NationStates Jolt Archive

"Alright...let's be pragmatic: most vampires are a scourge on any society they inhabit, save their own. Most vampires care not for mortals, save as a food supply. Most non-vampires would cheer if this curse was lifted for future generations, and even more would be happy to see the current crop wither away into dust."

Steele stood, defying any to call him on his words.

"So...being pragmatic, of course...every vampire should be eliminated, for the sake of the universe."

He smiled now, letting the others in on his joke.

"It may be in our best interests to talk realistically, instead of pragmatically, no? Unless y'all are ready to give up the half-life you lead? I don't think so...in that case, back to my question: is this a disease? If yes, it must be eradicated. Is this a life choice? If yes...well, there will be some bloody times coming our way..."

"Actually. No." Kain retorted sharply. His voice rose against Steele's in contrast. He put his bronze box away and looked at Steele directly.

"You speak of most! What a generalisation! A scourge? My nation, the nation I direct, for if you are not aware, I am the leader of Velmora, a nation populated by my previous race before I become vampiric...Velmora has accomidated vampires easily. A race called the Psi populate Velmora, like humans but with advanced arcane abilities. Now, the Psi have accepted the way I am, and now accepted vampires into the nation. I have set about laws and regulations into the nation to keep vampire levels under control, and put measures to accomidate the vampires. Now I understand that no other nation is like Velmora in it's populance and specifics, but you should not assume such things are so! And even if most people did have this prejudice, should you even entertain such racism!" Kain said loudly, his own views now heard. He slammed his hand onto the table loudly, his anger building.

"You are not vampire. You are in position to judge what sort of life, I or any other vampire leads, to call it half of what you live is again ignorant and using dangerous prejudice. I have seen things only in your dreams and nightmares with this new existance, accomplished things which I could never have achieved without this blood in my viens. In my opinion, this is not a disease. This is an option, a possibility. A possibility with risks and advantages, both to the individual and society. Your prejudice is dangerous Steele, it causes wars." Kain said, his will strong.

"I agree with Kain." Todd said. Todd looked at Steele straight in the eye.

"We have no vampires in the Golden Simatar, my countrymen have had no experiance with vampires, our army would not know what to do if we got attacked by vampires. So, that makes my nation vunverable to attack and your idea of killing all the vampires...I should agree to protect my nation.

"What you are discussing is a holocaust...you would be no better than those vampires who butcher families for sport. How can you think like that? My God.....you are talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. Your propostion goes against all morals known to man, it goes against all practical purposes. Going around door to door to kill all vampires will take centuries, it is impossible. The only way to kill all vampires.....is to kill every person on the face of the Earth."

Todd leaned back in his chair, finished with what he had to say, he picked up his glass and sipped some Firebrand.

He knew that was coming, as words often failed to convey the reality of any given situation.

"Yes, I speak in generalities...but understand that they are based in fact. I was not proposing anything, except that before we can truly discuss anything on this subject, including a "cure" we need to decide if this is something that vampires and non-immortals alike want to happen."

Steele looked at Kain, wishing he had thought to bum one of his blood-cigars before the fireworks started. Oh well...maybe once the heat had waned.

"You say that I am in no position to judge vampires? Fair enough, as long as you admit that you are no longer in any position to judge us. I lift my hat to your people, for accepting you and your kind so readily into an established society. Trust me...your situation is unique. Very unique."

He paused, sensing the growing anger in the bloodsuckers. Part of him was happy, almost hoping they would lash out, proving their danger to all in the room. Another part of him was screaming, knowing the pain his words were causing one in particular, and adding to the gulf between them.

"In the end...being a vampire is a very selfish act. It does not benefit anyone except the vampire himself. In this room are gathered some very powerful immortals, but they are the exception to the rule: they wish to live within society, using their powers to aid their people. But you are the minority."

He paused, puffing on his own, plain-tasting cigar.

"It's the majority that worries the rest of us..."

Sigrun shook his head as he heard Steele's comments, immediately rejected by Kain's outburst. Kain was right though.

He remained silent, preferring to let Kain voice for the vampires. He was after all, more powerful in his messages, and carried an air of elegance about him that oddly seemed to fit his personality.

Todd got up from the table, not because he was disgusted by what Steele was saying, but because he needed to use the bathroom.

"Excuse me, need to use the bathroom."

Todd looked at Steele and a long string of Simatarian spat from his mouth; no one knew what he said, but by his tone it wasn't flattering.

Todd left the room and headed down a long hall to the men's room. After relieving himself he went over to sink and washed his hands. Todd looked out the open window and sighed.

"God that guy is a prick."

The light flickered on below Sasha, off to the left a bit. A narrow ray of light spilled out an open window and sent a soft haze into the night sky below. Intrigued, she crawled down the wall, head first as she peered into the window. It was a restroom, and only one person was inside. She pulled back up, just as Todd turned to the window and looked out. Finally, he turned away.

Sasha made her move. In hardly a second, she had slipped into the window, and stood behind the Simitaran.

"You seem to favor our kind. I appreciate that."

Todd spun around in surprise. She held her hands up in peaceful gesture.

"I have an offer for you. In exchange for more knowledge on vampires, you must become a blood doll to yours truly."

Sasha walked around behind Todd and engaged the lock to the bathroom door, and shut the lights off. Now, the only light in the bathroom was from the moonlight. She returned to him, stepping close, "What do you say?"

Kain rose slowly, his temper building. Kain was normally a composed man, one which rage rarely flared, but for the most emotional situations. He was a man of princible, one which had done much. He rose, and spoke with suppressed calmness, his emotions flaring but under control. Most people who knew Kain realised that if Kain was truelly enraged, he would have torn this room up.

"I have been a vampire for four years Steele. You do not realise that. Vampires possess empathy, and experiance of what was. We can relate to mortals because we were once mortals. You cannot relate to us entirely, because you have never been immortal. You can empathise, but we can relate. And, I might add, this minority that you speak of, does what it does out of courage. Have you considered that most vampires are subjected to intense prejudice at thier very birth? Hunted immediately, dispised quickly, never trusted and never helped. Most societies scorn thier very existance, or deny them completely. No wonder "most" vampires hate mortals! You expect every vampire to be willing to take a moral stand when vampire hunters ruthlessly kill them! I am hardly saying all vampires are saints inside, but look at what is breeding this kind of vampire which is remorseless and prejudice against humans. Provide alternatives, a open hand, trust, and your vampire menace will be reduced. Then, they can be accepted into society, and perhaps then your cure can be adminstered!" Kain exclaimed, his words audiable to all in this room clealrly and prestinely.

This vampire had great emotion in his voice, and as he carried on his calmness was not as forced. He sat back down, his piece made.

"Such is the way of the Psi, such is the way of Velmora, and so it is mine." Kain ended.

Sigrun stepped forward, holding a hand up to Kain,

"Kain. Calm down. Take a breather..."

He turned to Steele, "He is right, you know. Vampires have suffered prejudice unlike any other. Because of my own experiences as a vampire, I used this to create a haven within Tarlachia for them. In Tarlachia, great cities built underground have become their homes, and the matter of blood supply is taken care of. Vampires are granted citizenship in Tarlachia, and have learned that there is someone who will live cooperatively with them. Perhaps you should visit Tarlachia to understand this more..."

Kaede looked at Steele. "In my nation, also, vampires are accepted into society. As a result, these 'attrocities' that you insist are the norm rarely occur. I will not deny that they occur upon occasion, but statistically speaking and with taking into account the relative sizes of the populations, the percentage of attrocities commited against by mortals by other mortals far, far, outweigh the number of attrocities committed against mortals by vampires. You speak of most. Have you met most?" She paused, taking a breath. "History shows that the greatest attrocites have been committed by those who wish to punish entire groups for the actions of a few. As you fall into this category, I would say that makes you the cruelest, most dangerous being in this room. What drives such blind rage? You are among the heartless. Truly, I pity you."

Steele witheld his smile, enjoying Kain and his convictions. One of the reasons he had any respect for the Velmoran was because of his strong will, and his staunch beliefs. The smile escaped when he saw Todd get up and leave the room. The boy had guts, and a proud fire within him. Steele liked the kid for that. He watched him leave, then turned back to the group.

Looking at Sigrun, he bowed slightly and responded in a measured tone.

"You honor me with your invitation, and it would be my pleasure to visit your home. Understand...I have had to work very hard to be at this point in my life. I have spent many years...too many years, hunting and...eliminating the worst of your kind. I made no apologies, nor did I regret my actions..."

With this he paused, then looked directly at Lauralin, Queen of DragonsReach.

"...until I met someone who cleared away some of the lies I believed, and taught me that not all vampires are equal."

He held her gaze for a brief moment, then broke it before it drew attention from the others. The big man took a deep breath, and looked around the room. He lost his train of thought briefly when he saw what seemed to be his assistant Tyro, licking the hand of a...well, Steele wasn't quite sure what it was. Getting back on track, Steele took a last puff of his cigar.

"Listen...I just want to...give something back now. I want to use what my people have learned about Vampires to try...helping, instead of hurting. If my thoughts and questions seem harsh, I apologise: this isn't...easy for me. I am not advocating anything...I'm just asking the questions that need to be asked."

Once Todd had gotten his heartrate back down from Sasha climbing through the window, he smiled.

"No problem, what Steele was talking about was madness. People like him make me sick."

Todd listened to Sasha's offer, it seemed very appealing. He could get more information that he needed for his report an anyalsis when he got back home.

"By blood doll..you basically mean a donor?" The vampire nodded as she moved behind him.

Todd felt slightly uneasy for several seconds as the vampire locked the door and shut off the lights. It took several seconds for his eyes to adjust to the moonlight and when they did he found Sasha in front of him. Todd thought about her offer for a few more minutes, he looked into her eyes and nodded.

"Okay...I accept your offer."

"Steele, I would advise you to shut up while you still live. Under the laws of my nation, I am legally allowed to kill you right now for what you said. Species doesn't matter, and I won't be representing vampires if I do it. And if your nation has any objections to that action, I can kindly remind them that mine has 'accidentally' exterminated nations before. And that's at the orders of nonvampires. It must be amazing to learn what the relatives of your species are willing to do to others."

She visibly tried to calm, barely succeeding, before continuing. "Can we move on? I didn't come here to kill someone for their inability to think before speaking."

Sasha stepped closer to Todd, bringing her mouth to his ear, "One last time...are you sure?"

Todd replied with a nod of his head. Sasha smiled in the darkness, clearly seeing the agitation in his eyes. She opened her mouth, feeling the vampiric canines slide smoothly out of their gums and to their full lengths. She pulled back and lifted his wrist. He watched as she turned to him, and was briefly startled by her eyes seemingly different in the darkness. In fact, they had changed themselves, from normal, to crimson irises with jet black pupils.

"I'm setting up a psychic link between you and I. You will be able to talk to me with your thoughts, as well as I to you. It will allow me to know your physical status, and if you are in any danger..."

Todd merely nodded once more, and watched as she brought his wrist up to her mouth and sunk her fangs into his pulsating artery. He let out a slight cry as he felt her razor-sharp fangs pierce his flesh. He felt something cold wash through his body and end in his mind. He involuntarily shuddered from the effect. A single drawing of blood was taken into her mouth before she released him and slit her finger with a fang and brought it to his wounds. They healed over from the touch of her blood. Todd was started for a second as she explained why this was done.

This keeps the cops out of your hair, and keeps you safe from bothersome individuals.

Todd looked at her, surprised to hear her voice in his head, despite her forewarning of the link. Her finger healed itself within moments.

Turn around. she commanded, as she proceeded to trace her marking upon the lower side of the back of his neck. It was a small circle, with three jagged lines in different directions ending just before the rim of the circle. The nail bit deep enough into the skin to leave a scar, and the blood was immediately cleaned up.

Finished, she turned him around.

Welcome to my world... she said telepathically.

Todd felt strange, he knew he had been changed by what Sasha had done to him. His wrist hurt from her bite, but not as much as he thought it would have. He moved his hand behind his neck and traced a finger over the scar she had left.

Todd looked at her and smiled. He guessed the mark she had placed there was to tell other vampires he belonged to someone else.

"Do you need to feed? If not, we can go back to the conference."

Sasha grinned, just as her fangs slid back to normal canine length.

"Energetic little bastard aren't you? No, I'm fine. Remember my supply of draconic blood? That is about twenty times as fulfilling as your blood, even if I were to drain you completely dry. Which I won't, so don't you worry."

She stepped closer to the window, then turned to him, "You go back the way you came, and I will reenter the way I left."

With that, she disappeared out the window, moving upwards, almost like a spider would.

Todd walked after Sasha and stuck his head out the window as he saw the vampire climb up the wall. Holy crap. Todd brought his head back inside and left the bathroom. He walked back down the hall into the conference room, acting like nothing had ever happened in the bathroom.

He sat back down in his chair and looked at everyone else assembled.

"Did I miss anything?"

Lauralin stood up, "Both have valid points. Yes, there are vampires, many, who do great harm. These vampires are the ones who are looked at and how we are judged. But is that not always the case? If you do a hundred kindnesses and one injustice which one is remembered? But Mr. Shentavo also has a point. One", she said as she looked at Darius, "that you should have seen for yourself Darius. You know how much I have sacrificed for my people and how much I still do. Yet when even the idea that I am a vampiress reached my people what did they do? They attacked my mansion and killed two dear friends. I do not like what I am, though I am this way by choice, at least most would see it that way. But I also know the history of the vampires. The cleansings. Thousands killed."

Turquine nodded, "And I killed many. Black and white. So I saw things in my youth. But things aren't always black and white and what we have here is proof. Yes, it took my own daughter becoming a vampire for me to stop and try to see things differently. But the more I learn the more I question my actions. There are those that should be destroyed because their acts are evil in the purest sense of the word. But not all are like that and some can be brought into the light. Figuratively speaking of course. Ferrannifer was evil. The atrocities that she commited were such that I won't utter them here. But she has worked as hard as Laura to set things right again. I've come here to find another way. A more humane way. One that doesn't involve genecide or the loss of life on the side of mortals."

("Alright...let's be pragmatic: most vampires are a scourge on any society they inhabit, save their own. Most vampires care not for mortals, save as a food supply. Most non-vampires would cheer if this curse was lifted for future generations, and even more would be happy to see the current crop wither away into dust."

Steele stood, defying any to call him on his words.

"So...being pragmatic, of course...every vampire should be eliminated, for the sake of the universe.")

Alexandra remained silent and civil throughout Steele's statement, a none too easy task given what he proposed. The urge to act out the various painful deaths she imagined for him was almost irresistible. A careful observer might notice that her fangs had extended fully into view. When he had finished, she stood to speak. Her voice was no longer the soft pleasant sound it had been. It had taken on a cold, commanding tone, barely concealing her hatred of the one she addressed.
"I do not believe I have ever heard genocide spoken of so plainly without calling it by name. Nor have I heard it explained so casually. I will not deny that my kind is guilty of many great evils, but what is this plan but another kind of evil? It's people like you that scare me Mr. Steele. We spoke of a cure as a chance for those that wanted freedom from their curse, yet you would see it twisted into a tool for your war of annihilation."

She paused briefly, a predatory look coming into her eyes as she ran her tongue along razor sharp fangs.
"And what chance do you really think you have? You are so alone here, so very alone. They say these walls muffle screams very nicely."

Konnie touched Alexandra lightly on the arm, speaking to her mind.
Remember Alex, no killing.

The vampiress sighed, looking from Konnie back to Steele.
"My apologies, Mr. Steele."

Alexandra took her seat once more, withdrawing a crystal flask from the folds of her dress and pouring herself a glass of its deep crimson contents. She sipped the glass gently, allowing the blood to linger in her mouth as she savored its delicate taste. Swallowing, she felt herself calming, fangs returning to their gum sheaths and the hatred fading from her eyes.

Konnie glanced around the table, feeling the tension that filled the room. She tried to think of something with less antagonistic potential to discuss.
"Might I suggest a change of topic before things get... messy? It is a matter of some personal interest to myself and to Lady Alexandra as to how vampirism originated."

Patricia raised a grey, clawed hand. "He ain't hardly the only that's not a vamp here. Not that I think the boy's making a lick of sense or anything. What's wrong with being a vampire? I mean, I get why y'all hate'em. Who can blame a sheep for hating a hawk? But what else would a hawk be? It's a healthy example of its kind. I don't understand this whole modern urge to be ashamed of strength, to become meek, to mutilate one's soul and one's nature for civility and civilization. Come on!" She snorted grotesquely as her beady yellow eyes surveyed the room.

Sigrun's voice commanded the airwaves for a few more moments.

"Very well then. I shall explain the origin of vampires in Tarlachia."

He noticed that Sasha had sauntered back into the room, a sort of energetic light in her eyes as she looked at him.

"In Tarlachia, vampires descended from those of Assington. I myself, in my long life, was sired by one of the original true vampires, Skadi. In a sense, I was a third generation vampire, for there was one that came before the small number that Skadi belonged to. There was one, and his name was Marduk. In exchange for his soul, he was granted the abilities of a demon, but it somehow got twisted into that of what we know as vampirism. Unwittingly, he passed on the vampirism through his ravaging activites throughout Assington. His blood was spilled upon dying bodies of his rage, and so they turned to vampires. So, to be politically correct, he was a human magi who was possessed by a demon to an extent, and Skadi and those who were first afflicted with the vampirism are in actuality the first true vampires. Which in turn, made me a second generation..."

Sigrun beckoned for Sasha to approach himself. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and patted her closest shoulder with his other hand. "Sasha here, is a fourth generation vampire, sired by one whom I sired."

He released her, and she returned to the shadows. Sigrun continued,

"It has been said that those closer to the original vampire are more powerful in their abilities. Thus to be sired by a more pure vampire was a blessing and a gift."

"One difficulty", Lauralin replied, "is that, at least of the vampires of dragonsreeach, the soul is mutilated when one becomes a vampire. Half of my soul resides within my body and half on the negative material plane. My abilities come from the power of that plane through the link thus forged. Another problem is that of immortality. How many friends must I watch grow old and die. How long before I do reach a state of apathy. Then there is the question as to those who were turned unwillingly. To whom such an existance would be dreadful. It is they who often begin to lash out at what they cannot have. This has occured many times."

"There are", Ferrannifer said standing up, "a number of legends pertaining to the beginning of vampires. The most well documented that I have is that during the war between the forces of light and darkness the forces of light had destroyed the main resistance. The forces of darkness retreated into the abyss where the forces of light were weak. A stalemate was achieved. A pact was made. Neither side could directly affect the living that resided on the world. But the forces of darkness would do what they could keeping to the letter and not the spirit of the pact. So they continued, through priests of thier own, to influence the races. The gods of light began the same and then there was a great betrayal. They say that the gods in thier fury cursed men who served the dark ones and thus the vampire was created.

"My god", Turquine took up, "speaks of a betrayal. He says that the forces of light and dark did make such a pact, and then there was a great betrayal. With thier magics they created the first vampire. A being of the world and not one of thier own, thus keeping to the letter of the pact as the dark ones had. These beings would continue thier war in the darkness in which the demons sought to wage it. These new forces fought on a level equal to the dark ones. Darkness was thier home and thier ways would match the fury of and terror of the dark ones. What the forces of light had failed to take into consideration was that the people of the world, whatever race they may be, had been given the right of free will. And so the soldiers they had created made thier own way, ignoring the orders of the masters of light. Of course this is information attainable only by the highest in our orders and would be denied." He sighed, "I came by this while I was researching my daughters situation. It was part of what has made me change my mind about my postion against the forces of the undead."

Lauralin looked at her father in shock.

Ferrannifer smiled, "So, you know the truth about the betrayal. I was afraid to say anything."

"Steele, I would advise you to shut up while you still live. Under the laws of my nation, I am legally allowed to kill you right now for what you said.

She visibly tried to calm, barely succeeding, before continuing. "Can we move on? I didn't come here to kill someone for their inability to think before speaking."

Steele smiled, if you could call the deadly grimace that crossed his face a smile.

“L’il Ms.Vlad…the laws of your nation mean nothing here…you are a guest. If you want to…threaten me for the words I speak, then you are far less advanced than I thought. In fact…I won’t waste my time on you until you grow up.”

Vampires. Damn bloodsuckers. The best of them were like Laura and Kain, thinking, growing, evolving creatures. The worst were mindless monsters, killing for pleasure rather than need. The ones Steele worried about were the ones in the middle, like this one, Kaede. The worst kind of a monster…a thinking one.

She paused briefly, a predatory look coming into her eyes as she ran her tongue along razor sharp fangs.
"And what chance do you really think you have? You are so alone here, so very alone. They say these walls muffle screams very nicely."

Steele allowed her into his mind, through the small opening in his mind-shield. Her words were meant to chill him, but instead he felt the ancient heat rise within him. He responded with his own mind.

“I may be alone, m’lady…but perhaps this time the prey has become the hunter? Look within me…I give you free reign. See who I am…what I am…and understand I could have finished this anytime I wanted.”

As she looked into his soul, she saw flashes of his life, his past…pain, blood, death, the undead assaulting his very being, the future turning him into an avatar for the past, power, incredible, unmeasurable power, power created to battle vampires, power created by vampires…and at the center of it all, love. A love so strong, so forceful that it caused Steele to reevaluate his beliefs, and his very life. A love for a Vampire.

Steele shut down the link, bringing his shields back up. He turned to face everyone in the room, and spoke clearly.

“Some of you have taken my words the wrong way, as if I was advocating genocide, or the elimination of your species. Let me make this very clear: never in this discussion have I done so. All I have done is pose some hard questions, questions that seem to have disturbed some of you. Get over yourselves. The universe is an ugly place, and there are trillions of souls who DO want to see you eliminated. If we don’t look at every aspect of this phenomenom, you are doomed. Open your minds to harsh realities, and they will set you free.”

He was getting a little frustrated now…people always heard what they wanted to hear…even vampires.

“I’ll repeat for the last time: my war against your kind is over, and I came here to help extend the peace. You can accept my help, or you can reject it.”

Whittlwton said out loud to anyone who has listening. "If anyone is interested, I have with me extensive information on Vampires WHICH might come in useful. Though most of it covers the Vampire Wars and the resultant Great Vampire Purge."

Ferrannifer shuddered as she turned toward the man. "Purge? You mean genocide?"

"Yes I suppose you could call it genocide. You see the Vampire Wars went on for decades and it is often referred to as the darkest period in Ruskkie history, and the Ruskkie people didn't wish for it to be repeated. However it was a group of strangers, 'Witchunters' they were called, were behind the idea. Anyway I guess the phase 'thing which we do not understand, we destroy' sums it and the general bias against Vampires."

Ferrannifer looked at Whittleton, "Well then, let's see what you have in the way of information."

Lauralin rubbed her temples, "Okay, we need to calm down if we are to get anywhere. Mr. Steele does have some valid points. His views, or former views, are still the views of many. But we are trying to paint the house before we even have it built. We need to start back a bit further, yes?"

As always, Laura was the voice of reason in a sea of emotion and anger. He respected her even more now, and fought with the overwhelming feelings of love that threatened to tear through his chest. He smiled at her, bowing slightly, and touched the intimate psi-link they shared.

"Thank-you, my heart...they will listen to you."

All the time, Todd kept typing on his laptop, making sure he got detailed notes on the possible origins of vampires. He thought for a few minutes before looking up.

"Well, how far should we go back? Does anyone have any approximate times that vampires first began to emerge? Once we have that, we could possibly trace them to how they became a vampire."

He sipped his drink before continuing.

"I think we should also take into account, geography of the areas where vampires first emerged. With that we can also figure out why and how the vampire breeds spread. The Golden Simatar's border is mostly moutains in the old days that are only broken by several moutain passes.

"Now, with a nation that is isolated because of almost inpentrable moutains or with other geographic features that made it isolated, in the days when vampires began to emerge, it is easy to see why none exist in some nations. Geography is something I think we really need to look at."

"Thank-you, my heart...they will listen to you."

A soft mental carress comes back across before she replies in his mind, 'I understand you, they do not. We are bound by our own prejudices and our own histories, for good or for ill.'

Lauralin smiles at Darius before turning to Todd and mentally catching up on what he was saying.

Turquine also looked at Todd, "I've been from desert to mountain, hills to plains and even underground. No terrain specifics."

Gawdly']“L’il Ms.Vlad…the laws of your nation mean nothing here…you are a guest. If you want to…threaten me for the words I speak, then you are far less advanced than I thought. In fact…I won’t waste my time on you until you grow up.”

Without thinking, she reacted, her turn and arm gesture being enhanced by both her vampiric abilities and the adrenaline pumping in her blood. This foolish mortal didn't understand: She wasn't warning him because she wanted to kill him. She was warning him because she didn't come alone to this meeting, and those she came with had little ability to discern the difference between stupidity and actual threats, and they will kill him. As those thoughts ranged through her mind, a bolt made entirely out of fire flew from her fingertips and stopped a mere inch in front of his face, so close he should easily feel the heat dripping off of it.

"You understand little, human. Little about vampires, little about people, and even less about the powers at play here. And considering your own statements, you have no more room to speak about whether or not I am civilized than I have to speak about what being human is like. And you might want to thank me for saving your life, as much as I would rather let my pets have some fun with you."

“Some of you have taken my words the wrong way, as if I was advocating genocide, or the elimination of your species. Let me make this very clear: never in this discussion have I done so. All I have done is pose some hard questions, questions that seem to have disturbed some of you. Get over yourselves. The universe is an ugly place, and there are trillions of souls who DO want to see you eliminated. If we don’t look at every aspect of this phenomenom, you are doomed. Open your minds to harsh realities, and they will set you free.”

“I’ll repeat for the last time: my war against your kind is over, and I came here to help extend the peace. You can accept my help, or you can reject it.”

"Your 'harsh realities' are what my nation live with every day. All species, including yours, must face that. If you knew some of the considerations certain species have, you would thank your god or gods that you are not in a cage or being fattened up for someone's dinner table. Worse, you could be dead right now just for the crime of daring to say what you have to superior creatures."

She paused, the bolt of fire dissipating, and then relaxed a bit. Her eyes darted to a corner of the room, almost as though looking for something. She relaxed even more when she did not find it, muttering something in Sarkarasetan.

"The one sad thing about spirits is how little they understand mortal affairs."

The flame floated to him, virtually in slow motion, and his accelerated reflexes and AI had already proposed several different methods of countering the attack. Steele did not flinch, his battle-hardened form having experienced far, far worse. He understood the reaction from Kaede...her type always reacted with force when faced with things they could, or would not, comprehend. He felt no fear, knowing full well that this battle had been fought many times before, and would be fought again and again, throughout eternity.

This one knew so little about her own kind. She could never know that Steele had been spirited into the future, ripped apart and rebuilt as a machine of death...vampire death. Kaede would not understand that it was a vampire that had done this to him...perhaps it was Kaede herself? The built-in defenses and safeguards would protect him from most attacks, be they spiritual or physical, and the power that crackled within him was created with one target in mind: the immortals. With a thought, Steele could turn this room, and the city around them, into dust.

Kaede did not know who she was dealing with...she only saw meat.

"Cease this display of magic! And cease this rampant prejudice, which causes wars! Threats are not the answer here, and prejudice, no matter from what side, is the greatest enemy. Mortals have been prejudice against vampires, and vampires are more often prejudice against mortals. Now, violence will not be tolerated, nor threats, from both sides. We should be civilised here." Kain ordered, his voice rising over the others. He was calm, rather too calm. He looked over at the vampire which had sent out that flame bolt, and back at Steele.

Kain turned his head slowly back to the vampire which had sent the bolt. "If any of you attacks one another, you will face the counter-attack of myself and I do not doubt the others. Keep calm, I thought your many years of existance would have taught you control, discipline, wisdom. I swear, your like the damn Roanian Inquisitors....." Kain said strongly, hoping that his words would have affect. It was a deep insult to compare this vampire to the Roanian inquisitors, as they were extremely pious, deluded and utterly dedicated the eradication of vampires. Kain had once been captured by thier numbers, which had spelt grim results.

The green skinned vampire was hard to judge in his power levels, what sort of an opponent he would prove. On first glance, and first hearing, he was still a fledgling. But....a strange one at that, one with strange properties and experiances.

Despite thier differences, Kain was still willing to defend Steele against this tempered vampire.

Patricia snorted at Kain. "And you're in charge here, how? It's Lady Alexandra's right to be barking orders, not yours. I mean, I'm a straight-up rude bitch and I have more respect for our host than that. Check your arrogance at the door cause there's no way this is your show and you don't get to play mister oh-so-badass decisive guy here. I don't know where you get off. In the Danaan High Kingdom, we snicker at all that silly garbage about the 'Oh, my God!' great Kain Shentavo and the fate of the vampire nation. And Lady Alexandra and our kick-ass Akatoni allies aren't in your little fan clun either. So let's leave the ordering to those with the right to be doing it, ok?"

Patricia then gave a shocking proper courtly bow to Alexandra and gestured elegantly for her to take over. "My lady?"

"What the fresh frell is this? I have a right to say my opinion, and I have a duty to keep the peace. So what do you suggest, I leave people to throw spells and insults around, without a single comment? What a load of frelling...And like I ever give a damn about what people think of my name, what I have done speaks for itself. You can mock what I have done, or what I stand for, but look at your own actions before you try and mock mine. And vampire nation? What the damn hell are you babbling on about. You have no idea about my nation. I don't demand your damn respect due to my name, clan, blood, but I do expect respect for what I have done, if you had any clue to it." Kain growled angrily, his own cursing coming out in his own language.

He stood up, disgusted at this.

"If you want to insult me, do it outside, but not here. Bah, yotz to this. I expected something different from this, far different. Nothing changes. Nothing changes." Kain said as he got up and walked out of the room, rather angrilly.

Patricia...........laughed.

Paige shook her head sadly, as the table erupted into nothing more than a farce. Did she honestly think that everyone here would be able to keep a civil tongue and behave in an appropriate manner? She watched as Kain swept out of the room. Even if she had not heard the conversation, his mannerisms would have given away the fact that he was less than pleased.

She searched for something to say, something that would bring some semblance of order back to the proceedings, but gave up, knowing that she had no weight in this discussion, she was merely an observer. Sitting back in her chair, Paige picked up her glass of white wine, and took a slow sip…this was going to be a very long or incredible short conference.

OOC: It was Ilkanas, not Kaede, who launched the fire bolt.

IC:

Ilkanas watched him go, her eyes following him. The one thing he did not understand is there would always, cure or no cure, be differences between herself and humans, differences that would sometimes result in conflicts. She was a Sarkarasetan before she was a vampire, and that gave her a pride. Though sometimes foolish, it was a pride that she wouldn't give up with ease.

"He knows nothing of the type I am. Nor will he ever understand. Vampirism is still new to my people, and unlike all of you we have no elders to draw upon. It came to us only over a century ago, a side-effect of nature choosing to advance us at a faster rate for a short period of time. The few who are the first have problems with anger as well. My other reason for comming here is to gain guidance on this issue."

Lauralin sighed, "We are trying to enforce our view points with to much force. You don't have to solve every problem all at once. Problems are solved in pieces. If you're on the seventh floor of a burning building, you can either die or jump out the window. Once you're out the window, you're alive for another two seconds, during which time you figure out the solution to the next problem and so on and so on. We have all agreed to come here for a reason. Let us start with that."

Todd disagreed with Turquine over the importance of geography, he personally believed it was because of geography the Golden Simatar didn't have any vampires; he didn't decide to voice his opinon at the moment though. He watched with great interest as Ilkanas displayed her magic. Todd sat quietly as Kain stormed out of the room.

"Well, I came here to learn about vampires and formulate something that my ignorant countrymen can understand. Now, several times we have come very close to bloodshed because of our differences, beliefs, and grudges. We need to put that behind us, and only bring it up if it is absolutly nessescary. We must respect the speaker and not all of a sudden jump on them, people get hurt or killed that way. We all have to agree that there are many humans who wish for vampires to all die and that there are many vampires who butcher for fun....yet we cannot let that rule our persepective of everyone around this table.

"Now, I know at least one of you is thinking that I don't know jack shit.....sorry for the language.....but that is true. I know very little about these conflicts and I think that gives me an edge. I don't harbor any bias or grudges against vampires and I don't harbor any against humans. Because of that, I think I am able to look at a clearer image."

Todd paused and looked around the table.

"Can we all just bury the hatchet for this conference? We are paving new ground in the studies of vampires. We can't let this die because of our grudges against each other."

(Steele allowed her into his mind, through the small opening in his mind-shield. Her words were meant to chill him, but instead he felt the ancient heat rise within him. He responded with his own mind.

“I may be alone, m’Lady…but perhaps this time the prey has become the hunter? Look within me…I give you free reign. See who I am…what I am…and understand I could have finished this anytime I wanted.”

As she looked into his soul, she saw flashes of his life, his past…pain, blood, death, the undead assaulting his very being, the future turning him into an avatar for the past, power, incredible, unmeasurable power, power created to battle vampires, power created by vampires…and at the center of it all, love. A love so strong, so forceful that it caused Steele to reevaluate his beliefs, and his very life. A love for a Vampire.)

Alexandra considered what Steele had shown her, silently going over each detail. She understood almost immediately that there was more to the man than she had initially believed. Though it was not typically in her nature to forgive, she couldn't help but feel remorse for what Steele had gone through. She sent her reply to Steele's mind.
I believe that in my haste to see you as a stereotypical vampire hunter, I may be guilty of the same false judgement I accused you of. We cannot change the past, but if you are sincere in your desire to do no more harm, I will not hold your past against you.

Alexandra did not seem to take much notice of the fireball launched towards Steele. Neither his fate nor that of his attacker mattered to the vampiress. She just took another sip of her glass of blood, sitting back to watch the fireworks should there be any. Konnie simply shook her head, muttering something about immaturity.

Alexandra's gaze, which had been fixed on Steele for the past few minutes, shifted to Patricia. If the courtly bow surprised her, it didn't show.
"I believe thanks are in order, m'Lady. However, in the interest of actually accomplishing some research, I'd best return control of this conference to my associate Magus Hariku."

Konnie nodded to Alexandra, rising from her seat.
"If it is not too much to ask, this conference would go much more smoothly if everyone would please refrain from further violence. As for vampiric origins, there are several differing beliefs in Akaton. One view, growing in popularity amongst humans in the Imperium, holds that in the balance between heaven and hell, the vampire was created as a counter for things like saints and angels. Now, this belief is heavily influenced by a common hatred of vampires, and fails to account for those vampires who are not evil. More likely is the belief that vampirism is born of a curse of some sort, though we have little factual evidence supporting either of these theories. In most cases we could draw off of ancient, pre-imperial history for this sort of thing, but since there were no vampires in Akaton until the last few centuries, they do not appear in our archives."

Lauralin shifted in her seat and then spoke in a questioning voice, "As the origins seem to differ, could it be that vampirism began elsewhere and spread? From country to country, even world to world? Dragons came from the stars, traveling the stellar winds. I know of advanced worlds. Could vampires have been an advanced culture that spread? Darius, for instance, travels through the stars fighting our kind. I am asking as I have but recently opened my borders and know little about other worlds."

"It is possible. Our own legends speak of a group of demons which were forced for some reason to leave their own homeworld. But our realm was not theirs, so many died while the rest quickly faded. The last few of these - the legends do not give a number - fused themselves with the mortals of this world in a desperate effort to preserve their own lives. And so vampires were born." Kaede looked at Lauralin. "But truly, what are demons but alien creatures from other planes, other worlds?"

"We know, that at least some of us, there is a palpable connection with another plane, and we know that the powers vampirism grants combine with whatever arcane or spirtual powers the mortals of the various races held previously to..." she searched for a nuetral word "their transformations. It is possible that the vampiric powers somehow mutate in the presence of other strong energies. That could explain the variations. This is something we have noted to a small degree in my nation, but the sampling is not statistically relevant, and it could just be a quirk of our own lineage."

Kaede looked from Sasha to Sigrun curiously, studying them. "Sigrun, would you know if those of your line have inherited any powers which may have, for lack of a better word, an elven touch? Or, if perhaps your line is stronger than other vampires of their generation who did not have sires with extra-vampiric abilities?"

Sigrun shook his head negatively, "No. I was the only one with a bloodline tied with that of elves. I was unique, for I possessed both elven and vampiric skills. However, there is one thing that has been given to the vampires from the elves. The vulnerability of silver. Long ago, when Marduk was realized to be the one causing the trouble in Assington, the elves in Assington managed to curse him and his offspring. Now, even a drop of silver sends painful energies throughout a vampire's body. In Tarlachia, these vampires have descended from Marduk, so their vulnerabilities are the same as those found in Assington."

Sasha watched the conversation, but was busy talking to Todd telepathically,

Grudges are a difficult thing for many to release. Oftentimes, the only way to relieve them is to commit racist actions against those they hate.

Lauralin shifted in her seat and then spoke in a questioning voice, "As the origins seem to differ, could it be that vampirism began elsewhere and spread? From country to country, even world to world? Dragons came from the stars, traveling the stellar winds. I know of advanced worlds. Could vampires have been an advanced culture that spread? Darius, for instance, travels through the stars fighting our kind. I am asking as I have but recently opened my borders and know little about other worlds."

"I doubt vampirism originates in space. Pretty much all of it my people have seen is here on Earth, and we have travelled the stars for longer than I care to state. It seems to be a problem limited to Earth. In my case, the first Sarkarasetan vampire was on Earth when the viral mutation happened. The rest didn't show up until she returned home. By all accounts, Earth is the key to vampirism."

Then, she decided to move on to a different idea. "Perhaps it is something unique about humans? The virus seems to follow them. Currently, there is a theory in DLE that viruses originate from their targets, a mutation of their DNA accidentally released. Could this be the answer?"

Todd sat quietly, trying his best to talk to Sasha with his mind. He was finding it very difficult, but he was getting used to it.

"I understand grudges are hard to get rid of, but people commit rascits acts against others because they are different or because they are frightened of what they don't understand. Do you feel sorry, or show any forgiveness for the people blinded because a vampire killed thier family?"

Todd turned to Ilkanas as she moved the subject to humans.

"You have a point there, something in our blood changes because of the virus. There are dozens of different races, so that could also explain the diversity of vampire breeds. So, a way to study the effect of the virus on human blood is to get a sample of human blood and then mix it with vampire blood and study the reactions under a microscope."

Sasha licked her upper lip, more from her lips being dry than anything else. She replied to Todd without glancing at him, I pity their sorrow, but if they try to kill me because of some other vampire's actions, that's where my pity ends. That's when survival of the fittest comes into play. And I hardly think a mere human will best me in any combat.

In the spoken conversation, Sigrun began talking, "Not a bad idea there. Perhaps we can do a sort of research in that regards while everyone is here? It might help to understand how each species' DNA will deal with the invasive vampirism."

"I am not from your world. Michael and Eve brought us here", she said nodded to the woman and security man almost forgotten in the corner. As for vampirism being a human problem I am half-elven and Ferrannifer was elven."

(OOC Can we have some more description of the confrence room, and what is outside of it? It would help me a lot. I will post later on, once I get a description...because I don't know what is outside that door.)

(Well I didn't say anything on the other posts but I thought we were underground actually.)

(OOC: Actually, if I'm not mistaken, we went UP a number of stories...which is why I had Sasha on the rooftop earlier...)

(OOC - Glancing around to make certain everyone was inside, she pressed a button on a wall control panel, closing the doors and setting the elevator into motion. Rather than moving upwards, the elevator began to descend beneath ground level. Every few seconds there was a faint metallic clanking sound, marking each floor they passed by. By elevator standards the trip was rather long, smoothly coming to a end almost five minutes after it had started.

When the doors slid open once more, the room beyond bore no resemblance to the modernized efficiency of the lobby. Stretching out before them was a vast hall. Along gray stone walls, columns carved of black obsidian towered up to meet a vaulted ceiling lost in the shadows above. Between the columns, numerous empty arches led off the main hall to darkened side halls and rooms. After almost a hundred feet, the hall opened onto a cavernous rectangular chamber that would serve as the conference room. In the center of the chamber sat a long table of dark wood with various manuscripts scattered along its surface. The columns each held an archaic looking Tesla lamp fixture, their electric arcs bathing the room in faint blue-white light. The air was cool and moist, with an almost imperceptible scent of ozone coming from the crackling arc lights.

Should give Velmora some idea of what's between the conference room and the elevator door, though I don't know what's through the arches.

Posted by Akaton on page seven.)

Todd understood what Sasha was saying, so he stayed quiet while Sigrun and Lauralin talked.

"Well, to preform a proper experiment of vampire blood on DNA we need a few things."

Todd closed his eyes, his thoughts racing and mouthing what he wanted. He opened his eyes and looked at everyone.

"Unless there are more advanced facilities we can work at, we need some vampire blood from a vampire who was a human before, blood from a vampire who was and elf before turning, un-tainted human blood, un-tainted elven blood, a steril enviorment to work in, some petri dishes to hold the blood, and a few powerful microscopes."

Todd sipped his drink and looked at everyone.

"Anything else we should think about getting?"

((OOC: Thanks DragonsReach, the conference is underground. As for what is through the arches, there are a pair of unlocked doors leading to side hallways. One, with a clearly written sign labeling it, leads to the demonology division of the Ministry. That is not a place that would be advisable to go, given the danger of demonic possession or becoming an experimental victim of one of the less ethical magi that work in that division. The other hallway leads to more mundane places, such as libraries and artifact storage rooms.))

Konnie listened to the various legends, interested by the number of differences. Considering the numerous blood lines, the beginnings of a theory came to her.
"Perhaps all of our beliefs hold a degree of truth to them. What if the variations in vampires are not due solely to a difference in the pre-vampire species, but instead from different types of vampirism? It is possible that there are many distinct types of vampire, originating seperately but with a similar end result."

She paused a moment,
"But first things first, let us see to this experiment. I should be able to do better than a mere microscope, but aside from that, the it sounds good enough to me."

Konnie gestured to a passing servant,
"Bring us an etheric sub imager, please."

The man nodded, heading down one of the hallways. He returned a few minutes later, pushing a small cart upon which the imager sat. The device itself was roughly twice the size of an optical microscope, a deceptively archaic looking collection of polished tubing, gauges, and far too many control knobs. It was designed to project in three dimensions whatever was placed upon the platform that served to support whatever was being viewed.

Konnie dismissed the servant, momentarily inspecting the imager. Before turning back to the others, the magus muttered a short incantation. A small point of golden light materialized, tracing an outline in the air and leaving behind a set of spotless crystal petri dishes.
"Will these suffice for the experiment?"

"Two things", Ferranifer said. "One is that you need to be careful. I've seen some vampiric blood that's caustic, some that explodes. Laura's and mine charms. Two is where are you getting all these samples from?"

Todd's eyes grew as he stood and examined the device the servant had brought in. His fingers gently went over every knob and every inch of its body. Todd smiled.

"This....this is a work of art."

Todd turned to Lauralin and thought for a while.

"Well, now that you bring that up...let me think about that. I usually don't deal with exploding blood. And getting the blood is the trickest question."

He turned to Konnie.

"Konnie, do you think you can arrange to gets some human blood from a hospital? The vampire and elven blood......that is the tricky part. I'm not going to ask any of you do donate, you don't have to if you don't want too."

Paige listened to the conversation, wondering, as she slowly shook her head. She rose from her seat and cleared her throat. “I don’t want to puncture everyone’s buoyant hopes here, but do you really think we will get the answers that you require by picking a few random example of blood.” She frowned, and just managed to stifle a sigh.

“If this is going to be done, then it should be under laboratory conditions, with know donors of the blood, so that all details can be matched and cross referenced. All one of each kind is going to tell you is how that particular person’s DNA reacts to vampirism, not the race as a whole.” She interlaced her fingers, then unlaced them, as was her habit when she was feeling wound up.

“And this belief that the answer can be found overnight just displays a complete lack of understanding. Such research could take months, even years. Anyone looking for a quick solution is in the wrong mind frame, and with that attitude you will get nowhere.” She sighed this time, and lowered herself back into her seat, before taking another sip of her drink.

Michael raised an eyebrow as he watched Todd. "I thought your were going start humping that thing."

Turquine closed his eyes a moment. For those in the room vampire and mage alike his power could be felt to swell for that moment and then reside as embarressment and anger was surpressed. "Michael?", he rumbled in a controled rumble, "You have something to add to this discussion?"

"A thought. What about that ancient lab in the Dragonspine mountains? The androids there have been collecting specimins for centuries and the A.I. has a host of information on file. It's been there since before the holocost. And what about the Necropolis on the Minelmicar plains? The undead there seek peaceful co-existance."

Turquine nodded thoughtfully, "But will they help?"

"They may", Lauralin responded, "I have a good rapoir with them. They helped me defend Kern when the army came out of the north."

Todd looked at everyone.

"Okay, the point is that it will take years to fully understand. But, here we can at least roughly see how the vampire blood cell enters and transforms a regular blood cell from the outside. I'll donate a bit of my own blood if we can't get a hold of bottled hospital blood. The question is.....where to get vampire blood?"

Todd looked around the table, he remembered Kain had left.

"Don't you think we should go get Kain and bring him back?"

You really are one of those dorks aren't you? Sasha inquired to Todd with a telepathic laugh. She had been finding this meeting both stuffy to her personality, and too humorous to stop laughing. She eyed the equipment and then turned to Todd.

"I can give you a sample of my blood if you wish."

Sigrun nodded appreciatively. He was curious to see how this...weird contraption would dissect the DNA.

Konnie thought for a moment, turning to Todd.
"Human blood is easy to get, though the others may pose a few problems. In the interst of scientific discovery, I'm willing to donate of sample of my blood to fulfil the requirement for elven blood. For the vampiric varieties, either one of us will need to donate a sample, or otherwise I'll have to ask that you don't, um... ask questions about the sources, if you know what I mean."

The magus looked from Todd to Paige, frowning slightly.
"Well, I don't plan for this experiment to be the full extent of research collected. It seems more like a relatively informal test of a theory, in which case these conditions would suffice. However, if you wish to make this into a full study, you wouldn't hear me objecting. I could probably convince the tech priests to give us access to the laboratories of the Machine Cathedral, though that may take a while."

Konnie nodded apreciatviely to Sascha.

"Thank you very much, that should help speed up the process a bit. That leaves only one variety still needed."

"Which kind is that?" Turquine asked.

Paige’s frown matched Konnie’s, as she thought about the comment for a moment. “I’m not trying to say that an initial test should not be conducted, all I am worried about is people might place too much hope of the preliminary results.” She stood again, this time walking over to the equipment, running her gaze over it briefly. “If the result looks positive in these conditions, we cannot guarantee that in a laboratory the same or even similar results will occur. I just don’t want to see people setting too much store on anything that comes from these experiments.”

Lauralin looked at Paige. "The only ones who would see these results would be us. I think that we are all tried and experience enough to not place ourselves before the alter of hope to be sacrificed by our wants and perceptions."

Todd looked at Sasha and scowled.

"I prefer the term 'nerd' over dork."

Todd knealt and began to look over the equipment, he found a small drawer and opened it. Inside was a small box of one cc syringes, some tape, a bag of cotton balls, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. He turned to Sasha and Konnie.

"Thank you both. I'll use my own blood for the human. Now, all we need is vampire blood from a vampire who was an elf before turning. And if it doesn't prove possible to find someone, a vampire with some elven blood in them."

Todd placed the things he found in the drawer onto the table, he listened to what Paige’s comment.

"At least we might get some sense of what we might be dealing with for this conference. Plus, it could also help in laboatory conditions of what to possibly look for and what to do and not to do."

Todd went over to his suitcase, pulled out a clean sheeet of paper and ripped several small strip from it. He pulled out a pen and marked them Human, Vampire-Human, Elven, Vampire-Elf.

Todd tapped a sheet of paper to each syringe before taking the one marked human. He pulled out a cotton ball and put some rubbing alcohol on it. Todd wiped a small part of his upper arm with the ball before picking up the syringe. He winced slightly as it went in, and he carefull drew out a half a cc.

Pulling out the neddle, he wipped it with the cotton ball, then the area he had puntured. A tiny bit of blood came to the surface, but nothing more. Todd placed the cap back on the needle, toss the used cotton ball into a trash can, and place the syring on the table.

"Should I draw the blood, or would you like to draw it yourself?"

Paige looked first at Lauralin and then at Todd, shrugging slightly, before heading back to her seat while the others continued with their experiment.

Ferrannifer looked at Todd, "There are those who might say that you have crossed the line between what and what not to do already", she said as she glanced at Sasha then back to Todd.

Lauralin looked at Ferrannifer inquisitevly.

Ferrannifer caught her look and delibritely misinturpreting it said, "Well don't look at me, I'm not elven anymore, I have a human body now."

Todd was confused by what Ferrannifer had said, his face gave it all. He removed his glasses and cleaned them off on his shirt before placing them back on his face. Todd made a clicking noise with his tounge and lower lip and looked at Ferrannifer.

"You don't approve of trying to figure out how a vampire blood cell reacts with a regular blood cell?"

Ferranifer looked at Todd smiling, "Oh I've seen it many times, but feel free to play."

Sasha raised her hand to dissuade the syringe. Then, she brought it up to her mouth, paused momentarily to let the fangs extend themselves, and bite down lightly. She took the paper labeled Vampire-human and turned her wrist over, watching carefully as a few drops fell and landed on the paper. Their crimson color was darker than that of humans, but nevertheless, still identifiable as blood. She handed the paper back to Todd, speaking to his mind telepathically, at the same time as speaking aloud.

"That should be enough for you." she stated, watching her wrist heal instantly.

Watch your facial expressions. Already, Ferannifer has figured something happened between you and I. Not that it really matters in the long run, but it might cause unseen reactions amongst this group.

She stepped back and gave Todd room to work, glancing with a slight turn of her head at Ferrannifer, waiting until she caught her eye. Finally she spoke telepathically,

Obviously, you've figured something has happened between us. I am going to merely confirm this to you. We talked, outside this room, and in exchange for more information on the lives of vampires for his research, his was to become a donor to myself. In a way, we both win. I'd appreciate if you kept the knowledge under the radar, as I am not sure what might happen if others found out. Besides, his becoming my donor will not taint his blood in any regard by myself.

She remained standing where she was (http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UQA0AwUZUge9466QgDpf7RpgMMNHOM9FnNrc2YYk7*mqetAXCypxnUrTkyxx5nAKsY2*zTCSYg3TtbB3ZXUmmz3bvL*7xUi0Fdg DLKgO7g7P8IhNbQIhQAx!yowzIXal/vh_prd05-2.JPG), watching Todd work with the blood samples. She shifted her eyes as Sigrun stepped forward and spoke to Todd.

"You need elven blood. Although I was a vampire once in my life, all traces of it are gone, and all that is left is what is elven. Take what you need."

He rolled up his sleeve and held his arm out.

Ferrannifer watched the proceeding impassively as she returned the mental communication with Sasha, 'It makes no difference to me. I would think vampire rather than donor would be preferred but that's his choice.'

"Now, I know at least one of you is thinking that I don't know jack shit.....sorry for the language.....but that is true. I know very little about these conflicts and I think that gives me an edge. I don't harbor any bias or grudges against vampires and I don't harbor any against humans. Because of that, I think I am able to look at a clearer image."


“That boy don’t know jack shit.” thought Steele, watching the younger man. At least he had conviction in his beliefs, a trait that the big man admired. Observing the Simatarian with a closer eye, he noticed that the boy looked different, very slightly off in color. Activating a light scan, Steele’s AI worked in the background while he listened to the conversation around him. A moment later, the results came back. The first-level scan had revealed nothing, and it was only the sub-atomic scan that gave him away. Near his wrist, the skin had been punctured and healed perfectly…too perfectly. The twin holes stood out like beacons, and Steele nodded slightly, and sadly. The boy had been milked by someone recently, which explained his defense of the bloodsuckers.



Alexandra considered what Steele had shown her, silently going over each detail. She understood almost immediately that there was more to the man than she had initially believed. Though it was not typically in her nature to forgive, she couldn't help but feel remorse for what Steele had gone through. She sent her reply to Steele's mind.
I believe that in my haste to see you as a stereotypical vampire hunter, I may be guilty of the same false judgement I accused you of. We cannot change the past, but if you are sincere in your desire to do no more harm, I will not hold your past against you.

“The time for vengeance is past. It would be an honor to face the future with your people by my side.” He smiled at her, his eyes catching the hint of a smile on her face, his eyes drawn to her full mouth. His attention returned to departed vampire, Kain Shentavo. Steele saw the opening, and decided to step outside himself for some fresh air. He unobtrusively left the room, following Kain. Closing the door behind himself, he reached into his vest and pulled out his slim cigar case, retrieving a thin cheroot from within. He lit it, watching Shentavo through the smoke. He raised his voice to the vampire, who had not yet turned around.

“Making friends again, I see…” Steele smiled at the vampire. “Thanks for the save, by the way…I seem to bring out the best in people, something we have in common.” he finished, the wry grin on his face growing wider. He puffed contentedly, at ease with Kain.

Ferrannifer ...said, "Well don't look at me, I'm not elven anymore, I have a human body now."

Kaede turned to Ferrannifer, one eyebrow raised, poised to ask a question. Then, thinking better, she grinned ruefully. She was aware of a small number of ways such a transformation could be accomplished - doubtless there were more - yet even among the techniques that Kaede knew of which could accomplish such a feat, the ethics of a more than a few could be considered a tad bit questionable. A few attendees of this conference were already touchy enough about the existance of vampires. Now was not the time to bring up a potentially explosive topic.

Instead she turned to Todd and in a blank, nuetral voice asked, "Todd, are you aware of the arcane principle of sympathetic magic? If by some chance your life force - your soul- still has any connection to your ,ah, donation, whatever happens to it, could happen to you. "

Todd didn't look at Sasha as he prepped a syringe to get some of Sigrun's blood.

"Okay, I'll watch it. Thank you for the blood."

He wipped a small area of Sigrun's arm with cotton ball that had some alcohol on it, he gently pressed the needle into the elf's arm, he carefully drew out a half a cc of blood before pulling the needle out and wipping the elf's arm.

"Thank you very much."

Todd put the syringe down and looked at Kaede. He thought for only a few seconds.

"I don't believe in magic. The closest thing is movie special effects for me...or when I was a little kid the circus. I think I know what you are driving at..but I don't think there is any need to worry. My blood will not be in my body for the experiment...so there is no need to worry."

(She remained standing where she was, watching Todd work with the blood samples. She shifted her eyes as Sigrun stepped forward and spoke to Todd.

"You need elven blood. Although I was a vampire once in my life, all traces of it are gone, and all that is left is what is elven. Take what you need."

He rolled up his sleeve and held his arm out.)

Konnie looked over at Sigrun and smiled faintly.
"Thank you, I have always had a bit of a needle phobia, and if I am not mistaken, I am the only other non-vampiric elf here. That leaves just the Vampire-Elf blood to be collected."

'Doesn't believe in magic or vampires', Ferrannifer muttered, 'I wish I had my former forces right about now.'

Sigrun nodded and replied to Konnie, "When you find yourself living a life often filled with battles, you tend to lose all fear of a blade of any sort, including needles."


Ferrannifer watched the proceeding impassively as she returned the mental communication with Sasha, 'It makes no difference to me. I would think vampire rather than donor would be preferred but that's his choice.'

Sasha replied in the same manner, Well...one does have to protect their cattle...

As for Todd...I think he's rather being a hypocrite now, unless that scar on the back of his neck is just total coincidence. Not to mention he's seen that flame hovering before Steele earlier.

Turquine looked up at Sigrun, "One should never lose respect for the sword, when they do they make mistakes and you need only make one on the field of battle to end you."

'Where I come from', Ferrannifer sent back across the mental link, 'we don't mark them. We're territorial. Anyone in our territory is ours, any others are not permitted unless invited.'

Konnie turned to Turquine remarking,

"Ah, but one who looks only to the sword to win his battles is surely lost. A wise man once said, 'A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn.' Perhaps not literally, but there have been many wars ended far from the battlefield."

Turquine looked up at Sigrun, "One should never lose respect for the sword, when they do they make mistakes and you need only make one on the field of battle to end you."


Sigrun looked over at Turquine and replied, "Respect is still present, but fear of the blade has become unnecessary. Now, I only respect the blade when in the hands of a capable user. Would you respect an infant holding a claymore, or a capable warrior holding one? So, essentially, respect lies in the wielder's capabilities, and not the sword itself."


'Where I come from', Ferrannifer sent back across the mental link, 'we don't mark them. We're territorial. Anyone in our territory is ours, any others are not permitted unless invited.'

Sasha replied, Well, it doesn't hurt to have territory in a nation that doesn't believe in vampires. In a way, it grants me access to a much larger food source, so to speak. I'm the wolf smack in the middle of an entire flock of sheep.

Turquine looked over at Konnie, "A dagger in the dark is the act of a coward and will not be tolerated in my ranks."

He then looked at Sigrun, "Actually, barring arrow barrages and cavalry charges, statistics show that veterans are brought down by unseasoned or unskilled men almost as much as those brought down by good fighters. A good fighter, while he is skilled with blade, tends to be somewhat predictable. An unskilled fighter can't be predicted and therefore the soldier is caught expecting a certain manuever to go with previous that isn't then used."

Ferrannifer sent a warm feeling through the mind link, 'Good thinking, I like you.'

Todd had collected the blood he needed, spare for the vampire-elf blood. He turned around as he looked at the machine.

"Uh...how...how does it work. I'm not familiar with this model."

Lauralin had removed a piece of vellum and a quill and ink and was writing something as her father addressed the two and Ferrannifer seemed inordinately pleased about something. Ferrannifer that pleased tended to make Lauralin nervous and so she was updating her journal to keep her mind off the older vampiress' thoughts. The writing was a flowing, ancient and lovely form of elven.

A note about some things I learned,

The things you have always known are sometimes the hardest to express. As a whole humans tend to focus more on understanding newly-discovered things than think about the things that are supposedly obvious. When they walk outside during the day, do they usually think about the sky being blue or contemplate the mechanisms that control weather? Unless they're a scientist or just basically curious person, probably not. But that doesn't mean that the sky isn't blue or that weather patterns don't exist.

So, too, with thier inner knowledge and perceptions. They tend to take things for granted, otherwise they wouldn't have sayings like "You don't know what you have until it's gone." I don't know why this seems to be true, but they can use only what they have to work with, and therefore must progress along the path of life realizing this tendency in thier thought patterns (or lack thereof) and figuring out how to deal with it. The problem is they often don't realize this tendency.

She stopped and thought a moment then continued,

Someone once said "The unexamined life is not worth living." Perhaps he was trying to tell them this truth, although many don't seem to have understood the deeper meaning. Most people are so caught up in perceiving the surface reality that they don't realize how much more meaning there is in its depths. Perhaps they are not ready to understand these truths, or perhaps they just don't know how to go about uncovering them. They are taught many things by the society they live in, and not all of them are good. Many people complain about this fact, but few ever go deeper within themselves to discover the truths they already know without having to be told.

Many people realize that by attending college they can learn more than they used to know about many subjects. However, few realize how much they can learn from their past experiences. College is an experience. So is a relationship. So why do people keep repeating the same mistakes from one relationship to the next, when they try to improve their knowledge of the college course material in order to improve their test scores?

Perhaps they take it for granted that they're learning from past mistakes, but apparently most of them are just blowing hot air. Humans, for some reason, prefer to act as if they know more than they really do. However, this usually causes problems at one time or another and they end up having to learn things the hard way instead. Someone even developed a name for this. It's called "the school of hard knocks." Stubbornness may be a good quality when they're trying to accomplish a difficult goal, but sometimes they're stubborn about the wrong things.

Here she dipped her quill into the ink slowly, thinking, then proceeded,

Most of us have thought "I know I shouldn't do this..." but we still do it anyway. This has happened in many situations and for many reasons. Perhaps people are just masochists at heart...ever notice how one can't quite seem to stop sticking thier tongue in the hole where a tooth used to be? Or perhaps they're just too stubborn to listen to themselves when everything tells them to behave (or not behave) in a certain way. And if they won't even listen to themselves, who WILL they listen to?

Of course, that's providing they know themselves well enough to listen to thier inner feelings.

She stopped here, looking into the distance for a moment before continuing, as though looking into herself,

It's a scary thing to look inside yourself and see something you don't like. Most people want to believe they're basically good people when it comes down to it, and are distressed when they find out they aren't as good as they expected to be. Then they lock the knowledge up again and avoid doing anything to make them see that horrible, painful truth again. Which only causes more stress than there was already.

Perhaps a lot of stress could be eliminated if we actually faced who we are inside, even if we don't like what we see. Just knowing something is wrong allows for the possibility of making it right, whether you know how to at the moment or not. If we really believed we were good and worthwhile people deep down inside, maybe we'd give ourselves enough credit to realize we can change the things we don't like about ourselves, even if it takes time. Sure it's not always easy, but should it be? If a task is easy to accomplish, do you get as much satisfaction from accomplishing it as you would if it seemed nearly impossible to do? By and large, society has conditioned us to take the easy path, and to abhor anything that takes a little effort. However, from all appearances, this is the opposite of what the human psyche appears to need.

Many of us say we seek the meaning of life. But perhaps the meaning of life is contained somewhere within the deepest, scariest parts of our inner selves. Maybe we already know some of its aspects and are either too afraid to realize them or just don't realize anything's in there but dust bunnies. Maybe we would all be better people if we stopped to examine what's inside, whether it scares us or not. The truth of the matter is, most of us just don't know what's in there. And the unknown is scary. People don't like to admit that they don't know something they think they SHOULD know, nor do they enjoy being wrong. Some of us just deal with it better than others. And some of us actually learn from it.

I did. I wish I had sooner, perhaps it would not have been such a painful lesson.

He was not surprised that Kain had failed to respond, either purposely or not. The vampire was probably involved in a psychic discussion of some type, which meant that unless Steele set fire to him or dropped a flashbang down his trousers, the Velmoran was dead to the world around him. The big man finished his cigar, then feeling like a pre-schooler, tiptoed over to Kain and flicked a huge ash on the vampires head, where it sat regally, a small wisp of smoke floating from it. Steele smiled, then returned to the conference.

His eyes were drawn to her the moment he entered, to the curve of her neck as Lauralin bent over her journal, writing with concentration etched in her face. The tip of her tongue played at the edge of her lips as she wrote quickly, as if she needed to get her thoughts on paper before they disappeared. Her gown had shifted, and the smooth white flesh of her shoulder beckoned to Steele. he watched her for a few moments, memorizing the moment to be played back later, when the darkness struck him yet again. She was the only light in his life, though he tried to fool himself that there were more. His thoughts and emotions got the better of him, and his thought escaped to her before he could restrain it.

"I would do anything for you, to be with you, now and forever..." With the thought came an image, a vision of Steele exposing his throat, willingly, and becoming that which he had hated for so long. Anything to be with her. Anything.

Lauralin's signature was large and flowing, the first L acting as the underline for her whole signature and the final F cutting back to form a double underline. Then the quill slipped from vellum and across the desk.

"I would do anything for you, to be with you, now and forever..." With the thought came an image, a vision of Steele exposing his throat, willingly, and becoming that which he had hated for so long. Anything to be with her. Anything.

She turned and looked at him. Her pain filled eyes locked with his. She had sworn never to give the dark gift to another. How tempting it was all the sudden. The shock of his offer, knowing his background shattered her mental shields.

It was Ferrannifer, not Laura who stood and approached him. She leaned in, her whisper not just lowered but focus to a point one his ear so only he could hear, 'Walk with me. I shall not harm you. She is my dark daughter. There are some things you should know', and she gently took his arm, not forcing him, leaving him to make the decision but her eyes telling him that if he cared for Laura then he should come.

Though there was no love lost between himself and Ferrannifer, he stood and followed her, allowing her to take his arm and guide him away from the others. His body screamed out at her touch, the nanites protesting the proximity of the bloodsucker. He fought himself, and followed her willingly, intrigued by her words.

She stepped away from the others and kept her voice focused and low.

"First I suppose I'll start with the fact that Laura is a fledgling. It's not safe for her to attempt to make a fledgling herself until she's mature. By vampire age categories that is. Mature is about a century. Sooner than that and the blood needed to affect the change is so much it could destroy her. Old is safest to start but that's two centuries. Now, her is my dilemma. Vampires gain, to a lesser or greater extent, psionic talent. Laura's was changed by her training under Ariel in the Deryn way. She now possesses part of your soul because she had to go so deep to save your life and you part of hers. If a vampire, at least in our area, dies the half of the soul still on this plane gets pulled into the negative material plane and dispersed. Gone, completely, no ressurrection. Here is one part of my dilemma. If YOU die, I don't know what will happen to your soul. If it leaves, she could die as well. The second part is that the body dies when you become a vampire, again in our region. With your little mechanical bug friends repairing you I don't know what would happen if you DIDN'T die and were still infected. I could study the problem with examples of your machines and humans like you but Laura would never allow it. She doesn't like my methods. Most of her people would be frowned on by thier actions. Yet she managed to take the most diverse group and make them into an efficient group. It's a gift she has. I'm not here to dissaude or persuade you, only tell you the situation."

How did she know so much about his thoughts? Ferrannifer was more powerful than Steele had assumed, able to discern so much from his random musings, catching the information as it fled through the minor lowering of his mind-shield. He listened intently, learning more than he expected though his heart dropped at the words. He hadn't realized just how much this was becoming important to him, and how empty his life had been since he had left DragonsReach, and Lauralin's side.

"I...thank-you for your honesty. I appreciate the gesture...I would be willing to sponsor and take part in any tests that you feel would help to answer these questions. I have...limited control over the machines in my blood, and I believe that I could convince them to accept whatever physical change is necessary."

He wasn't sure of this last part, knowing that the technology that drove him was as alien as anything he had ever encountered. he had no idea how it would react to being mixed with the blood of creatures it was built to kill.

"Tell me what I need to do. I...love her, you know, with every fibre of my being. I'll do...anything to be with her...please, help me. I think she needs me as much as I need her. She bears too much weight alone."

This conference was becoming more than he expected, and turning in directions that were unintended.

"First you'll have to accept the fact that she's married and you would have to share her. By her own laws marriage is binding. That doesn't mean you can't have your time with her. Arleena spends a great deal of time in the north watching the movements and buildup of Skullkingdom. Shadowspawn is gathering all the modern tech he can and he trains his soldiers from birth. Right now he won't attack because he can't counter the dragons only the elite forces of Highport that the king is struggling to upgrade. So you would have her most of the time anyway. Besides, accidents could happen to Arleena... But anyway. Second I need you to tell me the truth. Your struggling with a curse of somekind, who gave it to you and why?"

"First you'll have to accept the fact that she's married and you would have to share her. By her own laws marriage is binding. That doesn't mean you can't have your time with her. Arleena spends a great deal of time in the north watching the movements and buildup of Skullkingdom. Shadowspawn is gathering all the modern tech he can and he trains his soldiers from birth. Right now he won't attack because he can't counter the dragons only the elite forces of Highport that the king is struggling to upgrade. So you would have her most of the time anyway. Besides, accidents could happen to Arleena... But anyway. Second I need you to tell me the truth. Your struggling with a curse of somekind, who gave it to you and why?"

When she uttered the name "Shadowspawn", Steele shivered inwardly, the memory of his debt to the Evil Lord jumping into his mind. A debt he planned to pay, but not in the way that the Skullkingdom leader expected. He made a mental note to get his Logistics team to contact Highport, and offer them any help possible to quickly get their war-machine upgraded. The hint that Arleena could have an "accident" did not escape him, though he filed this away for a later time.

Now Ferrannifer wanted something from Steele, something he was unsure he could truly give. His curse was imposed on him, a curse but a blessing as well. He had helped so many innocents since his transformation, that he no longer considered his curse to be a burden. His memories of the day that his life changed were dim, and sub-conciously he knew more than he realized. There was only one way for the vampire to get the truth from him, and he swallowed as he made his decision.

"I...will psionically open myself to you. Reach in, and take what you need...it's the only way, I fear. Maybe we should go somewhere a little more private, though...?" he hated the concept of being vulnerable, and wanted to be alone went he went under. Alone with a vampire while unconcious, unable to protect himself. As long as he lived, life never failed to surprise him.

(OOC - Just to let you know, Darius wasn't cursed by Shadowspawn, he was cursed by Enos Yorl. In a way it's better in that Enos Yorl doesn't trust anyone but himself and has no backing since he does as he pleases, making alliances and then breaking them when it's inconvenient. In a way it's worse, he, like Ferrannifer and Arleena were one of the three survivors of the wizard wars that killed off all but those three of the of most powerful wizards, but he is more powerful than both of them.)

"Alright. I want both you with any false promises that I would break if it was convenient. But I will tell you that Laura is my dark child and if helping you can help her then I'll help you."

She took his arm and led him from the room, glancing back at Laura who had her eyes closed, gather her defenses again. For the first time since meeting Ferrannifer, Darius saw worry on her face which she quickly conceiled to prevent anyone from thinking she was weak at the moment. Not that she worried to much with the sun sitting there. Were it not for him things would be different in Dragonsreach but neither she nor Arleena had the courage or power to fight him. Beside that fact that both loved her and wouldn't want to see her hurt.

Konnie thought of a response to Turquine's statement about cowardice, but figured it wasn't the argument. She was no warrior, avoiding combat if possible, and when it came to violence, she favored the dark arts over swords and daggers. But instead of debating about things she had no experience in, she turned to Todd, collecting the vials from the table.
"Given that we have the necessary samples already, we ought to do the human and vampire-human test first."

She placed the vials of blood in a pair of clamps built into the side of the machine, carefully aligning them with brass tubes leading to the hollow glass sphere that would contain the experiment. The magus gestured towards a set of controls on the imager.
"These two knobs control focusing and these three control view angle. When the experiment starts, whatever reaction occurs will be projected via holographics, visible in three dimensions down to the cellular level. This last button will initiate the mixing process."

Konnie stepped aside to let Todd at the controls.
"Whenever you're ready."

Lauralin finally replaced her mental shields so that thoughts would slip past her and around as though her mind wasn't there. She looked up, curious now.

"I wonder if anything will happen. But then this vampirism has nothing to do with my own. If it works like ours as far as physical change though the human cells will be killed and replaced by the vampiric ones. Then the vampiric cells will reproduce, using the human base to regenrate a body, unless it is in some way connect to the soul in which case they will just die because the soul is not evident. That is how it works in my region. But then we are different."

They found a small alcove off the main entrance to the conference room, hidden around a corridor. Entering, Steele drew the silken curtain across the opening, concealing himself and Ferrannifer from prying eyes. Inside, there was a velvet-covered chaisse-longue, and two ornately carved chairs. He sat on the couch, pulling a chair close to him. He looked up at the vampire.

"I'm guessing this will be a lot like hypnosis...I relax, you dig into my brain, we both get answers. Is there anything you need to do first, or anything I should be doing?" Steele asked, reclining somewhat against the plush cushions. He started to perform the mind-clearing exercises he had learned so very long ago, preparing himself for the ordeal to come.

"Just relax and don't fight it. I'll try to stick to the information I need. I won't promise not to get nosey though."

There was no preparation from her and no need to close her eyes. She slipped into his mind as he relaxed and began seeking what she needed. There were flashes of memory from him. Scene's of violence and remorse that unlocked memories over six hundred years old.

She looked like a young adult but in elven terms she was barely teens. She had loved life and the beauty of the roses near her home. Then came the night that the vampires came. The slaughter of her family. How they used her for thier own pleasures and then made them one of thier own for her to forever remember this time. Then they left her. A fledgling alone in a hostile world where she was the enemy she had never meant to be. First came the yearning for what she had lost. Then despair that it would never be had again. Then apathy and finally anger and vengeance against those who possessed what she so desperatly wanted. She turned to necromancy. She began her research into how the living worked. Spells that her victims alive for weeks as she dissected them. Opened them and studied the still living organs and thier reactions to different experiments. Days, Weeks, a month or more of unbearable pain made possible by the dark magic she wielded. Years turned to decades, decades to centuries but still deep inside, even for all her evil was the one desire to have life again but knowing that the stronger she became, the longer she remained in her state, the more impossible it would become.

Then came Laura and Brook, her people in the tomb seeking the great lich that she was learning from in the school that she taught in. Two nuisances. Two, too weak to defeat her. But they did. Determination and cunning combined to defeat her even with all her powers. Her own arrogance was her downfall. Laura's spells weren't very strong, nor did they bother Ferrannifer to much but they were fast enough to disrupt her casting of power spells that took more time to cast. Brook, with her two handed magical sword that was powerful enough to affect Ferrannifer. One lightning bolt took Brook in the chest, throwing her out the door. Following was a rather comical scene as Laura and Ferrannifer both stopped to look at the doorway in disbelief as Brook came back in, bare chest, burnt flesh, holding the remains of her leather halter top in her hand. 'You ruined my best halter top you bitch.' The next strike was Brook's as Ferrannifer could only stand and stare in disbelief.

Later, working with the woman who defeated her, there came the day when a bloody and bone weary Lauralin appeared at Ferrannifer's lair.

'I need your help', she said.

'Oh? And how might I help you?'

'I need to get into Orcus lair, only an undead can get in without question and with prisoners.'

Ferrannifer had laughed, 'You think I'M going against the Demon Lord of the Undead? Think again.'

'No, I need you to make me a vampire. I need to get my people in in the guise of prisoners.'

Ferrannifer for the second time since this woman had come into her life stood in utter amazement.

'Please, my father's people will die.'

'Your serious.'

'Yes.'

And so began Laura's transformation into the being she was today.

Finally she found what she was looking for. The stairwell that continued downward. The conversation. The revelation. The knowledge that Enos Yorl imparted. 'She loved roses, that to her is like garlic in the myths. Sunlight won't affect her. But she has a phobia of spiders, spider venom can destroy her as sunlight can some others.' The bargain was made, Enos Yorl releases Darius and Darius kills Laura. But he didn't, because he loves her.

She slipped out of his mind and stood, her eyes not focusing on anything as she considered what she had learned.

As her story played out, Steele's own past grew brighter, seeking an exit, yearning to be heard.

FLASH

A large man, Steele, not-Steele, holds a child. There is love in his aura, love and pride. A woman stands close by, pure beauty, and loves her two men.

FLASH

A boy, taller than most, wrestles with his father. They laugh, and taste the joy of life.

FLASH

Black. Blood. Violence. Murder. Death. Mother, her throat torn out, the gaping wound pulsing blood into the dirt. Father, fighting, enraged, powerful, vengeful...dead. His heart lies beside him, pulsing once, twice. Stop. The child weeps, covered in their gore.

FLASH

The young man trains, fights, wins, protects. Wars are waged, battles fought, friends lost. His time done, he seeks vengeance.

FLASH

Fangs. Claws. Red eyes glaring. Revenge. The hunt plays out, over and over again. Fear...their fear. Fear of him. Fear of Steele. He hunts anew.

FLASH

Despair. There are too many, too many to fight them all. Alone. Weak.

FLASH

Near-death. The warmth of the long sleep beckons. He accepts.

FLASH

Gone. Not dead, not alive, not here, not now. Cradled in strong arms. Whispered promises float around him. The enemy becomes his saviour.

FLASH

Power. Internal. External. Technical. Mystical. A new vision, a bold reason, a new puppet-master, hidden in the shadows of the future. A smile. Fangs.

FLASH

Back to the now. The vengeance-quest continues. More stakes driven. The enemy falls like wheat before a scythe. He is grim. He is the Reaper. The undead huddle, and speak his name with fear.

FLASH

Prosperity. Politics. People. Friends. Something lacks. Love cannot be found.

FLASH

Destiny. Clouded. Misdirected. Unfulfilled.

FLASH

Laura. Laura. Laura. Laura. Laura. Laura. Laura. Laura. Laura. Laura. Laura.

With a visible start, Steele came out of his trance. His own visions were fading, his memories of his past disappearing deep into the darkness. He looked at Ferrannifer, filled with new respect and understanding for the vampire. He felt shame suddenly, shame at not fighting Enos Yorl when he had the chance.

"I would never bring harm to her, y'know...I'd sooner sacrifice myself. Yorl will call in his debt, and when he does...I'll pay him with his own blood."

Ferrannifer looked up at him, her face holding no emotion as she locked away her own past and his. Pasts so close but with different endings.

"Typical human arrogant statement. Many have faced Enos Yorl, none have beaten him." She rubbed her temples, considering what she had seen. "I'll try to talk to him. There's no love lost between us, but he respects me. He and I and Arleena were the only powerful wizards to survives the wizard wars. It was I who defeated most of the powerful good wizards. I might be able to do something."

She stopped a moment then looked at him, "Did you ever think that you might be a puppet? Your given the ability to destroy vampires now by a vampire in the future. Did you think that you did this and gave him the power to rule the vampires in the future? Are you sure your fighting for a good cause in the eyes of your creator? Or just his cause."

He stared into her eyes, the truth in her words bringing possibilities to bear. He shook his head in agreement.

"The cause I fought for has become muddied as the years go by, and after meeting Laura I...I had to stop. The hunt no longer made sense, my whole world no longer made sense...this is why I've turned all my resources towards finding answers or even a cure..."

He paused, his hand unconciously reaching for his cigar case. After lighting one, he considered the burning tip for a moment. His eyes looked deep into the past.

"It used to be so clear...kill those that killed my family. Then, I was given this great...ability, and I did not question why. I just used it to further my cause. I tried not to ask the hard questions...and now, I see I'll have to start."

He smoked some more, then turned back to Ferrannifer.

"All I know is that I refuse to be anyone's puppet anymore...all I want now is...is...well, I want Lauralin in my life, moreso than she is now. I'll risk anything to make that happen...if she'll have me, that is."

He paused, the reality of his words hitting him. What if she had no interest in taking the next step with him? What would he do??

Ferrannifer stepped forward placing a hand lightly on his chest.

"Maybe it's not a question of hunting or no, but rather to be more selective. Maybe you need to realize that hunting can be good. But hunt the right ones. There are evil vamires, most in fact, but not all. Eliminate the evil ones, preserve the good ones."

She slid her slowly off his chest and lowered her head, "At least you were fighting the right species. I turned my back on the ones who possessed what I desired. It took Laura to make me see how terribly wrong I was. All those people, all those centuries, all alone, and by my own actions."

She raised her head, looking into his eyes.

"She chooses good people. They follow her because of her sheer force of will and her good heart."

She chuckled lightly, "They may not be the best in social situations, but they're loyal. Brook died for her. She had her resurrected. Baghtru almost has many times. My people were loyal out of fear. Her's are loyal because they see the same dedication of sacrifice. I know you may not like pleasant reminders but look at her wedding band. Arleena nailed her perfectly. Gold intertwined with steel. I thought it a bit cheap at first until I heard her words and they fit perfectly. The steel represents the iron will that wraps the golden heart that drives that will."

Her voice had dropped, her eyes beginning to get a misty red haze and she had stepped closer to Darius. She had stood straight, the body in the full gown still enticing with its hourglass curves. The hips a bit wider than Laura's and breasts not so full but still promising delights. Her hands suddenly fisted and she stepped back, the mask returning again. The ice queen, as Brook called her, returning suddenly.

"We should return to the conference", and with that she simply turned and headed toward the curtain.

Her voice had dropped, her eyes beginning to get a misty red haze and she had stepped closer to Darius. She had stood straight, the body in the full gown still enticing with its hourglass curves. The hips a bit wider than Laura's and breasts not so full but still promising delights. Her hands suddenly fisted and she stepped back, the mask returning again. The ice queen, as Brook called her, returning suddenly.

"We should return to the conference", and with that she simply turned and headed toward the curtain.

"Wait." Steeles word was sudden, and solid. It was not a request, but a command. He noticed her for the first time, not just the vampire but the woman. She had a regalness of bearing about her, and strength of experience that radiated from her eyes. She seemed...hungry, but not for that which kept her alive...she was hungry for passion. Maybe, she lacked a gentle touch, and whispered words of intimacy. He felt a sudden flush of heat at the thought.

"You haven't answered my questions. I need to know if...if I can be turned."

She turned. 'Idiot', she thought to herself, 'that was the point of speaking in private.'

"Not by Laura, she's to young. Arleena or myself, assuming your altered body would allow it. But I warn you, the transformation is difficult. If your body resists, then believe me, it could kill you. The blood is powerful, if it's more powerful or less then you'll be undead or alive. If it's as powerful it will rip you apart. Even if it works it will far more painful than normal if your body resists. But you have to realize, and I'm not trying to turn you away from your course, that Laura is married. She will stay married, that is her own law and she believes that the laws must apply to everyone, including her, or they mean nothing. She learned that from her father. He had to try his own son for murder and find him guilty. The penalty had to be the same as any other under those circumstances. Death or service in the free corps. Also Laura does love Arleena. She will always be torn. I'll back you either way, but try to think of what might be easier for her. Having you and being torn or not having you except in friendship but at least not being forced to make a choice. I can't answer which would be easier. Whichever you choose, I'll grant you the dark gift. Knowing that you will watch over her, even if you don't choose to pursue a relationship."

She stopped and looked down, "Your the kind of man my father was. Like her father is. Like I've always wanted. But", she looked back up, her face again unreadable, "your not for me. You love her. You must choose your path, both with her, and for the gift I offer. And yes, even with all I've been through, I still consider it a gift even if she doesn't. I've witness history, lived it, even shaped it in some cases and remain to tell about it. How many can say the same?"

She answered his question, eloquently and clearly, leaving no doubt as to the direction he must take...the same road he had chosen before, and one that was long and lonely. As long as Arleena was in the picture, Steele would never be.

Remove her...

The words came unbidden to him, and he wasn't sure if they were someone else's, or his own.

Destroy her...

This was not coming from his own soul, of this he was sure.

She is the last...

The last what? The last vampire to kill? The last barrier between himself and Laura?

Pay your debt with her blood...

His mental-shields were no use, and a flood of images exploded within him, images of Arleena burning, another of her headless, blood spurting from her neck, and yet another of her falling, a stake driven through her heart, a stake held by...Steele. He shook himself, forcing his mind back to the here and now...but it was to no avail. The images were coming faster now, Arleena dying in myriad ways, and now, Steele and Laura together, on a beach, in a wedding chapel, entwined in each others arms, in bed, with their first child...it was too much to bear.

He fell to his knees, clutching his temples, a low moan tearing from him.

"Yorl", she said, "you will find it harder than you think old friend. You and I need to have chat when we're done. We'll work something out. I won't allow my dark child to harmed, even if I have to fight you myself. And as you know, I can be quite resourceful. Leave him in peace now, until I speak with you at least."

The voices left Darius head and a pressure seemed to ease. "He should leave you alone, for awhile at least, until I speak with him."

She knelt down, placing a hand on his head and whispering something in the spidery words of magic. The pain in his head went away and she stood again.

"Just so you know. There can be no child. Those who are turned by this form of vampirism are unable to bear children. Only those born a vampire may produce offspring as it's natural because the body developes that way and it has a chance to adapt through adolescence. Those who are turned afterward cannot because the vampirism considers the fetus a parasite and destroys it. I've only told Laura that she's sterile. The truth would be to much to bear."

Her touch was like spring water on a blazing inferno, the images fading rapidly into the past, his memory untouched by the message that was sent. He suddenly felt new energy, and knew the cause of it. Now he had a name, a name that had been forgotten, a name that had its hooks in him.

Enos Yorl.

Steele knew that their story had not yet truly begun, and that one day soon, they would meet. For now, he had another harsh reality to face.

Laura.

His hopes had been dashed by Ferrannifers words, words that reminded him of Laura's honor and duty, to her people and to her wife, Arleena. As much as he needed to be with her, and coveted her love, she would never be in his life the way he wanted her to be. Even if, by chance, he could find a way to become one of them, Arleena would still be there, and Steele would have many lifetimes to suffer the pain of solitude. A cross to heavy to bear, even for his strong, broad shoulders.

He looked at Ferrannifer, thankful for her honesty and protection. Without thinking, he reached out to her, taking her hand and pulling it towards him. He kissed it lightly, his lips lingering on the cold flesh. he looked up the length of her arm, past the curve of her breast, and into her eyes. They seemed to be...laughing at him, but in a good-natured way. He smiled, straightened and pulled her in, his lips covering hers, his pain rushing through the contact and dissipating. It surprised him as much as he suspected it surprised her.

Ferrannifer was surprised, though she wasn't sure if it was by his action or her reaction. She returned the kiss passionitly, surprising herself. How long had it been? A century? Two? Humans took even this simple display of affection for granted. How selfish of them, how foolish, and how lucky that they had that luxury.

Lauralin suddenly stood, looking around. Ferrannifer's thoughts were in chaos, nothing made sense. Something was wrong. "Father, Ferrannifer."

Her tone was enough, he stood and followed as Laura used the blood link to trace a path to her. Neither thought of what danger there may be. There was only one thought on both thier minds. Someone was in danger.

Ferrannifer broke the kiss first and stepped back, closing her eyes. 'I'm fine', she told Laura through the link, 'go on back.

'You've never been like this.'

'Return daughter, I'll be there shortly.'

Lauralin stopped her father, "She says she's okay, she wants me to return."

He hesitated but followed when she gently laid her hand on his arm, "Please."

"I'm sorry", Ferrannifer said, "but", she seemed to redden a bit and not meet his eyes, "I'm afraid my thoughts were in chaos and Laura thought I was in trouble. She was headed this way with her father. We are linked through the blood. My blood, that gave her the dark gift."

She looked up at Darius, "I have to ask you something. If this was a kiss of two people in a difficult situation I'll accept it and gladely." She was speaking quickly as though trying to get out what she wanted to say before she couldn't go on. "If it is to be something more then I must know why. I was married once as Vampiress. He said and did everything right. But all he wanted, I found out later, was the dark gift. He was willing to go to any means to get it. I won't go through that pain again. I've already offered it to you. I have nothing else to give. Nothing you don't already have. Wealth, power, position. You have those." Finally she stopped, not sure what else to do or say but the mask that normally came so easily wouldn't come this time. "I'll grant you the only thing I have to give, the dark gift. Just don't hurt me like he did. I may be a monster to you but I can still feel that pain."

Ferrannifer was surprised, though she wasn't sure if it was by his action or her reaction. She returned the kiss passionitly, surprising herself. How long had it been? A century? Two? Humans took even this simple display of affection for granted. How selfish of them, how foolish, and how lucky that they had that luxury.

She looked up at Darius, "I have to ask you something. If this was a kiss of two people in a difficult situation I'll accept it and gladely." She was speaking quickly as though trying to get out what she wanted to say before she couldn't go on. "If it is to be something more then I must know why. I was married once as Vampiress. He said and did everything right. But all he wanted, I found out later, was the dark gift. He was willing to go to any means to get it. I won't go through that pain again. I've already offered it to you. I have nothing else to give. Nothing you don't already have. Wealth, power, position. You have those." Finally she stopped, not sure what else to do or say but the mask that normally came so easily wouldn't come this time. "I'll grant you the only thing I have to give, the dark gift. Just don't hurt me like he did. I may be a monster to you but I can still feel that pain."

He was shocked, and very pleased, when she hadn't used her powers to throw him across the room. She returned his embrace with passion, and he could feel the heat from her, despite the fact she was...undead. He held her lips, his hand rising to gently caress her cheek, then her neck. They lingered a moment longer, and reluctantly broke contact. Her eyes were glassy, as if the touch of his lips had revived some dormant memories. He was surprised at the depth of emotion that he was feeling himself. He looked at her with new eyes, truly seeing her for the first time, and responded to her heartfelt question.

"You are no monster...it is I who bears that title. I am...more machine than man, while you still have your humanity. I...do not want your dark gift, nor do I have any intention of seeking it with another."

He paused, staring at her, wanting nothing more than to kiss her again. A passion stirred within him, one he hadn't felt since...Lauralin.

"I don't know why that just happened...but I would not change it if I could. I want nothing more from you, except..."

With that, he took her in his arms and kissed her again, this time with more confidence. He marvelled at how she felt in his arms, and even more surprising, that his nanites were not objecting to the close proximity of the vampiress. He pressed himself into her, feeling her body respond, holding her tightly in his massive arms. He broke the kiss long enough to whisper in her ear.

"This is the only gift I want from you."

His lips found hers yet again, and he lost himself in her embrace. His mental-shields slipped briefly, his emotions and thoughts flying away to the only one who could hear them, betraying this private moment to the last person he wanted to know.

Lauralin.

Lauralin was stunned for a moment, though everyone else was to engrossed in thier experiment to notice. She was jealous at first and it could be felt through the link. But that passed after a moment. Her own thoughts she left unshielded, allowing him to read them even she sifted through them herself. After a few minutes she responded, 'What I have I can give only sparingly, we both know that', she finally thought. 'Ferrannifer is unattached and not as saddled with the kingdom as I am. In fact, she could be our embassador to your nation. I had the key to her humanity, but you opened the door. And if you are both happy then what more could I possibly ask for two people I care about? Take your time, Darius. I'll let you both know if things get interesting here.' With that she closed the links to both to give them thier privacy and smiled as she watched the proceedings.

I had the key to her humanity, but you opened the door. And if you are both happy then what more could I possibly ask for two people I care about? Take your time, Darius. I'll let you both know if things get interesting here.' With that she closed the links to both to give them thier privacy and smiled as she watched the proceedings.

Her words in his mind warmed him, any shame he felt leaving rapidly. He realized that he would always love Laura, no matter what the circumstances, and at this moment, he loved her even more for allowing himself and Ferrannifer the liberty of exploring their newfound relationship.

The vampiress felt right in his arms. She was bright and filled with wisdom, experienced and humble, more powerful than any woman he had ever met, a power that rivalled, and most likely exceeded, his own. Ferrannifer had lived through history, and seen so much. He could learn from her, and in turn, teach her about being human. He kissed her again, not wanting the contact to end...now, or ever. The fierce heat that was boiling in him threatened to spill over, and with great effort, he fought down the passion that had engulfed him. Breathing heavily, he pulled away slightly, the color of his cheeks growing bright.

"Wow. I mean...wow. I...uhm...maybe we should rejoin the others? Perhaps we can renew this...conversation once the business of the day is done...say, over a nightcap in my room?"

Ferrannifer looked into his eyes for a long moment. She was looking for deception. Trying to see if he was trying to use her as she had been used before. But she saw none and blood tears rose into her eyes, "I would like that. Very much", she said in a low voice just above a whisper as her fingers slowly traced his jaw, his chin, then back up to his forhead. "So very much", she said as she embraced him again, laying her head on his chest.

She stayed that way for several minutes, trying to control her passions and her joy. So intent that she had even forgotten to give the semblance of breathing until finally she lifted her head, "Talk about taking one's breath away." She lifted her lips one more time, gently, caressingly touching his own, then began straightening her dress.

OOC: Jeez, y'all just took it away...nice job though. Very enjoyable.

IC:
Sigrun watched with interest as Todd continued to work at the machinery. He found the concept of a three-dimensional scope intriguing, and studied its features from afar. Yet, its true secret lay hidden inside, something that allowed the view to be seen in three dimensions. He beckoned for the conference's host to approach closer and whispered, "I'd like to talk to you about your technology inside your scope there. It would have great benefits back home..."

Sasha on the other hand, had noticed a strange pulsation of telepathic energy coming from outside the room. Glancing about, she noticed others were missing in attendance, specifically Ferrannifer, Steele, and Kain. She noticed that although the energy was charged, it was not in the negative sense. So, she paid it no more attention than one would to the rumbling of a dump truck going by on the street.

.....................

(OOC - Ferrannifer curtsey's to Tarlachia, "Thank you, thank you." Actually Gawdley and I have meshed well from first forum posts together.)

Lauralin was watching with interest, though not fully concentrating on what was happening. She'd go over it later. She had always had a photographic memory, it was how she had always learned so quickly. But for now she simply watched, her eyes somewhat distant if anyone looked close enough and smile on her face.

She placed the vials of blood in a pair of clamps built into the side of the machine, carefully aligning them with brass tubes leading to the hollow glass sphere that would contain the experiment. The magus gestured towards a set of controls on the imager.
"These two knobs control focusing and these three control view angle. When the experiment starts, whatever reaction occurs will be projected via holographics, visible in three dimensions down to the cellular level. This last button will initiate the mixing process."

Todd looked a the controls before going back to his suitcase and retriving a pad of paper and a pencil. He quickly jotted down a few notes about the machinery. The Golden Simatar possed some holographic equipment, but this was slightly different than the ones he was used to. Todd looked at the people in the room, he didn't notice the ones missing.

"Alright, here we go."

He pressed the button to start the mixing process. He only would start with a drop from each blood type, so that if there was a mistake the whole sample would not be contaiminated.

Todd zoomed in and began to focus on the blood. He carefully watched as a vampire blood cell absorbed a red blood cell, the vampire cell appeared to convulse for several seconds before stopping. He moved the lense and the image of another vampire blood cell attempting the same thing with another human blood cell. Only this time the human cell was fighting back, trying to stop itself from being absorbed.

Todd pulled the view out slightly and moved the image around to give him a better view of what was going on. It appeared the same absorbtion process was happening with many of the cells, while many tried to fight it off. He zoomed in on a pair of cells. This time, the vampire blood went into the human blood, several seconds passed before the human cell began to transform into a vampire blood cell.

"Remarkable."

Todd began to put down notes as fast as he could.

"So far..it appears that the vampire blood is either absorbing the human blood...or invading it and changing it from the inside out into another vampire blood cell."

Ferrannifer looked into his eyes for a long moment. She was looking for deception. Trying to see if he was trying to use her as she had been used before. But she saw none and blood tears rose into her eyes, "I would like that. Very much", she said in a low voice just above a whisper as her fingers slowly traced his jaw, his chin, then back up to his forhead. "So very much", she said as she embraced him again, laying her head on his chest.

She stayed that way for several minutes, trying to control her passions and her joy. So intent that she had even forgotten to give the semblance of breathing until finally she lifted her head, "Talk about taking one's breath away." She lifted her lips one more time, gently, caressingly touching his own, then began straightening her dress.

Her touch sent slivers of heat through him, but it was her words that made his spirit soar. He felt as if he'd known her a lifetime already, and his comfort at this moment was akin to an easy chair in front of a roaring fire...just perfect. Steele simply held her, feeling her need and wanting to give even more. They stayed immobile for a few moments, breathing in each others presence. Slowly, they separated, child-like grins on their faces. He wiped the blood-tears from her cheeks with his hand, and held her face, peering deep into her eyes.

"This meeting can't be over fast enough for me...I want you all to myself. For now, I think it would be best to return...the kids have need of yer wisdom, my darlin'."

Taking her hand, he led her out of the alcove and back into the main conference room, where the small group of vampires and humans were gathered together, huddling over a small device. No one seemed to notice their entrance, and together they straightened their clothes, and walked to where the group of people were speaking animatedly. His eyes caught Lauralin's for a brief moment, and he thanked her mentally. Then, all business, he turned his attention to the discussion.

"We should also conduct these tests with vampire samples from other lines, no? Not every vampire is the same, based on our discussions here. For example...how would Kain's blood react to the human sample?"

"Well I'm not surprised about the replication, it's normal in the vampire. Damaged cells are enveloped and replicated, it's how we heal so quickly. Even fire and acid can be healed if the damage is stopped in time. Some are not affected by fire, I suppose there are those not affected by acid, though I've not seen one yet. We pretty much told you what would happen, though this sample is different from Laura's and my own. Our's doesn't change the cell it destroy's it. That's why we need to feed. The red blood cells die in time. The older we are the less we have to feed, but eventually the vampiric cells destroys the human ones", Ferrannifer said to Todd.

'So', Lauralin said in Darius' mind, 'I guess it will be father and I sharing a room then instead of Ferrannifer and I?' Her mental tone was one of amused happiness. 'Just be careful how you breach that with father, he adopted her when he found out about me and is as protective of her as he is me. Sounds amusing, I know, but you know father.'

'So', Lauralin said in Darius' mind, 'I guess it will be father and I sharing a room then instead of Ferrannifer and I?' Her mental tone was one of amused happiness. 'Just be careful how you breach that with father, he adopted her when he found out about me and is as protective of her as he is me. Sounds amusing, I know, but you know father.'

"Holy sweet mother of Frell..." The last thing Steele needed, or wanted, was to have to confront the imposing form of King Turquine. He was still busy coming to terms with his fledgling feelings for Ferrannifer himself, and dealing with the Holy Knight was not high on his list of things to do. Instead, he tried to throw himself back into the discussion.

"We also need to test each vampire sample against different human ones...just to guage if the effect is similar across the board."

"If it's human or humanoid then it would most likely affect them, unless it's a magical creature such as a nymph. To my knowledge rock trolls are also immune as are normal trolls, this may have to do with thier own regenerative powers", Ferrannifer said, "although there is the vampiric mist and vampire tree. The siren tree also has a vampiric nature. Curious those, unfortunately any samples I managed to ascertain didn't survive transplantation into my laboratory."

He just liked watching her speak, her full lips encasing the words that sang from her. His stare of appreciation was unabashed and obvious, and with a start, Steele realized he was still holding Ferrannifer's hand, fingers entwined like school-children. The big man blushed, something he really hated doing, but it struck him that he wasn't in a big hurry to let her go...after all, he'd only just found her.

"Perhaps more answers lie there, with those that have displayed immunity of some sort. There must be something in their blood, something we could replicate...anyone know a Troll??" Steele asked, a playful grin on his face.

Patricia nodded. "I know hundreds of Trolls. I'm not sure how easy it would be to get one of them to come here right now, though. I mean, it's pretty damned short notice."

"The rock trolls are allied with Dragonsreach and Highport, but, as Patricia said, getting one here on short notice, especially if they don't want to be here, would be ill advised and nigh impossible. If you did manage it then you wouldn't want to be around when he regained consciousness", Lauralin said.

"I might be able to arrange it", Turquine said. "Part of the negotiations involved wrestling thier chief of chiefs. I had to win to prove that I was worth listening to. He may come if I ask, but we would need to arrange transportation. Not mention that finger sandwiches take on whole meaning when their fingers are as big as my lower arm."

Patricia nodded. "I know hundreds of Trolls. I'm not sure how easy it would be to get one of them to come here right now, though. I mean, it's pretty damned short notice."

"Tell 'em there's a bucket of gold in it for 'em...I'll even supply the transport." Steele looked at the massive creature...she called herself a RedCap or something. She was an imposing sight, and he wondered idly what she looked like naked. He shivered, and cursed himself for being a man.

Patricia blinked multiple times at Lauralin and Turquine. "Regained consciousness? Wouldn't won't to be around? Damn! What kind of Trolls do you guys have in Dragonsreach? Anyway, I could certainly try to call somebody. There's more than a few Trolls in my party and some of them owe me favors."

"Well", Lauralin said, "by unconscious I meant enough damage to get them to the point where they would have to regenerate a bit before waking up again. But I was joking, we would never do that. As for what kind of trolls there are a variety."

Ferrannifer had tried to say something before Laura started but it was to late.

"There are what we call the troll, which is which is one and a half times as tall as a man, a human, but very thin with long and ungainly arms and legs. The legs end in great three toed feet, the arms in wide powerful hands with sharpened claws. The hide is rubbery and its hair is thick and ropy and seems to writhe with its own energy.

Then there is the scrag. This is a marine variety of the troll that is found in both fresh water and salt water.

Then there is the giant troll which is over ten feet in height but otherwise resembles the mottled green skinned land troll.

There is the giant two-headed troll which is similar to the giant troll except for the obvious feature of having two heads.

Then there are ice trolls. These are similar in size and appearance to the normal land troll except that their skin is semi transparent.

The most dangerous of the trolls is a toss up between the rock troll and the spirit troll.

The rock troll is over twelve feet tall and weights upwards of two thousand pounds. Their skin is thick, like stone and pebbled, making them hard to injure to start with and therefore doubly dangerous with thier regenerative abilities. They are also as dextrous as any human or humanoid and thier intelligence ranges from below average human norm to a handful of genious level individuals.

Spirit trolls, if one can see invisible beings, resemble trolls except that they are slightly shorter and with diffused features. It is believed that they were created with the preverted magical inter-breeding of trolls and invisible stalkers ..."

"PERVERTED!" Ferrannifer cried. I'll have you know that they were one of my greatest achievements." Suddenly she realized what she was saying and looked between Lauralin and Turquine. "I mean .... misguided .... MAYBE. But it wasn't my fault they escaped. SOMEone decided to destroy the lich who was teaching me the dark arts", she said, looking at Laura, "and by so doing destroyed the magic that bound them to the school that I WAS head mistress of." Looking at Turquine she decided that it was better to stop now and stepped back.

"We'll talk later", the king told her.

"But", she began.

"Later. I won't harm you, I've obsolved you already of past misdeeds but you may be able to tell us how to defeat them with greater ease."

Patricia blinked again. "Wow...that's...different. Trolls are about nine feet tall. They have blue skin. They're obsessed with honor and protecting the weak and other bullshit like that, even the winter ones. They hate Pooka. Normally not that fond of Redcaps either but I've managed to make a few friends. So, anyway, do you want me to call someone or not? This is the third time I've had to ask the same damned question."

Lauralin shrugged slightly and nodded toward the two women in the front of the room. "This is thier nation not mine. That is for them to decide."

Konnie frowned slightly at the treatment of Ferranifer, particularly her works being characterized as perverted. In her opinion, there was no such thing as perverted experimentation. One of the Ministry's key philosophies was "Progress at any Cost," a belief that Konnie held quite dear. If a few test subjects happened to die, well, then that was the cost of progress. After all, what the public doesn't know can't hurt them, and in the deeper portions of the Ministry's laboratories it was very easy to keep things unknown. Besides, she thought, perhaps to help justify to herself what had been done, it was truly amazing the advances could be made when no one was watching.

Konnie spoke in Ferranifer's mind, her message short and to the point.
"We need to speak later, in private. I have a proposition that might interest one such as yourself."

At the mention of bringing in trolls, the magus considered a moment, directing her response towards Lady Alexandra.
"That is not my decision to make."

Konnie looked over towards her, waiting for a response. After a second or two, she nudged the vampiress. Alexandra seemed slightly surprised, obviously not paying much attention to the events around her.
"Um... yes, of course."

She sat back in her chair, wondering for a moment what she had just agreed to. Alexandra, for her part, had been following Steele's movements with her cold, gray eyes. It would be a lie to say that she felt nothing towards him, there was a certain attraction. She knew that it was foolish to feel that towards him, a human, particularly when she had wanted to see him dead only a short while earlier. Still, her gaze followed him, almost unconsciously. In the end though, the more logical portion of her personality prevailed, reminding her that he was not available, in the sense that there were others close at hand more interested in him than she was. Alexandra shifted herself in her chair to face the projected image of the experiment, bringing her thoughts back to the matter at hand.

"Your got it, Your Ladyness!" Patricia said, stepping into the hall as she pulled out her cell phone.

Stepping out of the room, Patricia called Oolasys Goldbludgeon, an old Trollish friend of hers and a staunch Radical. "Hey, Smurf, get your ass over here."

"Where's here?" The rather startled Troll woman asked.

"Akaton. They're are best buds, right? I like'em better than the damn pointies anyway."

"Yeah, yeah...I'll be there..."

A few minutes later, after giving exact instructions, Patricia reentered the room. "Alright. She's coming. Tell the guards to be looking out for Oolasys Goldbludgeon." She glances at Darius. "Try not to hit on her. She'd kick your ass."

He had almost spoken, his anger brought quickly to maximum. He wasn't sure of the exact history between Ferrannifer and Turquine, but one thing he did know was that no one would threaten her while Steele was alive. He took a step forward, looking at the King, his friend, and with his grey eyes sent a message to the ruler of Highport, a message that would be very clear to the warrior.

She is under my protection.

The two large men faced each other, not needing words to describe the tension that suddenly sprung up between them. If it were to come to blows, the collaterol damage would be horrendous, and Steele wasn't sure who would be the victor. Swallowing his defensive pride, the big man used his training to slow his heart down, and clear the adreneline from his system, which immediately calmed him.

Thats when he felt her eyes.

The tickle at the back of his neck was a signal he had learned to listen to, an indication that something was different around him. He supposed it reacted to psychic emanations around him, and the tingle had saved his life many times in the past. This time, he didn't feel any danger though...just curiousity. He looked around, noting Alexandra's eyes upon him. He returned her gaze, neither of them being the first to break contact.

Now this is interesting, thought Steele to himself.

Turquine looked at Steele dead in the eyes. What Steele mistook for a challenge was Turquine evaluating the man. He made a mental note to speak with him later.

"Do you still wish", he said turning to look at Alexandra, "as it seems that the trolls differ from nation to nation as well?"

"Alright. She's coming. Tell the guards to be looking out for Oolasys Goldbludgeon." She glances at Darius. "Try not to hit on her. She'd kick your ass."

Smiling back at the monstrous she-being, Steele shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"I yam what I yam, a wise man once said...but I don't think you need to worry about me hitting on her, ma'am..." He turned to look at Ferrannifer, his smile now only for her. Turning back to the group, Steele nodded towards the small buffet table.

"While we're waiting for our Troll visitor, I'd suggest we take a small break, and get some food in us. We probably have a long night ahead of us, and we'll need the energy."

Laura steepled her fingers to hide her grin, 'You certainly will', she murmured.

Turquine stood up and turned, "A word, if you would, Darius."

As Steele's gaze met hers, Alexandra smiled, her eyes taking on an unnatural intensity. For the two of them alone, time seemed to lose its meaning, the moment their eyes met lasting for an instant and an eternity all at once. Though she was silent, her eyes communicated in their shifting subtleties what words could not have. The feeling they held was not love. Rather, it was an irrational attraction somewhere between desire and curiosity. She stared into his very soul for a response, not intruding, looking only for what was offered.

Before Alexandra could find what she sought, Turquine's words came to her ears. She blinked, looking down for a moment, time returning to its normal flow. To anyone watching it would have seemed that nothing more than a passing glance had transpired. She turned to Turquine.
"I see no reason not to proceed as planned. Any information, regardless how limited, is helpful."

Konnie was collecting final observations from the experiment when she heard Steele's suggestion. She looked up from the stack of notes, setting down her pen.
"An excellent idea. I was feeling a bit hungry myself, and we all need a little break from time to time."

Turquine bowed to Alexandra, "By your will."

"Would you see to that Michael? Have Ariel bring him, it'll be the quickest way."

Turquine looked at Darius and nodded toward the door before proceeding through it himself.

Michael nodded and placed his hand on his ear activating the com.

"Gold channel"

"Susan, the king wants Rankill here"

"Ariel"

"She'll handle that"

"He wouldn't suggest her if he thought that would happen, besides you know her. If I had to place bets on a vulture lion against her I'd put it on her"

"Good, Gassington out."

Once he finished he moved to a position where he could see the king through the door.

"If you'll excuse me..." Sigrun muttered as he made his way to the balcony, pushing the double doors outward and emerging into the night. He leaned against the railing staring out and deep in thought. A hand summoned a fruit to his hand and he munched upon it slowly, savoring the taste...

(Tarlachia, we're underground.)

(OOC: *thumps head repeatedly on desk* Sorry...will fix with this:)

IC: Sigrun stared up at the cavern ceiling sighing to himself. He had to admit, he kinda like the idea of the whole building being situated in a massive underground cave of sorts. He turned back indoors after a while and sat down in a chair in the corner. Here he watched each person move about with airs.

Sigrun sighed. Despite becoming ruler, he still had much to learn about keeping patience in settings such as these...

Laura steepled her fingers to hide her grin, 'You certainly will', she murmured.

Turquine stood up and turned, "A word, if you would, Darius."

If the King hadn't spoken just then, Steele would have lost himself within Alexandra's piercing gaze. He felt her inside of him, not tentative but firm, probing. He felt heat from her, desire meshed with anger meshed with curiosity. He returned it in equal measure, confused whether it came from him or whether she was manipulating him at an emotional level. She shattered the contact as Turquine spoke, and Steele came back to the reality of the room. He glanced at Alexandra a last time, their eyes locking briefly, promising that this story had just begun, but unsure what the plot would be.

Shaking his head, he followed the Holy Knight out of the room, grabbing two glasses and a carafe of dark wine as he passed the buffet table. He filled both glasses halfway, offering one to Turquine as they exited the room. He hoped that the conversation would be civilised, and that if they both had glasses of wine in their hands it would be more difficult to throttle each other. Steele grinned to himself, knowing the chances of that happening were low. He hadn't known the King long, but they had experienced much together, and Turquine was now engaged to Steele's former navigator, the half-Elf named Tanis. The big security man was confident that the Kings long sword would remain sheathed.

"Thank you Darius", Turquine said as he took the proffered glass.

"There is no ill between us. I'll start there to put any fears you might have at ease. We are warriors, you and I. Once we both fought common enemies aside from our own local ones. Now find that the line between friend and foe is not so clearly defined as once it was. You were angered by my statement. So be it. But if you had seen the masses of flesh that she had somehow kept alive when first I saw her fallen school you would have destroyed her and not thought twice. I was going to. But when I found out what Laura did later and what Ferrannifer meant to her I couldn't bring myself to do it. She has changed as well, since those days."

Turquine took a drink from the glass and gathered his thoughts before proceeding.

"My daughter is surrounded by good people. She can protect herself and she has those who can protect her. Ferrannifer still has a number of enemies. They have a right to hate her as much as she has a right to a second chance. If you two should become close then I would be happy. At least I would know that she would be alright. That there would be someone to watch over her, help her and who, I admit, could be helped by her vast knowledge and wisdom in return. I would know that the people I care about are safe. Geladriel included. I know she can handle herself. I know she would have Michael and Susan, Ariel and Marcus to watch over her."

Turquine finished the glass he had in one long pull and turned to face Darius.

"What I'm trying to say is that if things work out between you two, just let me know. If not then I'll bear you know ill will. I know this isn't a good time or place for this discussion but it's the time and place I have. The average life span for a half-elf is about two and half centuries. I've RULED that long. I have far more years behind me than I have ahead. If I can die knowing that those I love are cared for and that my people will be safe then I'll die with good consience. But I have one more thing to do before I go and it'll probably spell the end for me. I'll destroy Shadowspawn before I leave this plane. I won't leave him to harm others while I go to my god."

He shrugged, "Besides, it's better to die in combat than waste away on a throne that I never wanted. Not to mention the fact that the world is a different place now. A place that I don't fit into anymore. People don't want knights and paladins fighting in the fields. They want to make backroom bargains and underhanded deals, and I can't do that. They want to wage wars with distance weapons or by pushing buttons without care for honorable combat. Facing man and looking into his eyes. Seeing his fear, his anger, his malice. Wondering what he sees in your own eyes. That's courage, not killing someone you can barely see. I can't do that, Darius. I'm .... outdated, to use modern terms."

He looked Darius in the eyes again, "I know Laura will be alright. We both do. Galadriel will be surrounded by my people, and she's a strong woman herself. I just need to know that Ferrannifer will be alright. Once I have that assurance then I can spend a few happy years with Galadriel before I face my final battle. We understand each other?"

Lauralin took this moment to step over to Sigrun. "Lord Sigrun. I know we didn't meet on the best of terms but there were happenstances of which you were unaware. I would take a moment to explain, if that's alright with you."

She took an empty glass from a nearby table and pulled out a bottle of the blood she brought with her, pouring a glass and handing it back toward Ferrannifer before pouring herself one and putting the bottle back. She then swept her arm toward the table. "Can I get you a drink?" she asked Sigrun.

He understood him better than any other man, two warriors who had seen so much, fought so hard and lost too much to seemingly endless battle. Though the Holy Knight seemed to be in peak physical form, the signs of aging were about him. Steele felt strangely moved by the King's words, and understood once again why his people would gladly follow him anywhere into battle, even through the gates of Hades. At that moment, so would Steele. Moving in a way that would have shocked anyone who knew him, the big man went to one knee, and bowed his head.

"If you will have me, I pledge allegiance to you and your people, and would be deeply honored to fight with you to destroy the Shadowspawn. Side by side, none would be able to stand before us."

He stood slowly, looking the King squarely in the eye, meeting his gaze, the look of equals.

"As for Ferrannifer...she has touched me deeply in such a short time...I cannot promise anything except that I will never knowingly cause her harm, and no matter what happens to us at a personal level, she will always have my protection. Truly, only time, and our hearts, will tell."

Turquine placed a calloused hand on Darius shoulder and truly smiled for the first time since Darius had met him.

"She has your protection, that's good enough for me, whatever else may happen. As for fighting by my side", he said thumping Darius on the shoulder good naturedly, "I would have said no a few years ago. I think I'm getting soft in my old age."

He filled his glass again and saluted Darius, "To old warriors."

He filled his glass again and saluted Darius, "To old warriors."

"...and lost friends." finished Steele, tipping his glass to the King. They drank in silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Steele turned back to Turquine.

"And now, a question of my own, if I may: What can you tell me of a fella named Enos Yorl? I have a feeling our paths will cross, sooner rather than later, and I could use any intel you might have..."

The glass shattered as it was crushed in Turquines hand. His fists clenching tightly as his ice blue ice changed to a steel grey at the sound of the name.

Lauralin gasped suddenly and turned from Sigrun as the power of her father became more and more intense. Quickly she moved toward the door that Darius and Turquine had left by spilling the blood in her glass onto Sigrun.

Ferrannifer shuddered suddenly as the king's power began to become overwhelming and her own preternatural powers began to cry out against the holy power of the knight king.

Turquine took a moment to stare into Darius' eyes, unable to speak for a moment. Thoughts flew from his mind.

...Men threw themselves into the battle line, crazed, deformed, demented. Driven by the force of the chaotic ones magic. Turquines holy blade cleaved left and right, the men before him falling like wheat to the scythe. He approached the figure on the hill. Energy flashed from the figure and the king went down, his horse dying beneath him. He rose and strode toward the figure. Suddenly more mishapen forms came over the hill and the chaotic man laughed. Turquine took a step back. Women, children, all scarred, mishapen, deformed by the demented man's magic. Almost to late he began the deadly dance again. His bile rose for the first time in almost a hundred years of war. Here a woman screamed, there a child cried in pain and then was silenced and all the time the crystal blade, 'Retributions voice', arced in crimson swirls. The lands ran red with the blood of the innocent that the mad mage had changed into his inwitting weapons of destruction. When Turquine reached the crest all that was left was the chaotic one's laughter.

"ENOS YORLLLLL!", Turquine bellowed in fury in memories and into the face of Darius.

Lauralin's knees buckled as he bellowed the mad mages name and she dropped to the hard stone, the stories of the chaos mage ringing in her mind.

Ferrannifer stopped and extended her senses. If Enos Yorl was here, things could be bad indeed. Far worse than anything she had ever done in her long life.

Turquine stood glaring, not at Darius, but through him. Looking at a scene from long ago. His fists were clenched at his side, his power radiating from him in waves like a tsunami's wave hitting a shore. Blood ran from the clenched fist where he had been holding the glass, the shard embedded in his hand, the pain unregistered in his fury.

Todd sat quietly, making observations, he had zoned himself out of the world around him. Everything happening was just white noise, he buried himself into his work. Finally, he turned his head to see Turquine's bloody hand. Todd jumped up from his seat.

"Jesus...are you okay? Need some bandages or something?"

Turquine didn't notice Todd or his question. He fought to control himself, his fury not at Darius but at the awful conflict that forced him to kill innocent people. Many said that death was a blessing for the poor twisted creatures the mage had made them to be, but the king couldn't help but think of the screams of the women and children.

(If the King hadn't spoken just then, Steele would have lost himself within Alexandra's piercing gaze. He felt her inside of him, not tentative but firm, probing. He felt heat from her, desire meshed with anger meshed with curiosity. He returned it in equal measure, confused whether it came from him or whether she was manipulating him at an emotional level. She shattered the contact as Turquine spoke, and Steele came back to the reality of the room. He glanced at Alexandra a last time, their eyes locking briefly, promising that this story had just begun, but unsure what the plot would be.)

As Steele moved away, Alexandra sipped her glass of blood, considering what to make of his reaction. Her thoughts lingered on the parting glance Steele had cast in her direction. She took it as the promise of things yet to come, though she was just as unsure of what that meant as he was. The vampiress promised to herself to let things between them take whatever course fate had planned.

It was then that Turquine's furious shout came to Alexandra, shattering the peace of her thoughts. She winced as his power flared, the knight's holy aura causing actual pain. For a moment, her fangs slid into view, instinct telling her that he was a threat. Closing her eyes, she calmed herself, fangs returning to their sheaths as she took another sip of blood.

Simultaneously, Konnie spun on the spot, looking for the source of the shout. She wondered for a moment who this Enos Yorl was, but by Turquine's reaction, she figured it was best not to ask. Instead, the magus made her way over towards Ferranifer, speaking in a low tone.
"Lady Ferranifer, a moment of your time, please."

Michael and Eve swept past the king and Darius, his PPG in hand as he cast his eyes about trying to find the threat. Eve couldn't detect anyone else nearby, her mind working as ship body did, scanning the area for life signs but to no avail.

Lauralin forced herself up against the awful power of her own father, both frightened for him and of him. Her love for him drove her forward and she rested a gentle hand on his injured arm.

Ferranniger turned to face Konnie, her own fangs having slipped from thier gum sheaths as she fault the awful power of her dark daughters father. For a moment Konnie was considered a threat in the overwhelming waves before she gathered her senses and forced herself to be calm. The eye teeth slowly retract and she nodded her head jerkily, moving toward the woman.

Anger and fury began to abate quickly as his daughter's hand lay lightly upon his arm. The simple touch, reminiscent of the mother she had never known, reminded him of Fage and for a moment he thought he would turn and see her there. When he saw Laura, her pain filled face filled with worry, he quickly banked his power and embraced her tightly.

"I'm sorry", he said as he held her. For a moment he held her embrace and then stepped away and back into the room. He held up his hands in peace, "I'm sorry...", was all he got out before an almost comically quizzical looked crossed his face as he looked at his bleeding hand uncomprehendingly.

Sigrun watched with concern as Turquine relived the memories that beseiged his mind and clenched him in its surreal yet awesome horror and pain. He could feel the holistic power flooding the entire room, and he could hear the slight hisses of the vampires.

Sasha, nearby, had bared her fangs instinctively and hissed, retreating to the shadows and watching Turquine from there. Her vampirism allowed her to merge with the shadows, and left only her eyes visible by any. They had turned crimson red, the pupils lost in the richly colored irises.

Finally, Turquine greatly chafed off the holistic energy as Lauralin struggled against it and managed to touch his arm. Sigrun breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid he would have to cast a spell to knock the king out temporarily, for the safety of all here, long enough to allow them to get him under control.

Sasha emerged from the shadows warily, but her fangs had disappeared once more. She remained far from Turquine, and watched him. For a brief moment, a whiff of a entrancing smell could be sensed and she turned her head slightly to locate it.

You trying to make yourself an open feast? she questioned Sigrun telepathically. He looked at her, and then realized why she had said such a thing. He looked down to hold the fabric of his clothing in his hands. He sighed and released one hand to wave it over the fabric.

A few moments later, drops of blood began to extract themselves and float upwards and combine into a fluctuating ball of blood. Sigrun picked up a glass nearby and held it under the ball and released the spell. It landed with a slight sloshing sound. He set it back down on the table. The blood had not been contaminated by his clothing or by the spell.

He turned his attention back to Turquine and Lauralin, and watched with curiosity as two beings, theoretically enemies, hugged and shared a personal moment together.

After a moment Turquine noticed the shards of glass and realized what must have happened. He turned and put his good hand around Lauralin, helping her to a chair.

Lauralin sat down, still shaking from her close proximity. Her fledgling powers weren't enough to overcome his aura but her sheer force of will had pressed her on. Now with the crisis over and her will almost completely drained she sat, shaking.

"I apologize", Turquine said after making sure Laura was okay. He looked around and picked up another glass and began to extract the long slivers of glass. "I am truly sorry for that. I meant no one any harm." As he removed the peices his wounds could be seen healing. They didn't heal as fast any vampire could manage but certainly faster than any normal mortal would.

The moment Steele had uttered the name of the dark mage, Enos Yorl, all hell had cut loose. Turquines roar surprised him, and he unconciously went into defense mode, his exo unit powering up to full, tactical options being fed directly to his reflexes, pure energy crackling at his fingertips. He scanned the area around him and the King, seeing no obvious threat. Then the images struck him, a wave of pain and innocent blood, a wall of loss and cruel defeat, each image searing itself into his mind, every face locked into his memories forever. The pure force of emotion struck him, and he took a step back.

The King, lost in his own memory, was glowing slightly, the magic of the Holy Knight activating to protect him. Close by, the bloodsuckers would feel this power, power that was anthema to them. Some of them also reacted, going into defensive mode, fangs unsheathing and dark eyes flitting, looking for escape.

His own automated defenses felt the agitated vampires around him, and acted in the only way they knew how. He had to fight his nanites for control, shutting down the failsafe that would have released a sonic explosion, dialed into a high-frequency that vampires would find to be painfully immobilizing at first, and painfully fatal in the end.

Suddenly, everything came back to as it was, and Steele saw the reason: Lauralin. She had calmed her father, bringing him back to the here and now, despite the great pain she must have been feeling by his proximity, his Holy Knight energy battering her darkened soul. Still, she stood up to the agony, and guided the King back to reality.

The threat in front diffused, Steele turned, looking into the room, seeking Ferrannifer. Their eyes locked, and he felt the tension leave him completely. She was fine, which gave him new energy. He smiled at her, and uncharacteristically blew her a kiss. As he did, Alexandra drifted by behind Ferrannifer. Shaking his head, he turned back to the King and his daughter.

"No, it is I who apologizes, your Majesty...I should not have brought that dark name up here, now. We will speak of it no more tonight."

He looked at Laura, their psi-link familiar, and safely connecting them.

"I asked him about Yorl...you know my fate is bound to his, don't you? Of course you do...you have access to my soul. I have no secrets from you. Enos Yorl will die by my hand, or I will die by his...I wanted to get an edge, by picking yer Dad's brain, maybe get some tactics to use against Yorl...I'm sorry fer hurtin' him, darlin'..."

Even Laura's mental voice was weak and quaking as it reached Darius. 'I knew. There's been no time to speak. I've not rested in days. Not since the terrorist attack on my people. Ask Ferrannifer of Enos Yorl. She'll know far more.'

Michael slid up beside Darius, Eve behind him. 'What the hell was that about?' he asked quietly. 'I don't see anyone else around, Enos, Anus or otherwise.'

Steele smiled at gruff security chief, thankful for his grim humor.

"Everything is secure, Chief...but we need to talk. This guy Enos is a major-league threat, and it looks like your people may get involved eventually. My question is are you and your team ready to rumble? I can provide you with some heavy tactical weapons and armor, about a dozen Razor units and advanced combat computers. Say the word, and I'll get a transport in the air."

He paused, seeing Michaels mind go into overdrive. Well, it wasn't easy being at a party, and learning that very shortly, you might be going to war.

"Listen, I'll upload all the intel I have on Yorl to Eve's mainframes...uhm, with your permission of course, Eve?"

Michael nodded, "I'll take what I can get, believe me. This place is great for a vacation spot but it didn't have cow chips to throw in a real fight when I started. If I can get Ariel to give me a lift and some replacement security then I can have a squad of wraiths adapted to atmospheric flight in about seventy-two hours, too. The Valks are still giving me a hard time but I don't think we'd need missile frigate support until we have to deal with Skullkingdom. I might have something you'd be interested in too. A knew battleship design I've been working on. We don't have the tech or production power to put it out."

Eve nodded to Darius, "When you have the information just open the link and I'll download it. I'll run geographic and spectral analysis and see what I can find in the satallite surveys."

Michael looked at Darius, "You know, there's an old space station in orbit. The people in the nations now had been more advanced once and blasted themselves back to the stone age. I don't know if it might still be active or if can be activated, it was a project on the back burner. We could look into it."

Steele nodded, seeing the possibilities open up. Gassington had a sharp mind, thinking a few steps ahead. Turning away somewhat, he opened his comm unit, speaking quickly and quietly. A few moments later, he returned his gaze to Michael and Eve.

"OK, the gear is on it's way. We got lucky...my best Razor team are fresh, and on the move. They'll help coordinate my guys and yours, and they should make planetfall in about 12 hours. I've also got a team of techs on a fast skiff to that abandoned space station...my boys are good, and if anyone can get that relic back to life, its them. They'll be in orbit in 3-4 hours, so anything you can do to clear the way for them would be appreciated."

He smiled, cocking his head.

"Would'nt do to have them shot down by your guys, now would it? Eve, a link is open and waiting for you to login anytime. Oh, and about that new battleship design...when we get a minute, lets see if I can help. I have a few shipyards that can be ramped up to production level fairly quickly. I have a feeling we may be needing those boats..."

Looking over Gassingtons shoulder into the room behind him, Steele focussed on the woman who probably had the most knowledge, and had most difinatively captured his imagination: Ferrannifer. She was heart-stoppingly regal, and the natural power that emanated from her only highlighted her strong beauty and athletic grace. He needed to speak to her now...the rest would have to wait.

Michael caught the look and activated his com again.

"Susan"

"Yeah it's me again."

"God, miss by one hole.."

Michael pulled the receiver from his ear for a minute and then replaced it.

"Listen, I need the wraith project bumped up to max. I need them in forty-eight hours."

"Alright, look, I'll take seventy-two hours then."

"The union steward on the docks owes me a favor."

"Not enough people for me to sleep well at night."

"Yeah well I didn't take this job to get popularity points."

"I'll be heading back, did Ariel leave yet?"

"Good, have her bring Trevor."

"Gassington out."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ferrannifer caught Darius look as well and nodded. She stepped over to him, taking his hand. "I'll tell you what I know."

Ferrannifer caught Darius look as well and nodded. She stepped over to him, taking his hand. "I'll tell you what I know."

At her touch, Steele felt a rush of emotion pull at him, unnatural in its intensity, virtually overwhelming him with the need to take her in his arms, crushing her to him, engulfing her...it took everything he had to pull away, and let her hand fall to her side. Immediately, the sensations lessened enough to be palpable, controllable and reasonable. Still, when he once again looked at her, the word's love and lust took on whole new meanings. He wet his suddenly dry lips, and spoke with a voice still choked with passion.

"I have to tell you a story...an ugly story. Something that shames me and...scares me. Months ago, when last I was on DragonsReach, I happened to meet Enos Yorl...I was stuck on some alternate plane of reality, on a never-ending staircase. I had been there, climbing ever upwards, for what seemed like days, with no end in sight."

Steele paused, the memory of that night vivid in his mind, his eyes taking on a hollow stare. He swallowed, and continued hesitantly, his voice lowering.

"That's when he showed up...Enos frellin' Yorl. He agreed to free me and send me back to the castle, on one condition: I had to kill someone for him. I agreed, lying to his face, telling him anything he wanted to hear, anything...as long as he'd send me back. Yorl kept his part of the bargain, and returned me to DragonsReach. Now, I think he's calling in the debt."

He stopped and stared into Ferrannifers eyes.

"I agreed to kill Lauralin. You know I could never do that. I'm...afraid that he'll find a way to make me hurt her, against my will...her, and any others that would be in the way. I can't let that happen."

He stood a little straighter, gathering himself. His frustration was turning to anger, and his system was reacting, his massive body veritably glowing with building power, his large hands clenching into sledgehammer fists.

"I gotta take him out before that happens. I need to take the war to his door, and stop him while I have a chance. I need...you...to help me. If you can."

He looked past her towards the door, where Laura stood with her father, the King. They looked perfect together, two strong and powerful monarchs, borrowing strength from each other. Steele smiled as Gassington continued to bark out orders into his handheld, and Eve followed behind him, smiling at the man she loved. These people had become more than allies...they were family. Steele would'nt let anything happen to them while he lived.

Ferrannifer nodded. "There may be a way. But there are two problems." She looked around the room. "We'll discuss it later. I think we've interrupted the conference long enough."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ahhhh, NUTS!", Michael said loudly and activated the com again.

"Susan."

"Yeah, yeah, shoot me, listen, theres going to be alot of activity from the Gawdley ships and personal, give them the clearance they need."

"Incoming major hardware and investigation of that derelict station."

"Yeah I'll give you a full sitrep when I get back."

"Gassington out"

As Ferranifer moved off towards Steele and the rest, Konnie followed at a discreet distance. A pointed ear perked up at the mention of war. Konnie had seen war but once in her life, during the horrific War of Unification. Though she was barely more than a teenager at the time, and three centuries separated this from the present, the memories were still vivid. In her mind there were images of troops, endless lines of soldiers marching to war, marching to death. Everywhere the grim specter of the fleet darkened the skies. Day and night were as one, the flames of burning cities illuminating the night as grinding war machines scoured the streets. The war raged for thirty long years, claiming uncounted millions of lives and establishing the Imperium as it was known today.

The magus hated and feared the War, but grudgingly accepted its necessity as a force to drive change and, ultimately, progress. And so it was that a sort of morbid fascination led her to head across the room and hear what she could about the coming war.

Elsewhere, Alexandra rose from her chair and made her way towards Sigrun. She moved with the sort of inhuman grace that marked her as a descendant of elven nobility, one of the few remaining aspects of who she was prior to receiving the dark gifts of vampirism. She watched as Sigrun worked an enchantment upon the blood spilled on his clothing, a smile playing across her bright red lips.
"A nice trick, I always have wondered what the best way is to get blood stains out of fabric."

He first noticed her interest earlier, when she had attempted a psi-contact with the vampire, Ferrannifer. His mental-shields, rudimentary as they were, enabled him to be aware of the contact without discerning the details behind it. Now, Konnie seemed to be shadowing her, always a few steps away, but close enough to eavesdrop.

Across the room, Alexandra was approaching Sigrun, the two speaking quietly. Steele was shocked when he suddenly felt a small stab of jealousy. Suddenly, the voice, the familiar voice, screamed through his mind.

You must finish this

He rubbed his temples, closing his eyes against the rising pain.

Another that will laugh at you

Images of Sigrun, naked, making love with Lauralin and Alexandra, danced before him.

She laughs at you.

She became Laura, became Tanis, became Ferrannifer, became Alexandra, became Eve, became Arleena - all of which were rubbing themselves against the Tarlachian vampire.

Kill him. Kill her. Kill them all.

Steele's body was reacting unconciously, powering up, locking into combat mode, power crackling from him. He looked at Ferrannifer, pleading with his eyes, but she could not help him...not now that his system was ramping up to "slayer" mode. He had to get out, before he lost control. Turning abruptly, Steele hurridly left the room, brushing past Laura and Turquine, whose eyes widened at his physical state.

...and these two must die. Kill them now.

Pushing away, the big man stumbled backwards, trying to get out of the castle, away from the vampires, away from any that could be hurt by his hand. He slammed into Michael, knocking the security chief into Eve, both of who went down in a tumble. His eyes glanced over, filled with animal panic.

Start with this pair. Practice makes perfect. Kill, kill, KILL.

He ran, into the elevator, punching buttons blindly. Coming to a stop on the main floor, he leapt out before the door had fully opened. Bellowing in frustrated anger, he smashed past the palace guardsmen and through the main door, rolling down the stairs painfully and coming to a stop in a heap, lying on the gravel-topped courtyard, alone with his thundering heart. It was better here, outside, the cool evening air filling his lungs and clearing his mind. The nanites began to power down with no vampires in close proximity.

Steele breathed, staring up into the night sky. The attacks were getting worse, and the longer he let them continue, the higher the risk that someone he cared for would be hurt by his own hand. He needed to turn the game around, and take the offensive.

If Yorl wanted death, Steele would deliver it to him.

Todd had gone back to work and was switching out the human blood samples and mixings with the vampire blood. He had just placed in the elven blood when Steele came thundering past him towards the elevator. Todd finished placing the sample in and closed the machine as he watched Steele hammer away at the buttons on the elevator.

Todd began to move down the hall towards the elevator, but arrived too late to catch Steele. He pressed the button and it returned quickly, Todd climbed on and pressed the main floor button. He exited the elevator and saw the results of Steele's open main door.

Todd ran over and saw Steele in a heap at the foot of the stairs. Todd carefully went down the stairs, moved around him, and kneeled a few feet from Steele. He didn't know what kind of mental condition the man was in, he wasn't going to take a chance.

"Steele, are you okay? Do you need a doctor?"

With a speed that belied his great size and current condition, Steele's arm shot out, his massive hand going around the young Simatarians throat. He stood, lifting the struggling man into the air as if he weighed nothing, his fingers locked around Todds throat like iron bars. Seconds later, the big security man shook his head as if waking up, and realized that Todd was slowly dying of suffocation. Quickly, he put the young man down, releasing his grip. As Todd struggled to catch his breath, Steele pulled out a hypo-spray, applying the healing spray to the frightened young mans neck.

"Kid...I'm frellin' sorry, son. I...reacted without thinkin', my old soldier habits, y'know? You gonna be OK, boy?"

Todd was still breathing in gulps of air, color returning to his face. Steele looked around, wondering when the Simatarians protector would show up...whichever vampire that had marked Todd would know he had been in danger. Still, he had a few moments.

"Listen to me, carefully...I know you think I'm the biggest space-jerk around, but I'm also the only human here that has dealt with the immortals, and survived. Todd...it's not too late for you...but soon, there will be no turning back. Once they get their fangs in you, they own you. Think about it, ok?"

He looked down at the other man, pity in his eyes. Steele was pleased to see the kid was breathing fairly normally now.

"If...if you want my help, now or anytime...just say so."

Todd looked at Steele, he rubbed his neck and took a step back from Steele. He gazed at Steele, still trying to get over the fact the man had nearly killed him. He took another step back as he thought about sending a message to Sasha, asking for help but he thought it best to talk with Steele alone. He shook his head.

"I don't need your help Steele. I do think you are a big jerk if not an asshole. Your sounding like a prophet of doom...if I act friendly to a vampire a few nights later I'm nothing more than thier pet. I can handle myself if I get into trouble, you should worry about your own problems."

The sharp twang of psychic pain screamed at the back of Sasha's mind. Todd... she thought to herself, glancing around quickly. He wasn't here. She bared her fangs slightly and quickly exited the room.

Several minutes later, the doors slid open and she strode out. Instantly, her psychic connection with Todd allowed her to locate him with speed and she followed it.

From the shadows she came up behind Steele and Todd. She noticed that Todd seemed to be favoring his neck. She snarled silently...

Seconds later, she spoke, her voice deadly cold...

"Steele..."

He turned to her, only to recieve a powerful punch delivered to his jaw...

He had been expecting a response, but not one such as this. She had been stealthy in her approach, and Steele was still reeling by the psychic attack that had been launched upon him. When Sasha spoke, the big security man turned, not expecting the powerful blow that slammed into him, lifting him off his feet and depositing him 20 feet away. He slid along the hard ground, stunned by the attack, his exo unit powering up automatically and the nanites in his body rapidly working at healing the damage to his face that Sasha had caused.

Coming to a stop, he shook his head to clear it and got rapidly to his feet. His combat AI played out the tactical scenarios for him, three of which would put down Sasha hard, but with Todd as part of the body-count. Unacceptable. The fourth option would turn the surrounding area into a smoking crater, with many victims. Also unacceptable. He went with the last option instead.

Standing, he powered down his defenses, leaving himself vulnerable to Sasha's follow up attack.

Sasha advanced on Steele, her eyes having changed to crimson once again. Her fangs had drawn out completely and clearly displayed in her snarl.

"Touch him again like that, and I swear I'll drain you dry..." Sasha growled menacingly to Steele. Steele looked up at her and saw not the calm, beautiful woman from earlier, but now a rather pissed off version with creepy eyes and fangs to boot. There was anger in her eyes, and many would have fled just from that alone. She appeared to be worse than a woman on a bad day with her period...

Todd stepped out of the way as Steele came lurching past him after Sasha's punch. He looked at Steele as he sent a message to Sasha.

"You didn't have to do that you..."

He turned to look at her and his message stopped. She looked much different, more ferious, like an animal. Todd looked at her for several seconds.

"Sasha, calm down...it is okay, he didn't hurt me that badly. My neck is a bit sore, nothing more."

He stood unmoving at her approach, and unblinking as Sasha hissed her threats at him. Strangely enough, all the big man could think about at that precise moment was just how lovely Sasha really was, something he had failed to notice earlier. Even with her fangs extended, she was quite the impressive woman...there was just something about a gorgeous bloodsucker that made her particularly alluring. Still, he already had his hands full with Ferrannifer, and the babe in front of him was pissed. Steele replied, his voice restrained.

"It was an unintentional accident, one that I have apologised for, and corrected."

It was true: Todd's neck was totally healed, the angry bruises gone, and the pain nothing but a fading memory. The hypo-spray had done its job well.

"I wonder how the rest of the delegates would feel if they knew you had branded the mortal, making him your blood-doll."

Steele finished speaking, then walked past Sasha towards the castle, and the conference room. The big man did not look back, and only slowed down to give Todd a knowing look.

Slowly but surely, Sasha's anger dissipated and she returned to normal. Her eyes shifted back, as did her fangs.

"I wonder how the rest of the delegates would feel if they knew you had branded the mortal, making him your blood-doll." Steele said to her.

She looked him in the eye and replied, "He was given a choice..."

She watched as Steele departed, only slowing to nod to Todd. Once he was gone, she turned to Todd and spoke quietly.

"What happened?"
___________________________

"A nice trick, I always have wondered what the best way is to get blood stains out of fabric."

Sigrun didn't look up right away as Alexandra praised his cleaning. He watched as Steele, then Todd, and finally Sasha left. Sasha...what troubles you? he thought to himself before turning back to Alexandra.

"The arcane is not just for combat you know...it can be employed for something even as simple as this."

He lifted the cloth to illustrate, before dropping it once more. Steele returned hardly a moment later. Sigrun watched him, noting the look on his face. He turned back to Alexandra, "I take it you do not use the arcane frequently?"

When Darius ran out Ferrannifer thought about following him. She wanted to be sure he was alright but she wasn't sure that whatever it was that was bothering him wouldn't be a threat to her. Better to let him settle the matter on his own than risk any confrontation now. Since he had run out she turned toward Konnie, "you wanted to speak with me?"

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Michael helped Eve up and looked after the reatreating form of Steele as Todd went by. Steele was okay in Michael's book but Michael had other things to concern him, like his duty to watch over the king and queen. He looked over toward them to make sure they were okay and then did a quick survey of the room just as Sasha disappeared.

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Turquine sensed the vampiress leave the room and moved toward the elevator that Darius had taken but he was stopped by Lauralin's gentle touch.

"Remember Resurgent Dream", she told him.

He did remember. The conflict between Darius and Kain that had drew him and his daughter in. They had acted to preserve the peace but it was not thier duty to act in another nation and this was not thier responsibility either. The people here would handle the situation, not him. He nodded, "Your right, of course." But perhaps there was something he could do.

He approached Alexandra and bowed politely, "Lady, perhaps I should remove myself from these proceedings. I wonder if my presence is being disruptive."

Todd watched Steele go, he knew the older man knew that he was Sasha's donor. He stood there for several seconds before turning to the vampire.

"He....he told me that he offered me help. He told me it wasn't too late, soon there would be no turning back. He said that once a vampire gets thier fangs into me....they own me."

Todd looked at Sasha.

"Your mark...your just marking me as a donor right? Not as your property."

Sasha turned to Todd and looked him in the eye. "I gave you a choice. You chose to go ahead with it. That does not make you property, or even a slave. You merely have agreed in a verbal contract to be a donor. Your contract was signed by your blood, so to speak. As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to remain a donor for as long as you wish to learn about the underworld. No more, no less."

She brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and took a deep breath.

"Steele seems to have only met the truly dark vampires of the world. He has yet to meet those of the Assingtonian line, which is where all the vampires in Tarlachia descend from."

Todd nodded to Sasha, she was right and he knew it. He nodded to her words and remembered Assington. He had heard the name before. Todd looked at her.

"Are the vampires in Assington worse or are there a few that are honorable?"

Sasha placed a hand on Todd's face softly, "Depends on who you meet..."

She gave him a disarming smile and began walking back to the conference.

Todd walked with Sasha back to the conference and he turned to her as they climbed into the elevator. He bit his lips, nervous of the question he was dying to ask. He knew he would feel stupid asking it, but he had to.

"You and Sigrun told me that Stephen Malone is now a vampire. How is that possible? All you said he was bitten and didn't drink any vampire blood. What caused him to turn...and...well.....how is it a vampire can go unnoticed in a country? Don't you have to drain your prey to get a...full meal?"

Sasha looked at him and apologized, "You'll have to ask Malone that himself...I've no idea how it happened. Answering your question about meals, technically, it depends on how much we need the blood. If we're injured and have lost blood, we must balance the loss with the feeding. However, if we feel, we can always drain someone just for the hell of it, especially if its someone who's ticked us off."

Like Steele... she thought to herself silently.

Alexandra watched as Steele hurried from the room, sensing his pain. The vampiress was surprised to find herself feeling concern for the man. Brings out the best in me, she thought. Alexandra thought to follow him, deciding otherwise after a moment's thought. Never a wise idea to impose oneself on a person seeking solitude, particularly when that person was as deadly as Steele. She turned back to Sigrun, smiling self-consciously.
"It's not so much a matter of frequency as it is of proficiency. Konnie has taught me some simple incantations and such, but I am certainly no sorceress."

It was then that she sensed Turquine's presence approaching her. She turned to him, responding in as pleasant a tone as she could manage.
"It is your choice as to whether you remain. I would not be so impolite as to ask you to, a guest of the Imperium, to leave."

Konnie looked to Ferranifer,
"Yes, I wanted to speak with you."

The magus lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
"I have seen the way they treat you, the King and Queen. It pains me to hear them speaking of your research as a perversion. I have no objections to your methods, and since the Ministry is not bound by Imperial law, I offer to host your experiments within my laboratories in exchange for access to your findings."

Turquine knew that was a kind way of agreeing with him. He nodded, "As soon as Ariel arrives I'll see to our guest that she'll be brining and then leave all here in peace. I'm sure she should be arriving shortly. She's my advisor and can speak for me. Besides, she's more knowledgable than I in many areas. My daughter can speak for the rest."

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Ferrannifer glanced at Konnie and spoke in the same low tone but with a dangerous edge to her voice. "The king and queen are much fairer than you think. Speak not ill of them or face me."

After a moment she continued. "But I agree they are jaded in thier opinions of my experiments. I would take your offer. Perhaps we can share notes from past experiments as well."

He entered the conference hall, the evil whispers in his mind fading to hesitant memories, the taste of his own blood in his mouth. Steele probed the the tender area at the base of his jaw, where Sasha had planted a solid haymaker. Only his reflexes, and his reinforced skeleton allowed him to survive...a normal human would've had their head torn off.

"Strong, that one...stronger than many I've met. I'll need to find out why...one day."

He looked around the room, noticing the glances in his direction, many of them with thinly-veiled disdain. He guessed rightly that he wasn't a vampires first choice for a friend, even though he came here under a flag of peace, to add his vast knowledge on the subject of immortals. Suddenly, he realized that more important duties awaited him...the paying of an outstanding debt. He needed to be done with this conference, the sooner the better.

He would need to debrief Ferrannifer first though, find out as much as he could about the mage, Enos Yorl. He would have to do it stealthily, not wanting to alert her or the others to his mission. He realized that he would have to act alone, not wanting to drag the others into his mess. As he turned to approach the vampire who had captured his imagination, he noticed her engaged in conversation with Konnie, the Akatonian hostess. He decided to leave them in peace until they finished their discussion. Turning, he moved directly to the bar and buffet table.

As he strode towards the refreshments, his gaze fell on Alexandra, her shining, silver-white hair falling lightly around her face. It was her eyes that held him hostage yet again, the intensity of her stare opening up his soul to her. A smile came to his face, unbidden, and he veered off and moved towards her. They came face-to-face, not speaking, simply regarding each other with a measured look, and unabashed interest. After a moment, Steele broke the spell.

"So. Tell me...why do I feel I know you, and that we have unfinished business together, m'Lady?"

He was a blunt man, with no time to waste playing silly games. There it was, in front of her, and now the move was hers.

Suddenly powerful psychic emanations pulsed through the room and dimensional opening appeared. The first to step through, not even glancing around the room but letting her mind take everything in, was Ariel. Her raven black hair fell to her shoulder blades and she stepped forward out of the vortex looking straight ahead. Ariel was considered among the most powerful of psionics in a land of psionics and the dimensional gate she used to get here was opened with nothing more than a mere thought.

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The next through was a man with black hair, beard and mustache. He wore a dark grey, almost black cloak, shirt, pants and boots. He appeared to have no weapons. His grey eyes swept the room and he moved toward a position in the shadows, blending with them and disappearing from sight, leaving only a slight psionic emination to mark his presence.

Following him was a young man with tossled black hair and brown eyes. As he stepped through Michael approached him.

"Chief", the young man said.

"Change of plans Trev", Michael told him. "We're going back with the king along with Eve. We need to get the wraiths atmospheric. What I need you to do is get together all the intel we have on Enos Yorl, pull in our spys from Skullkingdom if you have to. I want what you have on the land to the east as well, maybe there's something useful there. I want as much as you can get in twenty-four hours. Got it?"

Trevor looked a Michael a second, "I ain't got shit, chief, I woke up about fifteen minutes ago. But I'll get it done."

"Good enough", Michael replied.

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The next through were a tall human woman with orange-red hair. She stood six and half feet tall with a lean tigrish muscled body. Though she had a nice figure it wasn't one people tended to notice once they saw the fierce blue eyes that blazed with challenge at any who met them. She wore a leather halter top and leather shorts with a mantle cloak the was thrown back to reveal twin bastard swords, one on each hip and a two-handed sword strapped at an angle across her back which eminated a powerful magic that the vampires could feel would affect them. Fine scars could be seen over her exposed flesh and the hilts of all the swords were worn indicating that she was no stranger to thier use. When she came through she immedietly took a position near Lauralin, just behind her and to her left.

The barbarian woman was followed immedietly by a lithe elven woman. The woman was a beauty even by elven standards. Her long brown hair ended at her waist and her doe brown eyes that flicked in quick movements gave her a nervous, trapped animal appearance. She wore brown leather armor. On her left hip was a razor thin elven rapier. She had a quiver on her back and another on her right hip. In her hand was a rune carved longbow. She said nothing and moved across the floor to a position where she could watch everyone. To the amazement of the vampires her tread was so light that even to their sharp sense couldn't detect her foot falls even so close to them.

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The last to emerge before the portal closed was a huge creature. It stood over twelve feet in height and it's skin was like pebbled grey stone. It had ear holes and a large nose with a thin line for it's mouth. Three fingers were on each hand, two large digits opposed by one almost equally as big. It was massively built, or at least seemed to be by it's size, but seemed to move very well for it's obvious size. The stonelike feet resounded like thunderclaps as it stepped forward.

Turquine stepped forward as the last emerged and extended his hand to shake it's hand. The creature reached out, grabbed his hand, and began twisting it down and to the side. The king had forgotten that every meeting was a test of strength and cursed himself for an idiot. The older man's muscles snapped taught. Thick, bulging ironlike bands strained against the pressure of the great creature. His arms, chest and legs looked like thick corded steel ropes had been slipped underneath the skin, but the quivering in them left no illusion that they were muscle and no product of modern technology. Slowly, inch by inch, the massive creatures hand moved inexoribly upward, slowly losing the test of strength the king.

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Ferrannifer leaned in close to Konnie, "Rock trolls are hard of hearing and have very poor visual acuity. Thier culture is based solely on strength because by the time they notice an enemy it's on them already. I would love to experiment on one of them but all my efforts to capture one has failed. They are extremely resistant to magic."

As Todd and Sasha departed the elevator, he noticed that there were a few more people in the room. He felt the floor tremble and looked up at the troll. His eyes nearly burst as his mind screamed. Jesus Christ! Todd looked at the creature before finally turning back to his seat and poured himself a drink.

He sipped the Firebrand, the hot liquid tearing down his throat as he swallowed. He opened his notes and reviewed what he had been studying before followed Steele outisde. He spotted the man's blurry form out of the corner of his eye as poured over his notes.

Todd eyed the orange-red headed woman behind Lauralin and a brown haired woman. He didn't like the fact that they were armed, he felt his gut twist slightly as he took another sip of Firebrand.

Todd tried to shrug off his feeling of discomfort as he returned to his notes.

(As he strode towards the refreshments, his gaze fell on Alexandra, her shining, silver-white hair falling lightly around her face. It was her eyes that held him hostage yet again, the intensity of her stare opening up his soul to her. A smile came to his face, unbidden, and he veered off and moved towards her. They came face-to-face, not speaking, simply regarding each other with a measured look, and unabashed interest. After a moment, Steele broke the spell.

"So. Tell me...why do I feel I know you, and that we have unfinished business together, m'Lady?"

He was a blunt man, with no time to waste playing silly games. There it was, in front of her, and now the move was hers.)

Alexandra glanced towards the door as Steele arrived, a smile flirting across her lips. She momentarily looked back to Sigrun.
"If you would excuse me."

She turned away, gliding across the stone floors to meet Steele. At first, they just looked at each other, her eyes locked with his. When he spoke, it was a relief to her. Any words at all would have done enough just to break the silence. She considered them a second before responding in a playful tone.
"I cannot say what you find familiar, a pretty smile perhaps?"
Her tongue licked across the barely visible tips of fangs.
"Or perhaps not. Either way, it makes no difference, we most certainly have unfinished business."
With a single graceful movement, she brushed back a few silvery strands from her face, her hand coming to rest on Steele's shoulder and drawing him closer. She had a sort of ethereal look about her, not gaudy, but undeniably beautiful just the same.
"Now, since time is of the essence, let us get part of that unfinished business out of the way."
She reached in and kissed him. It was not just a causal kiss on the cheek, but nothing indecent either. There was passion to it, slow and measured, as though she had been thinking about it for a long time. When at last it was over, she drew back a few inches and looked again into his eyes for whatever was offered.
_________________________________________________________________

(Ferrannifer glanced at Konnie and spoke in the same low tone but with a dangerous edge to her voice. "The king and queen are much fairer than you think. Speak not ill of them or face me."

After a moment she continued. "But I agree they are jaded in their opinions of my experiments. I would take your offer. Perhaps we can share notes from past experiments as well.")

Konnie nodded to Ferrannifer.
"As you wish, though I imagine I will learn more from you than you will from me. There are some amongst my colleagues that tend more towards your style of experimentation, particularly the Demonologists."

(Ferrannifer leaned in close to Konnie, "Rock trolls are hard of hearing and have very poor visual acuity. Their culture is based solely on strength because by the time they notice an enemy it's on them already. I would love to experiment on one of them but all my efforts to capture one has failed. They are extremely resistant to magic.")

The moment the troll crossed through the portal, it completely captured Konnie's attention.
"By the Gods, look at that! I have never seen a creature like it before. There is nothing even remotely similar to a rock troll living in Akaton. You're not the only one who would like to experiment on that sort of being."

She paused to think a moment.
"So you say they are resistant to magic, eh? As far as experiments go, I wonder how it would respond to demonic possession."

Turquine slowly pushed the rock troll's hand back up to a straight position and began to push it in the opposite direction before it laughed gratingly, like rocks crashing together and released it's grip, preferring to cede rather than lose. Extracting it's hand it good naturedly slapped the king on the back. The sound echoed in the chamber like lightning striking a tree and a crack could be heard and a gasp of pain as the kings shoulder blade broke. He stumbled, but kept his feet and stood straight despite the pain, 'I'm getting to old for this', he mumbled, low enough that the rock troll couldn't hear him.

"It gooood to seee you huuuuman", the rock troll said and smiled, his mouth full of what looked like granite squares.

"Indeed it is", Turquine replied, his voice pain filled.

"You asssk me come. I come. Who you want me kill?"

"No one, I ask a boon of you."

"Eh?"

"Favor."

The troll smiled, "Assk", he said nodding.

"Would you give us some of your blood so that we might perform a test."

"Mmmm. What for you want Rahzkill's blood?"

"A test of vamparism."

"Eh?"

"undead."

"Stinking ones? Me no like no stinking ones. Crush stinking ones."

Ferrannifer sent out a telepathic message to those sensitive enough to pick it up. 'He refers to zombies mainly. To them a vampire is just another human. They don't understand the difference. To them a vampire is just harder to kill, but amazingly, not impossible.'

"would you donate some blood? perhaps it can help do something about them", Turquine said.

"Me give."

Turquine picked up the needle that he had seen used on the others. Rahzkill laughed as he saw it. When the attempt to insert the needle was made it bent against the dense, stonelike flesh and the huge rock troll laughed again.

Turquine moved away and sat down, careful not to jar the broken shoulder, "This could prove difficult."

Sasha heard the comments about the rock troll disliking vampirism, or more correctly, the undead, and for her own safety, slid into the shadows of the room, watching warily. I'll be here...just not...here. she replied telepathically.

Sigrun on the other hand stepped forward and spoke, "Perhaps I might help with a spell or two?"

He looked between the rock troll and Turquine before continuing, "I can set a spell that will temporarily part his skin to allow us to obtain some of his blood. Or...you can draw it from his tongue, which might be a little easier."

"Spells have little to no effect on them", Ferrannifer said from the other side of the room.

"The tongue", Turquine stated as he looked up at Sigrun, "that's a good thought." He stood up, figuring no one else would volunteer for this duty and picked up a needle. He tested it several times to be sure he could do this quickly and then approached Rahzkill. "Alright", he said, "I want to take the blood from your tongue, It'll sting but it won't be to bad." 'I hope', he thought.

Rahzkill shook his head. "Where you want blood?"

"From your tongue", Turquine said, misunderstanding the question.

"No from tongue. Where blood need?"

Turquine looked at the needle then the small plate that had been used for the others. "There", he said pointing.

Rahzkill pulled a two handed sword, which he carried easily in one hand and shoved it forcefully into his arm. The black blood ran onto the table, all over the slide. He pulled out the sword and sheathed it. Almost immedietly the blood slowed then stopped and the wound healed. It was then he noticed the food table and he smiled. "Me do ask. Me eat."

Turquine nodded and the rock trolls footsteps thundered across the room. He picked up a plate of meat and shoved it into his mouth, plate and all, chewing contentedly, the plate crunching.

The king sat down again wincing slightly and looked at the blood. He had fought the rock trolls in the past and the blood was nothing he wasn't used to. To others however the blood seethed and moved on its own, seeming to grow. "Better do something fast", he said, "eventually it'll form another rock troll. But it won't have any reaction to the vampiric blood, they're not affected."

Patricia arched a brow at the large creature. "You're a Troll? You're not like any Troll I've ever known, that's for sure. And what's this about zombies? Is there anything that doesn't live in Dragonsreach?"

Sigrun chuckled at Patricia's question, "I might venture to say there's no seraphims or angels in Dragonsreach."

He turned to observe the troll's blood acting abnormally. "Most unusual." he muttered to himself, watching as it started to solidify itself.

Todd was looking over his notes when he spilt his drink over them from the troll's walk over to the food. He looked up as the blood started to moving and shudder. Todd stood and walked over, his face full of confusion.

"The last time I saw blood do that was in John Carpenter's The Thing."

Todd looked at Turquine.

"The blood, will form another troll? Right, I just need a sample."

Todd picked up a syringe and pushed the needle into the thick blood and slowly drew a full cc. He marked it Troll.

"Now, we can either let another troll in here...or destroy the rest. I suggest we burn it."

She turned away, gliding across the stone floors to meet Steele. At first, they just looked at each other, her eyes locked with his. When he spoke, it was a relief to her. Any words at all would have done enough just to break the silence. She considered them a second before responding in a playful tone.

"I cannot say what you find familiar, a pretty smile perhaps?"
Her tongue licked across the barely visible tips of fangs.

"Or perhaps not. Either way, it makes no difference, we most certainly have unfinished business."

With a single graceful movement, she brushed back a few silvery strands from her face, her hand coming to rest on Steele's shoulder and drawing him closer. She had a sort of ethereal look about her, not gaudy, but undeniably beautiful just the same.

"Now, since time is of the essence, let us get part of that unfinished business out of the way."

She reached in and kissed him. It was not just a causal kiss on the cheek, but nothing indecent either. There was passion to it, slow and measured, as though she had been thinking about it for a long time. When at last it was over, she drew back a few inches and looked again into his eyes for whatever was offered.

Her words floated around him, calling attention to themselves but remaining cloudy and unclear. He was lost, adrift in her gaze, all thoughts of anything else gone, everything but her lips, lips that were reaching for him, lips filled with familiar promise and hidden secrets.

Contact.

Lauralin meant nothing, Ferrannifer meant nothing, Tanis meant nothing, Flay meant nothing...a parade of women danced through his mind, images of past love and lust, and each left him with an uncaring coldness. It was if his soul had been created for this very moment, as if every woman that had touched his heart had never existed. Somewhere inside him he knew that this was lies, that he was no longer in control...and yet, he gave up ownership gladly, accepting her embrace, and returning it with passion and power. The touch seemed to be too brief, and as they broke, Steele felt the pain and loss of the warm, soft lips leaving him.

Charmed.

It had to be magic...it had to be. A few moments ago, he was looking forward to spending a long, langorous evening with Ferrannifer, discovering each other fully. Now, his thoughts were only of Alexandra. If this was magic, then he was thoroughly enchanted. The warrior in Steele cried out to him, warning him, trying to mount a defense, but was quickly overrun by the hordes of passion that clashed against his barricades of common sense.

Space.

He needed space, room to move, to breathe, to think. Too much was happening, too quickly, and he needed to take a step back, and find out just what the frell was going on. Steele was a wolf, a lover of woman, a man that had no shame of lust...but this was all too much. He felt weak now, like a teenager in the throes of puberty, unable to restrain the passions within him. He wanted to take Alexandra, forcefully, here, now. With difficulty, he took another step back from her, relieved when some of the pressure suddenly dissippated. He smiled tentatively at Alexandra.

"M'lady...you honor me. I...I would like to pursue this...discussion...at a later date. I need to take care of something first though, a debt that has been outstanding for too long. When I finish, I would like to return here and resume our...conversation."

He stared at her, wanting to step closer, fearing what would happen if he did. Instead, he took a step back, bowed, and quickly excused himself. He could still feel her within him, and still heard her in his mind. His eyes had a haunted, hollow look as he walked away.

Ferrannifer.

He had to find her now, take her away, renew their link. As close as she had felt before, when Steele thought of her now, he only saw a stranger. What had Alexandra done to him? Or was it someone else, playing games...Yorl?

He could not help but notice the arrival of the newcomers, familiar faces if not friends. He saw Brooke, the loyal, once-dead right-arm of Lauralin, and Rayanna, the Elf with a deadshot bow. Steele winced, feeling the phantom pain in his thigh where Rayanna's arrow had pierced, so long ago. Suddenly, sadly, he remembered Baghtru, the gruff warrior who had loved pickled eggs. Someone else had arrived as well.

A Troll.

Not just a Troll, but a massive Rock Troll, a creature that virtually dwarved Steele, a very big man in his own right. He watched the huge beast lumber over to the buffet table, and noticed the RedCap Patricia watching the creature with a speculative eye. Darius wondered briefly what the child of these two would look like, and for the first time in a while, Steele did something very uncharacteristic of a gruff and deadly warrior.

He laughed out loud.

Lauralin stepped over to the table where the blood was. Suddenly the air around her warmed quickly and her long hair began to float around from the air currents forming. Suddenly she seemed to burst into flames. She held her hands out, flames erupting from them into the blood. She held the stream long enough to burn away the blood and then just as quickly as she had seemed to become a living inferno the flames died out and her hair lay back as it had been.

Ferrannifer chuckled lightly and leaned into Konnie talking in a low voice, "I get a chuckle out of all idiot so called vampire hunters that think fire will solve thier problems", she said looking at the vampiric queen.

Todd looked at Lauralin, expecting her to light a match or pull out a zippo. He yelped in suprise as she suddenly lit up. He jumped backwards over his chair. Todd came crashing to the ground, striking his head against the floor. The human lay there for several seconds, partically dazed.

Todd dragged himself back to his feat and put his chair back up. His head hurt slighlty, but he was fine.

"I'm okay...grace just wasn't something I inheirited in my family."

"My apologies", Lauralin said to Todd, "I did not mean to startle you. You did say to burn it."

Turquine stood and walked over to Todd muttering a prayer as he lay his hand on the man's head. A warm sensation filled him for a moment and then it passed leaving him healed and refreshed as though he had just fully awakened from a good night's sleep.

Turquine's power forced Laura back a step as his divine magic focused again. The spell, however, was a minor one and not of to much discomfort.

Sigrun chuckled at Todd's surprise over Lauralin's rather surprising ability. It was rare to find a vampire with resistance to fire, much less one with the ability to use it at their disposal.

Sasha remained in the shadows, waiting, watching.

As Steele drew himself away, Alexandra kept her haunting, desire-laden eyes fixed on his. Though she was not precisely casting a spell on him, there was a certain magic to her, a sort of dark radiance she projected into the soul.

("M'lady...you honor me. I...I would like to pursue this...discussion...at a later date. I need to take care of something first though, a debt that has been outstanding for too long. When I finish, I would like to return here and resume our...conversation.")

As Steele spoke, Alexandra relived in her mind the moment their lips had met, savoring every detail in longing memory. She found the reality of it to be far too short. It had been many years since she felt way, either for a mortal or otherwise, a feeling she did not want to give up. She spoke, her eyes never for a second leaving his.

"Well, m'Lord... If you must go, go with the knowledge that I await your return, for the next few centuries at least. Until we meet again..."

She bowed, holding her stare until he turned and moved off.
_________________________________________________________________

(Ferrannifer sent out a telepathic message to those sensitive enough to pick it up. 'He refers to zombies mainly. To them a vampire is just another human. They don't understand the difference. To them a vampire is just harder to kill, but amazingly, not impossible.')

Konnie laughed inwardly at the message. 'Zombies?' she thought, 'These creatures must have particularly poor eyesight to not differentiate between various undead.'

(Lauralin stepped over to the table where the blood was. Suddenly the air around her warmed quickly and her long hair began to float around from the air currents forming. Suddenly she seemed to burst into flames. She held her hands out, flames erupting from them into the blood. She held the stream long enough to burn away the blood and then just as quickly as she had seemed to become a living inferno the flames died out and her hair lay back as it had been.

Ferrannifer chuckled lightly and leaned into Konnie talking in a low voice, "I get a chuckle out of all idiot so called vampire hunters that think fire will solve their problems", she said looking at the vampiric queen.)

Konnie looked on as Lauralin ignited, impressed by the show of power on the Queen's part. She looked down to her own hand where a she had formed a small sphere of black fire for the same purpose as Lauralin's flames. Sighing slightly, she closed her hand, snuffing the fire. She looked back to Ferranifer.

"Yes, the vampire hunters so often underestimate their targets. Too many of them watch a few horror films and think they know everything there is to know about vampires. Idiots indeed, most of them dead idiots now."

Turquine turned to his daughter, "I must go."

"Go. What do you mean?"

"I think my power here is disruptive. I should not have come."

"No", she said stepping closer, "your experience is needed, your wisdom."

He shook his head. "You are far more eloquent than I. And you have your mother's intellect. I'm just an old soldier."

"Your far more than that, I need you here."

He shook his head again. "You've faced the Zhentarim alone on another world. You faced Zoofear. You faced the demi-lich. Besides", he said, "I need to find Kain Shentavo. I have a debt of honor to repay."

"A debt."

"I had promised to protect him and failed because of my own feelings. My god gave a mission to restore my honor and life. But I still owe Kain a debt and honor demands I repay it."

Lauralin stood for a moment searching for anything to say but she knew that her father would never walk away from a debt of honor. "Have Nancia take you if she would agree."

Turquine nodded and hugged her tightly before turning to the raven haired woman, "If you would be so kind, old friend."

The woman nodded and the psychic power flowed from her. Again with only a thought she opened the dimensional gateway.

Turquine turned back, "Michael, Rahzkill." Then he entered the portal and what looked to be only a few steps carried him out of sight. Rahzkill followed, grabbing another plate and shoving into his mouth.

Michael turned, "Trev, Eve", he said holding his hand out to woman who never seemed to leave his side.

Together they approached the gate, "Hey chief, why don't I stay here and guard?"

"The queen has her guards."

"Yeah but", Trevor said looking at the beautiful women in the room, "there are other ladies who might need protection."

"Yeah", Michael replied, "but who's going to protect them from you?"

With a sigh and last look at the women in the room Trevor entered the portal with Michael and Eve. Once they were through the woman closed the portal and banked her psionic power.

They left before he could say farewell, and it hurt him. With the world that lay before him, Steele didn't know how much longer he would be amongst the living, and he wanted to say goodbye to those that meant something to him. Turquine was a brother-warrior, one of the few that Steele truly respected, and the future husband of a woman he cared dearly for, Tanis Dr'Konnen. He wanted to say so much to the King, yet circumstances once again were against the big man. He watched as Gassington followed him in, with Eve and Trevor right behind him. Another good man with a strong woman by his side, and soldiers that would follow him anywhere. Steele felt comforted, knowing that the Chief would watch closely over Turquine.

His time here was nearing an end. There was not much he could add to the discussions as he was a man of war, not science. Steele walked towards Lauralin, who seemed more at ease now that her familiar friends had arrived. He smiled at her, trying to hide his sadness, his psi-shield up and blocking the stray thoughts that threatened to slip out. Of all of them, his connection to the Queen was strongest, and he feared she would discover his plans before he'd had a chance to execute them. He lifted the small silver case from his side, and offered it to her.

"Laura, I fear I must also take my leave. I have many...obligations that must be fulfilled, and I've stayed here too long already. In this case are some of the samples I've collected over the years, including the fang we found on DragonsReach. Inside you'll also find a sample of my blood...and I think it may be interesting for your research. It...it may be they key you are looking for."

He stared long and hard at her, capturing her image in his mind, knowing it may be the last time they would be together. He threw caution to the wind, and reached out and pulled her into his arms, before she or her recently-arrived bodyguards could react. He simply held her for a moment, tightly, absorbing her essence, committing her touch and scent to memory. After a moment, he released her and looked down into her questioning eyes, a sad smile on his face.

"Rule well, my Queen."

He walked away from her before she could speak. He didn't want to give her the chance to ask questions, knowing that he could not lie to her. Now, he had one last task.

He moved towards Ferrannifer, watching as she spoke with Konnie. Waiting until the conversation ebbed, Steele approached them. Bowing to both of them, the big bounty-hunter put an apologetic smile on his face.

"Please excuse my interruption Miss Konnie, but I have need of the Lady's attention for just a moment," Steele spoke, indicating Ferrannifer. "and I promise to return her to you in just a short time."

He took the vampires elbow in his large hand, and guided her away gracefully. When they were alone, he looked at her. Imediately, the familiar feeling of comfort returned, and he was aware yet again of her beauty and charm. She had an old soul, one that radiated passion and purpose, one that drew Steele in with unerring accuracy. He put his cheek against hers, feeling her skin grow warm from the contact, and whispered in her ear.

"I...I must go. There are some issues I have left unfinished, and I have ignored my duties for too long. I was hoping...well, I thought we might have some time alone together before I leave?"

He pulled away slightly, cradling her strong jaw in his massive hand, staring deeply into the dark orbs of her eyes.

"I seem to remember that they assigned me a king-size bed upstairs...perhaps we can say our goodbyes there?"

He was as good a lover as he was a soldier, and he was ready to go to war.

Ferrannifer smiled at him, her fangs at full length. She reached up, one finger lightly carressing a cheek. "Your passions are strong", she said speaking in a normal voice easily heard by all in the room. "They were focused on Alexandra a moment ago, why don't you share your bed with her."

Her voice dripped with honeylike sweetness, soft and alluring even in recjection. Her eyes were cold as the grave that she had never embraced. She had given her heart and had to watch him in the embrace of another woman within moments of giving it and like others she would see to it that he paid the price. Not death, that was too easy. But unending years of servitude and torment, caught in the shadowy world somewhere between life and death. Not as a vampire, that came with to much power and to much dignity, but as the shadowy wraith bound to her service such as Nightclaw who know served her dark daughter. Nightclaw liked Laura, she treated him kindly unlike Ferrannifer. Darius would find out what pain really was and he would be reminded of it every day until eternity itself came to an end.

She turned her back and walked away, back toward Konnie. She walked with the pride and dinity of a noble, a bearing she had been forced to learn as a child and Princess to the elven nation. One she had held when she found the blood that had transformed her was that of a high family vampire noble. She knew Darius was to strong to take directly and so the game that she had spent centuries mastering began.

Laura heard the tone of Ferrannifer's voice, a tone she had never forgotten from thier first meeting. Even Brook looked in thier direction then back at Laura, her eyes unreadible but to the long familiarity they had between them. Darius was in trouble, Laura knew, and somehow she had to stop Ferrannifer but she could never hurt her.

'Go now, Darius, please', she sent to his mind. 'Go or seek the sanctuary of Lady Alexandra. Ferrannifer would never cross another vampire, Alexandra could shield you. But until I can find a way to stop Ferrannifer's wrath be wary, Ferrannifer is cunning and there are many ways to lose the protection of a vampire benefactor.'

Lauralin shuddered slightly at the remembered tone. She and Brook had beaten Ferrannifer only through a combination of Ferrannifer's pride, Laura's cunning and Brook's stamina. But this was far more complicated. Laura couldn't hurt Ferrannifer now nor Ferrannifer Laura. She had to find another way to stop Ferrannifer.

When Laura's father had left her mind was filled with unease and doubt. Now Steele could sense her mind become clear. She had something to focus her considerable intellect on now and regardless of personal sacrifice she had never failed to achieve her goal.

Her words, filled with cold malice, shocked and stunned him into confused silence. As she walked away, Steele could only stare after her. She hadn't given him the chance to explain, to let her know that something had caused him to kiss Alexandra, and it wasn't just his manhood. Away from her, he felt increasingly like himself, and his strong feelings for Ferrannifer reasserted themselves. He heard Laura's voice in his mind, and disregarded it.

Moving quickly, a few strides of his long legs put him at the vampires side. He laid a hand on her arm, and turned her to face him. The strength in her smaller form surprised him.

"Wait. Just frellin' wait a minute. What you saw and what is real are two different things. Don't turn your back on me...on us. Talk to me."

His eyes captured hers, but he could not feel the warmth he had felt earlier. There was a darkness around her, a gathering cloud as if before a breaking storm. Sadness welled up in him, dissappointment in his own weakness, though he believed that he had not been in total control of himself when he kissed the other vampire. Still...he needed to fix this. Now.

"Why are you doing this? We've only just begun our journey...and I gave you my promise that I would never knowingly hurt you. Please, I may be a cad, but I'm no liar..."

With a speed no mortal could match and seemingly no effort she grabbed his hand it didn't break in her iron grip as anyone else's would have, a note she made for later but the pain must have been intense to his unprotected flesh. It was meant for only one thing. Not a threat. Not a warning. Only a reminder. A reminder of what he was facing. She was no mortal woman to be culled by any man. She was a vampiress. She was also something that not even Laura knew. A long lost heir to the throne of the elven kingdom and heir to the vampire nobility. She raised her other hand muttering an incantation and black flames appeared in her hand. These flames had no heat, in fact they gave off a bone chilling cold aura.

Lauralin moved quickly between them, though not even she could break Ferrannifers grip. "Ferrannifer, NO!"

Even Brook paled at the sight of the black fire. A fire that didn't burn anything in the mortal world. This fire, once place upon a living person, burned the essence of the soul until it consumed all there was and left only an empty shell. Though shaken the barbarian woman strode forward swinging the two-handed sword, the most powerful of her three blades, out of it's specially designed sheath.

Lauralin raised her own hands, both hands dancing with flames. "No", she said.

Ferrannifer's eyes held Steele's a moment longer. No warmth, nothing reflected. Only cold mirrors reflecting his own image. Then her eyes shifted to her dark daughter and for a moment the mirrors cracked. Love and pride showed in thier depths for a moment before she let go off Darius hand and shrugging, turned away.

Sasha stepped forth from the shadows as Ferranifer turned almost feral upon Steele. She watched with a morbid fascination as the vampiress resorted to the traits of darkness that permeated her soul. Sasha herself, however, kept herself in check, keeping out of the conflict.

Sigrun on the other hand set a charge in his hand. The arcanic energy pulsed in his grasp, waiting to be unleashed. If she cast that black flame, this spell would contain it before it hit Steele. He spoke,

"Ferrannifer, control yourself. Do not give in to the darkness of your damned soul."

He turned his attention to Steele, "Leave. You cannot do anything to change her mind. That much is clear."

Lauralin managed to break Ferannifer's deadly stance and so Ferannifer turned away. Sigrun placed a hand on Steele's shoulder, gently urging him to walk away as well. He spoke quietly to the man, "You blew your chance. I doubt even the Lady Alexandra will take to you anymore. I suggest you pay attention to where your heart truly lies for future...encounters..."

"Must I address every issue on vamprism that faces the world?" a velvety voice scoffed at the young girl in front of her, fangs showing on her lower lip quite visibly. The vampire stood before her kin, and narrowed her eyes.

"No, M'lady," Nagi replied with an insistive gesture. Nagi was a hybrid, and perferred her human side, rather than Ravelyn who generally embraced her darker half. Nagi had violet eyes with short black hair and pale skin.

"I have no time for this. I have not spoken out of my coven since I was resurrected. I don't plan to start now."

"Why? Ravelyn? Why can't we just go out..."

"I've visited enough nations at the moment to satisfy me for millenia. I have no interest and nothing to gain from it. If other vampires are there, I have a feeling someone who I know is as well..."

"But why can't I go..."

"It is best to remain reclusive, believe me. I went through a lot...Roania and the inquizition...whispering voices... All of them were so eager to get their hands on me. You think of present day when my name is only spoken in whispers in other nations. Slightly more dangerous...."

"Azrael!" she yelled, and Ravelyn closed her crimson eyes.

"Leave me be. They come looking for me that's another story. If they simply want to get some vampiric facts, then others may be more helpful then I. Even though I'm an ancient, I don't understand many things...and not many other do either..."
(my version of tag)

OOC: Hi Rave! :P
IC:
Sigrun looked up to the ceiling as if in a dramatic expression of his patience running thin. As he did so, he saw the faint outlines of a rose etched into the ceiling.

Azrael? he wondered to himself quietly, before lowering his gaze once more and glancing back to make sure Ferannifer wasn't about to launch another black flame at Steele.

Ferrannifer approached Konnie again, standing before her. She took a deep breath and slowly her eyeteeth slid back into thier gum sheaths. "Now", she said, regaining her composer, "Where were we?"

When she struck, it was unannounced, her speed blinding. It took every ounce of willpower and control that Steele had, to prevent the automatic response of his augmented form as Ferrannifer grasped his hand, her fingers digging in, squeezing with an unnatural and unrelenting strength. The nanites within him screamed with frustration, and the AI continued to load tactical options into his reflexes.

As the powerful vampire brought more pressure to bear on his wrist, she simultaneously summoned a dark, menacing flame that danced in her upturned palm. For the first time since Ferranifer's assault had started, Steele felt a stab of fear, the fire in her hands affecting him strangely, as if he knew that the flame meant something worse than death, though he had no idea why. This new threat sent his body into panic mode, and the big man felt the familiar surge of his exo powering up. He restrained his impulses, straining at the pressure of the strangers in his blood screaming KILLKILLKILLKILL! Sweat broke out on his brow as his body began to tremble, the power seeking an exit.

Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Lauralin had appeared, crackling with eldritch energy, demanding an end to the violence. Ferrannifer released his wrist, and with a sneer of contempt, she turned and walked away. The danger diminished, as did the strain on Steele. He watched her go, unsure of what had happened, confused and alone.

He turned to Laura, nodding his thanks, his mind a chaotic playground of dangerous thoughts. Sigrun took the opportunity to sidle up, and speak quietly in Steele’s ear.

He turned his attention to Steele, "Leave. You cannot do anything to change her mind. That much is clear."
Sigrun placed a hand on Steele's shoulder, gently urging him to walk away as well. He spoke quietly to the man, "You blew your chance. I doubt even the Lady Alexandra will take to you anymore. I suggest you pay attention to where your heart truly lies for future...encounters..."

Steele turned to Sigrun, trying to focus on the man’s words. Then he focussed on his face. A stranger. This time, the big man didn’t resist the anger that surged in him.

“AND I suggest you step back outta my face, boy.”

His tone of voice was cold, hard and filled with certainty. His eyes were dead. They matched the black hole that was growing inside him. He stared at the Tarlachian a moment longer, then turned his back on him to look at the rest of the room. Strangers. There was nothing here for him anymore.

He walked past Sigrun as if he didn’t exist, and walked to the bar. Grabbing a full bottle of spirits, he tipped the bottle to his lips and quickly drained a large portion. He felt nothing. He never wanted to feel again.

Lauralin sighed as she watched Darius leave. She had hoped the best for both of them. She would resolve this somehow, though how she didn't know. She had dealt with rocky beginnings before. Aveius and Darlinia had almost killed each other when they first met but they wound up marrying. Both of them were hard headed. She had spent weeks working with them both. Weeks more being wakened at all hours as one or the other came to her with complaint, for advice or just to talk about thier feelings 'Mother Hen', Aveius had taken to calling her, always watching over her people and trying to make them happy. She would figure this out.

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'Put yourself in her place a moment. Forget your anger. She's been betrayed every time in the past. She open her heart. Then your kissing another woman right in front of her. Put yourself in her place without your own insights into your mind or thoughts. What would you do?'

The voice in darius mind was unfamiliar yet it was familiar. A voice he had heard before but not in his mind.

In the chamber the psioinic power of the raven haired women stepped up a notch, though her message couldn't be read by anyone else in the room.

Brook swung her sword around and sheathed it as the possible violence lapsed and moved over near Lauralin The elven woman, almost forgotten in the corner unnocked her arrow and put it back in the quiver.

The man in all black moved near the raven haired woman, guiding her to the table and pulling out a chair. She sat down nodding to him and he stepped back again disappearing from sight into the shadows again.

"Laura", the woman said, her face unreadable as it always seemed to be, never showing emotions, "join me will you?" Her accent was unfamiliar, rich, pleasant, but unkown to the others in the room.

Lauralin moved over and sat down.

"Would you be so kind as to bring me up to date on things here, I'll be taking your father's place at these proceedings."

Lauralin explained to her all that was discussed and happened up to this point.

If anyone could coax Rave into anything at this point and time, it would be Nagi. Despite her efforts, Nagi had always been good at convincing her elders to do what she thought should be done. She was a general…and a good one, so Rave trusted her judgment. She lowered her head as she leaned against the frame of the window. She slipped into the shadows, and vanished.

A hand extended to her, and she reached back for it, stepping out of the dark path to see who had disturbed her. It was a man with red hair and bright green eyes with an intelligent face. It was clear he was rather sure of what he wanted. He lifted up the sleeve to his shirt. “My lady…you haven’t fed for weeks. I think it would be best if you had your full strength for your journey. Because the bloodstone is failing, I do not wish that you should loose its force forever.”

Ravelyn drew her scarlet eyes to look upon his face, and smiled. “Thank you Ellie.” He responded with a nod, and watched as his superior revealed her fangs to cut into his flesh. Within his heart he held a deep lust for her, but also a deeper respect. He knew that she could easily read his mind. He was only human. He knew she was intelligent, and had probably picked up on the attraction.

It was cold as she moved through the dark path, a gift that Vaughn had given her when he had died. She had a silk black shirt on, and the straps fell slightly off of her shoulders. Her hair was pulled back and tied up in loose chocolate waves. This easily exposed the intricate rose tattoo on her right shoulder, the black ink seeming to be alive with the life that ran through her. She wore dark pants and high black boots. There was a dark blue belt that tied around her waist with soft fabric on one side on her left hip.

She stepped out of the dark path. Her mind must have drifted off, but this was a location. What kind of building is this? she thought to herself, and looked downward, she could hear voices coming from a floor below. She noticed a rose imprint within the floor marking her exit out of the dark path. She twirled the red rose within her fingertips. She recognized the aura of an old friend.

Maximus.

Oolasys Goldbludgeon finally arrived, allowing herself to be shown into the conference room. She was nine feet tall and had light blue skin, smooth and fresh, as good a complexion as one could have. Her face was beautiful in an Amazonian way, the lines strong and bold. Her arms and legs were muscular and thick in a way that other races reserved for their bodybuilders. She wore a white, sleeveless summer dress which came down to right above her knees and blew some as she walked and a pair of black, flat shoes. She carried a large, black purse over one shoulder. "Somebody ordered a Troll?"

In the purse, something shifted, poking out the top. A wombat! The little marsupial, as cuddly as it was unexpected, plopped out of the purse and onto the ground, making a dash straight for Ferranifer with scarcely a moment spent on anyone else.

As Steele walked towards Ferrannifer, Alexandra watched from across the room. She could see they were talking, though she did not try to eavesdrop on their conversation. She had known from the start that she did not hold a monopoly on the man's affections, so the words he exchanged with Ferrannifer meant little to her. She drifted aimlessly about the edges of the room, staying partially hidden in the comforting darkness of the shadows.

Not knowing of the growing conflict between Steele and Ferrannifer, the appearance of dark arcane flame in the other vampiress's hand came as a shock to Alexandra. She reached instinctively for the weapon she carried concealed beneath the folds of her flowing black gown. It was something between a knife and a short-sword, over a foot and a half in length with a gently curving razor edge. Around it was a halo of rippling arcane energy, seeming to suck away light into its unholy blade rather than reflect it. She handled the knife with a certainty of purpose that left no doubt in the minds of onlookers as to her experience in its use.

Alexandra held it ready to defend Steele, and indeed herself as well, should Ferrannifer choose to strike out at either of them. She noticed as those around her drew forth varied weapons in preparation for a battle that never came to pass. As the other vampiress backed down, the flames leaving her hand, Alexandra sighed slightly, slipping the blade back out of view. Watching Steele make his way to the bar again, she felt something that surprised her. Guilt. She realized that while she knew all along that she was not the only one with feelings for Steele, there were others who would not accept that. She regretted that kiss, wondering what had driven her to do such a thing in the sight of everyone and cursing herself for her lack of self control. Alexandra took one final look at Steele before turning and withdrawing into the shadows once more, wiping a single crimson tear from her pale cheek.
_________________________________________________________________

(Ferrannifer approached Konnie again, standing before her. She took a deep breath and slowly her eyeteeth slid back into their gum sheaths. "Now", she said, regaining her composer, "Where were we?")

Konnie, who had kept her distance from the earlier confrontation, smiled faintly at Ferrannifer's return. There was something different about the magus, a new sort of respect towards the vampiress in her eyes and the barely perceptible presence of an arcane ward around her.

"I believe we were discussing the rock troll, though it seems we have been joined by another troll of a more cultured variety."

Lauralin looked up as the troll entered and smiled, having seen the trolls of resurgent dream before. They were certainly far different from those in her own nation. "Indeed we did", she said pleasantly as she stood, "Thank you for coming." She stopped after the welcome letting her own countryman address the issue to that which brought her here.

Brook looked at the troll with surprise. Her tribe had often fought against trolls for control of the river bank where they drew water from. "That's a troll?" she asked.

Rayanna eyed the new arrival neither approaching nor reaching for a weapon. No one seemed to react with anything but pleasantry and therefore she dismissed any possibility of a threat. She watched the other creature scamper toward Ferrannifer and took no action there as any threat to woman probably wouldn't fall to her arrows anyway.

Ariel sensed the newcomers and sat with regal idleness for Laura to finish her greeting.

"Why the tears?" asked a man's voice from near Alexandra that carried the same strange accent as the raven haired woman. "There is no sadder sight than the tears of a lady."

Ferrannifer turned at the sound of the troll and upon seeing the wombat moved toward it quickly. "SERENIA!" Ferrannifer cried and reached out to embrace the wombat, the only friend she had ever truly had (at least I'm assuming that's who it is, correct me if I'm wrong).

Goldbludgeon bowed at the waist to Lauralin. "How might I be of service, Your Majesty?" As if Steele hadn't seen enough of pretty ladies for one day, bowing in a light, billowing dress does cause it to come up more than might be entirely seemly. It is a mystery how a pretty girl like Miss Goldbludgeon could be friends with Patricia.

Patricia snorted. "They want to see if they can vampirize you or something, bitch. Do you mind getting bit?" She then paused. "No one's ever bitten a fairy before. I'm not sure what'd happen. It's an at your own risk deal for y'all leeches."

The wombat, who was indeed Serenia, could not exactly hug back, as wombats aren't quite build for it. However, she did nuzzle Ferranifer quite vigorously with her little wet nose. The marsupial settled into the vampiress's arms happily and made herself quite cuddly and affectionate towards the woman.

Ferrannifer held Serenia close, smiling. "It's good to see you again. I see your well. I'm so glad your here."

Laura looked at Patricia then back at the troll, distracted for a moment herself by the dress as it rose, before looking the troll in the eyes. "I am Lauralin Silverlief, Laura would do fine. It is not our intention to bite you, we just need a blood sample so we can see how it interacts with a vampiric sample, if you would be willing."

NUZZLENUZZLENUZZLENUZZLENUZZLE

Serenia seemed quite content to just cuddle and snuggle Ferranifer, being quite incapable of a spoken response in any event.

Goldbludgeon blushed slightly at Lauralin's attention before holding out her arm, flexing the bulging muscles somewhat. "Take as much as you need, Your Majesty. I would be willing to undertake the other experiment as well, the one Patricia suggested."

"I do not believe that shall be necessary, but I thank you for your cooperation", she said smiling. She picked up one of the needles, working the plunger first then stepped up to Goldbludgeon. She took her sash and tied it tightly to the woman's arm then lightly smacked the crook of her arm to get the vein up. At the sight her eyeteeth began to slide from thier gum sheaths and she took a moment to visibly force herself under control, the teeth receding as she did so. "Sorry", she said, blushing slightly. Then she expertly inserted the needle and removed the sash, expertly extracting 5cc's of blood before removing the needle. Once she was finished she handed it to Todd then turned back to Goldbludgeon, "That was painless, yes?"

'Put yourself in her place a moment. Forget your anger. She's been betrayed every time in the past. She open her heart. Then your kissing another woman right in front of her. Put yourself in her place without your own insights into your mind or thoughts. What would you do?'

The voice in darius mind was unfamiliar yet it was familiar. A voice he had heard before but not in his mind.


"Ariel?" replied Steele to the familiar voice, knowing that her words were important, or she would never have violated his mind. She had flowed past his psi-blocks as if they didn't exist, her power impressing him yet again. Of all the denizens he had met from DragonsReach, Ariel was the one that scared him the most. Her power, always held in tight check, was immense and unfathomable. Thank frell she was one of the good guys.

He finished the bottle, reaching for another. He felt a little buzz, one he knew would not last. The nanites in his blood would see to that. He took a long draw from the fresh bottle, and replied to Ariels voice with his own mind.

"I..I don't blame her for reacting the way she did, but...she's wrong. She's wrong, and she's closed the door on me. Ariel...I'm scared. Something has a hook in me, something or someone. I...I had no control around Alexandra, as if someone else was driving my body. Look inside me...I grant you permission. You'll see the truth of my words."

Granting her entry was more for his own sake than hers...if she wanted in, there was nothing he could do to stop her. Maybe she'd be able to find whatever it was that was affecting him, but Steele was fairly certain he knew what the root cause was:

Enos Yorl.

The mage had hurt Steele, yet again. He had turned Ferrannifer against him, of this he was sure. Together, the vampire and the bounty-hunter would have been a dangerous, virtually unstoppable combination against Yorl, but that threat was now ended. Steele drank, drank some more, and nurtured the growing rage that bubbled within him. His eyes passed over Ferrannifer, and his heart caught in his throat. For now, he would leave her with her anger. Eventually, the truth would be revealed, and perhaps together they could heal the wounds that created the wall between them. For now, he would be as he always was...alone.

He drained the last of the wine, and reached for another bottle.

Ariel went through his mind as she continued to scan around her and keep her link open to Marcus. She found the problem, a implanted thought through which Yorl could gain access.

'An implanted thought for access', she told him through her mind. 'I can destroy it easily enough but it'll alert him, Your choice.'

The news from Ariel did not surprise him, nor did the source of his problems. Yorl. He considered Ariel's offer, one that would rid him of the weakness that the mage's implanted access had saddled him with. Alerting Yorl would not be in Steele's best interests, though neither was his current state of mind. In the end, all he really wanted was one thing. He touched Ariel's presence in his mind.

"All I ask is a boon of you, m'Lady: please tell Ferrannifer. She...she probably would'nt believe me if I did..."

Ariel continued her two links and keeping track of what was going on around her as she opened a link to Ferrannifer.

Ferrannifer was smiling and nuzzling Serenia almost giggling, which was uncharacteristic for the old vampiress. She had returned her attention to Konnie. "I don't recognize that type of Troll from anywhere other than Resurgent dream. They seem to be exclusive to that region. I saw them there wh...."

Suddenly there was a presence in her mind, no easy feat to accomplish. She jump slightly at the unexpected intrusion but recognized Ariels voice in her thoughts quickly. She listened frowning. 'Bastard', she thought, 'Yorl should respect our pact.'

'He isn't apparently', Ariel told her.

Ferrannifer nodded. The thought that Ariel might be lying never occured to her. She looked across the room to Darius, her eyes apologetic.

(Why the tears?" asked a man's voice from near Alexandra that carried the same strange accent as the raven haired woman. "There is no sadder sight than the tears of a lady.")

The voice startled Alexandra, having not seen the man approach within the shadows. She turned in the voice's direction.

"Why the tears? For as good a reason as I could have for tears. I believe I have hurt..."

She trailed off, a silent pause filling the space of the last words. What she was going to say was "the man I loved," but something about that word didn't feel right. It was only a second or tow before she found a word, though it still did not describe her feeling as well as she wished it to.

"... someone very important to me. But tell me, with whom do I share this shadow?"
_________________________________________________________________

(Ariel continued her two links and keeping track of what was going on around her as she opened a link to Ferrannifer.

Ferrannifer was smiling and nuzzling Serenia almost giggling, which was uncharacteristic for the old vampiress. She had returned her attention to Konnie. "I don't recognize that type of Troll from anywhere other than Resurgent dream. They seem to be exclusive to that region. I saw them there wh...."

Suddenly there was a presence in her mind, no easy feat to accomplish. She jump slightly at the unexpected intrusion but recognized Ariel’s voice in her thoughts quickly. She listened frowning. 'Bastard', she thought, 'Yorl should respect our pact.'

'He isn't apparently', Ariel told her.

Ferrannifer nodded. The thought that Ariel might be lying never occurred to her. She looked across the room to Darius, her eyes apologetic.)

Konnie watched as Ferrannifer snuggled the wombat, smiling at the cute little marsupial. It was all she could do not to giggle, seeing the fearsome vampiress nuzzling Serenia.

"As far as I know, that variety of Troll only resides within the Resurgent Dream. This is my first time seeing the sort of Troll you were familiar with, are they exclusive to your realm?"

The man in all black materialized from the shadows and lowered his hood. He had handsome features, elven in quality though he had a more human appearance. His black hair fell to just below the nape of the neck and his black beard and mustache were trimmed neatly. He bowed respectfully to Alexandra, "Count Marcus Cole, milady." He placed one hand over his heart, the other he placed carefully on her chest. "Heart to heart, I greet you. His grey eyes focused on her, the psionic aura strong, though not nearly as strong as the raven haired woman's. He removed his hand, "We sometimes hurt those close to us by action or inaction. We're not perfect. As long as we're the best we can be, it's all we can hope for."

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Ferrannifer looked at Konnie, "I don't know. Perhaps. Our world was advanced once, from Lauralin tells us, but we regressed."

He drank.

Then he drank some more.

He drank to kill the pain, to stop the thoughts, if only for a moment. He willed his system to let the alcohol do its work, though the nanites screamed to do battle with the poisons invading his bloodstream with each long swallow. Steele needed this, wanted this, numbness and forgetfulness all in one tasty, inebriating beverage. He looked around him, the edge of his vision slightly blurry, realizing that 6 bottles lay empty before him, another firmly clenched in his massive hand. He smiled crookedly.

Alone.

Fate and destiny laughing at him.

Ferrannifer hating him.

Yorl using him.

Bloodsuckers all around...his bane, his curse, his eternal enemy.

Enemies in the shadows, enemies disguised as friends, enemies from other worlds.

The Tarlachians: Sasha, violent, strong, a huntress. Sigrun of the many masks, once an immortal, now an unknown.

Laura. Laura and all the puppets that danced at her strings. Steele was her puppet too, this he understood now.

Patricia, a monster, a monster with a heart, a monster who would eat his heart...and what the frell had she done with Tyro? Eaten him??

He drained another bottle. Replaced it with another. Watched his mood grow blacker.

Todd. You Don't Know Jack Shit Todd the Simatarian. Stupid punk kid. Reminded Steele of...Steele?

He was drunk, for the first time in many, many years. He welcomed it, embraced it, added to it.

Drunk.

Alone.

Dangerous.

Todd had sat back down to his work and thought of Steele as he prepared the next test. He felt sorry for the man. He pulled out a notepad and jotted down some notes, then reached for the nob to start the test. He stopped and turned around to the group.

"Should we do something about Steele? The poor guy could drink himself to death."

"Self destruction is a personal choice. Interfere and it could lead to mass destruction", Ariel said, her voice and face reflecting no emotion at all.

Lauralin looked at Darius and approached him carefully. Sober she wouldn't think twice about approaching the man, but in whatever state he might be in now it could lead to problems. 'Darius', she said through her link to him, figuring it would be safer to announce herself before getting close.

Ferrannifer looked over at Todd then Darius. Frowning slightly she began to approach him, holding Serena close.

The combination of large quantities of quickly-imbibed alcohol and his own psi-shield prevented him from hearing Lauralin's words in his mind. His own thoughts were dark, black and getting angrier by the moment. All he could think of was the mage, Enos Yorl. HE had done this to Steele, manipulated him for who knows how long...the big man was no longer sure that any actions he had done recently were of his own volition, or because of the string-pulling puppeteer Yorl. He imagined the sound of the mage's neck snapping in his hands, and smiled grimly.

He finished his current bottle, noticing movement behind him. Unhurridly, he cracked open yet another bottle, and turned to see Laura almost at his side. His eyes roved over her lovely face, and drifted admiringly over her lithe and full form. He felt a brief stirring of emotion, love, lust and longing, as his eyes returned to her face. She was smiling at him, but hesitantly. He bent himself into an awkward, theatrical bow, and spoke loudly, his words only slightly slurred.

"M'Lady, to what do I owe the honor of your most regal and royal presence?" he said, his words not hiding the cold sarcasm and resentment that dripped from his voice. He tipped the bottle, swallowing deeply.

Lauralin's eyebrow quirked slightly. She turned and walked away from him. She had been through Baghtru's drinking binge and had no tolerance for it at all. If people couldn't deal with thier problems then they could get help or advice. Alcohol only made things worse and she wasn't about to cater to Darius indulgance.

Ferrannifer saw Laura's look and stopped on her way over to him. Baghtru, even for a mortal, was more than a handful when he had been drinking. Darius had power behind him and Ferrannifer was trying to decide if it was worth the risk to approach him now.

He had expected many different reactions to his comment, except for Lauralin turning and walking away. He immediately regretted his words, watching her retreat. He had hurt her, something that he hadn't intended on doing...or had he? His mind was no longer his own, and he trusted no one now, least of all himself. Looking at the bottle in his hand, he placed it gingerly back on the table. Shaking his head, he released his hold on the nanites in his bloodstream, allowing them to quickly remove the alcoholic toxins flowing through him. Within mere moments, the big man was as sober as when he had taken his first drink.

He turned, part of him wanting to go after Lauralin to apologise. His eyes met Ferrannifer's, and he held her gaze. For long moments, neither spoke or moved. Then, Steele opened up his mind to her, his heart speaking for him.

"I never wanted this...I only wanted you. My apologies and reasons may mean nothing to you, but I hope...I pray...that one day you will understand, and forgive me. I must leave soon, to pay a long-overdue debt. We may never see each other again, but know this: my last thoughts will be of you."

'So Ariel has shown me', Ferrannifer replied through the same link, Serenia still in her arms. 'You can't beat him alone. You wouldn't even find him. His domain is a pocket dimension of his own creation. I know how to find him. And I know how to beat him. But I never had the power. You do.' She nuzzled Serenia, smiling at the small wombat. 'I'll help you, but I go with. The way will be treacherous.'

(The man in all black materialized from the shadows and lowered his hood. He had handsome features, elven in quality though he had a more human appearance. His black hair fell to just below the nape of the neck and his black beard and mustache were trimmed neatly. He bowed respectfully to Alexandra, "Count Marcus Cole, milady.")

Alexandra smiled as the man stepped into view. She wondered for a moment why he looked familiar to her, realizing that she had seen him at a recent celebration within the Resurgent Dream. The vampiress returned the bow,

"An honor to meet you, Count. I am Lady Alexandra Lucius."

(He placed one hand over his heart, the other he placed carefully on her chest. "Heart to heart, I greet you. His gray eyes focused on her, the psionic aura strong, though not nearly as strong as the raven haired woman's. He removed his hand, "We sometimes hurt those close to us by action or inaction. We're not perfect. As long as we're the best we can be, it's all we can hope for.")

When his hand touched Alexandra's chest, the heartbeat that would normally be felt was conspicuously absent. She blushed faintly at the touch, or rather, she might have blushed had her skin not been so deathly pale. As his eyes focused on her, she met his stare with her piercing gray eyes. They were just as haunting as before, though they lacked he seductive quality they had held while looking at Steele.

"Wise words, they couldn't be more true. Do you speak from experience, or are these the words of another?"
_________________________________________________________________

As Ferrannifer walked off to speak with Steele, Konnie made her way over to where Todd was observing the experiment.

(Todd had sat back down to his work and thought of Steele as he prepared the next test. He felt sorry for the man. He pulled out a notepad and jotted down some notes, then reached for the knob to start the test. He stopped and turned around to the group.

"Should we do something about Steele? The poor guy could drink himself to death.")

The magus glanced off toward the bar, arching an eyebrow at the growing pile of empty bottles. Turning back towards Todd, she shrugged, not really caring either way.

"I doubt there'd be any point in interfering. If he was going to die, the alcohol would have done its work a bottle or two ago. Anyway, how is the experiment, are you getting the information you needed?"

Marcus carefully constructed facade almost crumbled completely, his grey eyes cracking for a moment to reveal a deep rooted pain. He hadn't been ready for a question like that, typically no one cared where wisdom came from, only that it was offered freely. He began melding again with the shadows but changed his mind. The woman was already hurt, a retreat on his part might do more harm to her. He extracted himself again from the shadows.

"Experience", he said, barely above a whisper, though more than loud enough for the preternatural hearing of the vampiress.

Slowly, piece by piece he began replacing the facade of control around the heart that raged against that very painful experience.

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Lauralin returned to Sigrun, "My apologies for earlier, I had wanted to explain the events in Dragonsreach that you had walked in on. I know they must have been confusing to you."

Brook stayed close by Laura, always hovering just behind her, her eyes darting around the room constantly, while Rayanna stood off to the side, her own elven vision taking in everything.

Ariel sat, her mind taking in the information that screamed at her from the untrained in the room, gathering all the information she could without being obtrusive.

Alexandra could see the pain in Marcus's eyes, and sense it in his soul. It awakened memories in her, memories of her first dark months of vampirism, memories of loss and death. It was a time she did not speak of, a something she tried to forget. When the vampiress looked at Marcus, though she knew no details of his past, she had some idea what he must be feeling. Alexandra looked down, her voice conveying both sadness and a certain understanding.

"I'm... sorry. I will ask no more about it."

Marcus nodded thankfully, "Nor will I." After a moment he looked at Ariel who nodded as though he had something though no words passed his lips. Then he looked back at Alexandra. "I'm wondering, could I have word with you in private. I mean you no harm." Then he smiled, "I doubt I could harm you, anyway, even it wasn't part of the Deryn code that a man cannot harm a woman."

Alexandra narrowed her eyes slightly, intensifying her stare, as if to divine Marcus's intentions. After a moment's pause considering his request, she nodded, gesturing to a side chamber.

"A word you shall have."

Marcus entered the side chamber and turned to face Alexandra. He thought for a moment before continuing. "I'm having difficulty with something. Princess Ariel assigned me a .... title, I guess you would call it. The title doesn't seem to be .... appropriate. There's something lost in the translation between Deryn and this common language. Queen Silverlief learned this language a month before opening her borders and therefore isn't fully versed in it as well. If I explain the situation to you I was wondering if you could help with the problem."

Lauralin returned to Sigrun, "My apologies for earlier, I had wanted to explain the events in Dragonsreach that you had walked in on. I know they must have been confusing to you."

Brook stayed close by Laura, always hovering just behind her, her eyes darting around the room constantly, while Rayanna stood off to the side, her own elven vision taking in everything.

Ariel sat, her mind taking in the information that screamed at her from the untrained in the room, gathering all the information she could without being obtrusive.


Sigrun replied, "Quite all right. I'm listening..."

Sasha appeared behind Sigrun, emerging from the shadows. She nodded slightly to the others, but then walked over to Todd to watch his experiment.

Todd, she spoke to him telepathically, What's taking so long with this experiment of yours?

"I had asked Kain to come to Dragonsreach so I could asked him some questions", Lauralin began, then stopped.

"Well to start at the beginning, I had met Kain in Resurgent Dream during a ball. Darius had heard about a vampiric uprising that seemed to point in the direction of Kain as the one responsible. I did not believe this but I had wanted to ask him some questions that might help shed some light on what was happening. At least point me in a direction. Tanis, Darius' officer, had been replaced with a doppleganger. It was this doppleganger that attacked at the time that you had showed up. We were as confused as you, at the time, as to what was happening. As it turns out Kain's name was being used, probably to begin the mortal/immortal war. I think this war was to eliminate one side while weakening the other so that the one in question could more easily deal with what was left. It was ambition. It was dealt with after the sacrifice of another of Darius' crew. That about sums it up, unless you have any questions."

Ravelyn cooly placed her hand upon Sigrun's shoulder, her lips not more than a centimeter behind his ear as she spoke in a soft whisper, "Hello, Sigrun."Her scarlet eyes narrowing out, she proceeded to count the number in the room. She chuckled to herself. As he turned to look, there was no one there. Her light laugh could be heard for those who were really listening. She was, indeed, intrigued to why Sigrun was there. Hadn't he been removed of this 'vampiric plague'? Or was there a part that she may not have seen correctly.

'So Ariel has shown me', Ferrannifer replied through the same link, Serenia still in her arms. 'You can't beat him alone. You wouldn't even find him. His domain is a pocket dimension of his own creation. I know how to find him. And I know how to beat him. But I never had the power. You do.' She nuzzled Serenia, smiling at the small wombat. 'I'll help you, but I go with. The way will be treacherous.'

It felt as if a great weight had lifted from Steele's heart, only to be replaced by another. He was relieved that Ferrannifer now knew and accepted that the kiss he had shared with Alexandra had not been done of his own volition...at least, not completely. He was ecstatic that she would be at his side to face Yorl, and that her knowledge of the mage gave Steele a tactical advantage, one that might very well keep him alive.

The weight that replaced it was knowing that Enos Yorl still retained some sort of hold over Steele, and until the mage was purged from him, he could not trust his feelings, or actions...especially around Ferrannifer. He let her know his thoughts, hiding nothing.

"I thank-you, for your forgiveness and your generosity. Having you by my side is an honor, and a boon I will never be able to repay."

A sense of sadness swept his large frame, followed by a firm sense of resolve.

"Ariel has told you of my...little problem. She offered to try and break the link between me and Yorl, but this would probably alert the mage, putting him on his guard. The thing is...until he's out of me, I...you can't really trust me, and I can't trust me either...so, we need to put US on hold..."

He didn't really have to say anymore. Steele knew that Ferrannifer would now be ready to act if he lost control. She had the raw power to stop him as well, a thought that both concerned and comforted him at the same time. His thoughts were interrupted by an internal scream, and the sudden powering up of his exo-unit. Information was rapidly sorted and fed to him, and as he saw the name of the entity that had set off his automatic defenses, his eyes widened slightly. Concentrating, he quickly powered himself down to 20% and slowly turned to look at the being that affected him so violently.

A Shentavo. THE Shentavo.

Rave Shentavo.

Paige sat at the table, sipping her water quietly. She had been to some conferences in her lifetime, and this was certainly panning out to being the strangest of them all. For one, she was not entirely certain that anything pertaining to vampires had really been discussed, in fact, the whole thing seemed to be some kind of reunion party, but then she gathered that some of them had some catching up to do. Still, she wondered if they would actually achieve anything before the end of the day – this really was going to be a long conference…or a really short one.


[ooc: I’ve kind of lost track as to what is going on, being away for a week tends to make that happen. This is just a post to show that my character is still there, and once I catch up with what is currently happening, I’ll post something more worthwhile.]

The side chamber Alexandra shared with Marcus was relatively small, a square room twenty feet to a side. In the dim light, a pair of comfortable looking armchairs could be seen in the center, with a handful of bookcases along the walls. As they entered, Alexandra offered one of the chairs to Marcus before flopping down into the other.

"I would be happy to help if I can. What sort of problem do you have with your title?"

Ferrannifer nodded and looked at Serenia, "What do you think? You want to go with us? I think you'll be safer at home my dear friend." She then looked up at Darius. "We'll have Ariel remove the seed at the appropriate time. It'll help us in his confusion as to what happened."

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'I think', came a voice in Paige's mind, 'that it won't get much past the blood testing this night. But there is great potential here if it can be kept up."

Serenia couldn't answer, still being in wombat form, though she did begin to wriggle and meep indignantly at Ferranifer's suggestion.

William steps out of the worlds tunnel cast by his brethren, flanked on either side by one of his nation's eponymous animated fossils. One, of course, was his personal servant, Eck, who automatically swept the room with empty eyesockets. Drog, the other, was for all intents and purposes a spy for the order, sent to watch the proceedings and report... on him, as much as anyone. Necromancers may be a lot of things, but trusting isn't commonly among them.

He frowns slightly as the tunnel irises shut behind him and disappears into nothing, as he knows he lacks the power to open such an escape unaided. He's stuck here until the rendezvous time. Looking about, William finds himself in a nondescript room at the site where the conference on vampires is allegedly underway.

Officially, the Order had no truck with vampires, but everyone in the lower circles suspected some of the seniors as having flipped sides, so to speak. It was the nature of the business. His own assignment here, though, is a question. William is a highly skilled master at fielding warrior zombie skeletons for the Grand Cause, but he has very little knowledge in this particular specialty. Of course, he suspects, that was likely exactly *why* he had been sent, either to give the impression of ignorance on the part of the Order or to die in some unforeseen and gruesome manner at the hands of some night creature. Sometimes, just sometimes, he wonders why he took this job, but then he grins at Eck and remembers.

He looked at the doors leading out of the room, making an arbitrary decision, and swept through the door to right, into a hallway.

"Well", Marcus began, seating himself after Alexandra sat down, "let me start with what I did in Deryn. There I'm what's called Avesalet. Literally translated it means just vengeance. Avesalat is the femanine form and Avesaleti for plural.

If our employer, or the one who hires them for freelance, is severely wronged or insulted, and evidence provides clear intent, we're sent to deal with the individual. It's our job to use stealth to get close to the offender. If we're caught then restitution is paid by our employer and the slight is placed against them. Now any Avesaleti worth thier pay will cause little or no damage in the attempt. The point is to remain undetected until they are close to thier target. If they get close to thier target, and there must be no one else around, then the Avesaleti announces thier name, who they work for and thier intent. The target then has, in your time, one half hour to prepare. Physical combat then insues. If the Avesaleti loses then the employer, again, must pay restitution and live with the slight and the failure. If the Avesaleti is victorious, meaning the death of the target, then the employer gains thier lands, buisiness and adopts thier family, caring for the family as though they're their own.

In coming here we tried to establish a title. One is body guard, because of the nature of the people we are around. In Deryn we have mind guards. Physical combat is rare, which is why those like me are held in high regard. You see Deryni are rather delicate in nature. The queen", he said, nodding toward the other room where Lauralin was, "has suggested that it's because we rely heavily on our psionic talent, doing very little physically. I the mind of a Deryn is somehow shut down or blocked the body dies. Since there are very few psionically talented people outside of Deryn then I'm required to guard her physically. The other title is the problem. When we came to Highport we tried to find an appropriate title. One was someone who took money or worked for someone in large scale combat. Mercenary. This didn't seem appropriate for me. The other was one who worked for money or for a person who would be assigned to single targets. Assassin was the title and we figured this was appropriate. But it doesn't seem to hold the same meaning. I think we missed something in the translation."

He looked at Alexandra hoping she would see the difference and perhaps have a more appropriate title for him.

Sigrun glanced around, his elven eyes carefully watching the shadows.

Nothing.

Ravelyn...come find me in a minute... he sent as a telepathic communication to her.

He turned back to Lauralin, a strange look in his eyes. He regained his calm composure and replied to her, "I understand now..."

He stood and excused himself and made his way out of the room. He walked down the hall and disappeared into another side room where he stood in the darkness of the room, waiting...

"Alright, alright", Ferrannifer said as Serenia wriggled, "Your in, I'm sorry. I just need to know how to contact you when Darius and I are ready."

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Lauralin watched Sigrun go. Something was close, she could tell that much. What she didn't know. She looked around, now that her explanation was out of the way. She smiled at Rayanna who lifted the corners of her mouth, though it was obvious that she was frightened.

"Don't worry", she said the wild elf in elven, "nothing will happen to you. Besides I think you can handle yourself. Darius would attest to that."

Switching to common she made her way over to paige, "Well I am sure things will pick up upon the morrow, if not tonight. I hope you are not overly bored with the proceedings."

Alexandra listened with growing interest as Marcus spoke.

"Well, you do not seem like an assassin to me. The word 'assassin' has a certain negative connotation to it that your profession lacks. Many view assassins as dishonorable, quite the opposite of yourself. Still, you are hired to kill..."

After a few seconds of musing on the issue, she sighed.

"The common tongue is such a limiting language. I've always preferred elvish myself. Perhaps executioner would be better, but I cannot say for certain. You see, I tend not to hire others for vengeance, really takes the fun out of dispatching one's enemy, but that's just me."

As she spoke the last few words, Alexandra smiled wickedly, fangs momentarily slipping into view.

OOC: I won't be posting again until Friday on account of my being out of town. :(

Ravelyn appeared to the side of Sigrun, and placed one arm around his shoulder. "You know it's getting really hard for me to go anywhere without finding you, but I am not objecting." She lifted her hand from him and sat in a chair across the room.

"I really would like to know what is going on here...What exactly are they trying to do?...I know one of them has thoughts about my son, Kain. I do not want these thoughts to be harmful. For myself as well, as you know, experiments on me are very attractive, and therefore I remain unknown to them."

Paige looked up at the approaching woman, who she noted from conversation around the room to be called Lauralin. Giving the woman a smile, Paige rose from the chair, happy to be giving her legs some movement. “Oh, I’m not bored, merely intrigued with events.” Which was kind of an understatement, having always had an interest in vampirism and now finding herself sharing a room with several. “I find you can sometimes get more out of these things by watching and listening.”

Ravelyn appeared to the side of Sigrun, and placed one arm around his shoulder. "You know it's getting really hard for me to go anywhere without finding you, but I am not objecting." She lifted her hand from him and sat in a chair across the room.

"I really would like to know what is going on here...What exactly are they trying to do?...I know one of them has thoughts about my son, Kain. I do not want these thoughts to be harmful. For myself as well, as you know, experiments on me are very attractive, and therefore I remain unknown to them."

Sigrun smiled as Ravelyn appeared, the natural stunning beauty reminding him once again of her image. Throughout the pages of time, there had always been one thing consistent. Ravelyn never 'grew old'. She was, in no little respect, the perfect embodiment of eternal youth.

"I have been doing a lot of traveling lately, but soon, I must return to Tarlachia. I wonder if you've known that I've become the ruler?"

He too sat in a chair, the room still enveloped in darkness, yet, his elven eyes clearly made her out.

"In regards to Kain, he is fine for now. Lady Lauralin was simply filling me in on a past event in which I encountered an event that turned out to be a big mistake of identities, mixed with corruption and greed."

He waved a hand toward his old friend, "And what about you? I see you're alive and well."

Marcus usual jovial manner almost made him slip. He blushed slightly, sure that the comment he was about to make wouldn't be one that would be good considering the woman was high ranking, if not a ruler.

"Yes, well", he said stumbling over his thoughts and trying to find something decent to say, "I'm sure your quite capable of that. THAT being, ahh, being your ability to fight that is."

Cursing himself for an idiot he began trying to think of some way to return to the other room gracefully.

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'So there is another Shentavo', came a voice in Ravelyn's mind. 'That's good to know. We should speak some time. My name is Ariel, Princess of the Deryn and advisor to the the King of Highport.'

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Lauralin smiled, "That is often my preference. You are a wise women for one so young. Where is it you hail from?"

William found the registration desk just in time, as his inability to keep Drog firmly in his view was beginning to grate. He could feel loyal Eck whenever his guard was around him, but the echoing silence of Drog's presence was a grating reminder that the watchdog served someone besides himself, someone unknown. It was like being on a leash, if a leash could hold a dagger behind its back...

He motions to the two of them to stay back while he walks up to register, but as he approaches the desk, the woman behind it widens her eyes in surprise. Turning, he finds himself staring into the soulless eyes of Drog. It ignored my orders!, he thinks in shock. Looking past it, he sees his own servant waiting obediently in the hallway, and he waves it over irritably.

Casting an acid look at his undead tagalong, he turns back to the woman and says, "I'm terribly sorry about this, and about arriving so late into the conference. We only heard of it just recently; information can be slow entering our borders at times. My name is William, fifth rank bonesmith of the second tier of the fourth circle of the Order. I am from the Sovereign Nation of the Wellesley Islands." At her blank stare, he reluctantly expands with distaste in his tone, "Your popular media often refers to us as the Isles of the Ninja Zombie Dinosaurs. I believe word was to be sent ahead?"

The woman behind the desk shakes her head. He sighs and pulls a purse off of his belt. "It's not too late to register now, is it?" All the gold they have taken over the years, and I have to pay my own bloody registration fees...