NationStates Jolt Archive

The dank, dark caverns of Duke J'ai Khoratth's territory was seething with excitement. The servants were scurrying about, making ready the Duke's trip to the Great Plateau Cities far to the south of Vhammpyr.

At the invitation of the Lady Irene Milano of GPC, the Duke was being sent as the Imperial Xeraphian representative to tour the nation and establish preliminary ties with Lady Milano.

Khoratth was taking with him just two aides, more as a show of diplomacy than anything else. Sereth of Lairona and Gmir of Zheron were nobles in their own right, mighty Warriors who had served with Khoratth in many battles on the behest of the Xeraphian Emperor, Alaric Tan'it, dead these forty-three years. His son and heir, Amra Tan'it, was yet to be coronated. It was King Sethanis of Black Shadows who had arranged the meeting of Vhammpyrian and the GPC ruler.

In that gutteral language of Vhammpyr, Khoratth asked of his Battle-Commander, "Have all the arrangements been made ready?"

"Yes, my Lord Khoratth. One of our battle-carriers will arrive off the coast of the GPC in twelve days and you will be transported to the Lady's governmental center via a HCGS. Sereth and Gmir will attend you at all times."

Khoratth grunted his approval. He thought back to just a few days ago when he was informed by Prince Teii that he had been selected by Sethanis to travel to the Great Plateau Cities. "Why me?", he had asked. "Because Lord Sethanis said so. That's all you need to know", replied the ruler of Vhammpyr.

And so, Khoratth was to leave his beloved Vhammpyr once again to face the unknown. It had been over thirty years since his near-execution. He had been somewhat overly enthusiastic in his destruction of the Empire's enemies and had caused the deaths of 633,000 innocent civilians of the nation of Bynzekistan. But, as Bynzekistan was no more, it was a moot point, and the conviction had been thrown out by executive decree of the Prince.

Teii had warned him. "These people, for whatever reason, are important to Sethanis and Amra. Try not to kill them."

"Aye, m'lord. I'll do my best." They laughed and Khoratth departed for the Great Plateau Cities.

Khoratth went over the formal diplomatic rules one more time. To no one in particular, he said, "Dammed bunch of nonsense! Bowing, precise speech. Not a fit way for a Warrior to act."

His consort, Velyia, stroked his arm. "Peace, my love. These humans are all alike. All caught up with themselves. Self-important. They do not know what it is to be a true warrior."

"All too true. But there have been a few over the centuries. Alaric, Ghengiz, Azulun. I hear that this new Xeraphian Emperor is much like his father. We shall see." Turning to his comm-screen, he said, "Major, report!"

The voice of Major Hinyai informed him the they were approximately seventy miles off of a coast that would give them access to the inland portions of the Great Plateau Cities. "Good. When we are about to launch the gunship, open a channel to this Milano woman. Inform her that I will land within one hour of their approval of coordinates. This is a non-military visit, Major. Nonetheless, as per The Warrior Code, we are to be vigilant at all times. Have a squadron of Mambas on-board the carrier ready to scramble on my signal. I do not anticipate having to do so, so don't be jumpy, understand?"

"Aye, m'lord."

OOC: As of this moment, GPC has not coast territories, so you'll have to fly in. Have some kind of jet land in the Plateau Regional Airpot in the capital of Cen du Alderon. I'll be back with an actual RP soon :).

The capital, Cen du Alderon, was stirring with activity. Inside the marble hall, Lady Milano was busy signing last minute documents and completing legislation so that she could be as hospitable as possible. She didn't want to abandon her guest while he was here because she forgot to approve some ridiculous ordinance. One of the interns for the senate observer came in and addressed her:

"My Lady, the senate wants to know if you've done research on the man that Xeraph is sending"

"Of course I have."

"...the senators were a little bit wary about some of his history..."

"I am well aware of his history, and I trust King Sethanis and his decision. He may be different...but so am I. I'm half the age of the majority of world leaders. Some of the senators could be my grandfather. I'm young. That's different, and there is nothing wrong with that. You can tell the senate that."

"Yes My Lady" The intern exited and Irene called her secretary on the intercom;

"Please contact the airport and have them let us know when the Xeraph plane will land. And please have the transportation ready"

"Yes My Lady"

The Duke and his retinue were within visual range of Cen du Alderon aboard the navy AirWolf HCGS. The vehicle was jet-propulsion capable, but as this was a short jump to the GPC airport, conventional procedures prevailed. The unit was armed to the maximum as well: twin 35mm electronic Gatling guns, laser guided Beowulf ATG mssiles, cannons, and a single, slim 200 pound napalm/sarin cluster-bomb capable of killing over 10,000 people in just a few minutes.

"Lieutenant, the projected coordinates are acceptable to Lady Milano?"

"Haven't heard, m'lord. We have plenty of time for them to respond. They are undoubtedly wondering just what in hell they've gotten themselves into."

Khoratth grunted. "Not the first time that's happened.....won't be the last."

He allowed a small smile at the thought that a Vhammpyr had not been seen in the world of humans for almost two hundred years. Humans had a problem with a vampyr's appearance. Quite a few had fainted when subjected to it.

The average Vhammpyric Warrior, male or female, stood close to eight feet tall, about 475 pounds of rock-hard muscle carrying a plethora of weapons, modern and archaic. It wasn't unusual for one to have a fully automatic rifle, a few pistols, a half-dozen blades of one kind or another, and a battle-ax strung across their back. Their heavily-knotted arms ended in a three-digit hand, razor-honed talons dipped in poison.

Their filthy, waist-length hair hung in greasy, sometimes bloody strands about their face and shoulders, the worn, blood-stained leather battle-harness festooned with bits and pieces of the skin, bone, and cartilage of defeated and partially-eaten enemies.

But it was the facial features that caused humans so much distress. The skin a pale, sickly off-white mass of scars and open, oozing sores, a hole or two that served as a nose, and a red slit of a mouth over which hung two-inch fangs, some dripping a venom so caustic that when it fell on a granite or marble floor it left a small, pitted area that was forever dangerous for humans to touch.

Vhammpyr warriors were prized as a first-line offense/defense for one major reason: they were very hard to kill. It's impossible to kill something that is already dead by human standards.

Sereth and Gmir were gulping and slurping through a grisly meal on the way to the GPC landing zone. "Heh...you never know when the next time your'e going to get a decent meal, eh?"

Khorrath agreed. "I seriously doubt they'll have the various body parts we enjoy. So eat up, my friends."

They all laughed and tore into the just-killed, flash-fried torso of a slave from the previously named nation of Four Eagles......