NationStates Jolt Archive

"Well congratulations...Maximus," she said softly to Sigrun. "I am never disappointed in your decisions, and it brings me a great pleasure to hear that you have become the leader of your nation. It is not an error in judgment, and you have my full support. An alliance between nations is certainly in the picture, my empire has always backed Tarlachia, with a change in rulers, however, I doubt this would change my stand on the issue." She smiled. That was one thing about Sigrun she liked. They always seemed to agree on every issue from cloning to bloodlines. "I am as well as I could be, but my counterparts seem to want to drag me back to their realm by slaughtering anyone I care for. But our connection I have secured, it is well hidden, and shouldn't be a problem." She leaned back in the chair, and that is when she heard a voice.

As many ancients would agree, the invasion of the mind by someone who they were not aquainted with was very much unwelcome. Ravelyn wasn't another Shentavo, and Ariel had made it seem as if she were a kin. The seraphic wasn't a 'Shentavo', for she said it as if it were a breed. She was the Shentavo, the original. It was because of the angelic blood within her veins that spawned her kin as a stronger form of vampire, and they took up her name to express this superiority among other vampires. Ravelyn, or Azrael, had not meant this intensionally, but it became a name of prestige and rarity. One thing was known; if your last name was Shentavo, you had her blood running through your veins. Ravelyn raised her hand in the air, sending a light burning sensations to the temple of the one who had sent her the message.

Don't test me childr, she replied to Ariel. If you wish to speak have the decency to speak with me face to face rather than try to establish a connection with me. Such connections to me are fatal. And this was more than true. Kaos, Lotus, and Quissera would seek out any that formed a bond with her. Using mind speech immediately opened this channel. Azrael had this connection with Sigrun for many decades, and had time to mask this connection. Immediate connections, however, could be easily traced. If there is one thing you don't want in this world if it wasn't Ravelyn trying to kill you, it would be 3 seraphic trying to kill you. While she was able to block out most of her brother's thoughts, sometimes they were able to sense every emotion that she had. So she was very careful.

Sigrun noticed the slight flare of psionic energy that emitted from Ravelyn and figured what it was. Nevertheless, he did not intrude, instead keeping to the spoken conversation.

"I have had many attempts on my life, both on the battlefield and off. Only one succeeded. One other, during the Star Trials that challenged my ability to be eligible for the rule, nearly took my life, had it not been for my cousin Arleni...and her daughter, Aeris."

Sigrun licked his lips, looking off into the distance, "An interesting being she is...this Aeris. She was but only a human once, until she met Zero Celadrin. Somehow, when in the presence of Liam Celadrin, the clan's leader, she began to develop angelic abilities. It was then discovered that her name was Aerial, a Nephilim. Zero knew something else lay in hiding deep within Aeris's soul, and it was drawn out during the Star Trials."

He paused and turned to her, "She possessed elven blood inside her as well. Further tests by myself and some others proved that she was Arleni's illigitimate daughter, my secound cousin. Since then, I have been training this unique girl in the arts of the elven world, and her Nephilim abilities have been in training with Liam. You should meet her, if you haven't already."

(OOC: You have already met her, just in case you don't remember)

Ariel tossed aside the psionic attack without thinking and sighed. She stopped the link and began contemplating the woman's words.

Such connections to me are fatal.

She thought this odd. Never had anyone suffered under a simple link. She wondered how the link could be fatal to the woman. She made a note to ask Ferrannifer about the problem. She would be happy to talk to her face to face except she had never met the woman and had no idea she had even existed until now.

Nephilim; so the bastard race did exist, of human or elf and angel. As instinct she frowned upon the taint as she did with her own. She spoke nothing of it, and kept this detest within her. "Being around others has posed quite dangerous recently. That's why I have focused my energy in salvaging and protecting the connections I have left. I realize I have not been in public view for some time, which is in part to personal reasons." She sighed softly.

"Sigrun, show me to the others. I might as well speak with them briefly before I depart. Just..." she paused, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't tell them of my other side. I am beginning to hate my own theology."

The registrar handed him a 'key', but instead of a complicated bit of metal, he found himself holding a card-shaped piece of what the humans of this plane called "plastic". Turning it over, he thankfully found that some understanding soul had stamped pictures of what to do with the thing when he found the right door. "How does this work?", he wonders idly to himself. It must have something to do with this black bit, maybe. It seems important in the pictures...

He followed a sign to the stairs as he wondered about this "modern" facility. The "technological" denizens of this realm seem to have cooked up some ideas as interesting and intricate in their way as his own bonesmithing. Even the latch on the door to the stairway seemed to be a nice piece of work by the standards of his plane, but the humans here bought them in stores by the dozen.

Idly, he wonders if the islanders that the Order exterminated upon entry to this plane knew how to make things like these. The islands did have some 'factories' when they moved in. As he moved up the stairs to the third floor, he resolves to investigate some of the spirits in those areas. Brightening, he considers that if he could get a factory operating, then perhaps he could get promoted to the first tier of the fourth circle and avoid chump assignments like this.

Sigrun nodded, "I don't tell anyone who you really are. You were kind enough to gift me with that knowledge, and so I am obligated to at least not share this."

He led her back to the conference room, his eyes quickly noting the locations of all here.

That girl did not know the face that belonged to the voice, so no one except for Sigrun would recognize her. This may be to her advantage. She picked up one of Sigrun's arms and placed it around her shoulders, wrapping one of her own hands around his back. They don't know who I am, and that might be better for me. Introduce me as...oh I don't know, your vampiric girlfriend or something, Dayaa..

Oolsasys was just standing there. After giving blood, she'd discovered she really had nothing to do at the conference. Even if she had information to contribute, it had been some time since anything on topic had actually been said.

Patricia was a little disgruntled for the same reason, wondering if she'd come into a social club for vampires instead of a conference, one where no one seemed particularly interested in her.

Serenia remained an adorable wombat in Ferranifer's arms. She snuggled and cuddled and nestled ceaselessly, looking up with little staring eyes at her most favoritest vampire in the whole wide world, Ferranifer.

Sigrun looked amusingly at Rave, and smiled. I expect this to continue after this meeting... he replied telepathically.

She looked at him with a slight glare. He snickered silently, Relax, just kidding...

He led 'Dayaa' toward the Patricia, nodding politely at the grotesque female, "Patricia, I'd like you to meet Dayaa, an old flame that still burns bright in my eternal heart..."

I feel like a sap...

Ravelyn raised her eyebrow at the comment about this continuing afterwards. Oh, really? Giving a wicked grin to her escort, she turned and leaned up to kiss Sigrun. You like your tongue Sigrun? Because I could always bite it off if you don't hold it... She chuckled within her mind and drew back. she smiled, exposing her fangs. Relax, just kidding...

You know vampires aren't that sweet all the time, and since i'm relatively supposed to be fully vampire, it implies that i don't necessarily have to be nice. She was enjoying this too much. It wasn't often that she got to be out of her character.

Patrica smirked a little. "Hey, Dayaa. I'm Patricia. What's happening?" She extends a clawed hand politely. "So what brings you to Akaton? We try to send somebody to just about every party they throw, alliance and all." She grinned a grin of yellow, jagged teeth, a hungry grin.

You don't have to remind me...I was one too remember? Sigrun replied, sharing a past memory.

It was a memory of Maximus slaughtering numerous rebellious humans during the vampiric uprising in Tarlachia, over a thousand years in the past.

He snapped both of them back to the present and chuckled aloud at Patricia's comment.

William finds his room and manages to open the door with the 'key'. The room itself is not singularly interesting, being similar in many respects to the residences seized on some of their islands, if in better repair. He allows the door to shut behind him and Eck, but Drog opens it autonomously to follow, a fact he notes for later...

He returns to the lobby along the stairs and follows the various signs to the site of the conference itself, where he begins to look for anything that might give him an idea of what's going on. The humans of this plane, he muses to himself, seem to use their 'printers' and 'photocopiers' to disseminate information with great enthusiasm. It's too bad so little of it is useful, and it requires so much sifting to find it.

"I am simply here on Sigrun's account," she smiled, exposing very sharp white fangs. She ran her fingertips down his chest. Vampires were, in nature, extremely physical beings. her fingernails dug slightly into his abdomen at the end. Vampires were, in nature, extremely twisted in their pleasure.

"I'm sure he wouldn't want me to go hungry," she smiled. "Unlike older kin, I myself am only a fledgling, and who better to take from then your lover?" She grinned wickedly once again. Oh was Sigrun gonna get it. Not because he deserved it, but because it was extremely amusing to her.

"Gah!" Sigrun grunted as he felt Rave's fingernails gouging his stomach. "Yeah, you take a lot outta me..." he muttered in response.

He turned her away and led her to another visitor, this time Sasha, his accomplice from Tarlachia. She too was a vampiress, and she instantly noticed the vampiric woman clinging to Sigrun. She narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Sasha...meet Dayaa...an old love..."

Sasha looked at him critically, then turned to the other woman. She extended a hand, "I'm Sasha. Nice to meet you."

Ravelyn cursed softly. If Sasha was a vampire, she maybe able to tell that Rave was no fledgling at all if they should shake hands. She immediately focused on keeping her prescence at a minimum, and hesitated in shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you as well."

Sasha shook the hand, but immediately held 'Dayaa's hand with great strength. She looked coldly into the eyes of the foreign woman, trying to see who she was for real.

Sigrun, explain.

Sigrun glanced quickly at the two hands clenched tightly, replying, Later.

Sasha increased the grip, the almost territorial look in her eyes. So far, the other vampiress was handling her little test quite well. She spoke cooly, "So, as it's obvious you're here to be the trophy girl to Sigrun, why don't you tell me your true intentions?"

She spoke very low, only heard by Rave. Sigrun felt Rave's nails beginning to dig into his side. Uh..hey...if you're going to have a...ow! Watch it! he said to Ravelyn silently, prying her fingers from digging further into his muscled abs.

This was a moment to savor, even if only for the bitter taste of irony that lingered in Steele's mouth. Here he was, in spitting distance of the Shentavo and under a flag of peace. She probably had no idea who he was, which was probably a very good thing. Even though his work was a necessary evil, he was still a hunter of vampires. He resisted the urge to approach her and speak with her, knowing that his puppeteer could pull his strings at any time.

The massive bounty-hunter could sense the muted buzz of psionic energy around him, echoing voices, unclear and windblown thoughts, impossible to grasp. The room started to breathe, and he had to concentrate to regain focus.

The last thing this conference needed was for Steele to lose control, so he deliberately turned away from Ravelyn and strode towards Ferrannifer. He offered his thoughts to her as he approached, opening himself up so she could see the battle within him. A moment later, he stood directly in front of the proud vampiress, looking down into her eyes.

Ferrannifer could only be described as majestically beautiful, her maturity dancing an elegant waltz with her passions. A rush of emotion barged into his awareness, and Steele had to swallow back the words that threatened to burst out of him. Instead, he smiled at her, and at the furry creature in her arms. The beast seemed to give Ferrannifer a distinctly motherly look. It suited her, he thought to himself.

"I have to get out of here, m'lady...the risks grow by the moment. Part of Enos Yorl is still here, inside of me now, playing with my thoughts...please, all I need you to do is open that door where he lives, and I'll do the rest. I...I don't want you to risk yourself needlessly or get in my way, so I'll be doing this alone."

Steele was staring deep into her eyes, searching for a reaction, unable to penetrate the black orbs that enthralled him. He reached out his hand, tentatively, and gently began to lightly stroke the top of the furry creature in Fertrannifer's arms. He smiled at them both.

"Plus, you've got this little guy to look after now..."

((OOC: Rave, wombats http://www.wombat.echidna.id.au/animals/wombat1.htm ))

Patricia blinked once. "That was...fast..." she muttered under her breath. She lowered her hand which Rave had refused to take and watched Sigrun leave almost as fast as he walked over. Shrugging, the Redcap went back to being a wallflower.

Serenia peeked up at Steele, squirming in protest at being referred to as a
'little guy'.

After several false starts, William finally manages to find the main room of the conference. He stops short at the door to take the room in but instead finds himself bounced inelegantly into the room by his skeletal warden. He glares at the undead minion, but he believes it ruined the moment since it was disconnected from his will, not preprogrammed malice.

Probably.

Recomposing himself, he walks into the room, walking fossils in tow.

Out of the corner of his eye he sensed movement, and though he didn't want to break contact with Ferrannifer, Steele's body whispered a cautious warning to him. He turned his head slightly, blinking his eyes a few times to make sure he was clearly seeing what he thought he was seeing. It seemed to be a humanoid of sorts, flanked on each side by...? Well, Steele wasn't quite sure what they were, but they sure weren't pretty.

It had been a long, weird day, and it just got a second wind.

Out of the corner of his eye he sensed movement, and though he didn't want to break contact with Ferrannifer, Steele's body whispered a cautious warning to him. He turned his head slightly, blinking his eyes a few times to make sure he was clearly seeing what he thought he was seeing. It seemed to be a humanoid of sorts, flanked on each side by...? Well, Steele wasn't quite sure what they were, but they sure weren't pretty.

It had been a long, weird day, and it just got a second wind.
William sees another person who looks a bit lost, and a sort of grateful camaraderie washes over him. He approaches the other, wearing a nametag that reads "Hello, My Name Is WILLIAM", with a lot of additional text added in small lettering under the WILLIAM.

"Hello," he says. "Have you been to one of these before?"

Ravelyn dug her nails into Sasha's hand, and groweled softly. Oh how hard it was to retain herself. 'trophy girl?' she thought to herself. 'that bitch. Who the hell does she think she is...ugh! Stay calm...don't blow your cover here. You are Dayaa...no one else...." She regained her demeanor, and withdrew her nails. "Oops," she said softly. "Sorry about that." She pulled her hand away from Sasha. She masked her emotions. "Quite a grip you have there..."

She smiled softly. I am merely here to aquire knowledge. That's all. No harm in learning. She did not tell Sasha how dangerous it was to form links with her.

Todd looked up from his work and he saw a new woman enter the room. She was shaking hands with Sasha and Sigrun. Todd turned back to his notes and continued to scrawl out forumlas and problems concerning the blood mixtures. He looked up at the newcomer, placed his notepad down and stood. Todd readjusted his clothes and walked over to her.

Todd smiled and gave a polite bow to her and extended his hand.

"I am Todd Harte ma'am."

Sigrun winced once more, Watch the damn nails, you she-devil! as he watched Rave's hand clench Sasha's own.

Sasha looked carefully at Sigrun and then to Ravelyn's hand on his arm.

"You're an interesting one, Ms. Dayaa" she said quietly. It couldn't be discerned if that was a compliment or an insult.

Sigrun held his hand up between the women, "Save the shit for the litter box ladies..."

God, you're evil sometimes... He spoke telepathically to Rave as he looked between the women.

Lauralin looked at the newcomer. 'A fledgling', she thought, 'if she is then she's gifted with magic.' Sigrun seemed to be making the introductions and politely waited for him to get to her.

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Ferrannifer looked at Darius, "She", she said to him, "is Serenia, and she's a knight in Resurgent Dream. Please treat her appropriatly to her title. As for not going with you, no deal. You wouldn't live for five steps. You may have a great deal of power to face someone directly but Yorl won't face anyone, we need to find him in his lair and then get close to him. You would never survive. I'll need to get some things from my old school before we go, your welcome to join me."

She looked at Ravelyn as she entered. 'She's no fledgling', she told Lauralin through the link, 'be wary, she attempts deception. She has far to much dark power to be a newborn.'

At William's entrance she eyed him and his minions. His companions were simple. Slight of hand for one as old and experienced in necromancy as she was, but that didn't mean he didn't have power, only that he didn't display it.

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Brook eyed the woman as she entered and then the man, focusing on the creatures that entered with him. Her hand twitched slightly at the sight of them, remember her time at the school and in the liches lair.

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Rayanna's eyes grew wide as the newcomers came in. 'Deathwalkers, so many deathwalkers', her mind screamed. The room was beginning to close in about her. The wild elf, so used to running through the woods of the westlands and the open lands was beginning to feel claustrophobic with so many people and no sky above her. Her hand twitched, moving toward her quiver.

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Ferrannifer turned back to Darius, "We should get started, I think we should take Rayanna with us, she's second to none at tracking and outdoors." 'And' she continued in his mind, 'she's getting claustrophobic. She's a wild elf. Being indoors and in a crowded room is beginning to weight on her.'

'Be wary', she said, linking to Lauralin's mind, 'This Dayaa means deception.'

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Lauralin only nodded and moved over to Rayanna, "Go with Ferrannifer, I'll keep Brook with me. She'll need your skills."

Rayanna nodded and almost ran for the door leading out of the room.

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Ariel knew the woman was the Shentavo she had contacted earlier. She didn't want to mentally contact her again since doing so would harm the woman but she also didn't want to give the woman away since she seemed intent on hiding her identity. She only hoped the woman would talk with her privately at some point.

Humming idly to himself, William mumbles a few choice words, irritating the back of his throat as the small price of shifting his vision into the deathsight. Suddenly the people in the room invert in his vision, with Eck and Drog paradoxically blazing with patterns of dark energies that serve to make them function... along with some other people in the room, no less.

"Vampires, hm?" he murmurs to himself. He casts about for a seat, momentarily admiring the death pattern in a lovely hardwood chair as he settles into a seat to watch the patterns of unlife ripple through the corpses parading around the room as people. He pulls a hotel ballpoint out of his pocket after a moment, and he asks Eck to find him some paper... but, glancing up at the looming Drog, he thinks better of it and starts to make notes on an old napkin instead.

OOC: As vampires walk through the room, William will peer intently at them, making semi-legible scribblings on a napkin that appear to be halfway through mystic writings and technical schematics.

Serenia squirmed emphatically at that introduction, slightly scratching the arm of Ferranifer, who she seemed to think has just somehow insulted her rather greatly.

Patricia snorted and held back a laugh, not saying anything. She then returned to glowering at Sigrun and his escort, snarling lightly and baring her teeth.

Oolasys frowned lightly, glancing towards Lauralin as though she were expecting something.

Paige watched as the newcomers arrived, and saw the interest in the first that the group seemed to have. She peered at the woman, and despite herself could find nothing that drew her attention other than in a desire to know what was so special about her. She moved a little closer to the group, making sure that if anything was mentioned she would be able to pick up any useful information.

As she moved, she gave her attention to the other new arrival. This really was turning out to be some kind of ‘freak show’. When she had arrived, she had expected this to be mainly a bunch of humans discussing ways of curing the world from the blight of vampirism, instead it seemed to be turning into a convention of vampires…perhaps she had read the invitation incorrectly.

Ferrannifer looked at Darius, "She", she said to him, "is Serenia, and she's a knight in Resurgent Dream. Please treat her appropriatly to her title. As for not going with you, no deal. You wouldn't live for five steps. You may have a great deal of power to face someone directly but Yorl won't face anyone, we need to find him in his lair and then get close to him. You would never survive. I'll need to get some things from my old school before we go, your welcome to join me."

Steele looked down at the furry little creature, somewhat surprised it actually had a title...well, apart from "lap-dog".

"M'Lady Serenia," he said, bowing slightly, "I beg your forgiveness."

To Ferrannifer, he simply showed her the relief he felt after hearing that she insisted on following him to the lair of Enos Yorl. He nodded to her, and spoke quietly.

"As you wish...and thank-you."

Ferrannifer turned back to Darius, "We should get started, I think we should take Rayanna with us, she's second to none at tracking and outdoors." 'And' she continued in his mind, 'she's getting claustrophobic. She's a wild elf. Being indoors and in a crowded room is beginning to weight on her.'

The big man looked over at the Elf, immediately sensing her discomfort. She was like a caged animal, her eyes darting around the room and her hand twitching nervously near her bow. Steele remembered how Rayanna had tracked him long ago, felling him with an unerringly-guided arrow. The phantom pain in his thigh twinged, reminding him of her skills. She would be a marvelous addition to the team, he thought to himself.

He watched as Rayanna skittered gratefully from the room after speaking with Lauralin. He was about to speak when the newcomer stepped up, introducing himself with a loud and boisterous voice. Both Steele and Ferrannifer regarded the man called William, thinly disguised contempt in their eyes. Now was NOT the time for diplomatic niceties. The look in their eyes told the man all he needed to know, and he retired to another part of the room, creatures in tow, and began scribbling on a napkin.

"I'm ready to go when you are..." said Steele, a hard, cold look coming into his eyes.

"Y'know," William mutters to himself, "I think I could maybe build one of these vampire things." He squints at a vampire moving its right arm, and adjusts some notes on the right elbow of a diagram on his fourth napkin. He shuffles the napkins together and spreads them out again, looking over them clinically. "A basic one, anyway. Without all the frills."

He is suddenly very aware of Drog's looming presence. Was this a test? He wonders again what they really want. Do they want him to succeed or fail? If he is successful, will he live or die?

"Screw it," he says, picking up his pen again. "I'm going for it." Besides, there was a 50% chance Eck would take Drog. Probably.

Looking at the designs and wondering what he's missing, he notices how some clusters of the vampires revealed by his spell don't seem to actually talk all that much for all the mingling that's going on. He starts searching through his pockets for something...

Ferrannifer looked down at Serenia in surprise but then everything else began happening to fast. The wound healed immedietly and she began moving toward the door, hesitating a moment as William spoke. "Thing?" she said turning to face him. "Thing? You pathetic weasel, who do you dare to call thing?"

"Ferrannifer go", Lauralin told her in a firm voice.

Ferrannifer snorted and joined Rayanna at the elevator, "I assume", she said to Darius that you have your own transportation?"

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Lauralin caught the look from Oolasys, wondering what the problem is. She began to make her way across the room to ask when Brook placed her hands on her swords. Laura followed the barbarian womens eyes to see the necromancer reaching into his clothing, searching for something. She waited, watching him warily, flames dancing across her hands and fingers.

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There came a light chuckle in paiges mind. 'I'm sure the invitation was read correctly. But did you think it would be ignored by the vampires?' came the question in her mind.

Ferrannifer looked down at Serenia in surprise but then everything else began happening to fast. The wound healed immedietly and she began moving toward the door, hesitating a moment as William spoke. "Thing?" she said turning to face him. "Thing? You pathetic weasel, who do you dare to call thing?"
William pays rapt attention as Ferrannifer talks, not listening to her actual words but carefully watching the patterns of power flexing about her throat and head as she speaks. He makes some additional notes on a fifth napkin as she storms off. "Phew," he says to Eck, "that was lucky. I almost inverted this flow over the vocal cord. I wish more of these things would talk, instead of..." He looks over at a finger bone he had laid out on the table, clattering with the rhythms of psychic energy slewing back and forth about the site.

Ferrannifer snorted and joined Rayanna at the elevator, "I assume", she said to Darius that you have your own transportation?"


Steele nodded at her question.

"I have a fast skiff in orbit...lotsa room for the three of us, if needed. My team is standing ready to transport us aboard whenever we're ready."

He smiled at Rayanna, who still had a trapped look about her.

"We have a special room for you on board, darlin'...you'll feel like yer back home, dancing with the tree's and singing with the breeze in no time."

He was referring to the holo-deck, a standard option on all of Steele's fleet. Hopefully, this would allow the Elfling to be comfortable for the journey ahead.

Shaking the voice from her head, Paige grinned to herself. “This is a very poor trait, reading the minds of others without permission.” She looked around the room trying to decide who had been speaking to her, but she knew that it would be hard to do.

Her attention was once more grabbed by the man doing something at the table, wondering what it was exactly he was trying to do. Her brow furrowed before her eyebrows rose questioningly. “What is that? And what are you doing?"

Her attention was once more grabbed by the man doing something at the table, wondering what it was exactly he was trying to do. Her brow furrowed before her eyebrows rose questioningly. “What is that? And what are you doing?"

OOC: I need to know if you would show up as vampire/undead or not in my deathsight spell before I can answer properly.

<<OOC>> Allow me: Paige is a vanilla, white-bread human.

...and a hot patootie. ;-)
OOC: Thanks.

"Hm?" William looks up at her and then looking slightly disappointed for some reason. The skeleton Drog stands stock still to his right, and the skeleton Eck scans the room constantly to his left. "Oh, I'm inquiring into the nature of vampirism," he says with a chuckle. He organizes his system of napkins a little, now grown into its sixth absorbent tissue.

If she looks at all interested, he continues, "I'm actually working on some bonesmithing designs to see if I can throw one together. They're not too different from some of our Order's conventional zombie troopers at the base of it, but they're trickier, and more haphazard. Kind of... organic." He wrinkles his nose at that last, and sighs at his napkins. "It'll be my masterwork if I can pull it off, though, I think."

He brightens a bit. "You wouldn't have some decent paper, would you?"

“You are going to do what?” Paige looked at William credulously. “You are going to make a vampire?” Please tell me I misheard him. Sighing loudly, she turned for a moment and grabbed her notepad, pulling off several pages and passing them to the man. “I’m not sure this is a very good idea. Have you done this kind of thing before?”

She cast her gaze between William’s two companions and was sure she had just asked the daftest question in her entire life. “Who are you? And where are you from?” She hated sounding like she was addressing an alien lifeform, but it was always best to start at the beginning and go from there.

Rayanna looks at Steele as he speaks. Though still looking ready to bolt or shoot she was somewhat relaxed by his smile, her own lips curling up slightly, though guardedly. Ferrannifer turned to Rayanna and repeated what he said. Though Raya had translated more than half of it, it was still confusing and Ferrannifer's translation didn't help much. She said something back to Ferrannifer who shrugged. Rayanna looked back at Steele,

"Me spake sitee spake, umm", she chewed her lower lip in concentration a moment, "little spake, umm, no spake sitee spake so good."

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Lauralin looked at the necromancer. "I do not know how you might achieve this without assistance from another vampire. Or from a curse, I know of one or two who were changed in that way." (OOC - Laura is a vampiress)

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Ariel turned to face the general direction of Paige, Lauralin, the ever present Brook and the necromancer.

"My apologies", she said. Her voice is husky, gruff and seems to strain her as she speaks. "Where I come from such communication is the norm and expected and unshielded thoughts are meant for public knowledge. Like a conversation in an open area." She stopped, a slightly pained look on her face as she rubs her throat, "I'm sorry."

(ooc: Ravelyn really doesn't have much dark energy. She is a light character -_-;)

IC:

Ravelyn chuckled at Sigrun's comment. Quiet you. She turned to Sasha. Opportunity presents itself for a lot of fun. She exposed her fangs.

"I think you are confusing 'cat' with 'bat' Sigrun," she said softly, her eyes taunting Sasha. "Vampires don't quarell..." she hissed a bit toward Sasha, but it wasn't direct. "We maim."

It would be very soon that Sigrun may have to restrain 'Dayaa' from jumping on top of Sasha.

Paige looked at Ariel and shook her head. “Think nothing of it.” She smiled at the woman, and laughed lightly. “Where I come from people who can read minds are usually part of some magic show.” And vampires are usually the stars of movies. She regretted the thought as soon as she had it, and smiled awkwardly, knowing that several of the people in the room probably just caught that one. She really was not going to end up making friends at this conference.

"Er, well, like I said, I am a bonesmith..." William says, looking a bit flustered at the sudden spate of interest. "My name is William. I'm a fifth rank bonesmith of the second tier of the fourth circle of the Order." Seeing how this doesn't help anyone he adds, "We control the Wellesley Islands." Likely seeing yet another round of blank stares, he sighs and says resignedly, "The Isles of the Ninja Zombie Dinosaurs." He almost spits out the last three words of the popular press's favorite nickname of the moment.

To Paige, he continues, "In any case, I don't see where crafting a basic one would be particuarly difficult, especially with so many working examples of these things walking about to draw on." He waves airily at the undead in the small crowd, and then holds up one of his sketches, tracing it with a pen cap. "I think I need some work on the spell ligatures, especially this one, and I need to get a better look at a full range of motion in the upper body at least, and of course I'm not going to try anything fancy like psychic powers or what have you on a first draft model like this, but I think I can make a really simple one work."

He smirks a little, and he starts to chew on the end of the ballpoint while he thinks and adds, "Of course, raw materials, those are a problem." He scribbles a bit more. "But this kind of thing is why we're here, right?"

Sasha hissed back slightly keeping her voice low, "Yes. We maim..."

Sigrun replied to Rave telepathically, No bloodshed here...I don't want to have to clean up after you...besides...that dress looks too good to be ruined...

He excused the two from Sasha, who retreated to the shadows, keeping her eyes on 'Dayaa'.

Sigrun's ears picked up the conversation about creation of vampires. He turned his head sharply, Sounds like a lab experiment... he spoke silently to Rave.

His hand took a tighter grip upon her body, knowing she would react to that...

“No, I don’t think you understand.” Paige sighed loudly, wondering if this was what it was like talking to a brick wall. “Why would you want to make a vampire? No offence to anyone here, but I thought the idea of this conference was to try to find a way to cure or at least stop the spread of vampirism.” Her hand ran agitatedly through her hair. “Or perhaps I’m missing the point.” She shook her head sadly. “I must admit I’m not really sure anymore.”

“No, I don’t think you understand.” Paige sighed loudly, wondering if this was what it was like talking to a brick wall. “Why would you want to make a vampire? No offence to anyone here, but I thought the idea of this conference was to try to find a way to cure or at least stop the spread of vampirism.” Her hand ran agitatedly through her hair. “Or perhaps I’m missing the point.” She shook her head sadly. “I must admit I’m not really sure anymore.”
William just looks confused for a moment. Cure them? he thinks, a bit astounded. To anyone who might be eavesdropping on thoughts, it would have the same incredulous tone that would arise if someone suggested curing a hammer or a rifle. Out loud, he says perplexedly, "How would you expect to... cure vampires if you don't really understand how they work?"

"You seem to speak of trying to create a golem. A vampire is not a golem. There is a vast difference between the two. So much so that it is not even worth discussing." Lauralin turned away from William at that point. Apparently Sigrun was done with introductions. She wondered what Ferrannifer meant by deceit and wondered who the woman really was.

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Ariel caught the stray thought but refused to comment on it, her face a mask of control, not revealing anything. She commented instead on the spoken part, almost speaking into Paiges mind again. A feathery touch at the edge of Paiges thoughts and then gone. "This is becoming readily apparent", Ariel commented, "a pity as your people have the ability if only they would work on it."

Paige once again listened to the voice in her head, feeling a little awkward with the ability that some around her possessed, but oddly found it also a little comforting. I’m not sure people in Tartarus would be happy to give up their privacy. She gave Ariel a smile, hoping that she had in no way insulted the woman.

Turning her attention back to William, she sighed again. “Mr…um…William, I don’t think it is possible to cure vampirism. Take away the curse that is keeping a dead being alive and they become dead.” She smiled. “Personally, I would like to find out what causes the curse, and find a way that would stop anymore vampires being created. Call it preservation. Saving future humans, elves et cetera from an eternal life of hell.” She pointed to his experiment. “One thing we certainly don’t need, is another way to make them.”

Sigrun glanced over to Lauralin who seemed to be looking at him. With some restraint on Rave's part, he led her over to the queen and bowed respectfully.

"My Lady, I'd like you to meet Dayaa."

Rave...pay attention...we'll deal with them later... Sigrun spoke telepathically, poking her with a hand on her backside.

William smiles patiently at Lauralin, the kind of smile a parent gets when a child says a handful of sand is really pixie dust. Silently, he thinks to himself, "I'll have to remember to reinforce the control spells for these. Too much original soul left, maybe. Too much human left, anyway."

When Paige comments on her skepticism of the wisdom of making new vampires, he twists his lip a bit and says, "Look, I'm new to this... technological world of yours." He makes a sort of all-encompassing gesture with his hands and says, "My world doesn't have card locks, and ballpoints, and photocopiers." He points to Eck and Drog. "But I understand this. Necromancy is our 'technology'."

He waves his left hand over his napkins. "If you want to know how something works, or you want to know how to make something not work, you make a model." Rapping on Eck's head, he continues, "I could take Eck apart and put him back together again, piece by piece. I built him with my own hands. I know just how he works." He gives the undead fossil a playful shove on the side of the head and points at the vampires, "These aren't any different. You want to know how to take apart a vampire? Learn how to make one. You'll figure out every weak point, every lever, every questionable bit that's covered with supernatural glue."

Paige could not believe what she was hearing, so much so that she was beginning to doubt her sanity. “William, I can see where you are coming from…just.” The last word she added quietly under her breath. “But these are living beings that have been altered by some genetic makeup that we are not entirely sure about.” She smiled and slowed her speech, as if talking to an idiot. “What you are saying would work on a clock…say, but if you want to play Frankenstein you are going to need a lot more lightning.”

Lauralin looked at Ravelyn. "Dayaa. As you wish. Well met, none the less", she said curtseying politely. As Williams words drifted over flames again danced across her hands and fingers. She closed her eyes, taking a slow deep breath and letting it out.

"Queen Silverlief", came a voice, seemingly from Laura though it was tinny sounding. Lauralin turned around, "Yes?", and continued to look around in confusion.

"It's Nancia", came the voice again, "I'm registering some odd vital signs from you. Of course all your vital signs are odd compared to what I'm used to. But are you all right?"

Lauralin looked down a button on her tunic suddenly remembering Nancia. "I am well enough, Nancia, thank you for your concern. When the conference is over for today I shall return and come back to the conference come the morrow."

"That's not necessary", Nancia replied.

"I will not have you left alone."

"Thank you, Queen Silverlief."

Lauralin smiled, "Thank you."

She looked back up at Ravelyn, trying to ignore the ranting necromancer. "As I said, it is a pleasure to meet you Lady Dayaa. From where do you hail?"

Paige could not believe what she was hearing, so much so that she was beginning to doubt her sanity. “William, I can see where you are coming from…just.” The last word she added quietly under her breath. “But these are living beings that have been altered by some genetic makeup that we are not entirely sure about.” She smiled and slowed her speech, as if talking to an idiot. “What you are saying would work on a clock…say, but if you want to play Frankenstein you are going to need a lot more lightning.”
William leans on the skeletal shoulders of Eck and Drog, slouching between them and letting them carry his weight. "Hear that, boys? You're alive after all. It's just your 'jenn-eh-tick' whatsis." :D

Straightening up, he sobers a bit. "Look, Lady Paige, they're dead. They just haven't stopped moving yet. They're not living beings. They're objects that haven't, heh, given up the ghost yet. They're no more alive than this chair is still a tree." He raps his knuckles against the arm of his chair.

"As for playing 'frangkenstine'," he adds, sitting back down in his former tree, "it's not that I'd need lightning so much as a really fresh body. Now that's a problem." In this squeamish world, anyway.

Rave was ready to disect these people and find out how they work. She looked at Sigrun, and the comments from the lab experiment (with her avid fear of labs) and creating a vampire...or curing a vampire. As if it were a disease, she scoffed at Sigrun. If he had not been there, there may have been an incident.

She did, however, restrain herself. Despite the fact she was angry, she did know how to control it. She looked at Lauralin, and smiled. What nation should she say she was from? Well, certainly not her own. "I am from the empire of Hevn Mido," she replied in a velvety voice.

“William, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but did you and your…” Paige looked at his two companions, lost for the right words to describe them. “…friends escape from some institution or something?” She let out a sigh, once more shaking her head, as she wonder what in the name of science made her come to the conference. “You can’t just use fresh bodies to make a vampire. It would be so much easier asking one of those to bite a test subject and watch what happens.”

She placed her hand on her forehead, and groaned loudly. “Have I fallen asleep and turned up in some weird kind of nightmare?” She spoke out loud, not addressing anyone in particular. “Using fresh bodies to make a vampire, like a normal person would make a clock? What is the world coming to?”

"I fear I have not heard of this nation", Lauralin replied.

"The Empire of Hevn Mido, UN Categorizes them as Iron Fist Consumerists, civil Rights are rare and political freedom is outlawed. They have a strong economy. They are from a region known as the Ambrosial Coast. A small nation of approximately 7 million. It devotes most of its attentions to Law & Order. Social Welfare and Commerce receive almost no funds by comparison. The average income tax rate is 7%. Crime is a problem.

That's amazing, how do they get by on only 7% for funding government projects?"

"THANK YOU .... Nancia", Lauralin said when there was break in Nancia's recitation coming from the contact button. "How did you find all that out?"

"I have direct access to net records and as a courier of Central Worlds service I have authority to access public records."

"Well", Lauralin replied in a surprised voice, "thank you for your contribution."

"Your welcome, Queen Silverlief."

"Perhaps", Lauralin said as she returned her attention to Ravelyn, "we could make an arrangement to open negotiations with your government?"

“William, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but did you and your…” Paige looked at his two companions, lost for the right words to describe them. “…friends escape from some institution or something?” She let out a sigh, once more shaking her head, as she wonder what in the name of science made her come to the conference. “You can’t just use fresh bodies to make a vampire. It would be so much easier asking one of those to bite a test subject and watch what happens.”

She placed her hand on her forehead, and groaned loudly. “Have I fallen asleep and turned up in some weird kind of nightmare?” She spoke out loud, not addressing anyone in particular. “Using fresh bodies to make a vampire, like a normal person would make a clock? What is the world coming to?”
He turns to his 'companions', saying jovially, "You mean, you people have institutions of these things and you've been holding out on me?"

"Listen, Paige," William goes on. "You people have a saying... 'Do not lecture your grandmother on the sucking of eggs' or something like that." He points toward one of the nearby vampires. "We could get one of those things to spawn, sure, but we wouldn't learn anything near what we would from actually making one." And I wouldn't have any sort of accomplishment to report when I got home. I'd be a laughingstock. "The point isn't just to make a vampire, but to understand how to make a vampire."

"And maybe you can't use a fresh body to make a vampire, but I've spent thirty years man and boy learning this craft," he adds with a slight hint of pride. "I think I could do it." He holds up the second napkin. "I'd need a body that was as recently deceased as I could get, as I need the body in the best condition I can get it, plus I don't want the soul totally departed yet. I'd need one that died without major structural damage, too." It'd be easier if I could kill one myself, of course... "The trickier bit is that I'd need at least ten corpse-weights of living animal, too, and I don't think that would fit in my hotel room." If I could use two corpse-weights of live human, on the other hand...

Patricia's eyes lighted on William and saw the only thing she was interested in aside from eating, a way to get votes. She walked towards the man, showing no evidence of being disconcerted by the creatures attending him. She yelled over her shoulder at Sigrun "You know, Siggy, I doubt it'll help the current negotiations between our governments for trade relations that you treat MPs like that!"

Then, she was in front of William. "Excuse me, I was just wanting to confirm something, what's your country's policy on foreign journalists? I just happen to own a news agency and I would love to do a documentary on your lovely customs."

Then, she was in front of William. "Excuse me, I was just wanting to confirm something, what's your country's policy on foreign journalists? I just happen to own a news agency and I would love to do a documentary on your lovely customs."
William takes a moment to refocus from Paige on the newcomer. He finally replies evasively, "You might not like the kind of welcome the foreign press would receive on the Isles of the Ninja Zombie Dinosaurs." He grates out the last few words, glued to their nation by CNN in their mostly erroneous report on the Wellesley Islands disaster. Not that it would matter if she were press or not. Every foreigner who landed on the shores of the islands ended up the same way.

Rayanna looks at Steele as he speaks. Though still looking ready to bolt or shoot she was somewhat relaxed by his smile, her own lips curling up slightly, though guardedly. Ferrannifer turned to Rayanna and repeated what he said. Though Raya had translated more than half of it, it was still confusing and Ferrannifer's translation didn't help much. She said something back to Ferrannifer who shrugged. Rayanna looked back at Steele,

"Me spake sitee spake, umm", she chewed her lower lip in concentration a moment, "little spake, umm, no spake sitee spake so good."



Steele smiled at the Elf, and quickly switched to High Elven, a language he had learned from his former navigator, Tanis.

"Soon you will be free. When Ferrannifer is ready, I will bring you both to a forest, where cool glades and warm sun await." He smiled again, and turned back to Ferrannifer, who seemed to be concentrating or...listening. He assumed she was psi-chatting with Lauralin, so he waited patiently until she would be finished.

Patricia's eyes lighted on William and saw the only thing she was interested in aside from eating, a way to get votes. She walked towards the man, showing no evidence of being disconcerted by the creatures attending him. She yelled over her shoulder at Sigrun "You know, Siggy, I doubt it'll help the current negotiations between our governments for trade relations that you treat MPs like that!"

Then, she was in front of William. "Excuse me, I was just wanting to confirm something, what's your country's policy on foreign journalists? I just happen to own a news agency and I would love to do a documentary on your lovely customs."

Sigrun excused himself from 'Dayaa' and Lauralin for a moment and made his way to Patricia.

"My apologies for ushering my...girlfriend away. She was anxious to meet others as well. I apologize if it appeared to be shunning you. It is not my intention."

"Yes, yes, apology accepted." Patricia muttered to Sigrun. "Though your girlfriend wouldn't even shake my hand."

Patricia turned back to William. "Oh? What kind of reception would we receive? I'm sure my government would be interested in the exchange of embassies and things like that, the relations nations have with one another."

Patricia, being grey-skinned, razor-toothed, and giving out a supernatural air of terror, hardly seemed to be the kind of innocent foreigner who could be waylaid by zombies or the like.

Patricia turned back to William. "Oh? What kind of reception would we receive? I'm sure my government would be interested in the exchange of embassies and things like that, the relations nations have with one another."

Patricia, being grey-skinned, razor-toothed, and giving out a supernatural air of terror, hardly seemed to be the kind of innocent foreigner who could be waylaid by zombies or the like.
William is quiet for a second. This isn't really his deal. He's Fourth Circle; he makes things. This is politics, First Circle stuff. He just knows where some of his raw material comes in from. Of course, hell, looking at her, she might fit right in. On the other hand, a specimen like her'd be somebody's favorite for prize zombie warrior, too.

"As far as I know," William offers carefully, "there are no functioning embassies in the Wellesley Islands." He considers a moment more. "Perhaps if you give me a note or something I can bring it back with me and give it to someone who knows more about these things." I could pin it to Drog, for starters.

Curiously, he asks, "What is a dockyumenntahrie, anyway?"

“Now just wait a minute, this conference is getting well off track already.” Paige could feel herself getting more than a little annoyed at the progress this meeting was taking. “Diplomatic documentaries can be arranged during a recess, but can we just get back to this stupid plot of using newly deceased bodies which have to be in perfect condition, just so that Mr Frankenstein here and his two Igors can play games and make life size vampire dolls to play with.”

If he can see metaphysical energies beyond those of vampires, he can tell Patricia is made entirely of such energies. Depending on how well he interpretted them, he might be able to tell that they are Nightmare energies distinct from Infernal or Undead energies, though no less dark. If he knew enough to see how necromancy would work on such a person, he would also probably be able to tell that she could not be converted into a vampire or a zombie or any other undead. The undead rely upon the body being animated after the life has left it. Body and life are indistinguishable in a Redcap. Also, there was the political danger involved in dealing so casually with a Member of Parliament from a larger nation. Of course, Patricia wasn't planning to go personally anyway.

The Redcap smirked again. "Have your Foreign Minister call our Foreign Minister. And you still didn't actually tell me how journalists were received?" She gave William a predatory smile, as though she were literally pondering how he might taste. What was scarier, she gave the same smile to the two monstrosities accompanying him.

As she waited for Ravelyn to answer she muttered low enough for only the vampires to hear, "I wish I was Nancia now, anything to be away from this idiot."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome Nancia." She looked at the button, a bit surprised that she had picked up the extremely low vocalization.

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

"That man is an ass", Ferrannifer muttered, breaking her link.

Rayanna gasped and looked at her, "FRANFER!"

Ferrannifer looked at the archeress, "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud."

Rayanna returned her attention to Darius, "I'm glad you speak elven. City speak is such a difficult language. I'll be honored to accompany you both and return the mansion grounds once finished." Obviously she didn't understand about holograms and didn't understand about how there might be open spaces on a ship.

Patricia shrugged to Paige. "This conference has been off-track for a long time. It's also true that the Chief of State and our host for this conference, our dear ally Lady Alexandra, is herself a vampire, so discussing them as things might not go over too well."

Serenia pawed lightly at Ferranifer's arm while Oolasys continued to look expectantly at Lauralin. The Trolless seemed to adopt a harder, somewhat offended expression, clasping her hands quietly behind her back.

Patricia shrugged to Paige. "This conference has been off-track for a long time. It's also true that the Chief of State and our host for this conference, our dear ally Lady Alexandra, is herself a vampire, so discussing them as things might not go over too well."
"Then an embassy would go particularly badly," William says, peering at her odd aura. His deathsight shows that she isn't dead, anyway, but... not-dead in an unfamiliar way? He pats his pockets for a set of spectacles he couldn't seem to find. Unsuitable for experimental work, anyway, he muses, No unanswered questions allowed.

Shrugging, he explains, "Any undead wildling that entered Order territory would immediately be confiscated as property of the Order, embassy or not. No undead outside of Order control are permitted. Anyway, the Fifth Circle would capture, retool and repair any wildling you brought with you, whatever anyone said." I never really appreciated that until today. "It'd be a disaster."

"Listen," he says to the girls, "I'm going to go see if I can work out a way to try this. You guys are welcome to come if you're interested." He gathers up his napkins, folds his unused paper, and places the whole in one of his pockets. At the last second, he also picks up the finger bone he'd placed on the table and replaces it into a pouch. Then he snaps his fingers at Eck, who falls into line behind him as he heads off toward the main desk. Drog waits for a long moment, silently regarding Patricia and Paige in turn, before eventually falling into line behind William, who failed to notice.

EDIT: Partway to the desk, William stops in his tracks, as if an idea just hit him. Eck stops as he does, of course, but Drog careens into his back as he pulls a sheet of paper out of his pocket. He fumbles for a pen as he shoves Drog off, and writes, mumbling, "Skip the body. One human soul, right, eleven rats... make it fifteen, for safety's sake, where to get the soul? Cemetery, there's always one..." He starts walking forward again.

Paige looked first at William, then at Patricia, before shrugging as her gaze returned to the disappearing man. Despite her objections to his endeavour, she had to admit to being more than a little curious as to what he was actually going to do…and more importantly whether it was even possible. Grabbing her own notepad and pen, in order to make a note of any interesting points, she quickly followed after the man and his assistants.

"What the hell are you talking about? When did the Chief of State of Akaton become the proposed ambassador to your country? However, I can inform you that a Danaan citizen of any race who was kidnapped and enslaved in your country would and could be extracted by the armed forces of the Danaan High Kingdom with relatively little trouble. So why don't you sit down and talk like a nation among nations for once?" She sneered faintly. "By the way, they are claimed. They're the property of themselves by law."

"Why don't you just leave the politics to your Foreign Minister? I'll tell Minister Jansen to be expecting his call. And you STILL haven't answered my question."

Ferrannifer looked at Serenia and tried to link mentally with her. 'What's wrong?' she asked, hoping she could receive her.

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

Lauralin looked over at Oolasys wondering what she did to offend her and walked over to her, glad the pompous fool was gone. "Is something wrong? Have I offended in some way?"

"What the hell are you talking about? When did the Chief of State of Akaton become the proposed ambassador to your country? However, I can inform you that a Danaan citizen of any race who was kidnapped and enslaved in your country would and could be extracted by the armed forces of the Danaan High Kingdom with relatively little trouble. So why don't you sit down and talk like a nation among nations for once?" She sneered faintly. "By the way, they are claimed. They're the property of themselves by law."

"Why don't you just leave the politics to your Foreign Minister? I'll tell Minister Jansen to be expecting his call. And you STILL haven't answered my question."
"If you'll recall," he says, working out a couple of new sketches as the three of them leave the room, "I actually asked you earlier to just give me a note for the people that do the diplomatic stuff. I don't know anything about that kind of thing. We thought this was a research conference. I wasn't expecting, like, formalities of state." He scratches behind his ear thoughtfully with the tip of his pen and says, "Hey, you're from around here. I need a place to buy sixteen rats and a nearby cemetery. Can you help me out with that?"

Serenia thought You don't think I'm a lady here?
...
Oolasys blinked and bowed deeply before simply falling to one knee. "No, Your Majesty, of course not. Far be it for your humble servant to dare take offense at the actions of a queen."
...
Patricia shook her head. "Do you not listen? I'm from the archipelego of Mists, yes, but there's two countries in Mists. I'm from the Resurgent Dream. We're in Akaton. As for participation...that depends. This wouldn't be a wildling for you to control. This would be a sentient creature 'born' in Akaton and thus an Akatoni citizen. I'll go to the creation if and only if I get some assurance you won't kidnap said Akatoni citizen and try to take them back home. Otherwise, I'll need to tell the Akatoni authorities and they are quite well trained at dealing with supernatural beings. But I will write your note." She took out a notepad, scribbling a message which said essentially the same thing as what she'd said to William, a notice for the proper authorities in Ninja Zombie Dinosaurs to contact the proper authorities in the Resurgent Dream.

Patricia shook her head. "Do you not listen? I'm from the archipelego of Mists, yes, but there's two countries in Mists. I'm from the Resurgent Dream. We're in Akaton. As for participation...that depends. This wouldn't be a wildling for you to control. This would be a sentient creature 'born' in Akaton and thus an Akatoni citizen. I'll go to the creation if and only if I get some assurance you won't kidnap said Akatoni citizen and try to take them back home. Otherwise, I'll need to tell the Akatoni authorities and they are quite well trained at dealing with supernatural beings. But I will write your note." She took out a notepad, scribbling a message which said essentially the same thing as what she'd said to William, a notice for the proper authorities in Ninja Zombie Dinosaurs to contact the proper authorities in the Resurgent Dream.
He looks kind of amused by the Akatoni legal customs Patricia mentions. "Ask them if they want Drog while you're at it," he says, and laughs amiably. "Fine. They can keep whatever I make. I don't really care. It's the attempt that matters, and, besides, a tester like this won't be worth much, anyway. It's just to see if the method works. That's the valuable thing." He looks at her expectantly. "So... rats? Any ideas? Where do people in this civilization keep their rodents?"

"Is Drog sentient?" Patricia asked. "I'm afraid I don't understand what's so confusing about this for you. You are aware you are on a lands legally held under the law of nations by a vampire. You'd think you'd be a little more respectful of the personhood of your host, at least in public."

"Is Drog sentient?" Patricia asked. "I'm afraid I don't understand what's so confusing about this for you. You are aware you are on a lands legally held under the law of nations by a vampire. You'd think you'd be a little more respectful of the personhood of your host, at least in public."
He carefully avoids answering that question, not so much because of Drog but on the chance they might come for Eck. Instead, he tries to figure out a way to formulate his viewpoint. "To us, see, the dead are simply property, and this is not simply a matter of custom, but central to who we are," he explains. "The dead are the basis of our economy. They're our workforce, our machines, our military, our devices, our art." He produces the spectacles he was trying to find earlier. "Each of these lenses contains a soul that powers it." He clips them on and views Patricia, suddenly understanding the earlier weirdness. More absently, he continues, "I expect something like this to happen when I die. I'll become the property of the state until something happens to release me. Maybe tomorrow, maybe a hundred years from now, maybe a thousand, but, hell, I'll be dead. I'll have time."

"So, to me, their queen is, essentially, a device that governs for them," he finishes. "No less a thing than the throne she sits on. I'm sorry if that comes across badly, but better a truthful cad than an elegant liar, I suppose."

Suddenly, a pulsing light could be seen from a small necklace that hung around Sasha's neck. She picked it up and placed the necklace amulet inside her mouth, closing her mouth around the piece.

Yes? What is it?

Ma'am. We've got a situation at the spaceport here in Tarlachia. Seems that the workers are on strike, and are causing other unions to rise up for their own reasons. Sigrun needs to return, so we may address this as quickly as possible.

I'll let him know.

Right. Namarie.

I don't speak elvish, don't give me that crap.

Sorry.

Sasha spit the amulet out of her mouth and tucked it back under her blouse. Sasha appeared out of the shadows and approached Sigrun. She brought her lips next to his ear and whispered something to him. He looked at her, then back to Ravelyn, who was conversing with Lauralin some more. "All right. Give me a moment."

He walked up to the host and spoke, "My apologies, but I must return to Tarlachia. Some pressing issues have come up. Good luck with this conference."

He bowed respectfully and gave his regards to the rest of the attendees at the conference. Last of all, he approached Ravelyn and spoke,

"Dayaa, I must go. I've got a few issues to deal with back home. Do stop by anytime..."

I'll be waiting for you... he said to her silently, before lightly squeezing her hands with his and taking his leave with Sasha. Soon, they were in the elevator and heading back to the surface and ultimately back to Tarlachia.

OOC: I'm sorry, this thread has gotten too fractured, it's had no direction since the getgo, and I've got important things to do in RL, thus, I've gotta cut back a bit on NS. I'm sticking with some better threads.

Have fun y'all, and good luck!

Patricia snorted. "I'm part of the opposition back home. I hate my own queen. But if a foreigner called her a thing, I'd kill him on the spot. I guess you're lucky the Akatoni don't feel the same way. And that's not an answer. We don't give a damn if your culture allows for slavery or not. I asked if these people here were sentient slaves or not. I can't and won't do anything whether they are or not. But, if they are, they'd be freed and made citizens if they ever set foot in the Resurgent Dream. So why not just go ahead and answer? I'm just trying to make sure that you won't get in trouble later. For your own interests. We define personhood as sentience."

Patricia snorted. "For the last time, she's not my queen. I'm from the Resurgent Dream. We're in Akaton. They're separate countries. Alexandra rules Akaton. Not my country. I'm part of the opposition. I hate my queen. But if a foreigner called her a thing, I'd kill him on the spot. I guess you're lucky the Akatoni don't feel the same way. And that's not an answer. We don't give a damn if your culture allows for slavery or not. I asked if these people here were sentient slaves or not. I can't and won't do anything whether they are or not. But, if they are, they'd be freed and made citizens if they ever set foot in the Resurgent Dream. So why not just go ahead and answer? I'm just trying to make sure that you won't get in trouble later. For your own interests. We define personhood as sentience."
OOC: Heh. I caught my mistake just before you posted. I finished the correction and here was your post. Whee. Ah, well, it goes with the absent minded professor. :D

"Slavery?" he says, looking honestly confused. "What does slavery have to do with anything? We haven't had slavery in forever. There's just no need for it with things like Eck or Drog around." He shrugs. Foreigners. "It's nice that you're so loyal to your monarchs or whatever. Maybe we're just more fractious. It's expected that I would consider the prime rank of the first tier of the first circle a grasping, greedy, power-driven, callous, self-centered, evil-minded son of a bitch, which he is." He smiles a little lopsidedly, and adds, "Of course, if he wasn't, he'd be property by now, so it goes with the territory."

"Answer the fucking question." Patricia said curtly, getting fed up with the evasions. "And, slavery, for your information, is defined as treating a sentient being as property. Whether you define it that way or not is irrelevant to everyone else. You should get used to hearing it."

Todd watched Sasha go, he had a feeling he might meet the vampire again. He turned as a servant walked up to him and whispered into his ear. Todd looked at the man, his face near breaking. He collected his things and turned to Konnie.

"I'm sorry to cause trouble ma'am. My..work...the research station I work at..there accident. Virus....I'm sorry. It has been a lot of fun though."

Todd bolted down the hall and up the elevator. He looked at his watch. Rebecca out five hours ago. Dear God in heaven. When Todd got upstairs, he ran as hard as his legs could carry him to the spaceport.

**************************************************

Golden Simatar International Airport
36 Hours Later

Todd walked out of the terminal and into the night. He had been dragged away by two army men, telling him the situation was under control and he could go back to the conference. Instead, Todd decided to stay.

He walked to one of the bus stops where he would meet his sister. Todd was alone remarkably. He heard a voice behind him in the small glass shelter behind him.

"How is Sigrun?"

Todd froze instantly, his hand slowly going inside his pocket as he turned around. Sitting on the bench, leaned against the back wall, right leg propped against the side of the opening was a man dressed completely in black from his boots to leather trenchcoat.

The man looked up, his eyes were bright cobalt blue, he smiled; vampiric fangs shined in the light.

"You..." Todd began.

"Stephen Malone, in the flesh. You seem a bit scared Mr. Harte; don't be...I have already fed. And yes, I can read your mind."

Todd stood there, a cold sweat forming on his forehead. He was standing a few feet from a man who was suppose to of died centuries ago.

"How?"

"That is for another time Mr. Harte. Your sister is here."

Todd turned to see a red Subaru Baja approaching. Todd turned around, Stephen was gone.

"Up here."

Todd looked up to see Stephen kneeling on the roof of the shelter.

"We'll talk later Mr. Harte, I am anxious to see what you have on my kind."

"Todd?"

Todd turned around to see his sister Samantha looking at him. Todd smiled and climbed into the car. Samantha climbed in after him and drove off back to their family's vineyard.

Todd lay back in his seat, relaxing slightly in the soft seats. He was out of a job with the government, but all seemed well; he could still work on the vineyard. He couldn't shake off the realization that Sigrun and Sasha had been right all along. There was a vampire in the Golden Simatar.

Todd tried not to think about it, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


ooc: Sorry everyone. Had to exit. This Rp was getting too confusing, and I am starting another Rp soon. Hope I get to Rp will you all later

"Answer the fucking question." Patricia said curtly, getting fed up with the evasions. "And, slavery, for your information, is defined as treating a sentient being as property. Whether you define it that way or not is irrelevant to everyone else. You should get used to hearing it."
William looks a bit cross, but it a confused way, as if he is genuinely uncertain as to the source of her hostility. "You mean about these? Drog, I don't know anything about his design. He's not mine. Eck here is partly what you'd call sentient. He has maybe 35% connection to each of three souls, but not complete access to any one. He mostly uses them for motor control, skill sets, stuff like that. He doesn't want things. He has no desires, not like you or I do. He doesn't even understand wanting things. If I left him here right now he'd stand here until something destroyed him. He can understand commands in context, though, complex ones, too. I can tell him to do something and he can figure out things as long as it moves him toward my end goal. And he can remember things, but only from after he died."

He looks like he knows he's not explaining this properly, but he also knows he's talking to a layman. "The spell is really the animating force, the real construct, not the body or the souls, a lot like your vampires. The spell is Eck. The body houses the spell. The souls are... are options."

William shrugs. "You tell me if he's sentient. All I know is I built him from parts."

"Well, then he's different from vampires then. They reason and feel desires and emotions and needs. They have the appetites, passions, and reason like any other being. They have free will. Spells can force them to obey sometimes, like they can anyone else, but they can't coerce the will. They can will something else even as they're forced to obey by the spell. Now do you understand why they're not the same as these constructs you have?" She smirked faintly, contunuing to walk away from the party with him.

"Well, then he's different from vampires then. They reason and feel desires and emotions and needs. They have the appetites, passions, and reason like any other being. They have free will. Spells can force them to obey sometimes, like they can anyone else, but they can't coerce the will. They can will something else even as they're forced to obey by the spell. Now do you understand why they're not the same as these constructs you have?" She smirked faintly, contunuing to walk away from the party with him.
"Yeah, obviously," he says querulously. "No one's ever bothered to install proper control spells on them. It's shameful. The poor things believe they're still alive, for pity's sake. And they only have one soul to draw on. That's really primitive design, I mean, like, centuries old. Eck here could accommodate more than I have entrapped if I could get some good quality ones, but I'm pretty picky about Eck." He slaps Eck on the shoulder. "Anyway, these retro spells they're using are the reason I'm pretty sure I can make a basic one out of available parts... if we ever get my rats."

"Could you try to actually think about what I've said? Their minds are still people, whatever the state of their bodies. Why is that so hard to understand? They don't need control spells because they have free will. No spell would even truly remove the free will." She paused, smirking a little. "So, the reason vampires are tools is because you could cast control spells on them to make them function to serve your ends?"

"Could you try to actually think about what I've said? Their minds are still people, whatever the state of their bodies. Why is that so hard to understand? They don't need control spells because they have free will. No spell would even truly remove the free will." She paused, smirking a little. "So, the reason vampires are tools is because you could cast control spells on them to make them function to serve your ends?"
"Hm? The control spells are considered a mercy, actually," he says patiently. "We've found that souls don't hold up very well in a wild, undead state. Souls weren't meant to sustain that long in a material body, really. They tend to go bad. It's terrible what you get when they corrode past a certain point, just terrible." A sad look washes over him. "Letting a soul go off like that... bodies come and go, but treating a soul like that is just awful." He pulls out one of the napkins, yet another inscrutable mass of diagrams. "These control spells kind of preserve the soul against spoilage. It keeps key parts of the soul dormant, so when the housing is finally destroyed, the souls are pretty much like they were when we entrapped them." He places it back in his pocket, and adds, "The 5th Circle tries to rescue as many wildlings as they can, of course, after what happened in the Year of Bad Tidings, but the Order doesn't do much outside our own borders as a rule, so your wildlings are pretty much on their own."

"Well, our people are immortal and under no one's control and it's suited us just fine since before humans came out of the trees. But you're just shooting back your arguments as fast as we talk. I want you to reflect. Reflect upon the fact that the beings your talking about have thoughts, fears, loves, passions, desires...imagine what it feels like. Don't talk again until you've thought about that for at least five minutes." Patricia spoke calmly but softly, as though she were instructing a child.

"Here's two more things to think about. There was a time, a long time that ended only a few millenia ago, when my people thought of humans as property. We had spells to keep you under control. We tried to capture the ones who weren't under the authority of their just rulers. We used the same reasons you're using now. It's part of society and who we are. We need it. They'd stagnate (that is a difference, stagnate rather than decay) if left to their own narrow devices. We finally figured out that was the wrong way to live. Maybe you can. Think about life for those ancient humans during the quiet five minutes too."

"Well, our people are immortal and under no one's control and it's suited us just fine since before humans came out of the trees. But you're just shooting back your arguments as fast as we talk. I want you to reflect. Reflect upon the fact that the beings your talking about have thoughts, fears, loves, passions, desires...imagine what it feels like. Don't talk again until you've thought about that for at least five minutes." Patricia spoke calmly but softly, as though she were instructing a child.

"Here's too more things to think about. There was a time, a long time that ended only a few millenia ago, when my people thought of humans as property. We had spells to keep you under control. We tried to capture the ones who weren't under the authority of their just rulers. We used the same reasons you're using now. It's part of society and who we are. We need it. They'd stagnate (that is a difference, stagnate rather than decay) if left to their own narrow devices. We finally figured out that was the wrong way to live. Maybe you can. Think about life for those ancient humans during the quiet five minutes too."
Of course, because you're alive, he thinks to himself. And still not exactly sweetness and light. In a dead body, an unreleased soul rots like old wood and molds like old bread and sours like old milk if not treated properly.

His thoughts trail off and reform around how well his control spells will work on a hybrid form of human soul and rat body. They seem pretty solid, but the conversation had reminded him of his responsibility to make sure the soul was properly controlled in this endeavor. That's the first thing they'll ask about back home. He needs this soul to come out spotless. Well... as spotless as it went in, anyway.

'Of course you are', Ferrannifer sent back to Serenia, 'I would never think otherwise.'

At the same time she said to Darius, "Ready when you are."

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

"First of all", Lauralin said reaching down, "please get up. I was not always a Queen and am still a little uncomfortable in the trappings. Second I want you to speak freely. Something is wrong, I can not address it until I know what that something is."

She looked back at Ravelyn, holding the two conversations easily.

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

Ariel shook her head. She, herself was ready to leave but Marcus was still in conversation with the Emperess. Of course now that there was less tension they might be able to get somewhere.

Patricia walked in silence for the next five minutes. She looked at William every now and again to see if he was actually thinking. It wasn't that Patricia wanted him to be good. She herself embraced darkness quite freely, if also quite secretly. It was just that she wanted him to know what he was doing when he denied others their basic dignity. One can't take proper pleasure in violations one doesn't know one is commiting. Servants of the Elder Dark who didn't know they served the Elder Dark annoyed her more than servants of the Tuatha sometimes. She pondered just eating him or enslaving him. She was pretty sure she could make short work of the undead servitors. If what he'd said was true, they had no initiative, no elan. Also, the fact that she could eat them as easily as she could eat a hunk of cheese or a steel grating wouldn't hurt either. But she decided against it. Alexandra might object. After awhile, she looked to William again. "Did you actually think about it or just shut up so I wouldn't bug you about it anymore?" she asked.

Then how come you said otherwise? Serenia thought.
...
Oolasys stood up. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, you are a queen and I will treat you like one. I believe in those trappings, even if Your Majesty doesn't."

'I didn't say you weren't', Ferrannifer sent to her, 'I said knight, that outranks Lady yes? Or is it different in Resurgent Dream?'

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

"Very well", Lauralin replied, "I respect that. But I still need to know what ails before I can correct it."

The title for knight is lady but you said I was only a lady in the Resurgent Dream Serenia thought at her best friend.
...
Oolasys shook her head to the vampiress. "Nothing, Your Majesty."

Ferrannifer thought for a moment and then understood what she meant. 'No I didn't mean that at all. I really should watch my speech pattern but I sometimes I fall back to the old ways. In the kingdom that I spent most of my youth in the king, when I first arrived, was jealous of anyones power. He demanded that the place of person be announced and that it be made clear that they were a ruler or knight or priest IN that area. HE would dictate if they held that same position in his own kingdom. And of course with him no one was worthy in his eyes. After he died the tradition held until the fall of that kingdom. But your right, and I apologize for my own lapse.'

She looked at Darius, "Serenia is a knight, and Lady is appropriate. I just wanted to correct my previous statement. It was a fallback to old ways now gone."

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

Lauralin stood for a moment looking at her then said, "Well, alright. I would like you to meet Dayaa." She said gesturing toward Ravelyn. "Dayaa, this is Oolasys."

Watching as the Tarlachian party left, Paige began to wonder if they did not have the right idea. So far this conference had achieved absolutely nothing. She sighed heavily, and made her way back over to the table, and retook her seat. Picking up her glass of water she suddenly wished it was something slightly stronger. Looking at the rest of the party, who all seemed more intent on greeting each other and discussing politics rather than working on the mission at hand, she picked up her pen and began to make a report for her records, one that would contain no new information, other than certain nations had some very strange inhabitants.

'Of course you are', Ferrannifer sent back to Serenia, 'I would never think otherwise.'

She looked at Darius, "Serenia is a knight, and Lady is appropriate. I just wanted to correct my previous statement. It was a fallback to old ways now gone."

Steele looked down at the small creature, wondering how such a small and absolutely cuddly creature could be a knight. Oh well, he'd seen pretty of unusual things at this conference, and in this lifetime.

"A Knight, eh? Good...strong warriors by my side puts iron in my spine. I am honored that you will be joining us, Knight Serenia!" He then tickled the small spot behind her ear, something that was out of character for the big man.


At the same time she said to Darius, "Ready when you are."


He nodded at the vampiress, and activated his subcutaneous comm unit. He spoke briefly, informing the crew to beam them all aboard, with special instrucions to materialize them in the holo-deck while the DragonsReach scenario played. Steele also asked to combine the Yellowstone program, a fantasy scenario that involved a huge, boreal forest. A few moments later, the glittering tug of the transporter beam drew them on the ship.

They were in a huge forest, the sounds of birds and insects trilling in the background, a small river meandering and gurgling besides them. Steele smiled at Rayanna, then spoke in High Elven.

"You see? All for you, m'lady...please enjoy."

To Ferrnanifer, he spoke quietly in standard Galactic Anglo.

"I need to get to the bridge, give 'em coordinates and such...you are welcome to spend some time here, but I'll need you help to determine where you want me to take you. When you are ready, just say "bridge" and you'll be brought there, ok?"

He smiled at her, his heart melting by her regal beauty. He turned and left the holo-deck and walked quickly onto the bridge. He looked around, noticing that his second-in-command was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the frell is Tyro?" he asked to no one in particular.

************************************************

One eye slowly cracked open, the other veritably glued shut by the tears that had streamed out earlier. Moving slightly brought an instant wave of nausea to his world, and he could taste the dry, acidic taste of the vomit he had slept in. Though the brass band in his head were calling for his attention, Tyro Dent wished they would all just shut up. He looked around slowly, dizzines threatening to overwhelm him. He realized that he was in a small closet of sorts, brooms and buckets watching him with disdain.

"What the frell had been in that drink?" the young man asked himself, still feeling the effects of the Simatarian drink he had quaffed earlier. The alcohol had overwhelmed the filters, and hit him like a ton of bricks. He dimly remembered meeting the creature named Patricia, and kissing her hand. The taste and texture of her flesh is what had set him off, and without speaking, he quickly left her side and found the closet he was now lying in.

Catching his breath, he stood very slowly, straightening his tunic. After preparing himself as best he could, Tyro cracked the door open, and peered outside. There were many new faces, some of which made him wonder if he was still hallucinating from the alcohol. His boss, Darius Steele, was nowhere to be seen. He stepped out tentatively, closing the door behind him. He caught sight of his image in a large mirror, and realized he looked like death, warmed over. Pale, waxy skin framed the sunken orbs that were his eyes.

Patricia walked in silence for the next five minutes. She looked at William every now and again to see if he was actually thinking. It wasn't that Patricia wanted him to be good. She herself embraced darkness quite freely, if also quite secretly. It was just that she wanted him to know what he was doing when he denied others their basic dignity. One can't take proper pleasure in violations one doesn't know one is commiting. Servants of the Elder Dark who didn't know they served the Elder Dark annoyed her more than servants of the Tuatha sometimes. She pondered just eating him or enslaving him. She was pretty sure she could make short work of the undead servitors. If what he'd said was true, they had no initiative, no elan. Also, the fact that she could eat them as easily as she could eat a hunk of cheese or a steel grating wouldn't hurt either. But she decided against it. Alexandra might object. After awhile, she looked to William again. "Did you actually think about it or just shut up so I wouldn't bug you about it anymore?" she asked.
"Well, I was thinking about control spells if it makes you feel better," he said candidly, "but I was thinking about how to shore them up, not break them down. Mostly I was thinking that I'd like to get started." He taps his finger against the wall as they walk, his nail clicking out the rhythm to some nameless song.

Patricia looked around to make sure they were well out of voice range of the other guests."Look, William, I'm an amoralist. I don't actually have a personal problem with what you're doing. If you let that out, I'll deny it and I have more say in the press than you. The thing of it is, the glory of amorality, the glory of power, comes from understanding that you're triumphing over other wills, alienating other people of what idiot liberals thank are unalienable, things like that. I'm not trying to get you to stop. I'm trying to help you take more joy in your work. So, please actually think about what I said." She smirked. "Otherwise, I won't let you go to the graveyard to play and your mission will be a failure. Five minutes of actual reflection on these matters if necessary for your mission."

Patricia looked around to make sure they were well out of voice range of the other guests."Look, William, I'm an amoralist. I don't actually have a personal problem with what you're doing. If you let that out, I'll deny it and I have more say in the press than you. The thing of it is, the glory of amorality, the glory of power, comes from understanding that you're triumphing over other wills, alienating other people of what idiot liberals thank are unalienable, things like that. I'm not trying to get you to stop. I'm trying to help you take more joy in your work. So, please actually think about what I said." She smirked. "Otherwise, I won't let you go to the graveyard to play and your mission will be a failure. Five minutes of actual reflection on these matters if necessary for your mission."
With his characteristic tactlessness, he laughs out loud. "The cemetery option was just my way of avoiding complications with the locals and their weird foreign customs. It would actually be easier for me to just kill three people, one as material for the smithing and two to power the spell crafting and installation. I'd be able to stick a lot closer to standard incantations that way, for one thing." He makes juggling motions with his hands as he says, "With the whole rat body and wild soul approach, I'm going to have to do a lot more jury-rigging."

"Look," he says, "we're talking about craftsmanship, here. The proper entrapment of a well-cared-for soul is good craftsmanship. That's where the satisfaction comes in, not some kind from half-assing the control spells or from petty vandalism." He holds out his palm flat, settling the fluttering fingers of his other hand down onto it, and then lifting them off and away again. "When a soul comes out of its box in the same condition it went in, that's skill, that is. That's where the real power is."

"I'm not asking you to agree. I'm asking you to think about it. There's a difference." Patricia said calmly. "And we're not going to kill three people here either. You can do that at home where it won't cause a diplomatic incident I have to deal with."

"I'm not asking you to agree. I'm asking you to think about it. There's a difference." Patricia said calmly. "And we're not going to kill three people here either. You can do that at home where it won't cause a diplomatic incident I have to deal with."
"Didn't I just say that?" he says tiredly. "Fine. I promise I will contemplate the notion that things are people, too." Maybe the lamp and garbage can in my hotel room will chime in some valuable insights. "Were you planning on spending five wonderful contemplating the apparently ridiculous notion that I might just be right?" He waves his hand at the nation serving as their backdrop. "Ever noticed a tendency for souls in undead casings to tarnish? Stain? Blacken?"

William waxes philosophical for a moment. "We have an outpost on this one plane where the souls go black as soon as the host form is undead. Just bam. Instant. Most planes it's not like that. It's a progressive decay, as the soul, well, not exactly withers... corrodes is really a closer word. The souls still think they're alive at first, and they act like it but over time, see, over time..." He peers at her. "Never seen that in any of the local undead?"

"Never." Patricia answered. "And I know vampires in the thousands. And I asked you to consider the fact that vampires have thoughts, feelings, passions, and emotions, specifically, not the fact that they might be people. That's a proposition you don't deny, just one you see as irrelevent to personhood. Leaving the question of personhood aside, just think about the fact that things are beings with thoughts, feelings, passions and emotions. Reflect on it. Reflect on what it might be like to be such a thing, what it feels like for such a thing to be controlled, etc."

"It doesn't feel like anything," he says, perplexed. "If it felt like something, I wouldn't be doing my job right." He spreads his hands apart and then slaps them together, palms flat, fingers up. "When you entrap them, you close down the bits that convince the soul it's still alive." He pulls his hands back apart again. "When they're released, they transmigrate as if nothing happened, unless you recapture them." He makes a half in/half out gesture, adding, "Really good bonesmiths, I mean the top masters, can actually allow the soul to partly crossover, while retaining connection to the parts they need." William grimaces at that. "Tightfisted bastards won't tell anyone how they do it, either."

She can't see it, he reflects silently. Or she won't. Maybe she already thinks too much like a corroded soul.

"Ok. That's just murder then. Not slavery. If it's true anyway." Patricia smiled. "But they still think and feel now and most of them aren't corroded. If there's a plane where such corrosion is instantaneous, why couldn't it not happen on this one, or this part of this one anyway? Reality shifts a little as you move from place to place in this world."

The Redcap then shrugged a little. "Anyway, right now, I'm more interested in how you feel. You must be as disgusted as we would be in your country. How'd it feel to see things walking around as though they were people? To have them talking to you? To be on ground where you're under the authority of one? I noticed you didn't respond when the vampires addressed you. Was that a concious decision to make a point or did it simply not occur to you to speak with things like that? In other words, how does being in this alien culture feel to you?"

The room tipped suddenly, as if the floor had given out, and the young man stumbled. Trying not to draw attention to himself, Tyro sat down quickly in the closest chair he could find, which happened to be at the table where Patricia and William were chatting. He barely registered their presence as he held his throbbing head in his hands. He felt, and looked, very close to death. The taste of vomit lingered in his nostrils.

"Ok. That's just murder then. Not slavery. If it's true anyway." Patricia smiled. "But they still think and feel now and most of them aren't corroded. If there's a plane where such corrosion is instantaneous, why couldn't it not happen on this one, or this part of this one anyway? Reality shifts a little as you move from place to place in this world."

The Redcap then shrugged a little. "Anyway, right now, I'm more interested in how you feel. You must be as disgusted as we would be in your country. How'd it feel to see things walking around as though they were people? To have them talking to you? To be on ground where you're under the authority of one? I noticed you didn't respond when the vampires addressed you. Was that a concious decision to make a point or did it simply not occur to you to speak with things like that? In other words, how does being in this alien culture feel to you?"
"It could be they won't all corrode," he concedes, "but some of them are. Some of the ones I was watching with my deathsight, anyway. I'm pretty sure some of the ones trying to address me, anyway. That was useful for working out the control spells." He sighs. "It's not that it's disgusting so much as ridiculous. And wasteful. And reckless. They're dead. Pretending they're not is like pretending the table is going to grow leaves come spring, except the table won't come at you with an axe someday."

"Your people have these things called airplanes that fly. I've seen them in the skies. They're very impressive," William says, trying to explain. "Imagine you are on one of these things, and you find that the drivers or teamsters or whatever are asleep at the reins, and that the other passengers are assuring you that gravity's been very good to them so far." He makes a crashing motion with his hand and slaps it against the palm of the other. "It's a lot like that."

The room tipped suddenly, as if the floor had given out, and the young man stumbled. Trying not to draw attention to himself, Tyro sat down quickly in the closest chair he could find, which happened to be at the table where Patricia and William were chatting. He barely registered their presence as he held his throbbing head in his hands. He felt, and looked, very close to death. The taste of vomit lingered in his nostrils.
OOC: We're actually walking someplace... I think. :D I think we're still in the conference complex, though.

Looking up, Tyro realized through bleary eyes that he was actually alone at the table, and had mistaken the high-backed chairs for people. Opening his eyes hurt, the bright light blinding him and shooting daggers through his brain. Cradling his head in his hands, he tried desperately to hold back the next wave of nausea. He almost died when a voice crackled through his head.

"Boy! Where you at?" Steeles voice was louder than real-life. Tyro activated his comm unit, and croaked his response.

"Uhm...I'm in the conference room sir...uhmmm...observing. Yah, observing."

"Keep up the good work. I'm taking the ship for a bit, and sending it back for you when I'm done. Get as much info as you can, but keep and eye out for the silver-haired vamp named Alexandra and...well, just keep an eye out, and on your guard, boy. Yer surrounded by blood-suckers. Steele out."

Tyro was pleased, very pleased, when the loud voice fell silent.

Paige laid down her pen, and began to place her papers back in her briefcase. She was highly disappointed in the way this conference – or lack of – was going. So far she could recall nothing being discussed other than performing an experiment, and even that had disappeared. There was too much going on, but not what she had been expecting. It was time to cut her losses and call it a day.

Having everything safely put away, she rose from her chair and made her way to the exit. She did not feel that anyone would miss her leaving, so without word to anyone she made her way out of the room, quickly finding her way to the reception. Leaving a message at the desk should anyone question where she had gone, she made her way out of the main doors, and soon found herself on her way back to Tartarus.


[ooc: Like Tarlachia I have decided to pull out. This story has got me completely lost, and I feel it has lost its purpose. It's been fun, but like Paige, it's time I cut my losses.]

Rayanna let out a high pitched squeak and bounded into the forest, though irritatingly, at least to Ferrannifer, she didn't make a sound as she ran off, her footfalls not heard even by Ferrannifer's extremely sharp ears.

Ferrannifer took a few moments to gather herself. Whatever magic they used for thier teleporting left her feeling queasy. When she felt ready she said 'Bridge' and again the queasy sensation as she rematerialized elsewhere.

"You need to speak with your mages Darius. Thier teleport spell seems a bit off."

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"Queen Silverlief?"

"Yes Nancia."

"Everyone seems to be leaving, is the meeting adjourned?"

"No. The Lady of Akaton has been otherwise occupied and those here have wandered off into thier own discussions. They then assumed that this was the way the conference was going and decided they had better things to do when all they needed was to focus thier own meandering thoughts on the situation at hand or await the Lady's return. I shall not be so rude as to leave without seeing her at least."

"I understand."

((OOC: You should probably check with other players before saying the souls of any of their characters show up as corroded to deathsight))

"Oh, no one's pretending their not dead. Being alive is just not the definition of personhood. See, dead does not equal thing to us. In fact, in some cultures on this plane, the living actually worship and follow the dead. In some cultures, vampires rule and consider the living as things. Not in ours, but...in some. So why didn't you respond when addressed? Things or not, they can talk. And you don't seem to object to talking to things on principle. You talk to your two constructs here."

"Oh, no one's pretending their not dead. Being alive is just not the definition of personhood. See, dead does not equal thing to us. In fact, in some cultures on this plane, the living actually worship and follow the dead. In some cultures, vampires rule and consider the living as things. Not in ours, but...in some. So why didn't you respond when addressed? Things or not, they can talk. And you don't seem to object to talking to things on principle. You talk to your two constructs here."
"Rule by machine," William muses. "It's an idea, I suppose. I'd rather leave it to the living to work out for themselves rather than automate it." In the back of his head, rumors about some of the upper crust pop up, but he shakes them off. Even politicians aren't that stupid. "If you don't take the time to train and develop new souls while they're alive, how will you get good quality souls later on? And a wildling ruler will eventually..." He makes a loud snapping sound with his fingers. "Then it's bad times."

"Anyway, I don't remember any of the wildlings saying anything interesting," he says, looking at her inquiringly. "I essentially remember being patronized a lot." He shrugs. "Not that it bothers me. My door latch sticks at home sometimes, but I don't get angry at it when it does. I get angry at the craftsman that made it."

Patricia shrugged. "That's taking for granted that the soul corrodes on this plane and in vampires. You haven't established that. But my point is that they're not machines to us. You don't have to accept that but you do need to get it through your head that, in our culture, they're not considered machines."

She paused. "Do you consider me to be saying anything interesting or are you just talking to me because I'm alive and entitled to what passes for manners among your people?"

OOC: I'm back, sorry for the delay. Bye to The Golden Simatar, Tarlachia, and Gehenna Tartarus, thanks for coming.
_________________________________________________________________

As William entered the conference room, Konnie immediately turned her attention towards him, or rather, towards the pair of animate skeletons that accompanied him. Sensing he was a user of the dark arts, she reinforced her arcane wards before approaching. She waited a few feet back, listening for the opportune moment to enter the conversation. She found this opportunity when she heard him debating the state of a vampire's soul with Patricia.

"I believe I may be able to help answer this question. While the soul of a normal human degrades if it remains in its corpse, this is not necessarily true for vampires. At the time of death, in the case of a person becoming a vampire, the soul only partly leaves its body. A portion of the soul remains behind, while the rest of the soul departs the mortal plane, taking up residence in the underworld. The vampire draws energy from the underworld, sustaining its body and the portion of its soul that inhabits the body. Thus, the soul remains intact, almost as though it were still alive. I cannot guarantee that this is true for all vampires, but those originating in Akaton, such as Lady Alexandra, tend to operate in this manner."
_________________________________________________________________

(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.)

Alexandra smiled faintly, finding the conversation rather enjoyable. Even so, it was not long before her attention began to drift away from the man in front of her. She looked to find an opportunity to politely leave, and his discomfort seemed to indicate that he wanted to do the same.

"No need to worry about it, I don't. Anyway, it has been an pleasure to make your acquaintance, Count."

The vampiress bowed elaborately, walking back into the main room with her usual sinister grace. As she entered the conference room, she took note of the new arrivals as well as those who had left. Of particular interest to her was William and the plan he was discussing with Patricia. She listened, with her unnaturally sharp vampiric hearing, to the conversation between William and Patricia, becoming more and more disgusted with the necromancer's plan. She was tempted to personally demonstrate (preferably in a manner that caused fatal blood loss) just how different vampires were from the mindless zombies he seemed to think they were. However, seeing that things were getting far too chaotic already, and that Konnie was already heading in William's direction, Alexandra returned to the conference table, sitting a few seats away from Tyro and awaited anyone interested in actually continuing the conference.

((OOC: Since William seems to have vanished for the time being...))

Patricia walked with William the rest of the way, continuing to test his beliefs rather insistently, though to no avail. She did genuinely make sure that he broke no Akatoni laws before returning to the conference. Sitting back down, she looked around at any still there. "Well, that was certainly an interesting experience."

Resuming her seat, Patricia sat quietly and waited for the delegates to speak. In her head, rather than paying attention, she was writing her speeches already, about how undead are treated like things in tiny, backwards countries and Danaan force of arms doesn't have the werewithal to free them. It would get her votes.

Lauralin took a seat next to Ariel and Marcus moved out of the side room and slipped again into the shadows. Brook took her usual position behind the Queen. Lauralin and Ariel waited politely for the Lady Alexandra to resume the conference.

He was slowly starting to feel human again, though the taste of the strong Simatarian liquor remained. He took a chance on lifting his head, slowly, and noticed that there were now several people around him...several beautiful and powerful women, actually. Queen Lauralin sat before him, and at her side was the Lady Ariel. They seemed to have not noticed him, and for this, Tyro was thankful. The young man was in no shape to talk to a pretty girl let alone two, not just yet. He turned slightly to avoid any potential conversation, and his eyes fell upon Alexandra. His head cleared immediately, and he sat straighter in his chair. She too was looking elsewhere, unaware of Tyro's lustful stare. Suddenly, he began to feel much better.

As the others returned to the conference table, Konnie took her seat. Alexandra rose to address the group as a whole. The question she planned to pose was a simple one. It was not as though she did not already know the answer, but after hearing William's plan, she thought it was worth at least a few minutes to clarify.

"The conference is officially back in session, let's get in a bit of good discussion before we adjourn. In the interest of our most recent arrival, I pose the question of whether vampires can be considered as similar to zombies or other undead."

"Zombies, no", Lauralin replied, "nor skeletons or other lesser undead. Though they are powered, in my area at least, by negative energy, they are mindless undead. At best they can follow a simple command. Vampires would be more along the line of liches or death knights. Intelligent, self willed, undead. Created not by magic alone but by other forces. Death Knights are usually created by negative energy and failure of duty. Perhaps with assistance from a denizen of the abyss, of that I am not sure. Liches are, or were, mages who chose lichdom in order to continue thier existance. Thus a combination of powerful pacts, magic and negative energy. Vampires are negative energy and something else which I have no idea of. One thing is clear. A death knights soul is in it's body. The soul of a lich is held in a phylactry and the soul of a vampire is half in it's body and half in the negative material plane. Skeletons and zombies have no soul in them. So there is, again in Dragonsreach area at least, a distinct difference between the two. The soul, self will and, possibly, choice. Either a choice made prior to, or at the time of, the change."

OOC: Please excuse my absense. Real life got in the way.

As Lauralin spoke, Konnie listened carefully, particularly to the parts regarding Liches and Death Knights, taking out a pad, she hastily scribbled down some notes.

Alexandra thought a moment before responding.
"Excellent, that is generally the way we believe the various undead work, though we are yet to have any Death Knights within Akaton. 'Tis always useful to be able to confirm one's beliefs."

She paused, looking around the table.
"Would anyone else like to pose a question, or shall I continue?"

"I may have one other point of interest if I may?" Lauralin replied.

Alexandra smiled.

"Of course you may."

"Nancia", she said to no one in particular, "could you give the information you accumulated on us. The odd reading you got."

"Of course Queen Silverlief", came a reply from the small button on Lauralin's sash. "In the ones you refer to as vampires, at least those I've had aboard, I read a definite energy signature. The oddity in the energy flow is that the wave sine is inverted thereby indicated a negative flux. Now how this is possible I can't determine and it certainly isn't within the normal parameters. I've also scanned the bodies and detect definite changes in the normal physiology. The stomach doesn't process food but major capalaries seem to have developed the removed blood from the stomach and deposit it directly into the blood stream. The lungs no longer remove oxygen and therefore seem to function only to provide air flow over the larynx. The body itself is amazingly resilient and resistant to toxins. The synapses in the brain also seem to be elevated which might explain the unusual mental capabilities. These same brain patterns are off the chart in the case of the Princess Ariel which gives ground to support that theory."

"Thank you Nancia", Lauralin said, "now, my nation has only recently opened it's borders and we were very low in advancement. Swords, metalworking, horse drawn carts, so I have no idea what she means but she said it might have been relevant to the discussion. I hope it is of some benefit to these proceedings."

As Lauralin spoke, Konnie continued hastily taking down notes, a small pile of paper accumulating on the table in front of her. Alexandra replied.

"Thank you, that is quite useful, though I imagine my associate could interpret it better than I."

She looked to Konnie, the magus pausing her note taking to respond.

"Yes, most helpful indeed. We had long theorized about the negative flux of vampiric energy, but we could never manage to isolate the frequency from background energy patterns. Since the boundary between the mortal world and the underworld is particularly thin, energies that naturally cross over tend to obscure our observations. This data certainly confirms our theories. As for the possibility of this, I can't explain it any better than you. Perhaps this link to the non-material planes is partly responsible for a vampire's innate arcane powers, would you agree?"

"I wouldn't know", came the voice of Nancia again. "Where I come from we don't have magic or vampires. Well ... not that we know of anyway. If Todd is any indication then perhaps we just don't know it. After all, they do exist. That can't be argued now. If you want I can show you the data I collected and perhaps you can refine or retune your sensors to scan in the proper frequencies."

"Ferranifer has some evidence that the negative material link is directly related to the powers exhibited by vampires" Lauralin added. "Once I get home perhaps you could visit and we could discuss it further and I can have her show you what she's established. Or I could get the information and bring it back to you, if that would be alright with you as well, Nancia."

"Of course Queen Silverlief, I would be more than happy to", Nancia replied. "I might also add that if the three vampires I've seen to date are any indication, or the three that have been aboard anyway, then the older the vampire the stronger the energy. The Queen shows an indication while the Lady Ferranifer has a deeper and more frequent energy pattern and the Queen Regent is off my scales."

"It would seem", Ariel said, not looking at anyone in her rough, trembling voice while giving a pained look, "that the psionic talent gets stronger with a vampires age as well." She motioned in Marcus general direction and he poured her a glass of water placing it in her hand. She took a sip from the glass, another pained look crossing her face. When she took the glass from her lips a small amount of blood backwashed into the glass.

Tyro listened as best he could to the discussion, realizing he was far out of his depth. He had set his recorder to voice-activated mode, so everything was being captured to review later. He looked from Ariel to Lauralin, then back again. He noticed that Ariel had a pained look about her, and something within him screamed HELP HER! He shook his head, unsure why he reacted the way he did. The shake brought another wave of nausea to him, but weaker than before. He decided to keep an eye on Ariel, though he didn't know why.

Konnie smiled at Lauralin's offer.

"Thank you, your Highness. It would be a pleasure to visit, in the interest of furthering our knowledge."

While Konnie seemed not to notice Ariel's distress, Alexandra quickly became aware of it, or rather she quickly became aware of the blood in her cup. She turned towards Ariel, a look of concern on her face.

"Is something wrong, m'Lady?"

Marcus placed a hand on Ariel's shoulder and looked at Alexandra as Lauralin noticed the blood in glass for the first time and gasped moving toward her.

"We Deryn are a race of Psionics", Marcus told Alexandra, "because of the nature of my job I speak often. Ariel rarely speaks at all. This is the most she's spoken in a long time. I think that her throat is just not used to the strain of it. We normally communicate telepathically but it seemed that many were taking offense here by her method of communication."

"She could communicate with me or you and we could speak her thoughts, that should be easier on her", Lauralin offered.

"No", Ariel said in a rough voice, "I will not anger or insult our host."

Lauralin sighed but nodded and turned to Konnie, "Would you like to see Nancia once we've finished here for tonight so you can get what data she possesses?"

Alexandra nodded in understanding.

"I take no offense. In my experience, no one should have to apologize for who they are."

Konnie looked back to Lauralin.

"I would like that very much."

She paused, checking her watch.

"We ought to adjourn shortly, for tonight at least."

Lauralin nodded, "It would give us a chance to see what we have and where we are in the discussions." She retook her seat and glanced worriedly at Ariel before returning her attention to Alexandra.

"Ariel can address what she knows of the telepathic abilities of vampires tomorrow, if that's alright with you Lady", Marcus said as he looked at Alexandra himself.

Alexandra turned to Marcus, a smile crossing her ips.

"Tomorrow it is then."

She glanced in Konnie's direction, the magus nodding in response.

"If no one objects, let us adjourn. If you wish to stay here, accommodations are available in the tower above us. I hope they meet with your approval."

Tyro rose as quickly as he could, rushing to hold Alexandra's chair as she got up from the table. He smiled at her, surprised by his own chivalry, and slid the large chair out of her way. He considered doing the same for the other ladies around the table, but he was rooted to his spot, his eyes lingering hungrily on the beautiful vampire's lithe and graceful form as she stood. When her eyes fell on him, a wave of dreadlust hit him, fear and fire twisting within the young man. Tyro had never felt any emotions as sharply as the ones that were currently playing havoc with his system. He said nothing, fearing what might come out of his mouth.

Lauralin watched as Tyro almost fell over himself and then drool over himself. She had to admit the woman was beautiful. If she weren't already married ....

She looked at Konnie as Marcus helped Ariel to one of the rooms above. "If you would provide transportation I could introduce you to Nancia. I shall be staying with her once you are satisfied with her information."

As Alexandra rose from the table, she was rather surprised to see Tyro rush to help her. As she turned to make her exit, she felt his eyes following her movements. She sighed slightly, realizing exactly what sort of feelings he for her. Instinct told her that emotion made him easy prey, but her conscience objected. Still, she thought, no harm in having a little fun at a mortal's expense. The vampiress paused, turning back towards the young man and meeting his stare, her haunting gaze piercing to his very soul. Without the sort of safeguards Steel possessed, the full effect of her will upon him was quite dramatic. To them alone, time lost all meaning, freezing the span between two heartbeats. The surrounding world seemed to close in around the man, the room fading into a blur. Alexandra worked her will into his emotions, drawing upon his own hopes and fears to project upon his thoughts an image of his darkest desires and greatest fears. It was fitting, as good a representation of her own personality as could exist.

But as quickly as she had begun she stopped, releasing her hold on Tyro's soul, and breaking eye contact. For the human, the sensation would be something like waking up after being passed out, the world slowly coming back into focus. In reality, Alexandra had released him after only a few seconds, no one besides herself and Tyro knowing that anything unusual had taken place. She figured that if her little "fun" hadn't discouraged Tyro, then he was probably worth getting to know better. She paused to speak just once before slinking off into the shadows.

"I bid you all good night. If you need anything, I can be found at the Imperial Palace."

Konnie nodded to Lauralin.

"I would be happy to provide transportation. If you would follow me, there should still be a few Ministry hover cars available on the surface."

She rose, heading in the general direction of the elevator.

Lauralin followed Konnie to the hovercars. As they approached one Brook suddenly, and fiercely, said, "Oh COME on!"

Rayanna started and drew an arrow, looking for a threat as Lauralin turned to face her bodyguard, "What?"

"Horseless carriages are bad enought but this thing doesn't even have WHEELS", Brook stated, gesturing toward the hovercar.

Lauralin grinned and nodded, "Yes they are beyond us even in the technology we are bringing into Dragonsreach. Incredible is it not?"

OOC Thank you Gawdly. Sorry for seeming to be addle brained, a few bad days at work. I'll be better soon.

Patricia went with the others to the cars.

Konnie watched, with a certain sense of amusement, Brook's reaction to the hovercar. Though she was tempted to go into a lengthy explanation of gravitic technology, it was late and there would be time to answer any questions during the drive. The magus opened the door and stepped in, the hovercar settling slightly, much like a boat would.

In contrast to the sleek black exterior of the vehicle, the interior looked as if it had been inspired by the carriages of centuries long past. The two rows of seats faced one another, one forward and one back. They were fairly comfortable, with faded red leather upholstery. Light was minimal and came from a pair of arc lights in etched brass fittings.

Lauralin climbed in, followed, slowly, by Brook. She smiled as she saw the interior. "You see, Brook? It is very pleasant in here."

"I'll take my chariot any day."

"Of course you would, but that is only because you have sword blades on the wheels."

"Exactly. What's this going to do if someone tries to stop you? The chariot will cut them down."

Lauralin sighed and gave up. Brook was Brook, a product of her barbarian upbringing. She looked out at Patricia, "Will you be joining us? Or are you retiring for the night?"

Patricia hopped in. "Sure."

I have recieved your most prestigious invitation, and request that you allow three of my people to attend. One is a scientist, keen to unlock the enigmas of the undead, the other is known only as "Amilia" a vampire elder, and the third is... well... her woman servant, incase she is hungry.

We encourage freedom of expression, even if it is at the cost of human and lowly animal life, so we request you share with us, any infomation you feel would be beneficial to bettering our region.

We await your reply,

Kindest regards,

The Mowdom government.

Konnie shrugged at Brook's statement, tapping a panel on the side of the passenger compartment. It slid aside, revealing a large automatic rifle of Akatoni design.

"I doubt we would be stopped, but if it makes you feel any better, we are not traveling completely unarmed. A little guarantee that we will arrive safely to our destination, which reminds me..."

She flipped a switch, lowering the panel that separated the driver from the passenger compartment before looking to Lauralin. The driver was a human in his late thirties. He wore dark glasses, hiding the look of surprise on his face upon seeing Patricia. He had been expecting elves and vampires, but what was this last being? He had never seen a redcap before, but the large teeth told him that it was probably best not to get to know one very well. He turned his attention as quickly as possible from Patricia to Konnie.

"Where are we heading, m'Lady?"

Konnie pause a moment before looking to Lauralin.

"Exactly where is Nancia staying?"
_________________________________________________________________

To: The Mowdom Government
From: The Akaton Ministry of the Occult

We regret to inform you that the conference is mostly over. Despite this, we would welcome your ambassadors for the final remaining day of conference activities. We too value the pursuit of information, and it would be our pleasure to have your presence at our event.

As Alexandra rose from the table, she was rather surprised to see Tyro rush to help her. As she turned to make her exit, she felt his eyes following her movements. She sighed slightly, realizing exactly what sort of feelings he for her. Instinct told her that emotion made him easy prey, but her conscience objected. Still, she thought, no harm in having a little fun at a mortal's expense.

The vampiress paused, turning back towards the young man and meeting his stare, her haunting gaze piercing to his very soul. Without the sort of safeguards Steel possessed, the full effect of her will upon him was quite dramatic. To them alone, time lost all meaning, freezing the span between two heartbeats. The surrounding world seemed to close in around the man, the room fading into a blur. Alexandra worked her will into his emotions, drawing upon his own hopes and fears to project upon his thoughts an image of his darkest desires and greatest fears. It was fitting, as good a representation of her own personality as could exist.

But as quickly as she had begun she stopped, releasing her hold on Tyro's soul, and breaking eye contact. For the human, the sensation would be something like waking up after being passed out, the world slowly coming back into focus. In reality, Alexandra had released him after only a few seconds, no one besides herself and Tyro knowing that anything unusual had taken place. She figured that if her little "fun" hadn't discouraged Tyro, then he was probably worth getting to know better.

Tyro did not exist.
The room did not exist.
Time did not exist.

His world became blood. His blood.
His blood became hers. Her blood.

His brain was a groin, his heart was a groin, his groin was aflame.

He gave her his heart.
He gave her his soul.

Then she smiled and walked away.

Tyro came back to himself, confused and empty, able to do nothing but stare as the silver-haired vampiress floated away. He wanted to cry out to her, to reach with trembling hands and beg her to come back and fill him yet again. Instead, he stood rooted to the spot, watching her fade into the distance.

He shook his head to clear it as the other delegates began filing from the room. He followed blindly, his thoughts dancing with the after-image of Alexandras beauty and presence. He stopped near the elevator, allowing the others to enter. He let the doors close, leaving him behind, alone with his thoughts. He didn't want to be around women right now, the passions that bubbled in him threatening to explode. More than anything, he simply wanted a drink. He turned and went back into the empty conference room, grabbing a half-empty bottle of wine as he passed the buffet. He sat down heavily, closing his eyes. Within moments, he began to drift off, the quiet room lulling him, the days events having exhausted him. His last thoughts fell upon her as he faded away into a deep rest.

Alexandra.

Lauralin smiled at Patricia as she entered the vehicle. She was not unfamiliar with Resurgent Dream, but she had never met Patricia before this. She looked at the weapon revealed by the compartment and winced immediately. She knew what Brook thought of them and wasn't afraid to voice her opinion.

"A cowards weapon", Brook stated. She didn't disappoint Lauralin in her anticipated answer. "It's easy to kill a man at a distance. Now this", she said, patting the hilt of one of her swords, "this takes courage. To see and to face the fear or hatred in the eyes of your enemies and wonder what they see in yours. A battle of true skill."

Lauralin had seen what lies in Brooks eyes during battle and did take courage to face her. What was in her eyes was blood fury. Battle rage.

"Exactly where is Nancia staying?"

Lauralin looked over at Konnie, "Oh, the vessel. She would still be in the hanger."

Konnie, not sure of what to make of Brook's statement, frowned and looked off through one of the hovercar's windows. She couldn't understand what was so desirable about getting up close and personal with someone you are killing. The magus had only been forced to kill a few times in her life, an experience she didn't with to repeat. Still, she figured it would be a bad idea to push the matter. She replaced to panel over the weapons compartment before turning back to the driver.

"You heard the Queen, take us to the main hanger facility."

The driver nodded and powered up the engine.

"As you wish, m'Lady."

The hovercar rose a few inches higher above the ground, darting off through the darkened streets off Archenhiem City. To one used to traveling in a wheeled vehicle, the hovercar would seem oddly quiet and smooth in its movement, skimming over potholes with ease. It moved with remarkable speed, though the only way to judge that was the rate at which buildings whipped past the sleek vehicle.
_________________________________________________________________

Elsewhere, back in the Ministry building, Alexandra drifted back into the conference chamber. After all, it was hardly worth returning to the palace when she would be back at the conference in a few hours anyway. The vampiress, of course, didn't sleep. Instead, she was planning on catching up on some research she should have done days ago.

Alexandra had expected the room to be empty, so it came as a surprise to her to find Tyro slumped over on the conference table. Spotting the half-empty bottle, she felt ever so slightly guilty about what she did to him. Toying with the minds of humans was a bad habit she really ought to stop. She noiselessly made her way across the room, gently taking the bottle from besides Tyro's sleeping form. The vampiress carried it back to the bar, taking a flask of crimson liquid and pouring herself a glass. She walked back to the table and picked up one of the esoteric texts, quietly settling in to read across from the human.

When they got to the hanger Lauralin stepped out, followed by Brook who swept the place with her eyes. They led Konnie a sleek, delicate looking ship, about 600 meters in length. As she approached Lauralin said, "Hello, Nancia, may I come aboard? I have guest, though I'm sure you know that already."

"Of course Queen Silverlief", came a womans voice from the audio outputs on the external skin of the ship. A ramp came down, allowing them admittance to the vessel.

Lauralin led them through the ship to the main cabin just behind the pilots cabin. The cabin was done in a soft beige color with warm lighting and rugs. Two couches sat to either side and two control panels with comfortable looking chairs. One door led to the bowls of the ship from which they just came, another to the pilots cabin and a third to the galley. The only thing that seemed out of place here was a titanium column that ran through the center of the room. As Lauralin entered she curtseyed, seemingly to the column, "Hello Nancia, I hope you've not been to lonely."

"Not at all, I've been enjoying the conference. The contact button you wear allows me to see as well as hear. Hello Konnie. I'm sorry I didn't get your last name. Is it professor or doctor? Or is magus appropriate?", came the womans voice who was known as Nancia. The voice came from the nearest audio output units.

Brook kept looking around then finally shook her head, "I'm getting something to eat, anyone want anything?"

Lauralin shook her head and looked at Konnie, waiting politely to see if she wished food or drink while taking a bottle from the pack she wore and a glass and poured another glass of blood.

Through the deep clouds of sleep, Tyro could feel her presence, moving through the fog, reaching out to him with a tender, inviting smile. The wisps of ether drifted lazily across her naked form, obscuring the details but tantalizing him with the promise of her curves. In his mind, Alexandra danced for him, her eyes locked with his, her tongue flicking against her full lips. He watched, transfixed, his heart keeping the rhythm of her movements.

He slumbered on, lost in his world of rest, content with the beauty that shared it with him. He would never sleep this well again. As she moved in and out of his inner-vision, Tyro softly whispered her name, calling to her as she danced just out of reach. His real voice reflected his minds thoughts, and he spoke aloud.

"Alexandra...Alexandra."

Konnie followed Lauralin aboard the ship. As she looked about the area in which they walked, she was impressed. It was very different from Akatoni ships, much more brightly lit, seeming to be designed with comfort in mind. The products of Akatoni shipyards tended to be of a grand style, with cavernous corridors, high ceilings, and a heavy design influence from the gothic style so common in Imperial architecture. Then again, most Akatoni ships were well over a century old, some stretching back from before the unification wars.

Her thoughts were brought back to the present by Nancia's voice. At first, Konnie wasn't entirely sure of whom to reply to, not realizing that the voice she was hearing actually came from the column. Seeing the Queen address the column, she remembered what she had heard of AI systems, and turning in the column's direction, answered Nancia.

"Hello. If you were curious, my last name is Hariku, but Konnie is fine, and magus is perfectly appropriate."

At Brook's question, Konnie turned, smiling slightly. She had been getting thirsty, so...

"A glass of water would be nice, thank you."
_________________________________________________________________

Hearing her name, Alexandra looked up from her book. In the silent room, and with her acute hearing, the mumbled words were quite audible. She closed the book as quietly as possible, setting it back upon the table. She was curious exactly what he was thinking about that would cause him to speak her name. Careful not to wake him, the vampiress fixed her piercing gaze on the sleeping man's thoughts. Getting a momentary glimpse of his dream, she wasn't sure whether she should laugh or frown. She finally settled on laughing, quietly, of course, before picking up her book once more. Well, she thought, that certainly removes all doubt as to what he feels towards me. She settled back into her chair, taking a long sip of blood. She silently wondered if he was in love with her, of merely her image. I'll see soon enough, she thought, settling back into her reading.

Lauralin sat down on a couch, sipping the glass of blood.

"I'm Nancia Perez Y De Gras. I'm from Central Worlds. I work for the diplomatic core, courier service. I've volunteered to be assigned to Dragonsreach, a rare event to be assigned to another nation as most we meet already have thier own vessels. Dragonsreach has a few but thier combat ships, a fledgling space force."

"Actually", Lauralin cut in, "Highport has the space vessels. Dragonsreach has a very small elite force. We rely primarily on father's nation for defense."

"My apologies Queen Silverlief."

"No need, sorry for cutting in. I keep telling you to call me Laura."

Brook came in and handed Konnie her water and then returned to the galley.

"That would be highly inappropriate", Nancia replied.

Lauralin sighed, "Please, continue."

"The first thing, Magus, that I should clear up is that most people think I'm an A.I. I'm not. You see, Central Worlds focuses on the preservation and prolongation of life. We've defeated disease, except new ones from previously unexplored worlds or strains that mutate. We've also prolonged life. A few centuries ago the average life span of a soft shell was about sixty years. Now the average is one hundred and twenty with up to one hundred and eighty not unusual. For things we can't cure naturally or through surgery we have cybernetic replacements. We can replace anything in the human body except the brain itself. The one thing we haven't managed to overcome is congenital birth defects. That's where I come in.

Many children who won't survive due to defects cannot be saved because the brain is damaged as well as the body. There are cases, however, where the body will die even though the brain is perfectly intact. In these cases the infant, not just the brain, is placed in a shell and sent to shell school for training. It's a common misconception that we're just a brain in a shell when the truth is our bodies are intact inside the shell. Direct connections using monofiliment wires are made to many parts of the brain and body. We then control our shells as you would control your body. Learning to us manipulaters instead of hands. Using visual input devices and audio input and output instead of eyes, ears and mouths. Learning to control our nutrient flows as you learn to eat.

When we're old enough to show an aptitude for something we begin training in that area. In my case spaceship flight. Then when we're old enough show an interest in something it's matched up to our aptitude and more intense training begins. In my case meeting and talking with people. Finally, once we're done our training, we're given the opportunity to join an orginazation suited to our training, interest and aptitude. In my case as a courier in the diplomatic core. There are space stations shellpeople, city managers, communications specialists, even planetary managers and station managers. So you see, in a very real way, this ship is my body.

We incur a rather large debt to start, since the surgey for first shell, subsequent shells and final placement is expensive. We contract to the orginazation or place that we choose and then work off our debt. This sounds like indentured servitude but it isn't really. SPRiM and MM watch very closely to be sure we're given good wages and a fair chance to pay off. Once that happens we're free to do as we will.

Helva is one for instance who has paid off. She sings, very beautifully in fact, and makes recordings. Hypatia is also close to paying off. She invested in stocks and has done well. She owns, or at least has the controlling intrest in, moto prostechics. It's a firm that works to make better cybernetic replacements and, in fact, recently, has made complete bodies for shell people to use. Thier short range since it takes a great deal to control them but thier working on improving them.

Another misconception is that people feel sorry for us. Shell people that is. Shell people, however, tend to feel sorry for soft shells. Oh ... soft shells is how we refer to humans. Our shells are titanium, humans are flesh, thus thier shell is soft. It started as a joke but caught on and it's not meant to be insulting. You see shell people are capable of a great deal. I can fly through the void of space, I can see both inside and outside and even scan nearby sectors. I can speak to people both inside and outside of myself with my audio and comm grid.

There are, of course, limitations, which is why we're assigned a brawn. We pick the brawn of course. A brawn is a mobile partner, a human. They do the things we can't. In my case I don't have one, but the Queen see's to it that I have company at all times. She's also been kind enough to pay my debt off."

Lauralin gasped, "You were not supposed to know this."

"Shell people talk, I'm sorry but it gets around. So Magus, unless you have any questions, and when your ready, you can take a seat at the console and let me know what you would like." A console lit up near Konnie as Nancia waited to see if she had any questions.

Konnie took her seat, occasionally sipping her drink as she listened to Nancia.

"Fascinating, I've never heard of anything like that before. A complete neural interface is far beyond our current understanding of technology. Cybernetic systems are widely used in Akaton, especially for humans. They seem to be such fragile beings.

The closest thing we have to this sort of technology would have to be our soul bound machines. I must admit that they are not my specialty, so I cannot provide specifics. In these devices, the organic body is done away with altogether, with the consciousness being the only part remaining. This consciousness, soul, spirit, or whatever you wish to call it, is transferred into a machine specially designed to accept its commands. Still, there are many drawbacks to such a system. It is extremely difficult for the spirit to learn how to properly control its new form, as even simple actions such as walking are controlled by utterly different means than their nervous system used. Also, this technology has seen only limited use on account of the expense and difficulty of the procedure.

It is perhaps not the best of comparisons, save for the fact that soul bound machines are usually created in situations much like your own, in which there is no medical means of treating damage to the body. However, I digress."

Konnie turned to the lighted console near her.

"As far as my research is concerned, any information regarding vampires is helpful. However, I had been wondering if you had found any difference between vampires created from humans and those created from elves."

"Well, as far as vampires go, I've had only the queen, her advisor and the queen's wife to work with. The queen's wife and her advisor are both human, or were, and the queen, herself, was only half elven."

On the screen appeared three tracks. All of them showed the same, odd, reverse energy pattern. The only difference was in the power levels. The weakest at the top to the strongest at the bottom.

"The top one is the queen's. It shows a much lower power registry. She's what they call a fledgling, a young vampire. The second, and markedly more powerful, is Ferrannifer, her advisor. She's about six hundred. The bottom is the queen's wife, the queen regent. As you can see, hers is off the scale. She's around one thousand years old."

She turned on one of the side wall screens and showed anatomical diagrams. "Now here is thier anatomy. As I said the stomachs show a marked increase in blood vessels that are specially designed to remove blood from the stomach and take it directly to the blood stream. Twin canines in slots in the gums contain what they refer to as eye teeth. These have powerful muscles that can extend and retract the teeth. The kidneys and livers remove toxins and dispense with them, how I haven't figured out yet. The heart still pumps, but internal body temperature isn't regulated. What's amazing is the regenration rate. If I didn't know thier ages by being told I could never have figured it out through medical testing. Damaged or dying cells are replaced quickly. More quickly the older the vampire is."

The middle wall screen came to life showing an ECG. "As you can see here the brain patterns are markedly increased. Now it could be because of genius ability but all three show the same, the brain patterns showing that the older the vampire the more activity.

"I don't see a difference, aside from age factor, in the human versus half-elven. The eyesight, hearing and sense of smell and touch are much more acute than the normal human. Strength is greater due to denser, and tougher, muscle tissue fiber, almost like a rigor mortus. The blood in the body seems to attack the infused blood, eventually breaking down. Now unlike everything else, this tendency becomes less the older the vampire. This would allow them to have to .... feed .... less as the get older."

The third and final wall panel came to life showing a strange shift in the negative energy and positive energy flows. "Now here I've trace the negative flow and you can see the standard scanning of the human. Somehow the negative is converted into positive energy without any ill effects. Or the other way around, I'm not quite sure. What's confusing is that the negative flow would seem to head away from the body, yet it enters it. The positive flow moves toward the negative flow and they are both altered, yet usable. How this is done I'm not sure."

Konnie nodded, carefully looking over the display screens.

"I have only have only had the opportunity to record observations of elvin vampires. Your data does seem to support my findings, at least as far as anatomy goes. The only difference I have found is that vampires do not necessarily have a heartbeat. For example, Lady Alexandra lacks an observable pulse. Why this is, I do not know. There may be a relation between the functionality of a vampires organs and the necessity of um...feeding, such that the more "alive" a vampire is, the less feeding they require."

The magus glanced over at another screen, still listening.

"A vampire's unique resistance to injury has been a topic of quite some study within the Imperium, although much of this research was carried out some millennia ago and the methods are questionable. It is believed that the ability of vampires to survive poisons may partially come from their high rate of cellular replacement. The liver may function in the same way it normally does, but the cells damaged by toxins are quickly replaced."

There was a pause before Nancia answered, "A distinct possibility. I wish I could speak with Doctor Kenny. Kennet Uhuro Sorg. He's a specialist in cybernetic replacement, nerve regeneration and organ replacement. What confuses me is the regenration. A vampire can regenerate damage, even grow lost limbs, which would seem to indicate that the cells are capable of reproducing and replacing whatever is lost. Yet a severed limb doesn't grow a new body. Something in the body itself controls the regenration process."

"Unlike trolls", Lauralin stated. "Cut a troll into pieces and eventually, unless you burn it, you wind up with multiple trolls rather than just one. As for the age corralation I know that it has to do with the link to the negative material plane. The older the vampire the stronger the link. This is the same principle for stronger or weaker undead. A skeleton or zombie is animated by the dark magics, the manipulation of negative energy, from the spell caster. Vampires, Liches or Death Knights have a much stronger tie and are much more powerful."

"But how is the energy used?" Nancia asked.

"I do not know. Ferrannifer has done some studies. She is brilliant and an expert in her field. If only the methods were different I would embrace her studies, but I cannot accept her means. I know this upsets her and it saddens me, but my laws must apply to everyone, even me, or they mean nothing."

As Lauralin spoke of Ferranifer's experimentation, Konnie felt the slightest amount of guilt for offering to host those very same experiments. Still, she reminded herself, research is research and somebody has to do it sooner or later. She quickly brought her thoughts back to the issue at hand, answering Nancia's inquiry.

"Normally, I would think that the negative energy was metabolized on the cellular level. However, if this was the case, one would expect a vampire's regeneration would behave more like a troll's. Given the fact that there doesn't seem to any centralized mechanism to control this process, I would be inclined to say that a supernatural explanation is more likely."

"Well I don't mean insult to anyone here but as a member of central worlds I just can't accept a supernatural explanation. There are regenerating creatures that we've seen. There are creatures that feed off of other sources than what's typical for humans. The avanaage of corambis two replenish themselves with electrical discharges, usually from the atmosphere. They show up in great numbers during lightning storms. The queen, when she uses her sorcery, emits definite energy spikes. How she draws on that energy is uncertain but I'm sure there's an explanation. This might be of interest...".

She put the other console online and brought up another wave form pattern. It was more or less normal except for higher norm spikes and then spiking off the scale.

"That's the king's energy signature. His shows a normal wave guide of much greater proportion. Vampires are ill affected by his presence, which grows worse when he's angry and the waves spike. So what if his channelling of this energy, prime material as the queen calls it, cancels or interupts the negative energy flow? This would explain why vampires are uncomfortable or even pained by his presence. Just a theory, I'm not an expert on these things. Wave guides and power fluxes are required courses for shell people. Most of us need to control power in one way or another. The ships engines and onboard energy in my case, as well as analysis of signals for purposes of locating ship positions."

"Don't worry, by my standards, a supernatural explanation hardly precludes the possibility of applying logic to the problem. After all, what is the supernatural but that which is not yet explained by normal science? I simply mean that vampires do not seem to follow the same biological principles as most organisms."

Konnie paused, looking over at the waveform diagram.

"Well, I imagine the King draws on positive energy rather than the negative energy of vampires. Assuming that this energy behaves like normal energy within the material plane, it should cancel out the negative energy waveform. This would account for the discomfort he causes to vampires. Unfortunately, this still leaves the question of how a vampire uses the negative energy. Perhaps it replaces the normal chemical energy used within a living being's cells."

"Unfortunately my sensors aren't powerful or tuned enough for cellular scanning. I would need a medical scanner for that. I have a medical facility but it's set up to keep my brawn alive or in stasis until reaching proper medical facilities. Your theory certainly sounds reasonable. Therefore it would need a way to be sustained within the cell without damaged the surrounding positive structure much like the theory of matter and anti-matter. As yet we've not found a way to contain the anti-matter. At least not to a point where it would usable and financially feasable as a constant power source. But perhaps the negative energy is contained in some fashion within the cells and then somehow used by the altered physical body."

Brook had finished eating and stood near the queen, listening to the conversation.

Lauralin listened attentively and tried to understand as much of it as she could. The two, however, were talking of things beyond her understanding and it was beginning to frustrate her.

Konnie paused for a moment, a puzzled look on her face.

"I'm afraid I know nothing of how the energy could be contained. The physics of energy and anti-matter are certainly not my specialty. You mentioned the need for a sensor that could scan on the cellular level, right? I know of at least two such devices within Akaton, one of which I could gain access to quite soon."

"That's good, perhaps you can do some testing there then. I'm afraid, of course, that I can't go with you", Nancia said almost wistfully.

"The body form that Tia designed is usable only in short distance, typically within my ship body or a few meters around it. Besides, it requires so much concentration to control the body that I wouldn't be able to focus on much else.

However, I could provide you with a contact button. It would allow me to see, speak with you and hear. I could even do general scanning within about a three meter radius, as well as monitor your life signs.

If you could bring the scanner here and I could analyze it then I might be able to duplicate it or tie into it and utilize it that way."

Konnie nodded.

"I believe the contact button would be the best choice. The scope of which I spoke is large and permanently installed within a Ministry facility. Besides, the device is far too complex for duplication, to an extent that I do not believe any now living within the Imperium could reproduce its mechanism, an unfortunate side-effect of our technology's origins."

The magus tapped on a small wrist comm. device to summon the hovercar.

"From what I understand, the device has the capacity to scan on a sub-cellular level, sufficient to prove our theory."

A small panel opened on the side wall and a crystal slid up out of the console.

"Take the data crystal, it has all the information I've shown you. In the alcove where the panel opened are the contact buttons. Take one and place as you see the Queen's. It's a molecular binding, so it'll adhere to any material, I just need it a high enough level that I can see clearly enough."

The Queen's was located on her tunic just above her left breast. "Shall I accompany you?" she asked.

Konnie picked up the data crystal and slipped it into a pocket. She also took a contact button, delicately attaching it to her shirt just below the neck.

"Thank you, I assume you will be able to see from here?"

She gestured towards the contact button. Turning to the Queen she replied, smiling.

"I would not assume to impose, but you are welcome to accompany me if you wish."

"Yes", Nancia replied, "I can see quite well, thank you. Your coming through clearly as well", she said, her voice issuing from the contact button as she tested it to make sure it was working properly. She did a routine scan from it and opened the vital signs link. "I'm ready", she said then.

"Well", Laura replied, "being as I do not need sleep, and since Nancia is doing well, I would truly like to accompany you to see this. It is, after all, in a way, me and my kind that you are studying. I would like to return here once you are finished, to keep her company."

Hearing her name, Alexandra looked up from her book. In the silent room, and with her acute hearing, the mumbled words were quite audible. She closed the book as quietly as possible, setting it back upon the table. She was curious exactly what he was thinking about that would cause him to speak her name. Careful not to wake him, the vampiress fixed her piercing gaze on the sleeping man's thoughts. Getting a momentary glimpse of his dream, she wasn't sure whether she should laugh or frown. She finally settled on laughing, quietly, of course, before picking up her book once more. Well, she thought, that certainly removes all doubt as to what he feels towards me. She settled back into her chair, taking a long sip of blood. She silently wondered if he was in love with her, of merely her image. I'll see soon enough, she thought, settling back into her reading.

It was the power of her presence that drew him from his dark sleep, slowly into awareness. As the dreamscape of Alexandra faded from his memory, his eyes flutterd open to see the vision become reality. Blinking, he painfully tried to wake up fully, straightening himself in his chair. Tyro attempted a smile, and spoke quickly, his voice thick with sleep.

"M'lady Alexandra, my apologies...I must have dozed off. I uhm...well, I guess I should get to my room..."

The young man felt that the wisest course of action would be to spare himself further embarresment and make a quick exit from the room. Unfortunately, his body didn't agree with his wisdom. Tyro was rooted to his chair, his eyes unabashedly roaming over the beautiful vampires face. His mind screamed RUN, but all he could do was grin stupidly.

Konnie took note of the voice issuing from the button, still interested in the novelty of such an item. Looking back to the Queen, she smiled.

"I hoped you would choose to come along. Our vehicle should be arriving in about a minute, so we ought to get going."

The Magus exited the ship through the ramp on which she entered, stopping near the entrance of the hanger. It was only a matter of seconds before the hovercar floated to a stop before them, its return heralded by the distinct humming sound of a gravitic engine. The driver stepped out, opening the door for Konnie and Lauralin.
_________________________________________________________________

At the sound of Tyro's voice, Alexandra looked up from her book, slightly surprised to see him waking.

"No apologies needed. Room's on floor 12, above ground."

When he remained, fixated on her, her eyes met his, a faint smile on her face. This time though, the vampiress didn't probe or manipulate. Her gaze held genuine warmth, the only warmth in her pale form.

Lauralin followed Konnie into the vehicle and was in turn followed by Brook, who refused to leave Laura's side. As they headed to thier destination Laura looked at Konnie. "I have to admit that I am not completely sure I understand what it is we are doing. We are far behind you and Central Worlds in technology, if you could explain it would be greatly appreciated."

The hovercar sped off through the darkened streets, heading towards the center of the city. Inside, Konnie considered the Queen's question.

"Well, the scope should help confirm, or disprove, the theory Nancia and I developed regarding the way vampires use negative energy. The scope will allow us to see at a cellular level."

She paused, a somewhat uncomfortable look coming to her face.

"As for the scope's function, I'm not really sure. You see, like much of our advanced technology, we did not invent this scope ourselves. In this particular case, it was built from designs discovered in an archeological expedition. All that is known of its origins are that it was designed by an ancient civilization long since vanished from Akaton. Sadly, there is no one who completely understands its inner workings."

"Understand that I mean not to question your skills, but, how can you be sure that you are getting the correct information and from whence will you get your specamin? I assume that you would need one, yes?"

Lauralin looked out the window at the buildings as they flashed past. She couldn't believe that people lived here. She thought of the crystal towers and buildings of Kern, of the vast forestlands. The open plains and the great mountains. She thought of these things as once she had taken them for granted.

"How can you be sure that you can use this machine?" Of course, the Queen didn't fully understand modern technology. Though she was trying to introduce it there was much opposition. Though she didn't know about it she did know about magic. Trying to cast an unknown spell created by another could be dangerous and have tragic consequences. She wondered if the same could happen with modern technology. But then she knew that answer. Her lands and the lands around her had once been modern. They had harnessed the power of the sun itself, and they had almost completely destroyed everything.

"Perhaps I should have been more specific. We know what the machine does, not why it does it. This particular scope has been in use for some two hundred years, and has proven to be quite reliable. As for a sample, we only need one cell to examine, so a single hair or flake of skin will be more than enough. You wouldn't mind too terribly much to part with a hair for our experiment, would you?"

Konnie listened as the Queen continued,

"To be honest, I have never personally operated this machine. However, since it is an ancient machine, I'm counting on there being some priests of the Machine God around the facility. They consider such devices to be holy, and in the interest of preserving them, the priests will probably insist on operating the machine themselves. A superstitious lot, they hardly ever trust others with their machines, which is very lucky for us."

The various pieces of ancient technology that had been discovered had played an interesting role in Akaton's history, both for better and for worse. The designs for the Hell Gate, which when activated, triggered the Demonic Invasion of the capital, had been found in much the same fashion as the plans for this scope. Such was the risk of using technology no one had understood in over ten millennia. The scope was relatively benign, lacking the power to be a threat. Ever since the incident involving the hell Gate, the Cult Mechanicus had taken much more care with what they activated. It was a shame that it took tragedy to force caution, but that was the way of the world.

Brook cocked an eyebrow and looked over at Lauralin at the same time she looked uncomfortably at Brook. They then both looked back at Konnie.

"Priests?" Lauralin asked, "Perhaps this is not such a good idea. Most Priests tend to take a disliking to such as I."

Konnie smiled faintly,

"Not these priests. I'd like to say it was because of their tolerant ways, but that would not be entirely accurate. To be honest, the priests of this particular religions simply do not care about organic beings, living or otherwise. Though they themselves are obviously organic in origin, they seem not to concern themselves this fact. The only group they really take issue with are environmentalists, these they burn for heresy whenever the law isn't watching."

The hovercar slowed to a stop, parking to the side of the main roadway. The building, only half visible by the light of the street lamps, was clearly a cathedral of some sort. Atop the tower rising from the building's roof there stood a series of interlocking gears, an image mirrored upon the various stained glass windows. Aside from the pools of blue-white radiance cast from the streetlights, the street was almost completely dark. The hovercar shared the street only with the scattered plumes of steam rising from grates in the sidewalk. Presently, it began to rain lightly.

Konnie looked out the window, then back to the Queen.

"If you still wish not to enter, I will not take offense. Otherwise, we ought to hurry inside before the rain gets any worse."

"Well, if you say that the priests will not bother me then I see no reason not to go. She stepped out of the car and Brook followed, both turning thier faces up to the rain, seeming to take pleasure in it. 'At least there something natural to this place', Lauralin thought as she let the rain fall on her upturned face. She suspected that Brook felt pretty much the same way. Once Konnie exited the vehicle they followed her inside.

Konnie paused in front of the doors, enjoying the coolness of the rain. Rain was not all that common in Archenhiem, being so close to the southern deserts, so it was worth taking a moment to experience it. After a second or two, she brushed the droplets from her hair and pushed open the great metal doors of the building. Despite their size and weight, the doors were perfectly balanced and swung effortlessly and silently open.

Inside, the building was quite unusual. In the typical fashion of a cathedral, the building was mostly a single long room with a long central walkway running from the door to the far end. It was at the far end that all similarities with a traditional cathedral ended. In place of an altar, a towering mass of lenses and brass piping reached thirty feet into the air. From a distance, it could have been mistaken for some archaic steam machine, though a closer examination revealed a device of incredible complexity. Wiring led from a series of faintly glowing crystals that formed the core of the scope to numerous gauges and control panels scattered around its exterior. Immediately in front of the machine, a marble pillar rose from the ground, a holographic projector sitting upon it.

Numerous hooded figures moved around the scope, many of them carefully cleaning and polishing it down to the smallest screw or length of pipe. Others tended to the control panels, balancing the energies of the machine and keeping its lenses in focus. One of the hooded figures, a monk swinging an incense burner, passed near Konnie as she entered. The magus wrinkled her nose at the smell of the incense before approaching the monk.

"Your Holiness, I have come with my associates to make use of this scope."

The monk, obviously startled, turned to look at the three beings that had just entered.

"For what reason must you disturb the sacred machine?"

Konnie replied,

"We are on business from the Ministry of the Occult."

The monk nodded,

"I see. You shall be permitted the use of the scope, though only under our supervision."

He then walked off, still swinging the incense burner as he passed into a side chamber. Konnie looked back to the Queen, speaking in a voice barely above a whisper.

"This should not take long. Though the priests here respect the authority of the Ministry, they dislike intrusion and will want us to go on our way as quickly as possible."

Lauralin nodded, careful not to get to close the the device while Brook stayed close behind her. The barbarian woman watched the figures carefully. Though she looked to be standing casually to most, her muscles were held taught, ready to spring.

Lauralin stood, waiting to see what transpired. She didn't feel any discomfort from being in this place, but the idea that she wasn't welcome, just out of general principle of the way the monks were didn't sit well with her adventureres instinct.

Konnie moved a few steps closer to the scope, stopping a few feet away. Another of the monks approached her, speaking in a polite yet somehow uninviting tone.

"Please wait hear while the machine is prepared."

A few of the monks operated the control panels, bringing the scope to full power. Most, however, seemed preoccupied with various unusual rituals. Some chanted in an unidentifiable language, while others bowed their heads in prayer. Konnie glanced back to Lauralin. Her expression was one of amusement, as though to reassure the Queen that there was no real purpose to the monks' ritual.

The monks stopped their chanting as the scope came online. The machine hummed softly, the steady noise punctuated only by the occasional crackling sound of high voltage electricity. The monk returned with a small mithril canister, obviously used to contain whatever specimen was to be observed. Konnie turned to Brook and Lauralin, motioning them to come forward with her.

"I believe we will be needing that hair, your highness."

Lauralin stepped forward and pulled out a strand of hair. She placed it within the mithril container and then waited to see what the machine was going to do.

((OOC: Sorry for the lateness of my post. I've been having problems with a computer virus.))

The priest clicked the mithril canister shut. He took it to the machine and, with extreme care, placed it into a slot. As the canister was drawn into the machine, the muffled sound of gears and crackling energy could be heard as the scope came fully on line. The canister came back into view as it settled in the center of a complex array of lenses and coils. One of the priests operated a control panel, focussing the device. The lenses aligned, focusing a strange beam of warping light upon the canister's surface. The holographic projector mounted on the small pillar came to life, displaying the hair as a slowly rotating three dimensional image.

Konnie looked at the image a moment, turning to the priest at the controls.

"Zoom in closer, magnification one thousand times normal size."

The priest nodded, tapping at the panel. The lenses shifted, realigning over the canister. The new image was one of a cluster of cells. Konnie shook her head.

"No, we need it closer than that. Try magnification ten thousand."

The image reappeared up as an interior view of a single cell. The magus smiled slightly.

"Good, now enhance the image for spectrographic analysis, highlighting energy with negative wavelength."

The image flickered briefly as a series of coils crackled to life within the machine. As it came back into focus, traces of negative energy were obvious. The ghostly outlines of negative energy could be seen passing into the cell, but instead of passing back out, the energy became trapped within. Slowly, the wisps of energy were absorbed, vanishing from view as new wisps of energy entered the cell. Konnie turned back to Luaralin and Brook, her smile widening. She quickly turned back towards the projected image to make certain that Nancia could get a good view through the small button.

"I do believe we have had a success."

"Hmm", Nancia said studying it. "How sure can we get that it's not residual energy? I mean we need to prove the energy is taken in and used. Seperated it might be residual energy that's entering and dying off. Is there some way to prove that the energy we see is being used in some way?"

Konnie thought for a moment, looking back at the image before her.

"I doubt we could eliminate background interference, but if we were to compare the energy levels within the vampiric cell with the energy in a cell from a normal living being, we could see if there was a difference."

Lauralin looked at Brook who snorted, "Don't look at me, I'm not the only non-bloodsucker around here. Toss someone's hair into the stew."

Lauralin looked back at Konnie, amusement evident in her eyes and her lips drawn together, trying not to laugh. To those who didn't know the two women Brook would seem defiant of her Queen. Those who knew them, knew that they had been friends and companions for some years before Laura had become Queen. She left Brook free to speak because, first she knew that Brook wouldn't be culled and second because Brook could often be her voice when she was diplomatically bound to courtesy. "Is it possible to get something to test that?" she asked of Konnie.

Konnie smiled in amusement.

"Well, last time I checked, I'm alive."

She turned to the priest at the controls.

"We need to change the specimen, if you do not mind."

The priest lowered the power and pressed a button, releasing the small canister that held the sample. Konnie carefully picked up the canister and slid its lid open, setting aside the hair within. She plucked out one of her own raven black hairs and placed it within before handing the canister back to the priest. As before, the machine powered up and projected an image of the specimen on the holographic display.

The cell upon which the scope was focussed appeared fairly similar to the first. The difference became clear when the spectrographic filter was applied to the image, highlighting the negative energy. Unlike the image of the Queen's cell, the energy was relatively sparse, passing in and out of the cell with little change.

Konnie looked back to Lauralin,

"Well, that would seem to help rule out the possibility of background energy interference."

She briefly turned to the priest,

"Record these two images on a data disk and make a copy for the Queen."

"If you mean it shows that the negative in my body acts like the positive in yours then I must concur", she said thoughtfully. "This does not, however, explain how the negative energy interacts with the positive material shell without having a severely negative response from the two essences involved."

Brook looked at Laura, "If you don't start talking common I swear I'm going slap you all the way back to Dragonsreach. I'm too tired for your riddles."

Lauralin looked back a Brook concerned, "I am sorry, I should have thought of your weariness. What I meant was that it does not explain why I do not blow up."

"You could have said that before", Brook mumbled.

"I did, but you were, perhaps, too weary to understand". Both knew that wasn't the case but Brook appreciated her trying to cover for her.

"Well", she said, "in my tribe we would make ceramic containers with different layers of shells that we filled with water. Hot water on the inside and submerged in cold water. The different water layers within the shell gradually changed the temperature, otherwise they would crack."

Lauralin smiled like a mother would to a child and then her face became lost in thought. "She might have a point", she turned to Konnie, "can you get a magnification that would show the different layers in the cell?"

"Hmm, one would expect there to be certain... unpleasant interactions between the negative energy and the physical body."

Konnie turned back to the priest.

"Would you please call up the image of the Queen's cell and display at maximum magnification. Make certain to highlight negative energy with an emphasis on energy transfer patterns."

The holographic projector flickered as the cell was brought into focus. The image clearly displayed the various cellular membranes as well as the telltale signs of the negative energy slowly making their way through the myriad layers of the cell. Konnie looked at the image a moment, frowning and turning back to Lauralin.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot accurately interpret this sort of image. It is a bit too far outside my normal line of study."

"I understand", Lauralin replied, "perhaps it would be best to turn it over to one who would better be able to interpret it. I am afraid that it is far beyond me. I shall return to Nancia, if that is alright, that Brook may rest. She will not leave me alone as she takes her guard duties seriously."

Konnie nodded.

"In that case, I suppose we had best adjourn for the night. I do need to get some rest myself, at least an hour of two."

She turned to the priest.

"Add this image to the data disk as well."

Lauralin nodded. "I shall not bother you further this night then", she told Konnie and stepped over to Brook. She looked back at Konnie, "Sleep you well." and placed a hand on Brooks arm, muttered a short incantation and vanished along with the barbarian woman.

Brook went to her cabin and was asleep almost before she got to lay down. Lauralin sat down on one of the comfortable chairs and went over what she had learned. She sat quietly, pondering these things until the next morning, waiting to be contacted for the next day of conferences.

OOC: I think the time has come to start bringing this thread to a close. After over four months and almost seven hundred posts of good RP, I'd hate to see it become repetitive and boring.
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Konnie thanked the priests for the use of the machine and made her way back to the hovercar. A half-hour later, she stepped out the doors of the elevator in the conference room. She smiled weakly to Alexandra, who was still very much awake. The magus set a copy of the data disk on the conference table before heading over to the bar and grabbing a bottle of something extremely alcoholic. She walked back towards the table, taking a long drink from the bottle before flopping into a chair, where she promptly fell asleep.

The next day dawned altogether sooner than Konnie might have liked. Of course, she was a bit less dependant on sleep that a human, a fact for which she was quite thankful. She slowly opened her eyes, finding things almost exactly as they had been a few hours earlier. Lady Alexandra had moved on, leaving Konnie alone except for the large stack of notes and data strewn across the conference table. The magus regarded the notes, realizing that in just over twenty-four hours, she had acquired more information than research had brought her in the past three months. Conferences are such a wonderful motivation; she thought, there is enough here to keep me busy for quite some time. Still, I ought to convene a short meeting later this morning to bring this conference to a graceful conclusion.

Konnie got up, moving to a comm panel mounted on the wall, activating it with the press of a button.

"Please inform Queen Silverlief that we will be meeting in the conference room at 11:30 AM."

An artificial, metallic sounding voice responded.

"Affirmative. Do you have any further commands, Magus Hariku?"

She smiled faintly at the comm system's automated response.

"That will be all, thank you."

(OOC - Saddely, yes. It has been great RP, but there's not much more that can be said. At least on the part of Dragonsreach and Central Worlds. I have enjoyed it. I'll have to get Ferrannifer over to visit with Konnie some time. Perhaps we can TG about ideas for that.)

"Queen Silverlief. The meeting for today will be at eleven-thirty hours."

It took Laura a second to realize what Nancia meant, then nodded, "Thank you, Nancia." She stood up and opened another bottle, poured herself a glass and sipped at the thick liquid.

"Shall I awaken Brook?"

"I would not subject you to that", Lauralin replied lightly, "to say she's grumpy when she awakens is an understatement."

"But I won't be in the room and I can shut down my inputs once I know she's aroused."

Lauralin was about to say no, but then she realized Nancia had a point. "Very well", she said smiling, "Thank you."

"Of course", Nancia replied.

A few moments later Brook came into the main cabin, mumbling and strapping on her swords. She nodded to Laura and entered the dining area where Nancia provided her breakfast. Once done she returned to the main cabin, "Another day of boredom", she stated.

"I've actually found the conference intriguing."

"Of course you did."

Lauralin smiled and once Nancia notified them that the conveyance had arrived the two returned to the conference room.

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Ariel and Marcus, after being notified by a servant made thier way to the main room to await the Queen. Upon her arrival the followed both of them to the room again. Ariel caught up on the events that followed her retiring for the evening with a quick scan of Lauralin's mind as they made thier way down.

OOC: Sounds good to me. Just TG me when you want to send Ferrannifer on a visit.
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Konnie was finishing an attempt to organize a pile of notes as her guests arrived. She rose to greet them, bowing slightly to the Queen. Lady Alexandra made her entrance at about the same time, silently slipping into the main chamber from one of the side rooms. Konnie looked from person to person, and seeing that all were present, took her seat at the conference table.

"Hello all, and welcome to the final meeting of this conference. Before you return to your homeland, I wish to thank you all for giving me these past few days, it is most generous. I will not take any more of your time today than is necessary."

She paused, activating a small holographic projector brought in earlier that morning. It displayed the images collected the night before, cycling through the various cellular scans. Konnie turned back to the assembled guests, addressing them.

"As you may or may not already know, last night the Queen and I engaged in a bit of research using a rather unusual scope array. As you can see here, we used the scope to obtain an inside view of a vampiric cell. While the information is far from conclusive, it does seem to point to negative energy as the source of a vampire's power. Perhaps not the most revolutionary discovery, but progress is progress. Before we part ways, does anyone have any final questions?"

(OOC - Will do)

Brook eyed Lauralin closely. That was like throwing open the doors of a library to the woman. As she watched her carefully a movement caught her eye and she sighed in exasperation as Ariel raised her hand.

Seeing Ariel raise her hand, Konnie smiled. She always enjoyed when people took enough interest in her studies to ask a question.

"Yes, what is it that you wish to ask?"

The blind woman looked in Konnie's general direction, "I'm curious, being of a psionic race, how the introduction of this energy causes psionic talent in the vampire. I know it doesn't happen in every case but it is a common enough occurence to see a relationship between the energy and the advent of psionic capability. Understand that in none of the cases, save the Queen's, is it known whether or not there was latent talent. In her case there was, but I find it hard to believe that in the sheer ratio of psi capable vampires to non-psi capable that there's a coralation between the two. Something must create the ability."

Konnie briefly referred to her notes before responding.

"Well, I know the psi capability of a vampire is closely related to the psionic potential of their species prior to becoming vampiric. However, I can imagine the energy does have a major effect. Perhaps it is the result of interactions between the vampire's negative energy and the normal positive energy of other beings."

"Well", Ariel replied, "it's that issue that holds a great deal of interest to me. However it seems that his conference is winding down and I won't be the one to hold us up. If you could forward that information through the Queen, should you find anything more, it would be greatly appreciated."

"Thank the gods", Brook mumbled.

Konnie nodded, addressing first Ariel, then the group as a whole.

"I would be happy to share any discoveries I may make with the Queen. And of course, I most sincerely thank you all for having come."

She heard Brook's comment, smiling slightly. She had to admit that she felt the same way. Still, she would miss the conference once it was over. It had been a chaotic few days, but she wouldn't have missed it for the world.

They all thanked Konnie and Alexandra, except for Brook, who just wasn't the type for this sort of venue, and then returned to Nancia. On thier way Nancia contact Konnie through the contact button.

"Please feel free to keep the button. If you use a satellite relay linkage and bounce the signal you should be able to contact me. I too would be willing to hear your results and relay any information on this phenomenon to Central. Thank you for your hospitality, Doctor."