4850/The Ancient Grudge: Trench Warfare Edition

The Ancient Grudge: Trench Warfare Edition
Date of Scene:	06 December 2016
Location:	Rozenbach Estate <RE>
Synopsis:	Heinkel Wolfe visits Castle Rozenbach, introductions are made, tempers flare but the departure is peaceful.
Cast of Characters:	1041, Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped)

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Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
Not so far from the trenches as to not see regular shipments of fresh troops pass by, but not so close as to be truly on the front lines, would be a reasonable description of the location of the little town of Rozenbach, especially when combined with its location in a strategic pass in the area known as Elsass-Lothringen, an area that has been subject to territorial disputes, and likely will be again in the future.

Castle Rozenbach itself is a fair distance from the town, an imposing fortress that overlooks the pass and in earlier times likely would have greatly contributed to the ability of whomever controlls it to hinder any enemies trying to pass. With modern technology, however, the walls are outdated, the real defense now is a modern set of fortifications built further along the pass, concrete and steel instead of imposing walls.

That doesn't mean the castle is in disuse or disrepair, far from. Its walls are well-maintained, and grotesque beings rest in absolute stillness on the castle walls. It's hard to tell whether they are merely statues or something more, whichever they are, their creator has a particilarly twisted mind to produce such grotesque creatures.

The gate is closed, but within the sounds of activity are not too hard to notice, and the smell of freshly made food wafts through the air.

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
There is a motorcycle taking the high roads hrough the mountains north of Rozenbach.

This wouldn't normally be an issue, but the motorcycle in question is more advancaed than machinery normally seen around here. It's from the era of World War II, which will not happen here for decades yet, if it's fated to happen at all.

A rifle scope from the top of a nearby mountain pass provides an excellent vantage point, revealing Castle Rozenbach for the well-maintained antique that it is. More modern barricades further down the road are visible. Although seeing inside the castle would be even better, that's just a little bit too far away.

Heinkel Wolfe has no intention of shooting, but it provides her a good look at the surroundings from a point of relative safety. She gives one last squint over the top of the scope before lowering her rifle back into its case, latching it and lashing it to the back of the motorcycle.

Muttering under her breath, she checks her coat pockets. Blessed rounds forged from the consecrated silver of a smelted cross. Vials of holy water stoppered with corks, and a few glass 'grenades' of holy water meant to shatter on impact when thrown. Iscariot-issue large caliber pistols, barrels and slides sheathed in consecrated silver plating. A combat knife stuck through her belt. The cross around her neck, although it's forged from iron rather than silver.

Apparently finding her armoury satisfying, Heinkel checks the position of the sun, then kneels down with hands braced on the ground, and... sniffs? The gesture is not unlike an animal testing the wind, or a bloodhound following a scent. Straightening, she sets off where her nose leads her – straight for the castle.

The gate's closed. Heinkel doesn't bother with the front gate; only an idiot would. Instead, she's loping around to the side of the stronghold, looking for an entrance on the sides, or at the back, where there are (probably) going to be fewer guards posted and less attention in general (she hopes).

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
There's certainly fewer of those grotesque things on the side, but that does not mean there are no eyes there. The trees may not be alive, bot not all that looks like a tree is a tree. One is most clearly something covered in tree bark with eyes on various places and a mouth on one side. Fortunately, its eyes are closed and it's snoring, a distinctly human sound from that sentinel.

Unfortunately, that's not the only guardian patrolling that side, a four-faced owl sits in a tree near the walls, looking in all directions, and once per minute it hoots, rotating around its beaks for this act, it's loud enough that without doubt someone in the castle would notice if it stopped, but it's also in a great vantage point to observe that entire side of the castle.

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
The closer she gets to the castle, the slower Heinkel goes, falling into a crouched stance and placing her heavy boots carefully. They may leave tracks, but they won't make a lot of noise. One hand rises to adjust her sunglasses to lay more securely over her eyes—

—and comes up short, nearly backpedalling from the snoring tree. She eyes it for a long moment, able to somehow imply a blank stare even with her eyes hidden by opaque lenses. Well, this is going to be an interesting time.

Normally the hoot of an owl isn't much of a deterrent to Heinkel, but the regularity with which it happens, and the bizarre acoustics of it that she can pick up on, are enough to give her pause. She looks left, observing nothing, and then looks right. Tree. There's another tree, and she frowns as she picks out the form of the owl.

She could shoot it, which would interrupt its calls, or she can go around it, which isn't without risk either. Heinkel freezes for a moment in her indecision, trying to decide what would be the least immediately dangerous option.

Discretion is the better part of valour, although she's probably the only Iscariot paladin who heeds that particular advice. Heinkel veers to one side, keeping behind the cover of the trees and slinking to the next wall. Part of her wishes she'd taken the Dragunov, but it would only be a liability in close combat, and she doesn't expect to avoid a skirmish or two.

The owl is given one last deeply unnerved look before Heinkel turns toward the next wall, the better to see what other delightful horrors Fraulein Rozenbach has managed to put together.

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
The next wall is built into the mountainside, this means it's the lowest of them all relatively to the surroundings, but it also makes the ground uneven and rough to climb, and there's one particular creature sitting on the wall trying to keep an eye on things. This being is human enough in a sense, it's got the overall shape right. However, it's impossibly slender, as though it's little more than skeleton and skin, with excessively large eyes, and ts fingers turn into sharp talons.

Sharp talons it's using to play a gentle folk tune on its guitar, which matches the overall outfit it wears. Those clothes are suggesting an origin as a wandering musician. They're simple enough leathers and cotton to ease travel, but with enough colour to stand out in a crowd. He wears a fraying old tophat half-leaning from his head that may have once been used to collect coin.

He's singing Ich hab die Nacht geträumet.

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
How something with such sharp claws can fret a guitar is a mystery, but it's not one that Heinkel feels compelled to solve today. In fact, she's trying not to get too close to the bare ground right next to the wall. My, what large eyes that thing has, and it probably knows how to use them.

Heinkel crouches low to the ground, although she's brought up short by the sound of that thing... singing? Even from so far away, she can understand the lyrics perfectly; aside from the translation effect, she knows the cadences of her native tongue.

It's a song she's heard a few times, though not something she's ever gone out of her way to learn or recite. She could probably sing the entirety of Dies Irae in perfect key, but folk songs were never really her preference.

So Heinkel starts half-humming, half-singing Dies Irae under her breath as she watches the creature. She reaches back to adjust the tail of her coat, settling into a crouch while she considers how to deal with this grotesquerie. It's singing, and it seems to be a fairly consistent sound. If she silences it, there's a chance that the mistress of the castle might know. The interruption might merit investigation, just like the owl, although less regular.

It looks like she's going to have to deal with one thing or the other, or she can try her luck on the last castle wall. Pushing herself to her feet with the help of a tree trunk, she casts a last look at the skeletal minstrel before slinking on to the last wall. Maybe whatever's there can contribute to her final decision.

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
The last wall is also guarded, though in yet a different fashion. A pair of grotesque creatures, nigh identical except for their colours: one is white like bone, the other is black like chitin. Both of them are slender figures, with sturdy plate-like exoskeletons. Thick legs that end in hooves, short arms and heads that have been twisted. Rhe eyes remain very human, but their yaws have been pulled forward and roughly reshaped, while their ears have been pulled back.

All in all, they seem reminiscent of knights from a chess set, and perhaps it's for this reason that they are engaged in a game of chess. Or perhaps they have been twisted into these grotesque chess pieces because of their love of chess.

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
Well those things sure aren't human. The best Heinkel can make of them is that they're some kind of horse-headed demons, and wouldn't be too out of place on the squares of a chess board. Still incredibly creepy and unnerving.

Shaking her head, Heinkel heads back to the first wall, where the strange owl thing is. It may be an obvious trap, but at least she can work with that. She knows it's a trap. Knowing is half the battle.

Drawing one of her pistols as she lopes along behind the trees, she gauges the distance and sidles up behind a tree. Rough bark presses into her back through her coat. Leaning around the side, she seems to think better of it, holstering her pistol again and instead reaching for a holy water 'grenade.' Bottled in a thin glass globe, it's designed to shatter on impact.

Let's see if this owl thing is cursed.

Stepping back, Heinkel cocks her arm and flings the globe in her best baseball pitch fastball. All hell's probably going to break loose, but she can at least scout the defenses and then high-tail it out of here when it gets too dangerous...

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
A clean hit, and flash of light as the holy water's power makes it catch on fire, though it flies up and shakes off that sacred flame quickly enough, Then, all four faces start hooting in different pitches and at different rates, causing an unholy racket. The poor creature might not fight well, but it sure knows how to raise an alarm.

Immediately, the tree-like being stops snoring and makes a startled noise, then starts looking around for whatever may be going on, it yells. "Who's here?" In its native German, and one branch reaches down to the ground to pick up a gatling gun, "Show yourself!"

From the castle itself, multiple figures, each more grotesque than the next, head up to the walls, but they don't seem to be ready to vault past and look around. No, they stick to the walls until one fairly mundane looking figure gets to the walls. A good looking androgyne, dressed in a formal suit walks up to the wall nearest to the owl, "Dear visitor, my mistress wishes to let you know that if you wanted to come into the castle you should just have asked, she's always eager to entertain guests."

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
That sure is an unholy racket. Heinkel shrinks back against the tree, ducking behind it and clapping her hands over her ears. Why on God's green earth would somebody want something that makes that kind of noise? That would be obnoxious if she had regular hearing. It's enough to drive her to distraction with supernatural hearing.

Oh, that's cute, the tree has a gun. Keeping her back pressed against the trunk, Heinkel slowly withdraws one pistol, and then eases the other out of her coat. Both safeties are thumbed off, slow enough not to make any noise, and she slides her index fingers against the triggers. Half a glance is cast over her shoulder; just enough to look with her eye and not move her head.

There's probably some kind of surveillance beyond these things, and if they aren't human, she has to expect that they can see just as well as she can in the gloom of the canopy's shadows.

No, she thinks to herself, I am not going to show myself, you idiot.

Heinkel wraps her hands more securely around her pistols' grips, considering. She can hear them as they depart from the castle, and she tilts both guns to hold them up, arms bent at the elbows.

Frozen in place behind the trunk, she considers. A meeting up close might mean an easier chance to pull off an assassination. On the other hand, it could mean a trap, especially since Heinkel herself is unfamiliar with this territory.

She can almost hear Maxwell screeching at her to go carry out the Lord's work.

There comes from behind Heinkel's hiding-tree a loud snort. "Nein, nein." She speaks German with perfection, but her voice is gruff and androgynous; enough so to make it hard to say whether it's a man or a woman speaking. When it switches to English, there is still a considerable accent. "I think I'll stay out here. It's a nice afternoon. Vhy don't you call for your mistress to come out here?"

Heinkel narrows her eyes, already easing away from the trunk and making her way to another tree. It pays to be thorough. If she were commanding the forces on the wall, she'd already have had them combing the woods, and she's not going to give them the opportunity to flush her out unprepared.

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
"My mistress regrets to admit she's feeling a tad unwell after recent events, and so prefers to stay inside until she finds the weather more agreeable." The servant on the wall responds. She's speaking with a pleasant enough tone of voice, "And she insists that your minor indiscretion will be forgiven, so long as no further attacks on her or her loyal servants and familiars are made."

Then a gruff voice speaks up from somewhere clorer to Heinkel, "And if not, we've all been looking forward to the next feast. What will it be, pleasantries or death?" Then the source of that voice becomes clear, big claws digging themselves out of the ground, not quite at Heinkel's spot but fairly close. Other movements in the woods make it quite clear that it's not the only thing looking for this unexpected visitor.

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
Heinkel pushes herself up against the new tree she's hiding behind, hard enough to feel the craggy bark biting into her back and shoulders. It's probably a foregone conclusion that they have something hunting after her at this point.

She kicks herself for not having taken her rifle anyway. She could have climbed up into a tree and picked off targets to her heart's content, but that hadn't sat well with her; it would have left her too vulnerable without a spotter to help out. Heinkel gnaws at her lower lip for a moment, frowning.

"Of course she's not feeling vell," Heinkel mumbles savagely to herself. Why should it be easy? Things are never easy for Iscariot. It's part of the unspoken job requirements. "Bitch."

Both pistols snap up to a ready position when she hears the new voice is even closer. Her eyes narrow behind her sunglasses; it's not very encouraging. For a fleeting instant the idea of climbing the tree is a pretty good one, but primal fear is something she's usually pretty good at shutting up. Her hands might be cold on her pistols, but she won't let fear control her.

So. Options. That big ugly bugbear has very big claws, and now it appears to be burrowing out of the loam like some kind of nightmare mole creature.

Oh, hell, no. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Stepping delicately backwards, Heinkel keeps both her pistols trained on the nearest whatever-it-is as she threads her way around tree trunks.

"Ja? That's too bad. Nice afternoon for most of us, high clouds, some sun, a little breeze..." Her eyes narrow behind her glasses. On the other hand, if she can get these monstrosities to make nice, it would be an unbelievable opportunity for scouting Adele's turf. Heinkel smiles a nasty smile to herself and slowly, oh so slowly, starts sidling for another tree.

"Ach, vhat kind of idiot do you think I am? Safe passage? Vhat proof do I haf that you aren't just going to sic your minions on me vonce you haf me someplace I can't run? Eh?"

Another tree. It's clear that she's putting tremendous concentration into stepping softly, easing each heavy-treaded combat boot down with care. Heinkel curls her lip in distaste. "Gife me some kind of proof, and maybe I'll consider it."

She's already moving to another tree, in the meantime, just in case that gives her a slightly better vantage point.

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
"None, beyond the word of my mistress. Take it or leave it." That's the answer that's provided to Heinkel's doubts. It becomes increasingly clear that Adele is prolific when it comes to collecting monsters, as more and more pop out of the shadows. Considering they call her mistress, it's likely that she has some kind of hold over them, or is just very very good at inspiring loyalty in these assorted monstrosities.

The tree Heinkel moves to is home to one of them, a very thin, very short humanoid with bark-like skin and leaves for hair, a series of wooden claws reach out for Heinkel's shoulder, a gentle movement, "Fraulein, I must insist, our mistress is lonely and simply wants someone to talk to." Then a little more harshly, it opens its jaws and reveals a pair of tongues ending in stingers, waving them about threateningly, before retracting them "And you do owe her an either an apology, or your death."

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
"Vell, that's not very much of a reassurance, considering vhat vas going on last night." Heinkel squints up at the tree. This one looks a little funny, although that's not saying much. Trees of the Black Forest and other parts of eastern Europe always look a little funny. There's a reason so many fairy tales have sprung up around weird-looking trees from that part of the world.

Holding her pistols close, Heinkel scans the loam around her, looking for the tell-tale sign of more claws bursting up from below. The idle thought reaches her that she'd really like a cigarette right now, but she doesn't have the time. This may get ugly, very quickly, and—

"YEEEE—!"

There comes a yelp, and a thump, and a crunch of leaves, as Heinkel positively leaps away from the touch at her shoulder, one pistol firing wildly into the air out of reflex. It's not aimed even remotely close to anything, though; but it does bring her to throw herself back against another tree, further away, although not before checking to make sure it doesn't have eyes and isn't talking. Both pistols are levelled at the thin, bark-skinned humanoid. Dendroid? She isn't sure.

"Ja, vell, vhen you put it like that..." She's outnumbered; that much is becoming obvious. Fraulein Rozenbach seems to have an inexhaustible supply of pet monsters to keep sending out at her. Frowning deeply, Heinkel eyes the creature suspiciously.

No, she still has no guarantee that they're not just going to eat her the instant she crosses the threshold. She'll make it miserable for them if they try, though, cursed as she may be; she's still carrying a whole lot of blessed weaponry and tools.

Heinkel stalls for a few more seconds before doing a little dance of frustration, finally shoving both pistols into their shoulder rigs under her coat.

"Ach. Fine. You haf me. Alright, then, lead the vay. But if you do turn on me," she adds, with an upraised forefinger and a toothsome grin, "know that I'm going to kill as many of you as I possibly can before I die."

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
The creatures appear to be good for their mistress's word, as soon as Heinkel agrees to the terms, they do little more than get into flanking positions and try to lead her to the front gate of the castle. Without doubt, they trust her as little as she trusts them. Through the gate, through the courtyard, into the big hall, ever fewer escorts as they return to their own positions.

Can't discard the possibility that Heinkel is a distraction, after all. By the time they pass through a side door from the big hall that leads to a chair downwards, it's down to only two. The servant that seemed to do most of the talking and the plant-like creature that rests on the servant's shoulder. They knock on a door, "Mistress, your guest is here."

"The door is unlocked." Adele answers from behind the door, and these minions move back, standing at the top of the stairs, leaving Heinkel to enter alone. It's true, the door is unlocked.

If Heinkel opens it, she'll see a woman of her late teens in a simple nurse's dress hovering over a man who is barely breathing, his legs seem to have been replaced with a fish's tail, except there is a scorpion stinger sticking out from the end. Adele's hands are gliding over one shoulder, kneading and molding it into a bony protrusion, she looks up at the door opening. "I'm sorry, I did not expect visitors tonight, or I would not have been working. Unfortunately, it leaves them in unnecessary pain if I take a break from my work."

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
It's bad enough that all these things are watching, but it's even worse to have them flanking her where they're just out of her line of sight.

The Wolf bristles, primal instincts recognising a threat when it sees one. Even she finds herself hackling a little, the skin at the back of her neck prickling in the most unpleasant way. She doesn't reach for her weapons, though white-gloved fingers twitch a little as though still wishing she had them at hand.

Heinkel glances first over one shoulder and then the other as she's left alone before the door.

That's probably not good.

She grips the doorknob and opens it, and once she pushes the door open all she can do is just... sort of... stare, blankly, at the grisly scene in front of her. In fact, it's so unexpected that she's caught staring that way for a good five seconds straight.

"Uh," she finally manages to croak, still staring. Her eyes are invisible behind those sunglasses, but the way her head hasn't moved suggests her visual focus is fixed completely on Adele.

Heinkel blinks owlishly behind her glasses, before finally remembering to shut the door; if only because it'll take the minions that extra second or two to open it if they descend upon her. Also, she's absolutely sure she can throw herself out the window and survive it if she has to.

Probably.

Maybe.

The paladin swallows. It's more of a gag, because the sight before her is nauseating. She's seen terrible things, but this is up there on that list just for the cold, analytical deliberation with which Adele is apparently acting. Or 'working,' as she says.

"I vas all set to leafe you to your vork, but according to your..." Minions. Pets. Monsters. "...servants, you vanted a vord." She startles as though remembering something, and then looks down, digging into a pocket. "Here. Blood money, I guess you could say. Take it or leafe it... you von't get much more than that out of me." Heinkel shows her teeth in what is probably meant to be a grin. It's not very friendly-looking.

The desire to run screaming from the manor is an attractive one, but Heinkel stands fast and clamps down on the urge to dissolve into the dry heaves.

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
"Yes, I know. I'm always curious to see what makes people foolish enough to visit my home unannounced." Unlike Heinkel, Adele is entirely undisturbed, keeping up the grisly process of turning this old man into some kind of sea monster. Whatever foul powers she's using, they clearly allow her to transform this flesh into whatever she desires. As she moves down the man's arm, more plates of bone armour get physically pulled out of the flesh, and then she squishes the hand together.

Then she's pulling at the flesh to create a claw like that of a scorpion or crab. Large and clearly quite strong. "I don't want your money, I just want to get to know you. Talk to me a while and then you're free to leave."

She starts to work on the other side, though it's a careful process, she's obviously quite well-practiced. "Let's start by names, I assume you know, or at least suspect, that I am Princess Adele von und zu Rozenbach. Who do I have the pleasure of dealing with?" There's not really any sign of response to Heinkel clearly being disturbed. "You don't have to answer any questions if you don't want to."

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
Heinkel makes a point of turning her head away from the mess. Even so, she keeps Adele and her new pet project in the periphery of her vision. If either of them move, she'll notice, without having to focus on the grisly details.

Sure, her work is all about horrible things like this, but that doesn't mean she has to willingly subject herself to it if she has other options.

One eye squints almost closed as Adele starts patiently fashioning a lobster claw out of a hand. That's just sick and wrong. Flesh and bone aren't meant to move that way. Heinkel redoubles her attention on the far wall.

Frowning, she stuffs the Euros back into her pocket; the frown only deepends when Adele goes straight to the formalities.

She's not sure when she did it, but Heinkel must have taken a step backwards, towards the door. She can feel the doorframe digging into a shoulder, much as she'd flattened herself against the tree outside. If she were in her other form, her tail would be tucked between her legs, and her teeth would be bared.

All of them.

Instead, she reaches into a pocket...

...but it's not a weapon she pulls out. It's a toothpick. She settles it with absurd delicacy between her teeth, and proceeds to chew on it a little as Adele makes a point of introducing herself.

Heinkel frowns, the toothpick pointing downward at an angle from under her lip. "Paladin Heinkel Wolfe. Vatican Section XIII, 'Iscariot.' I suppose the cross, the holy vater, und my being here veren't enough of a clue as to vhat it is that I do." She reaches for her coat, lifting up the leather thong of her iron cross and dangling it before letting it drop. Once it does, she folds her arms, scooting over so she's leaning back against the wall. Though she might seem nonchalant, she keeps glancing at the room's possible exits, and her upraised hand keeps fiddling with the toothpick.

The other stays in her pocket, but there's no tell-tale outline of a gun there. Not yet, anyway. One leg even rises to plant the sole of her boot against the wall, as though she were carelessly leaning against a lamppost instead of these ancient walls.

She frowns. "Vhat else?"

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
Adele finishes up the other half, not even blinking upon seeing the cross. It's not the cross that's dangerous, it's the faith behind it, but she does smile at her guest upon seeing it. "Well, miss Wolfe. It's nice to meet you, I'm afraid if you're here to save my soul you're a bit too late." That phrase is put entirely deadpan, like she has dealt with people who genuinely think they can save her.

She gets to work on her subject's head, casually opening up a gap in the forehead and fiddling around with the tissue until there's another eye. "As much as I wish this was just a social call, I fear you've probably got it into your head that you want to kill me, am I right?" She repeats this a couple times, until he has six where before there were two. "I do so wish I got visitors who didn't have nasty ulterior motives like that. It gets lonely, you know?"

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
Maybe Heinkel's faith is a little less absolute than some of her more enthusiastic associates, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. Just being in this household is enough to make her skin crawl. It reeks of—

She raises an eyebrow. "Save your soul? Nein, nein." She even manages a smile, although it's terribly cold. "I'm a paladin before I'm a priest, and that's not the job of a paladin. I mean, if you vant to confess, I certainly haf the authority to perform absolution..." Heinkel shrugs, heavy coat rustling. "But if ve're being honest, here, I don't vant to."

No? Aren't priests supposed to be really interested in saving all the souls around them that they can, that those souls might be granted absolution and ascend into the Kingdom of Heaven?

Heinkel makes a point of not looking as Adele starts fiddling with the poor unfortunate soul's head. "Vell, they said you veren't stupid. I guess it vouldn't take a genius to figure that out, either. Actually, take it as you vill, but I didn't come here to kill you. Not today. Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm an opportunist. If I'd had the opportunity for a clear shot, I vould haf taken it."

"Hunh. Lonely. You sure haf a funny sense of things. Maybe if you didn't take people und twist them into horrible monstrosities, you might haf more friends, ja?" Heinkel flicks a hand at the man-turned-sea-creature. "Or if you stopped feeding on sentients. People haf a vay of not liking that. I can't imagine vhy."

"Nein, nein. I did not come here to kill you. Not today. You already haf me here, so I'm not losing anything by saying that I came here to scout." She rolls the toothpick to the other side of her mouth. "I mean, it's probably obvious anyvay that if I'm not actively trying to kill you, I'm here to gather information. Ja? Nothing personal, you understand." The toothpick points downward again, to the tune of a frown from Heinkel. "I haf a job to do. That's all."

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
"If confession could save me, we wouldn't be talking today." Adele answers mildly, moving on to further alter her subject's head. "And don't mistake my indifferent tone for a lack of care. You hurt one my familiars. I care about every last one of them, and if I wasn't sure Owan would be alright, I wouldn't have bothered giving you a chance." There's a mild undertone of anger, but it's fairly well hidden.

"You call them horrible monstrosities, I call them works of art. They come to me because they're dying, and they know they can finish any unresolved business if they agree to become my ghouls." She points at the underwater creature she's woring on, "Look at Heinrich here, for example. His son died in an industrial accident twenty-five years ago. His grandson died in the trenches. When he learned of that, he wanted to ensure his great-granddaughter would be in good hands, but the growths in his lung were killing him."

"But as much as I am grateful for them being here, and as much as I love them with all my heart..." Adele sighs, and looks away from Heinrich and towards Heinkel, "I can only save them by making them my loyal servants, and you simply cannot properly socialize with servants. The townsfolk are terrified of me, and the few visitors I get either want to see me dead or are making demands on behalf of the Kaiser." Then she adds, "But yes, I understand, nothing personal." In a tone of 'they all say that.'

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
"Ja, that's right, because it vouldn't be me coming here, if that vere the case." Heinkel rolls the toothpick to the other side of her mouth and chews on the end a little absently. The desire for a cigarette is almost overwhelming, but now is not the time. "I may be ordained, but I don't fulfill those duties very often." It's true, she's a terrible priest. She shrugs, coat rustling. Something in one of those pockets jingles to the tune of spare shells, but they're not in the pocket her other hand is in. "My duties as a paladin are usually priority. There are more priests than paladins."

Reaching up and fiddling with the toothpick, Heinkel squints at the mistress as she tends to her work. She carefully avoids looking at the thing that was formerly Heinrich; she has no illusions that he is probably not really what she would consider 'people' any more. It's a lump of meat that happens to be growing a lovely selection of fins, spines, stingers, and however many eyes it has now.

Heinkel swallows, hard, and hopes that her face isn't turning a bit green. She sure feels like it should be by now. Even paladins of Iscariot have their limits.

"Nein. I don't agree vit that." Heinkel curls her lip around her toothpick, caught between disgust and real anger. "You said it yourself. They don't even haf the presence of mind to carry on a conversation. Who they vere ist gone vonce you're finished vit them."

Plucking her toothpick from her mouth, she gestures somewhat angrily at Heinrich. "Ist there a 'Heinrich' left, there? Man vas created in the image of the Holy Father. Vhat you're doing is blasphemy. Not only are you twisting them into these monstrosities, you're denying them entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. How can they go back to God if you trap them here? They're no better than ghouls. Und you're no better than those cheap knockoff vampires."

"I think I'm done, here. Ja, my coming here vas nothing personal. But after seeing vhat it is you're doing in here, I haf half a mind to make it personal." Heinkel jams the toothpick back into her mouth with enough force to prick her gum; for once, she's so incensed over this that she's able to ignore the taste of blood in her mouth. She's almost trembling. "I almost vish I'd brought the C4."

Adele Rozenbach (1041) has posed:
"Perhaps if God didn't want me to indulge in Blasphemy, He should not have made me an embodiment of Hell on Earth." Adele answers only that bit, apparently getting frustrated with this conversation herself. "I do think it's for the best that you leave now, and tell God that if he wants to give me a second chance, I'm listening." There seems to be no faith whatsoever that there will be such a second chance. She snaps her fingers briefly, and the servant opens the door.

"Take miss Wolfe to the outer gate please, and do ensure that she departs. I prefer you don't use force, but don't allow her to dawdle." It seems Adele is done talking to Heinkel, getting back to work, though the back of her head starts bleeding for a moment, until an eye forms with which she can watch Heinkel, "Do close the door behind you?"

Heinkel Wolfe (Dropped) has posed:
If the paladin notices the frustration creeping into Adele's tone, she doesn't comment on it. She remains silent throughout the response, still idly chewing on the end of the toothpick.

It isn't until Adele sprouts an eye at the back of her head that there comes a tiny wooden snap, and the toothpick hangs at a crazy enough angle to suggest it's been bitten clean in half. Come to think of it, Heinkel looks a little pale, although whether that's from discomfort, fear, or rage, it's hard to say.

Probably a good helping of the first two, and a whole lot of the last one.

Heinkel doesn't even say anything as she turns, coat flaring behind her with a rustle. She's through the doorway in the half-second it takes her to push off from the wall; the door slams shut with enough violence that it seems like it's going to vibrate right off its hinges. (It doesn't.)

In that time she's already through the courtyard and walking, stiff-legged and angry, down the road for the woods.

Adele's minions will be able to report that Heinkel takes her leave without wasting any time, and the sudden revving of a motorcycle engine in the distance suggests the paladin found her vehicle and proceeded to hit the road. Fast.