance to further discuss, he exclaims to the two looking at him,  "History is being made today and given the valid observation's made by Khalid, I have reason to believe that the very nature of vampires is attracting the ancient forces behind these cats. We must pursue what is happening but we cannot be foolish. If worse comes to worst, it is best to keep one of the cats with us, the rest should be left outside as to not overwhelm us." He says as he continues to hold his Maine coon,  clearly showing his opinion on which one to keep. Turning back towards Eve, Silas attempts to address her complaints, "As a researcher myself, I am well aware of the value in these old tomes. It is certainly not ideal but with only one the protection of the tomes will be much more manageable. This opportunity to peer into the unknown is too great to be ignored."

As Silas speaks, Rae takes a moment to gauge Eve's reaction, before reaching down and scooping up the cat that seems to be following her. As she makes her way towards the entrance, however, it maneuvers itself free and jumps behind her. Just as she goes to catch it once more, Khalid is there, having moved much faster than she thought he would be capable of. Faster than she thought any human would be capable of. The mage can move like we do, fascinating. Blocking off the cats path, Khalid makes it much easier to catch and, with one fluid motion, Rae places the cat on the other side of the door and shuts it.

Liam looks at Silas "What would you have me do with this one then?" He nods up at the cat wrapped around his shoulders, claws stuck into his dead flesh, refusing to budge "I would hate to anger the ancient force." .

Eve gives Rae a pleased nod when she manages to remove another cat, then thinks for a moment before responding to Silas. "I suppose that is what we must do then. Forgive my insistence, but I take my duty here very seriously, as I am sure you understand." She smiles at him, hoping for approval. "I trust you can keep this one under control. Khalid," Eve turns to the mage, "since you are with us now, please help rid Liam of this last one, it seems rather attached to him."

Khalid having recently helped Rae nods towards the vampire before turning towards Eve, "I can try, but they're fast as hell."   Khalid begins his approach towards the cat firmly planted upon Liam making a move remove the cat.  As he approaches the creature hisses and yowls at him causing a pause and eventual reversal in his step.  "Sorry to bother you Liam, but if I'm gonna get that cat out I will have to get more personal.  Do you mind?"  Khalid awaits a response from the band member before proceeding.

When the cat hisses at Liam, Eve has had enough and, baring her fangs, hisses right back. With a growl, she threatens: "Out with you, this is not your place."  Meowing fearfully, the cat jumps off and darts for the door, where Eve quickly lets it out and finally shuts the door behind all the cats. Well, almost all the cats. Eve brushes her hair back behind her ear and then faces the group. "Did they specify where in the library, which old language?" When Rae shakes her head, Eve continues: "That leaves at least three options: Celtic languages, underneath the old Bodleian, ancient Eastern languages under the Oriental Institute and Classics under the Law library. Celtic is probably hardest to get to, they're several levels down, but all three a quite near here, since Balliol is so central. We could exit the library through the Old Bodleian too, but not through the Law Library or the Oriental Institute, they'll be closed by now. Where should we start?" This last question seems to be addressed at Silas and Liam in particular.

Khalid, who was in the process of attempting to extricate a cat, sees his work done for him and steps away from Liam to watch the group.  Hearing Eve's question he goes to respond before noticing to who the question was directed.  He, instead of responding, leans back dejectedly against a wall while keeping a subtle but careful watch on the door which the group entered from.

Liam feels his hackles rise in response to Eve and Silas' presence, his lips twitch around his fangs but he quickly feels his place and calms.

Silas still holding his cat feels Eve's beast leak out as she tried to scare the cats out. His own beast retaliates letting out a monstrous aura whose pressure can easily be felt by everyone in the room as it weighs heavily on their primal instincts. Silas tilts his head side to side as an audible cracking of his neck can be heard as he calms the beast as to not cause any further issues with the group as he assuredly asserted his spot in the hierarchy. In the brief moment of awkward silence, Eve begins to question Rae's knowledge of the situation and where we need to go. Her questions receiving a subpar answer, Silas notices her attention turn to him and Liam. Silas responds, "Are there any sections that contain ancient Egyptian and Sumerian? If not, best we go to the Old Bodleian so we have a means of leaving this place."