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Post by Dr. Jar on Feb 5, 2014 21:38:53 GMT -8
Ru- Ru's smile fades away as he walks away from the rest of them, and realized he was trembling a little. He walked alongside Tristian and Cameron on his way, glad to be clear of them. Sarah's unfriendliness was a bit unnerving he had to admit, and he didn't envy Tristian. "...On my way, Demetri."
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Feb 6, 2014 4:15:30 GMT -8
Demetri- "Away we go..." They were in another hall much like the first, but headed deeper into the estate. Demetri started blathering some phony-sounding tour guide -styled information about the art on display, until he seemed to feel they were a safe distance for free expression. They were all the way down that wing, around the corner and halfway down the next, and he still whispered so quietly a human would be unable to hear it. He didn't stop walking either, and his footsteps were louder than the whispers - though it was no obstacle to them hearing him at this close range. Demetri- "It's hard to be sure of how far a vampire's senses can reach. A still day, a breeze, an unusually resonant wood, these can all affect it. Nonetheless, speaking like this, this far from Tomasz should be fine. I'm reasonably confident he didn't follow us as a bat... Well, how do you feel?"
Cameron- "Scared shitless."
Tristan- "Ooh, I'm sorry Cameron. Did I make you scary?"
Cameron- "Naw, dude, you're cool. As far as I know."
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Post by Dr. Jar on Feb 6, 2014 17:17:42 GMT -8
Ru- "... I am afraid, but I think we can handle it. Thank you for the diversion, Demetri... " Ru sighed and seemed resigned enough to his fate now. It was only a matter of time before he got used to this life. Was it really so bad?" "Where are we going next? You're alright Tristan..." He was surprised to find such a man was so sheepish. Hopefully that was not his fate...
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Feb 7, 2014 1:31:27 GMT -8
Demetri seemed to be sorting thoughts out in his head. Demetri- "I suppose we should finish this tour, then get you into rooms. Out the window on your left you can see the hedge maze. If you can see the gate, you know you're in the central building. From here you can go east, north, or south..."
Cameron- "I hope you're right Ru."
Tristan- "You think that I am alright? Cool. I am trying."
Cameron- "Yeah, sure."
Demetri- "I'm fairly certain that I will need to stay close to Ru at all times for a few weeks, and since that isn't officially on my list of obligations, it will be suspicious if I leave Cameron out of that attention... Listen, you two should pretend that you prefer to share a room. It makes you less likely to be caught alone, and helps me stay close to Ru."
Cameron- "Yeah, I could say that. Not used to living in a big place like this, felt more comfortable having a roomie..."
Tristan- "...Can I have roomie?"
Demetri- "I'm afraid not. Not yet. I'm looking for an opportunity, and I'll force one if it looks like it's not going to happen on its own."
Cameron- "Man, this kinda talk isn't helping me feel less freaked out."
Demetri- "When we get to your room, I'll do my best to help you understand the situation completely. It isn't great, but fewer unknowns will help you feel less ... off balance."
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Post by Dr. Jar on Feb 7, 2014 4:13:30 GMT -8
Ru- "I'd prefer to stay with Cameron in general. You're a nice guy Cameron." Ru's voice shakes too much to allow him to conjure up a smile of any kind, and he gives up before too long. He trembles a little. The situation was just too frightening, but something about Cameron being there made him more comfortable.
He eyed Cameron's sleeve as if tempted to grab it for comfort. Babette wasn't here this time... "Ah, Tristan, I wouldn't mind you staying either. I...she scares me."
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Feb 7, 2014 20:46:32 GMT -8
Cameron- "I hope so."
Tristan- "You too? Eee..."
Demetri- "Right, let's move along then..."
Demetri showed them through more of the vast estate, this time not bothering with particulars except for what would be important to get between one point and the next. They came to a room at the far end of the estate. Demetri- "My bedroom is across the hall. I took the liberty of choosing this one for you, Ru, but there's plenty of room for Cameron as well. Well, let's..."
He turned on a few lamps and sat down in a chair by an unused fireplace. The grand room was like something out of a haunted house movie. Demetri steepled his fingers and considered his young charges. Cameron, Tristan, and Ru took seats nearby, on couches and chairs. Demetri- "I'm not sure how much I should tell you and of what matters. But I do want to dispell any mysteries that may be compounding your fears. Any questions especially pressing for you fellows?"
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Post by Dr. Jar on Feb 7, 2014 21:13:32 GMT -8
Ru- Ru seats himself stiffly on a nearby chair, and pulls it closer to Demetri."Demetri, nothing can scare me more than the rumors I have heard. Tell me what you can straight so that I know what I should expect and worry about." Ru mentally adds 'the worst has already happened, I'm pretty much sure' and seems to be unhappy about the state of affairs, and also vaguely hungry at this point. He looks back at Demetri thoughtfully. "I am sure you have much unpleasant news."
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Feb 7, 2014 22:10:12 GMT -8
Tristan- "Is there some things I do not know?"
Cameron- "Lay it on us."
Demetri- "Very well..."
Demetri began his grampa story...
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Feb 11, 2014 18:52:17 GMT -8
Demetri- "... I really don't want this to go on too dreadfully long, but I've been around more than five centuries and I may fail to distill from that the information you most require. Let's see... Vampires exist, and you've joined them. What must it be like for you? In my time, these were less remarkable things. Most people had some small experience of the supernatural - a ghost glimpsed, a fairy trail travelled - and there were still great forests where the wolves howled at night to suggest of that larger world. Nonetheless, I was a lad of the city, and it was easy for me to imagine I knew the extent of things - until Dragomir came into my world. I was a rent boy living in Aipolis during the Fezint years. The top non-Southernist godpriest in the city had me on permanent retainer, so in my youth I found myself in the palace of the amir himself. The amir liked to entertain interesting visitors to the city - the powerful and the daring could easily find an audience with him. There was a band of five mercenaries led my Tomasz, called the Ring. No, that's not a coincidence. There are five progenitors and a round object in the name our own Circle. I believe the Ring was his first iteration of this idea. Back then he wasn't very powerful compared to the eldest of vampires, and free vampires in that circumstance often band together for safety, and travel in search of new blood and havens from the dangers of the world. The Ring was unremarkable in that respect, but they were rather brazen in their relations with the mortals. There they were, in a monarch's palace as honored guests. One of their number took an interest in me, and brought me into their company as a human servant. I still didn't know they were vampires, but I knew they seemed more powerful than humanly possible, and I bore witness to all manner of strange magic during their campaigns of villainy. They treated humanity as stupid animals, sowing violence where they went. Typically they would sign on as mercenaries for one faction in a conflict, then switch sides or manipulate a situation to the greatest misery for all involved. At the time it seemed like they were merely devils incarnate, but now I know at least some of that was a cover for seeking blood. After some disagreement, I was brought into the fold. I learned the true nature of the vampires I'd been told about in stories. Have you heard some of this yet? Some vampires are born to their unlives by a twist of nature - these are progenitors, so named because they create the rest of us by turning. The Ring was mixed company - I wasn't the only turned vampire in their number. But the strife engendered by my turning left them weak. Witch hunters slew them all, save myself and my 'father'. Over the years I've come to learn some things about him that I wish I had told Sarah during her formative nights. If I told her now, she would disbelieve me or would not care... Progenitors, in their mortal days, are often madmen of some condition or another. Death calms them, but they always carry some measure of that malady with them. The question when you meet a progenitor is this - why did this person rise from the dead? Tomasz seems quite lucid, but he can only relate to others through manipulation. He is incapable of true friendship, but as a social creature is drawn to the company of others. The closest he can have to friendship then is ... I want to call it 'alliance'. He develops a scheme in which he can have allies in the persecution of others. And when he tires of those allies, he'll pit them against one another in petty schemes with no end at all. The point? Don't trust him. Believe me, he is better at manipulating people than you might be imagining at the moment. I caught that, Cameron. I learned of his peculiarities in centuries of service to him. The next time he took a vampire, it was Francesca in Penoli. It was the first time I found myself in this position, trying to protect a fellow servant from our despot, without having to resort to a doomed rebellion. My failures then taught me much, and I applied the lessons to defraying somewhat the evil he inflicts on mortals. Unfortunately, he kept Sarah close to him and cast a bit of a spell on her mind. She is absolutely loyal to him... Anyhow, time has calmed all of the progenitors considerably. A scant century ago, they were frolicking in the blood of some sorry victims of Industrial Era peonage. They haven't committed a mass murder in some time - well, until you fellows, and that death didn't take. I think this is in part because of an unspoken agreement between myself and certain younger vampires to try to keep them away from the public. We distract them with television and parlor games and such. But never forget they are a flick of the remote control away from recreating your worst nightmares."
Guys- "..."
Demetri- "Hm... this all seems less than practical. Your most immediate concerns aside from playing at social redirection with the old man... Feeding, and avoiding death, yes? As young vampires, you are not very strong, and unfortunately Harlan has a bit of an infestation of antagonistic vampires that are more powerful than you. These vermin - the Crowboys - you will recognize by their bald heads. Avoid them. Thanks to no small amount of violence on my part, they are mostly found in the more remote poor neighborhoods and suburbs. But theirs is a rather unruly lineage, and I expect a little discipline and rigor in the practice of your own powers will even those odds quickly. And of course, I am always a call away. Aside from Crowboys, the only thing you have to watch out for are mortals. They are unaware of us, but for youths like yourselves they can still do you harm with violence. When harmed, your body will heal at the expense of your blood. If you lose too much blood, you will go mad and kill. So until you're a bit more powerful, don't let yourself be attacked under uncontrolled circumstances, or by humans with guns. But do not eschew violence completely, because it is through violence that we most easily acquire blood. This is how it works: Find an isolated person. Provoke a conflict, or allow them to provoke a conflict with you. Against most humans, you will have an edge in a fight. "Knock them out, drink a little blood, and when you are finished, return some to the site of the wound. Our blood can heal humans as well as vampires, and it will leave only a bruise where once was a bite. As an added benefit for those of you who want to acquire some money of your own, you can always rob your prey. There are other ways to acquire blood, but this is by far the easiest. I shall get you trained in martial arts to get you up to speed. In the meantime, we can simply acquire some blood from the servants, after which I will erase their memories. What do you say?"
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Post by Dr. Jar on Feb 11, 2014 19:19:57 GMT -8
Ru- He pondered this a while, and then seemed quietly impressed with Demetri, before shaking his head lightly. It was a long, quiet moment of thought with no real interruptions, which might have seemed odd to the older vampire.
He put his hand to his chest and then said, simply; "I don't know if I will be able to hurt people like that. I have never been able to bring myself to hurt even bullies in life. It just doesn't feel right." Ru was probably thinking of innocent bystanders rather than the people who were likely to get into fights with him with minimal provocation, or perhaps he did have such value for the human condition. It was hard to say. "Would the servants be alright if I fed off them once? It seems..invasive." "What are the Crowboys, and how do I best avoid them?"
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Feb 12, 2014 17:25:42 GMT -8
Demetri- "Trust me... The necessities of being a vampire will seem quite normal soon enough. You've learned to not be violent and that is fine. The first lesson many people must learn in martial arts is the ability to move past their inhibitions. As to the servants, I will lull them to sleep with my powers, you can feed on them as they lay still, and when they awaken I will ensure that they do not remember a thing."
Tristan- "So the Crowboys are other vampires, yas? We could tell them because they are not in fires?"
Cameron- "Oh yeah, so look out for bald guys who aren't all hot like that servant dude. Makes sense."
Demetri- "Want to avoid Crowboys? Just stick to the middle of town, or close to the water, where Marchese and Lepponen live. You'll learn which neighborhoods are safer than others, but the main thing is as the others have said - watch out for bald vampires. And practice your martial arts! I shall call contract a personal instructor as soon as possible."
Cameron- "Man, that sounds weird."
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Post by Dr. Jar on Feb 12, 2014 17:34:59 GMT -8
Ru- "...I'll...I'll try. I don't think I'll be any good at fighting. Thank..you for the advice." He mentally added 'I'm actually a pacifist' but decided now was not the time to have opinions. He instead decided that he should definitely stay away from any vampires he didn't know, just in general. Maybe Cameron could help him avoid them. Or Tristan. Maybe he should just stick close to them, but something felt wrong about having to assault other people to take their blood.
Just.. run out and attack people every night? That sounded terrible. He considered, as Demetri seemed done with his bit, that he had one more real question for him..."...Um... can we drink animal blood instead?"
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Feb 15, 2014 13:35:39 GMT -8
Demetri- "No, animal blood won't do... *siigh*"
Tristan- "Aw, it is OK. We will help you, Ru."
Cameron- "...I don't know. Just don't know."
Demetri- "Allow me." He got a far away look for a moment, and quietly said "Luther, come."
A man came in from the hall a moment later. Servant- "Mm, did somebody call to me?"
Demetri- "I did indeed."
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Post by Dr. Jar on Feb 16, 2014 16:38:19 GMT -8
Ru- "...Oh..." He says in a low voice, looking at the apparently flaming shape of this man, he could only assume. What was he looking at? What are these? Is this how humans looked to monsters?
It almost pushed away his concerning thoughts about having to assault and feed on humans forever. He held onto Cameron's arm tightly, but without superhuman strength. The pressure still might hurt a little, and then exhaled. Ru- "...H...hi..." He offers the man gingerly.
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Feb 16, 2014 17:58:11 GMT -8
Tristan- "It is Luther. Hullo."
Cameron- "..."
Cameron touched Ru's hand, but kept his eyes on the fiery mortal. Luther- "Hello. Is there anything you require?"
Demetri- "Have a seat for a moment."
He stood up, and the man replaced him on the chair. They half expected it to burst into flames. Luther- "Mm, alright then. Do you have a list of things you need?"
Demetri- "No, I only need one thing. You should sleep."
Luther fell asleep!
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