[M]The Echoes of Hunger: Sealed in Blood(IC)

[Tolvo]

Things will get fairly violent at times, as a warning. Drug use, blood, gore, possibly nudity and sexually suggestive situations may occur.


OOC (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=91062)

Echoes of Hunger: Sealed in Blood

"I've failed you child. Our bloodline, it ends with me. Please, save yourself." These were the mysterious last words of Mette's father, Sir Eld. In the end he went out with raspy words which were hard to discern with any clarity at first. As they had rung in her ears over time they grew stronger and stronger each time she heard them. There was a resonance in her mind. The night of his death Mette was given a dream, of her father and mother taking a carriage when they were younger to the Great City which was lit with beautiful lights under a full moon. In the sky it beamed down on them, the dream was overall quiet and calm with a bit of mellowness to it.

On the next day his body was buried right away. The funeral felt rushed while servants worked tirelessly to entomb him within the crypts of her family's estates. His coffin was wrapped in iron chains and placed gently in one of the alcoves, right beside her mother's coffin. Finally the two were together once again. No one really wept for her father, they all were quite distant. There was no animosity but there was a fear of his illness. Out here on the estate things were mostly fine, but word had spread of the plague. Her father had showed its symptoms, and entered a state of deliriousness before he had passed. Cut off from the rest of the world, these people here were lost without a leader or any real idea of what to do. That is until Mette decided to head to the Great City.

No one had visited it in years, supposedly it had gotten too dangerous to even live in anymore. For what reason no one seemed willing to talk about it. Just that you must be indoors when the sun was down, and to stay as quiet as possible. This was spread about the islands, this fear of darkness. Even at the estate everyone locked up before night and no one dared tread the grounds in darkness. Once a gardener had and the next day he was found eviscerated hanging from a tree by his entrails. Something was watching them, hunting them.

Most were too afraid to make the journey with Mette. Each dreaded the journey with only a few willing to go. Her closest servant Bodil against her parents' wishes went along. Four guards out of ten joined them, and an older man named Beneford went with as well. He was a friend of her mother's who had been staying at the estate for years, afraid to return to the city where his family lived. It had been long enough, he was anxious to see them once more, to hold his children in his arms again. Bodil readied their clothes and anything they needed for the trip. It was a few day's journey.

They left in quite a hurry and worked the horses like the animals they were. Along the journey they mostly saw trees and birds, crows to be specific. Nothing else living was spotted and the guards riding along with them had even started to sweat. There was no going back, they were packed as well as they could be with most of the guards riding on the outside. Beneford was acting as the driver while Bodil sat beside Mette. Her auburn hair was covered with a simple cloth hat that kept her hair down, it was white with a flower stitched into its left side, a dandelion. Bodil wore a plain skirt and tunic with short shoes and an apron. In her hands she held a book, it was something about gardening. She had recently taken up helping others in the garden.

The sun hung low in the sky when they approached a cottage. It had a door open at the front that was swinging in the wind. This cottage looked very old, so old it could have been from her parents' childhood. No one was around it. They pulled up to it and the guards asked everyone else to stay outside while they investigated it. Its windows were dusty and it looked very dark inside. Outside were strewn about bones of animals and hides. Whoever had lived here didn't anymore, and left behind their work. The guards returned from inspecting the building and confirmed it was safe. One held out a hand near the carriage door to help Mette descend.

[Tolvo]

The definitive moment that made Alton realize he needed to act, it wasn’t another death of a friend or colleague, they had all died already. It was a seemingly innocuous trade with a peddler he met in the forest. Trading pelts for arrowheads, except for the small mirror that the trader had hanging on a tree at his campsite. For the first time in years, he saw himself as others saw him. Not as the softened reflection that running stream water gave him. But stark unabashed truth. He saw the distinct gray hair, and lines in his face. He had aged. He was no longer the handsome youth he held in his mind's eye. His best years were past him.

The trade had been completed, they had parted ways. But Alton stewed on the fact if he were to die at this precise moment, what did he have to show for his years? A handful of arrowheads, a warn war hammer. Nothing else. Why had this all happened? Why did he and everyone else toil and ache, day in and day out, for what? It was the same question he had asked himself over the years. Followed by years of inaction. Youth had allowed him to have that worry for another time.. deep into the future.

But the future was here. With a vengeance. Would Alton quietly accept that he would amount to nothing apart from a pile of bones one day?

No.

That was no longer good enough. He would not end up as a pile of forgotten bones. Alton needed answers; and if he was to die getting those answers, at least he died for something. But where? Where would he start? The answer woke him from a sound sleep some nights later. Stundestadt, the great city of Stundestadt. It was rumored no one was successful in their journey there…

...yet. He was about to be the first.

That had been a week ago. Alton had finally gotten some luck in life. When he headed to civilization he discovered that a pilgrimage to the Great City was underway. Young priests and nuns had gathered in a fishing village with a simple vessel. With them they had brought sailors who seemed either hardy or to be novices that were over eager. Overall the group was mostly green save for their leader. It was a woman who wore a mixture of armor and robes. Her white clothes drooped over the steel plates which shifted whenever she moved. Over her head sat a veil which the sailors believed was to hide her beauty from them.

With enough supplies to last them they disembarked, allowing Alton to tag along. They didn't seem to ask many questions other than for his name. His presence brought little concern to the travelers who mostly spent their time praying, working, and occasionally chatting about the Great City and swapping stories.

Something happened one night. Alton was stirred awake. It was completely silent. He could hear not another soul on the ship. There was no splash of water hitting the ship, the waves were silent. He awoke below deck in darkness. They had shared quarters with little room for Alton. Around him the darkness didn't illuminate anything, instead he could feel his bedding. The way he was used to, there were some boxes around in the pitch blackness and other beds as well. He was almost thrown though when without warning the ship lurched then stopped. Their ship had hit something. If it had been rocks they were dead, but whatever it was he didn't hear a hole with water rushing through it. No, the boat was idle and still.

[Vivienne]

Matte descended from the carriage, trying her best to maintain an aura of majesty whilst not-so secretly dreading what may or may not have befallen the animals that now reside here in morbid slumber. She looked around, partly to see if anything might still be anything dangerous lurking, partly to see if there might be any tangible signs of what may or may not have happened here. She placed her trailing foot on the ground finally, noticing the walkway starting to look a touch overgrown with nature. Finally releasing Bodil's hand and straightening herself, she very slowly made her way to the cottage, careful not to step on a loose cobblestone or discarded debris of nature newly lining the path.

Thinking for a moment, she leaned over to a guard and softly spoke, "Have two men with me, and two with the carriage, Bodil with me, Beneford with the horses. Everyone is to be within sight of the others in their company at all times; I'd prefer whatever happened to the animals here not befall our horses or ourselves as well. Find shelter if you can for the horses, have them fed and watered, and make sure they get some rest, they need it. We'll make camp here for the night, but at the same time I want to be ready to leave at a moment's notice if all isn't as it seems here. When you're done with the horses, unpack minimal supplies and meet us in the house," to which Matte turned and continued on her way towards her uncertain appointment.

Making sure her sword was accessible even though nothing was outwardly needing its patronage, Matte continued to the cottage, keeping Bodil close to her side and her two remaining guards in close step behind, eyes open for anything meaning ill towards them. She stopped about five feet from the threshold of the cottage, not really sure why, then moved forward again, hand near hilt as if by instinct. She slowly stepped towards the door of the cottage, then stopped again. She looked around, right and left, and having seen nothing untowards, continued inside of the cottage to see if this place would be ample for making refuge for the night...

[Zed]

Alton almost questioned if he were truly awake. There was no sound. No snores from the priests he shared the cramp quarters with, no twisting and sighing of the ship’s rigging. But what unnerved him the most, was when the ship jolted from an impact and stopped. Stopped dead. No gentle rocking as a ship this size would be known to do. There was no pitch and yaw. It was as though a cold finger of dread slowly drew itself down along his spine as that realization dawned. His mouth went dry. He forced himself to take a deep breath and slowly release it.

‘Be logical son..’ Alton mentally chastised himself, ‘you were sleeping with your mouth open. Of course your mouth is dry.’ His hand moved through the darkness to find the familiar handle of his war hammer. The solid grip he now had on it, helped steady his nerves, as he got to his feet. There were no shouts from the crew to hurry, to do this or that. Hadn’t they just hit something? Things were not making sense. No sound, no movement. Had they run aground?

‘Still, there should be some activity.’ He questioned himself, ‘Yet, much of the crew were young, and it is night. Mayhaps they were scared and waiting for instructions’ he countered his own argument. Not that Alton was a sailor and had anything to offer, but he was able bodied and could lend a hand if need be. He wasn’t going to get answers by staying snug in his bed, if he wanted answers, he would have to go see for himself.

His eyes strained to see in the darkness, he took a step and immediately stubbed the toes of his right foot. “Bloody..” he bit back the rest of what he was going to say, the priests didn’t appreciate his often colorful expletives. He paused, once more listening, straining to hear any sound. A disgruntled priest. Someone tossing in their cot. But there was nothing. The distinct feeling that something was not right, grew stronger.

Alton realized if he was going to go check on things, he would be better served, if he were fully dressed. Reluctantly laying the war hammer down, he hastily shrugged on the vest, leggings, cotte and boots, he had taken off before turning in for the night. Now dressed, and the war hammer once more in his grip, he let go the breath that he had unintentionally been holding. Using the hammer as a prod, much like a blind man uses a cane, he made his through the crates, barrels and other obstacles to the stairs leading to the deck.

[Tolvo]

Bodil for a moment stuck too close, invading Mette's personal space though she immediately backed up a bit. While a moment ago she seemed alright there was a sudden fear to her. Mette felt it as well as a chill went up the back of her spine. Something wasn't right, but at the moment they could see nothing wrong. The trees' branches nearby subtly moved with the wind as the sun slowly made its way downward. Then it hit her, there was another body in the sky. It was the moon already out. It looked quite faint against the sky's changing colors. But there was a tint of red to it.

Around Mette everyone got to work, there were no questions or hesitation. Her people seemed to understand the seriousness of their situation. One of the guards, a blond haired woman named Sibil shivered when she entered the small building again. Behind her follow Mette and then Bodil.

The inside of the cottage was a mess. There were broken chairs, tables, cupboard, and a few broken apart bones. Sibil tried to ease them, "They're deer bones. Thankfully." At the far back was an old meager bed which was dirty but looked welcoming compared to everything else. Dust clung to each corner and much of the wood. A book was laying torn apart with some of the pages intact next to the bed. Resting against a wall were a few tools. A shovel, an axe, and a rifle. They all looked woefully old and rusted from time. A small spider skittered across the floor away from them as they stepped inside. It had made a web near the entrance but abandoned it at the sight of the humans.



Alton finally heard something. Up above someone whispered something when he stubbed his toe. It sounded like one of the young nuns that he had heard speaking earlier in the voyage. His path to the stairs was somewhat impeded but he made it without further trouble. Some of the boxes had shifted to block his path but they were easy enough to climb over. His hammer did not reflect any light in the darkness, this was wrong. The moon should be out tonight. Up the staircase looking out he could see a bit of what was happening.

Indeed the ship had completely stopped. One of the sails was moving so there was a wind. Alton could begin to even feel it, meaning they had definitely been stopped by something. A series of creaks sounded from beneath the ship along its bottom. They were quite loud and someone suddenly jumped out in front of the stairs and came rushing at him. At the last moment they saw him and stumbled, falling onto their back and nearly down the stairs. It was the leader of the pilgrimage, she was cloaked in shadow but Alton could recognize the outline of her armor. Through the floor boards he could feel her trembling.

Her hand extended towards Alton as the fabric around her wavered and moved upwards. She clung to the wooden frame of the stairs as her body floated upwards. "No, I'm not ready to die!" She screamed breaking the eerie and calm silence. Something out there screamed in response so loudly that it caused Alton to stumble, and it peeled back the old wood of the ship around him. This scream came from beside the boat, it started to rock now as one of the masts simply exploded. Splinters fired all around it while the air filled with the screams of his fellow passengers.

[Zed]

Up the stairway to the deck, his vision was better, but the fact his hammer wasn’t reflecting what little light there was, bothered him. That wasn’t right. It wasn’t highly polished, but it still should reflect. Alton had been distracted by the lack of reflection his hammer for too long, suddenly the warrior nun was before him, reaching out beseeching him to take her hand. Her fear was palpable. There was no time for him to process the cause of her fear, for just as suddenly as she was there before him, she was being pulled away.

Reaching out toward her, Alton’s fingertips brushing hers for the barest of seconds before she clawed at him, then for the railing as she was inexplicably being drawn backward. He started to bolt after her as she screamed. Her scream told of unadulterated terror. Part of him urged him to go the other way, but he pressed forward until another scream answered the first. It was startling, disorienting and much louder.

Alton had no time to digest the source of the second scream as things went from eerily quiet and calm to erupting chaos and noise. He watched with disbelieving eyes as the ship seemed to come apart around him. There was nothing happening that made sense. Explosion? But what was the cause? There had been no flame as there had been no light! So what was the source of ignition? Things did not simply explode!

The war hammer was raised and ready to strike, but at what?! All around him the screams of the others ended abruptly in guttural gasps and moans before being completely silenced. One after another, the pious ones met their end. Whatever they witnessed, he wanted no part of it. If it were their devil, they could keep it. He wasn't a holy man. He wasn’t going to die for some unseen and unknown god that never showed a hint of mercy to him. But what to do? The ship was coming apart around him. If he stayed aboard he would skewered by flying debris, and dragged down to the depths by the wreckage.

Decision made, he weaved and bobbed on the heaving deck, to reach the side rail of what remained of the ship. Alton had intended on climbing over the rail and jumping into the water, but the side railing fell away, and he toppled unceremoniously into the inky ocean depths. Sinking deeper and deeper into the water, he fought to kick his way to the surface. If he let go of the hammer, he knew it would be easier, but if he survived this dunking he would most certainly need the hammer. Stubbornly he clutched it. His head weakly broke the to the surface, he struggled to stay afloat. The weight of his sodden woolen clothes hampered his efforts. Taking a breath, and sinking, Alton wrestled with threading the hammer though it’s harness loop at his waist. Kicking upwards once more, he took another hasty gasp of air before once more being pulled down. He struggled to pull off the cotte that he had so recently donned. After what seemed an eternity, he found himself free of the heavy woolen overcoat. Breaking the surface once more he breathed deep, treading water, trying to get his bearings.

[Tolvo]

When he reached the topside he could see something had cleared away nearly half of the boat. There were boards breaking apart and flipping through the air among fragments of wood and metal. Someone suddenly flattened against the ground and it looked like an immeasurable weight crushed their body. Another simply was bisected by the air itself. Their body went twirling off the side of the ship, both halves did. The armored woman was whipped about then went careening off into the distance. But Alton was not here to save everyone. This was a lost cause, but now that he was on the deck he could see another problem. Just before diving off the side he noticed it. The moon was below him.

As soon as he went off the side he was cast in the light of the full moon. He basked in it, the sky was below him. His face felt the clouds around the ship which simply crumpled at his touch. Once he left the boat, gravity shifted for him. Instead of falling down he went up towards pitch blackness. It felt like he dropped for an eternity. In the distance the ship faded into a black dot in front of the moon. Around it the mist was dispersing outline some sort of creature. He could see the outline of wings, arms, but the body was still not visible to him.

When he hit the water he went deep before surfacing. The air was like a reprise from the horror he just witnessed. Then shrapnel from the ship hit the water around him. A sailor hit the water beside him and surfaced screaming and pushing his dark hair out of his face. Before he could utter a real word something pulled him under. Following after was Alton, whatever it was it gripped him by the ankles with hands. But then it was gone, he couldn't breath. Yet, he wasn't in water anymore. There again was the moon, it was blaring light like the sun, beaming it at him. It hurt to even look at. Alton felt no weight, his body floated in nothingness. Away from the moon was the sun, yet he still found himself in blackness. Stars dotted every direction. Then there it was, between the sun and moon. Another celestial body. It was mostly blue with hints of green and white especially at its top and bottom points.

[Zed]

Treading water, Alton's ears still rang from the explosions. Then there was another person that had been beside him, frantic in their effort to speak to him. It hurt to attempt to listen, he winced as the chaos around him intensified. Alton struggled to understand. So much had happened. It was all he could do to stay afloat. He closed his eyes for a mere moment. He only wanted to be able to focus. But when he looked for the other person, they had gone.

Had Alton imagined it? Things seemed to move in spurts of speed and then in agonizing slowness. Alton began to question his lucidity. Had there been someone other than himself? He began to hyperventilate, he couldn’t get his breath..

Then realization struck him. His eyes widened, abject fear was barely held at bay, because something had him. Something was pulling him down. Alton gasped for another breath of precious air as he began to be towed to the bottom. He clawed fruitlessly at the water in a vane attempt to get back to the surface. Further and further he was dragged down. He faded out of consciousness.

Alton awoke with a start. But it was wrong. There was no water.. Had he been saved? If so, by what.. By whom? It was so bright, too bright, it almost hurt. He had to squint in order to focus on small things near him. There was not much to see, or so he thought. He tried to push himself up, from what he assumed was a prone position, but there was nothing to push against. It was though he were suspended in air. Narrowing his eyes he looked for the floor, ground.. Anything. But what he saw made no sense. He had to be concussed. Or maybe he was dead. Was this what is was like to be dead?

[Tolvo]

Alton finally spotted something. He was moving towards it slowly. There was a woman twirling in the moonlight. Her eyes were closed and she had on a white veil as well as a white dress. It wasn't too extravagant but felt very familiar. She had silky skin that glistened between the sun and moon which both pulled at her causing the ends of her dress to flow glimmering further. All he could see of her face were smiling lips. She was whispering something. Something that rang in his ears but he just couldn't seem to make out. It gnawed at the back of his mind, like a memory trying to push itself through despite it all.



Trest felt free. Free from it all. The pain and suffering ended. No longer did he feel his worldly body. Instead it was like he was floating on his back in water. It washed over him, it soaked into him. A deep blackness was absorbed by his every pores. It wasn't cold or warm instead it simply was. A cloth draped over his body then was bound tightly. Blood flowed from every bit of him emptying the husk of a corpse he had become. This was all according to design.

In a slumber he dreamed, unlike how he had in his previous life. He saw a man gazing at the stars atop a balcony. The man had white hair and red eyes, from a glass he sipped at blood which had once belonged to Trest. With a swirl and a sniff he tested its scent before tasting the beautiful crimson liquid. A reaction did not come from him, he was completely devoid of his humanity. Soon after everything faded to whiteness. All of it pulled away.

Then it hit him. Something wet and fleshy. Suddenly his eyes opened followed by his throat as he gasped for air. His body was wound tightly in cloth that was old and frayed. Beneath him he could feel other bodies that he was set upon. There was the sound of metal scraping stone, of creatures snarling and small bursts of thunder that hurt his ears. Trest's body was but a husk, and on his face was something wet. He could taste it, blood. Yet it was unlike any he had ever tasted before whether it was his own or not. There was something alluring in it. His body trembled at its touch upon his lips. He needed more of it.

[Vivienne]

Matte took Bodil aside while the rest of the retinue was working on their current assignments. "We have four guards plus me, you, and Beneford, makes seven. We'll take shifts, two awake at a time. I'd prefer having a guard on each shift so we'll take me, and a guard for first shift; I can't sleep right now anyway. Have a pair of guards take second shift, and Beneford with you and a guard take the third shift. For third shift, as much as it possibly can be done under the circumstances, I'd like them to try to have the horses prepped and ready to go, if possible, while still having everyone within eye-shot of the others, which is where you come in. It'll also depend on the light; only work on the horses if there's enough light to work with."

The guards were checking out the environment again, which left a lot to be desired. There probably wasn't enough time to clean the place down completely, so Matte and Bodil did their best to sweep up the cobwebs and other assorted 'mess' while the guard unpacked. By this point in time people were getting hungry, so Matte charged sibil with kitchen duty. There was probably little chance of getting any real cooking done, so supper was another serving of hardtack and jerky with a touch of preserves would have to suffice. Matte know the journey wouldn't be the most comfortable in the world, but a home-cooked meal would be a nice diversion right about now.

With preparations for sleep details nearing its conclusion, Matte and Sibil, or at least she thought it was Sibil, it was getting hard to tell with the lighting, took up positions to keep a watch on the others sleeping on the floor and bed. As there was little else to do, Matte took one of the candles they had, grabbed the book near the bed, and made her way to take a look at it. It was probably a bed-time story or a journal, maybe a romance novel if she was lucky, but with the book in the state of repair that it was in, there was probably not a lot to be read at this point in time anyway. Perhaps is she was lucky, she might have an idea what kinds of animals were in the area, such as wolves, that might have left the bones she'd seen scattered across the area.

[Tolvo]

The old book lacked a title. Instead it simply had the word "M" written in a fanciful way on the front cover. Stitches had been sewn into the binding giving it a peculiar look. When she opened it instead of writing she found herself staring into a void. It was a pit, a deep one that looked bottomless. The light of the candle could not even pierce its depths. Something moved in the shadows of the pit, a crawling skittering thing. It lunged up at her then gripped the sides of the pit and hung there watching her. It was a gray hand with spider legs, ten of them, at the wrist. Along its back were fissures that cracked open revealing teeth. There was a lack of hostility, instead she found mournful eyes on the tips of its fingers staring back at her.

It whispered to her. "Please save yourself." Then without warning it was ripped back into the pit followed by the gnashing of teeth and cracking of bones. A single eye watched her with two pupils in it. The creature started to rush towards her upwards from within the book. Around her the cabin shook but no one stirred awake. Bodil simply sat there as if nothing was happening while she watched the door.

[Mfable]

Trest struggled to free himself from the old, frayed bindings for a moment before he slowly lifted his head to search for the origin of the snarling and the metal scraping stone and the blood. He lightly pushed himself up on his knees, taking in his surroundings. He was dead before, and now he was…? He wasn’t sure where he was. He wasn’t even sure what he was. Some in his cult believed that its most holy worshipers became the very plagues that ravaged their body so that they may spread their gift to others, but many doubted this old, outdated view on the afterlife. Many believed they simple rotted in the ground and fed new life upon death. Less magical, less religious, but just as important. This was none of that.

[Vivienne]

Matte slammed the book shut, as if closing the leather binding would keep whatever she saw in said book inside said book, and not have it come out and take tender knibbles out of her person. She threw the book on the bed and grabbed the candle she had beside her bed then yelled, "Everyone up! We're leaving!" She barked orders to the guards to stay here on alert in case whatever was in that book decided it wanted to come out. Matte yelled at Beneford to grab a guard and Bodil to make sure the horses were far enough away from the house so that they wouldn't get too spooked by the soon-to-be fires that would be immolating from this place.

Hoping she'd given Beneford enough time to get the horses to a safe distance away, then threw the candle on the bed and started to set the bed on fire. Matte wasn't even sure if setting books with god-knows-what inside them would do anything useful, but it had to be better than the alternative of just leaving it be. She grabbed whatever light kindling she could find and worked on getting the fire going as fast as possible without a handy accelerant. Once the fire got a little bit of a kick, she decided that not to stick around to see if her planned worked. She grabbed the guards and made her way outside, hoping that the cleansing fire would be enough...

[Tolvo]

After she slammed the book shut she heard it shudder before it was flung onto the bed. The others seemed confused by her actions. Bodil was shocked at first. "My lady?!" There was a mild hesitation from the guards but they trusted their leader. The horses were brought away from the building and Sibil worked with Beneford to ready the horses since Bodil was still trying to understand what was going on. Of course as soon as the fire kicked a bit she ran out of the building as fast as she could with Mette. Nothing came from the book as the building began to light up in a blaze. Something did show up however.

As the sun was setting massive wolves with arms instead of front legs came rushing out of the nearby woods. Their eyes were red, their jaws dripping with blood that left trailers wherever they stalked. Bodil jumped into the carriage at their sight and held out a hand for Mette after realizing she put her own life first for a moment. Each of the wolves looked about the area but did not immediately charge them. Instead the wolves circled about the building barking and howling at it enraged. They only came so close and wouldn't go near to it. The rest of the guards and everyone jumped into their positions and waited for Mette to jump on as well before they would bolt off as quickly as they could. One of the wolves neared the fire but whined when it got to close and held a paw over its eyes.



Whatever was on top of Trest's head rolled off as he rose up. It sounded like a battle between two creatures was happening right next to him. Someone landed exactly in front of him. He could hear their heavy breathing before they jumped away. Following behind them was something with claws that tore through the air, ripping into Trest. He felt it as the cloth was undone by the attack freeing him and allowing him to see where he was. Trest was in a small town with strange looking rectangular buildings all around. Everything looked dilapidated and brought to ruin. Moss had grown in a lot of places and much of the buildings were damaged in one way or another. Bodies were hanged at posts and crucified, especially many of them were burned.

Next to Trest was a large wolf-like creature. It had thick silvery fur that reflected the moonlight. At the edge of its mouth was a chunk of flesh with bits of cloth around it. This monster rushed at another figure. The man across from it was very tall and slim of build. He dashed while twirling holding a massive axe in one hand and a strange weapon in the other. It resembled a pipe with a handle that was made of silver. When his finger clicked a small device at the handle it exploded at the tip firing something at the wolf. Its chest blew open revealing its heart, which stunned the creature for a moment. He took the opportunity and closed in on it, he himself was missing the right half of his right shoulder. As soon as his axe collided with the wolf it flew backwards and sprayed both of them with blood.

The blood felt wrong, and yet so right. His body absorbed it through even his clothes and get felt invigorated. While he was once a husk his body began to fill out again and there came a blood lust into his system. This was like an addictive drug. Trest could see the strange warrior regenerating where the blood had splashed him. Similar to what was happening with himself.

[Zed]

Alton forced himself to calm down. ‘Slow down. You’re not dead. You are dreaming... maybe.. But not dead.’ He chastised himself silently. His eyes closed now, he began to mentally take stock. Fingers? Hands? Arms? Yes all present. Toes? Feet? Legs? Yes those too, all present.

His eyes still closed, he forced himself to relax. ‘You are not dead. You have a body, and all your appendages. You are having sentient thoughts. You are not dead. You are very much alive. You are alive in this very moment.” Silently he counted to ten. Willing himself to relax. Again and again, eyes closed, as though he thought blocking out the insane sights around him would help, Alton would focus on relaxing his body.

How long he did this, it was hard to say, but he had become acclimatized to feeling around his body. He could fell that he drifted. How he didn't know, but forced on that, the drifting of his body. Alton resisted the urge to open is eyes. Yes he was drifting, perhaps floating was a better word. It felt much like he was adrift in a slow moving lazy river. There was no water, but as he focused on the slow meandering movement of his body, he could almost feel the soft eddies that swirled as he glided through the invisible slow currents.

With his faculties once more settled and on an even keel, versus the emotional highs and falls, Alton opened his eyes. The peaceful summer river of his imagination was gone, in its place, a wonderment of stars and celestial lights. What did it mean? He brow furrowed in thought as he tried to make logical sense of it all. He wasn’t dead, yet.. Could this be heaven? If this were heaven should he not see something that would secure that knowledge in his mind’s eye? It was hard a concept to swallow. He had given up on God as family member after family member died a horrible pain filled death during his lifetime.

Then he saw her. She was glorious. It wasn’t her looks that made him think this, but her over all presence; it bespoke calm serenity, coupled with power. It seemed to exude from her. As he got closer he could hear her. She spoke, but it wasn’t in his capability to understand. Even as he slid through air toward her, he could hear more clearly that she did indeed speak. But what was she saying?

Alton called out to her. “I am here.. I hear you, see you, yet I do not understand. Take pity please and enlighten me.. Where are we?”

[Tolvo]

She moved towards him and lifted her veil, yet he couldn't see a face. Beneath the veil she was a bright light like a star. She radiated and nearly blinded him as she approached him. A hand was placed on his cheek and she brushed his brow before placing her lips on his. Though he couldn't see her face he knew this woman. This was his wife. She breathed into him filling his lungs with air. "Please wake up, please wake up." Then she made a startling move and slapped him.

Alton was jolted awake. He was on his back among the remains of the ship. Water slapped his feet as a woman knelt over him. There was water in his throat that was coming up and she pulled back away from him and wiped her lips. "Please wake up, I can't be alone here!" Across half buried in the sand was the dark haired man who had landed beside him. His ribs were open and exposed as some sort of slimy thing scurried around in front of him. The man was clearly dead and whatever the gray creature was it had a lamprey like mouth that began to pick at the man's inner organs.

It was still dark out and the nearby water was blacker than the sky. The moon watched over them with its pale light. Alton recognized the woman who was beside him. She was a nun, barefoot with a large loose white tunic and yellow leggings. Her name was Helen. Helen got to her feet and backed away from the dead man and the creature. The slimy thing was like a bulbous sack with black ring patterns on its grey body. White eyes stuck out of the sides of it which constantly looked about and shifted.

[Vivienne]

Matte decided she could figure out what in the world was going on at a later date; this was the moment to act. She assumed that there must be a connection between these wolves and the book, but what? Where they bound to it? Was it a relic of some kind that they treasured? Whatever it was, it was distracting the wolves, which was more than enough for her. Matte jumped onto the carriage, making sure all the guards and retinue were accounted for. Was it possible that the wolves were hunting whatever it was that Matte saw in that book? All of this was conjecture at this point so there was no use putting too much process into it. She barked at the carriage driver to move out; they would figure out what to do for the night when they had some distance between them and the burning wreckage that was the small cottage. Matte kept looking back to see what the wolves were doing, or more specifically to see if they were chasing them.

Matte talked to Bodil to see if she could get some opinions, "The horses won't be able to run for long. If the wolves, or whatever those things are, give chase, I doubt we'll keep at speed long enough to escape. The fire is a distraction and it's giving us a good head start, but I don't want to rely on that as our only means of escape. Plus, I'm not sure that we'd be safe even if we did stop. Do you know of any place near here we can use as refuge of some kind? A cave, house, anything? I'd almost suggest hiding but horses would just get scared and whinny, which would make the act pointless. We can't go off-road at all, the carriage would never survive plus the horses would stumble in the dark. Talk to whomever you can, get options, I'll see what our situation is like," and with that Matte popped her head out the door to assess the situation as best as she could under the circumstances.

[Tolvo]

The horses ran like the wind. They didn't stop nor did they have much of a chance to look back. During their travel their eyes scanned for spots to hide but all they were met with was forest. Short brick walls were there every now and then but barely even Bodil could hide behind one. That was when the pack began to catch up. On all fours they sprinted moving faster than the horses who were now getting tired. Beneford tried to whip them into running but he risked breaking them, the horses were at their limits. Sibil was on the back of the carriage and twisted her weapon in a defensive posture. "I can dive off to the side and try to lead them away!"

There was a loud thump as something landed atop the carriage. Instead of something it was a someone. Her hair was brown and wild with matted down bits. She had pale skin and a mouth full of fangs, she sneered at first then took on a smug grin while looking down at Matte. Her body was covered in black clothing the likes of which Matte had only seen in paintings. Given her glowing red eyes and clawed hands there was no denying it. This was a Vampire.

The Vampire clicked her tongue and sat down beside Beneford who didn't even notice her presence. Sibil raised her weapon towards the Vampire who batted it away with her claw easily. Despite how casual the Vampire was acting, she was fast and powerful. That was as plain as day. "Hello there humans. Let's cut to the chase. It'll be a liter per person to live. Whoever doesn't pay dies to them." With her thumb she motioned towards the pursuing wolves.

[Vivienne]

Matte, with her head stuck outside the window of the carriage, looked at the 'Lady' on the driver's seat, then looked back at the 'wolves'. Then back at the 'Lady', then back at the 'wolves'. What deity did the Erg family offend? She looked at Sibil, wondering if her guards were strong enough to stand and fight. Even with the possiblity that they would win the encounter, the odds of having everyone live was probably quite low. Plus, there was the problem that Matte did not understand her enemy; either one for that matter. They might be able to rip apart the 'wolves' with ease, or conversely they might not stand a chance, but at the end of the day the frightening problem was she did not know what the probably outcome was.

She thought back to the 'Lady' swatting the sword away from Sibil. Worst case scenario, if she wanted the carriage team dead, odds are they would be. As potentially horrible as the prospect was, having an ally out here might be a good idea, even if the alliance was borderline if not actually parasitic. The offer made by the Vampire, assuming she wasn't something worse than a Vampire, wasn't lethal or even debilitating, at least not right at the moment, so there was that to consider as well. In an effort of will, she stared into the eyes of the Vampire and shouted (probably more out of fear than the necessity to actually he heard), "One liter and not a drop more, plus succor to a safe haven," she said defiantly, her inner merchant kicking in at probably the worst possible time in recorded history.

[Mfable]

Trest grimaced as the claws dug into him, even as they freed him from the rest his bindings. Rolling off the pile to get away from the fighting, he gently rose up to look over the pile and examine his surroundings. The corpses, the blood, the carnage, it was all… beautiful. But they should be giving life, not rotting here with no purpose. They should be in the forest, feeding the beasts and fertilizing new plant growth. The way they had it now saddened Trest as he looked upon it.

He turned his attention back to the battle playing out next to him, watching as this slim warrior defeated the massive wolf-like predator with the odd pipe and the massive axe. The blast took Trest completely by surprise, causing him to flinch and jump. He was no warrior, no scholar. He had no idea what this odd exploding stick was, and he most definitely would not last in a battle with this being. He was incredibly outclassed here, and he didn’t want to die… again? He shook his head and sunk down behind the bodies, trying to hide himself as he thought.

The blood lust hit him hard, and he wanted more then nothing to tear into the odd wolf-like creature or the piles of bodies around him, but his survival instinct kicked in and it was the clear winner in the conflict. He wished nothing more than to disappear and not be seen by this creature who could end him with a flick of the wrist. He slowed his breathing and sank further into the bodies, trying to appear as one of the dead.

[Zed]

Alton woke up abruptly. He gasped, suddenly drawing in a lungful of air, while trying get his bearings. That action caused him to start coughing up sea water. The hacking coughs wracked his body for several minutes as he purged the fluid in his lungs. When the fit was finally over, he was spent. He laid on the sand in worn heap. Where had he gone? Was it real? Or just a hallucination from lack of air?

His gaze drifted across to see the corpse of another passenger that had no been so lucky. Things had already been feasting on the body. How long had he been out? Could the creature in the sea been that quick? How much time had gone by? He let his eyes drift over to the Warrior Nun. Something had pulled her from him on deck, yet here she was. What had happened..?

When he spoke to her, his voice was tired raspy from the purging, “Something pulled me down.. Under the waves. I went ... ” He stopped. No he wasn't going to tell her where he went. His eyes pinned onto her, “And something pulled you away…” He sat up wincing. "What happened? What do you remember?"

[Tolvo]

The Vampire licked her lips and sprang from the carriage. With her torso leaning forwards she reached at her hip and removed a long curved blade from its scabbard. The blade was elegant and grooved with a slight vibration to it. Before she reached the wolves she thrust her blade into her own stomach. Matte could see the length of the weapon come out beside her spine and near to Matte's face. Sibil watched in awe as the Vampire impaled herself so casually. The blade then was ripped out and with a single slash she flung the blood at the nearest wolf. When it collided with the monster's face the blood was like a keen edge that sliced it open. It howled in agony but continued to charge along with the others.

The Vampire had strange plated boots on the front of which jutted out a dagger. Rather than hit the ground she landed on the lead wolf. Her foot went right into its eyes followed by her jumping off of it and spinning through the air above it. The whirling dervish that she was made dozens of cuts along the wolf's spine before finally it collapsed. Next up came one of the large wolves. Rather than continue with acrobatics she placed her blade back in her belly and twisted, feet planted firmly. In one move she drew the blade as the creature reared up.

This Lady was a monster herself. The curved sword made a grand arc and bisected its first target cleanly spraying blood everywhere. On her back the hole healed up as it absorbed the life fluid of the wolves. A loud and joyful cackle erupted from her as she continued to cut her way through them in a flurry. "Useless useless useless you're all useless!" The final one she bore her blade down in its shoulder, it whimpered in pain until she reached her hand into the hole and ripped out its heart. She took it out and bit deeply into it and reveled in the carnage while it exploded like a fruit in her mouth.

Sibil looked to be turning green and threw up off the back of the carriage. Beneford yelled back to them. "What's happening?" The Vampire started to run with her weapon sheathed towards the carriage, she wasn't quite as fast of a runner as the wolves. Sibil turned back to Matte. "We're not seriously going to stop and wait for her, are we?"



Trest was in a dark alley. A street lamp was partially visible with some form of fuel keeping it lit. Small insects gathered around it. They were drawn likes moths to the flame, perhaps they were moths. The thin warrior lifted his axe overhead then brought it down on the wounded monster. Its silver fur split open and worms shot from its guts at the warrior. He caught them in his hand and crushed them causing them to burst. This wolf was now dead, the man pulled out a small knife and crouched down to cut it up. Around Trest there were closed doors to buildings while the main path out the warrior currently crouched at taking apart the wolf. His head raised as he smelled the air. "Who goes there?"



Tears streamed down the woman's face as she gripped the sides of her head. "I-I don't know what happened! It was all so fast, something destroyed the ship. Those who didn't die we went overboard then something grabbed us. I saw my dead friend under the water and she just took me. Next thing I knew I was home and then, when I blinked I was here. What the hell is going on?"

Her tears stopped as she wiped her face and began to survey their location. "Ok we're shipwrecked on an island where apparently monsters exist. What do we do now? Scavenge, scavenge and survive." Helen pointed at the creature. "Do we attack it? Do you think we can just leave it here and it'll focus on eating that body?" Along the shore were a group of hooded figures walking. They carried large burlap sacks and must have been at least seven feet tall each. Each of them was chanting something in an unheard of tongue to Alton.

[Vivienne]

Matte looked at Sibil, understanding her fear but trying her best to process logical thought in the face of the insanity they were currently facing. She looked Sibil in the eyes and said, "The Vampire jumped onto our carriage from who knows where, knew we were being attacked by these 'wolves', then did a few impossible feats before our very eyes. How far do you think we'll get before she's back on top of the carriage, this time pissed with us instead of trying to get something from us? Like it our not we're outnumbered, at least in principle. Our best hope is to lie low, be non-threatening, then continue on our way. You heard her; she's looking for a fight, a contest. Do you think we can give her one with the five of us after she eviscerated those wolves? Remember your training, keep your head up and eyes open, and we may yet come out of this unscathed."

She poked her head out the window to Beneford and ordered him to stop. He was reluctant, but Matte said, "It'll be alright. Besides, the horses are exhausted, and they need a rest. Feed and water them, give them as much of a break as you can. I'll go out to her to keep the horses from getting spooked," and with that, Matte gathered up a couple of her things and opened the carriage door. The night air was chilly but tolerable, however it wasn't the night air that was giving Matte the chills at the moment. She made her way down the stairs and walked as gracefully as she could towards the Vampire, mindful of her manners and etiquette.

Matte pulled up her shawl up over her shoulders and tried to look dignified under the circumstances. She approached the Vampire and said, "My name is Lady Matte Erd of House Erd. These people with me are my retinue and loyal friends. You have upheld your part of the bargain, and now I must upload mine. I ask that when the task is done, pray take us to the outskirts of the Great City and that we might find our own way from there," she said, trying to use her mask of dignity to hide the fear that was welling up inside of her. As much as her associates might want to flee, she knew that escape was likely impossible, so she did her best to mitigate the damages and to move on to brighter pastures.

[Zed]

“So you didn’t see what did it either?” Of course not. Having some idea of what they were dealing with would be far too helpful. And thus far, nothing on this journey has been helpful. The last helpful thing that happened was when he received passage on the ship.. The ship for the journey of the damned. At least that was how he was feeling at this precise moment.

Alton was wet, cold, had sand in places that chafed like bloody hell and he was marooned somewhere unknown, with a female. A crying female. He winced as he stood up, and started to take stock of his person. He did not appear to have any major injuries, though he was sore and bruised. She was talking again. This time she had gotten hold of herself as the tears seemed to fade somewhat as she started talking about the creature that was currently feasting on the dead body.

“Kill it? For what?” Alton reached for his warhammer, not to use, but to make sure he still had it. “It’s doing what nature does best.. The scavengers clean up the dead. Do you know what happens to a dead body? It swells, it putrefies and stinks.” He raked his sea blown hair out of his eyes. Absently he realized that he lost the leather tie that usually bound his hair at that nape of his neck. “Besides.. If we kill it.. Then we have two dead bodies that will rot.. And perhaps the stench will call more of those….” He looked at the monster, that he had never seen the like before, “...things. Unless you want to bury them. And then I would have to ask if you have a spade hidden somewhere under that?” gestured absently at her tunic. It was then he noticed the hooded figures.

Alton visibly tensed. The monster was not important any more. There were seven people headed toward them. Except they were not what Alton considered rescuers. Their movement was steady, nothing in their actions said they were rushing to give aid. And they were tall. Unusually tall. He was considered tall, but not overly so. The group, as they came closer, he saw were all very tall. He was dwarfed by them. It was unsettling. Extremely so. His hand instinctively went to take hold of the warhammer.

[Tolvo]

Alton was able to see the strange hooded figures more clearly. They were gangly things with pitch white skin and faces lacking in anything but a mouth. Each was covered in tattoos of strange phrases and words that all melded together into muddle gibberish. An arm reached out of a pile of wood towards them. A weak voice begged. "Please help me." At that the nearest hooded figure lifted up its burlap sack. The ack was very small, it used its other hand to pick up the man. He was bleeding from his side and had bits of wood lodged in his leg. In one smooth move it swiped him up with the bag and he was gone. The bag deflated as it was now empty.

Helen got to her feet and simply bolted. She had seen enough and sprinted as quickly as she could in the other direction. While she went she kicked up a deal of sand but didn't even both looking back. The gray little creature left the corpse and dragged itself over towards one of the hooded creatures. One of the tall things knelt down to it and rubbed a hand along its side which produced what could be best described as a cheerful hum from the gray monster. Suddenly a man came running out from the wreck with a flail in hand. He rushed one of the hooded figures and swung for its body with his weapon. It simply punched the flail instantly breaking it then kicked the man with its shin. This sent him flying dozens of feet backwards through the sand and into a bloody heap. Slowly the hooded thing followed after him with its sack ready. Another darted off chasing Helen with its long legs allowing it to easily catch up to her.



"I know your name already." The Vampire replied. She sniffed the air while tilting her head back. "Oh my. Plague." Her eyes went to the others as she continued to take in a big breath through her nose. "Plague, definitely." Sibil slowly approached with her weapon down at her side. "How do you plan to get our blood?" Then the Vampire clicked her tongue and waved her finger in front of Matte's face. "I apologize but you all are cursed, except the horses. They're free of plague." This confused Sibil who questioned the Vampire. "What plague we're all fine we're free of illness."

"Thankfully I have the cure." The Vampire whispered this as she suddenly raised her arm and flicked her blade towards Matte. Matte felt strange, she couldn't move. Sibil immediately started screaming as the others started rushing over. Beneford looked around the carriage with alarm but to Matte nothing had happened yet. Her body fell back and that was when it dawn on her. Sibil held her head in her lap and began to cry and curse at the Vampire. Through Matte's own eyes she could see her body laying decapitated over on the ground as Sibil held her. There were flashes of images. A sword plunged into Sibil's heart, Beneford rushed over with a whip but was bisected. Bodil simply collapsed on the ground and the Vampire stood over her and plunged her blade into her stomach. It was too soon, too son. They were all dead in but a minute. The last thing Matte remembered were Sibil's lifeless eyes staring into hers.

Everything faded away.

Matte felt a shock as she jolted to life. Her head was laying propped up against her body. She was on a table with a white sheet partially covering her. Opened up with tools was her chest and below her sternum she could see her heart slowly beating and then it picked up in speed. Glass had shattered over her chest and a crimson liquid splashed all over her. Matte could feel her neck bit by bit reconnecting to her body, strength was filling her muscles which flexed on instinct alone. Her teeth started growing into fang her finger tips began to have claw-like bones jutting from them. Her clothes were on another table folded. On another table was Sibil in a similar state. She wasn't responsive.

Around the room were various gadgets, beakers, tubes, it looked like some sort of laboratory or office. Surgical tools were splayed about on tables and boxes while the windows were closed light shown through them. This light looked like sunlight, but it burned Matte's eyes to even look at. Standing over Matte was a man with a powdered wig. He looked afraid of her, he had just dropped something in her chest cavity that shattered on impact. For a moment he hesitated before he rushed off and grabbed a bonesaw then raised it in the air as if to strike her.

[Vivienne]

Matte looked around the room; this was definitely someplace she'd not been to before. She was terrified; what had happened out there? What had happened in here? Was Sibil alive or dead? Was this all a dream? She looked down at her hands; what had happened to her hands. She wanted answers, she was going to get answers, but first, someone was coming at her with a bonesaw. That would not do. She looked around for her sword but couldn't find it anywhere. All she knew was that if she was going to die, as best she could she'd die fighting, standing on her own two feet.

She leaped off the table and punched the man with the powdered wig square in the chest. He went flying across the room, hitting against the wall and landing on the ground with a thud. He looked like he was still alive, if not in great shape, but first Matte wanted answers. She got her clothes on and looked around the room for a mirror, a journal, anything that could tell her what had happened here. She probably didn't have a lot of time before the Vampire, or whomever the Vampire sold her to, came back to finish what they started.

[Tolvo]

Her clothes were filthy with dried blood making them somewhat stiff feeling. She could smell it vividly, there were two scents. Hers and Sibil's. This stranger also had a scent, one of death and grime. He was trembling and reached into his shirt and pulled out a small device. With the click of its trigger it fired a shot while she was getting dressed. A bullet hit the wall beside her and the man groaned in disappointment. Matte's chest closed up in the time it took to get dressed. The sniveling man backed up into a corner and trembled at the legs. His eyes widened in fear while a commotion gathered outside. People were gasping and looking in the window until one finally yelled. "Vampire!"

Whistles sounded outside of the building, people shouted and ran at the sight of her. Sibil still laid lifeless on the other table. There was a small mirror beside her which Matte was able to use to examine herself. Her eyes had turned a bright crimson, her skin had grown paler, her mouth was full of fangs. A large scar ran across her neck but began to fade away. Everything was so loud, everything was so vivid. Matte was being swarmed with the scents of everyone outside. Their blood, she could almost taste it on the tip of her tongue. Every scream in fear range out like it was being shouted directly into her ears.

[Zed]

The figures were closer now, their odd chanting voices carrying over the distance with an ominous air. Alton’s wariness increased. The figures outward appearance did not bode well either. His gut clenched as though he could foresee the impending doom. They each would be forfeit for an action untold and unrevealed. As the thought crossed his mind, it was as if he, Alton, had just doomed them all with his thoughts. One of the creatures.. for lack of a better word, grabbed a dying survivor and enveloped him into a veil of disappearance.

He had heard tales of the veil, but they were childhood stories. Told to children to make them behave. But his eyes told another story. The veils were real. Alton’s blood ran cold, he seemed frozen by event he had just witnessed. But not so, the warrior nun, no she hightailed it. Broken from his reverie, by a face full of sand, he grimaced and swiped at his eyes, only to see one of the veil wielding creatures take off after the nun.

“Shit!” He muttered to himself, “This is not a good idea.. She left you… you don't have to play the hero!” Even as he said the words, as though to talk himself out of his actions, Alton rushed toward the creature chasing the nun, in an intercepting trajectory. If he could take the creature down, maybe it would give the nun a few precious moments to get away. And if he was lucky? Whatever saved him from a watery grave, might help him again? He should have died in the water. He didn't. Maybe this was because he needed to save the nun. The nun had been the female in his dream.. Right? It didn’t make sense to him, but it seemed like the thing to do. Oddly the thought of saving himself had not even crossed his mind.

[Vivienne]

Matte stopped for a moment, savouring the sweet, delicious aroma of their blood, the tantilizing musk of fear they...wait a moment! This wasn't how a noblewoman should feel! Should behave! Why on earth was that the first thing on her mind right now? There'd be time to worry about what was going on later; well, in theory anyway, assuming she survived. Matte needed to get out of here, and fast. She probably also needed to find that Vampire and find out what the hell was going...on the sweet, sweet, smell of their bloo...concentrate!

She knew she needed some help right now, and unfortunately there was really only the one option. Matte picked up the powdered man, threw his device aside, looked into his eyes, and said in a very menasing way, "We're getting out of here. You're going to help me. Then, you're going to give me some answers," then, placing him on his feet, straightening his shoulders, and firming his collar, she said, "But first, I have to get something really quick."

Matte went over to Sibil, picked her up gently, delicately, and placed her over her shoulder. Matte grabbed the hand mirror, too, just in case, and tucked it away. She collected the sniveling 'associate', she would need to find out his name, and told him to that it was time to go. She looked back one last time, to try and remember this room as best she could, so when she found the Vampire, that she would be best able to formulate some of the questions that were going to need to get answered. Somehow.

[Tolvo]

Sibil was wrapped in the white sheet protecting her modesty. Her body didn't feel very heavy, she was rather easy to carry. The fearful mortician began to mumble prayers. His begs to be spared were unending. For a moment he tried to slip out of her grasp but she was able to hold him with clawed hand that dug into his body. Instead of press this he flailed his legs and kicked the door open. Out in the hallway were a few tables but otherwise it was fairly bare. There were open doors leading to similar surgery rooms. At the end of the hallway one way was a furnace room and down the other path was another mortician who was backing up in a sort of waiting room.

There was a large class wall in the waiting room and a door beside it that led outside. The light out there was nearly blinding, something felt dangerous about it. Like the light would hurt, her body naturally recoiled at the sight of it. The other mortician raised her fists as if she was going to fight Matte but the one she held yelled at her. "Please, save yourself!"



It all happened in a blur for Alton. He rushed after the two of them and tried to intercept the sack wielding creature. It was much faster than him and was gaining on her. Then at the last moment it stopped on one leg and swung the other back. This easily caught Alton in the chest. This knocked the wind out of him. It felt like a horse had just kicked him, he couldn't move his legs. It was so incredibly fast, and continued to chase her down after. His vision faded in and out, it caught her and dragged her back before placing her in a bag. The last sight Alton had was burlap.

His vision was gone. He didn't dream this time.

"Wake up." A voice echoed in his head. It was a woman, her voice was carried from somewhere far. It was pitch black, Alton felt cold. He was naked, he didn't have his hammer. Nothing had made sense. His body was laying on stone Each of his finger tips felt strange, they clawed at the ground. From his throat he was bleeding. His legs still couldn't move. In his mouth were thick fangs. A light appeared, it started to get closer then paused. Again she called out for someone to wake up, but sounded disappointed afterwards. "This one is just a beast now. A pity." Next came the sounds of steel ripping through flesh as well as the whining of a wolf.

The light came again. There was a lantern held by a gloved hand that stuck out. When the light hit him he could see his body now. It was pale, with dried blood all over it. There were puncture markings across his body and especially wherever there was an artery. One thick one more like a stab wound was placed on his throat. Their scent, he could smell them. Each person had their own smell. One he recognized, Helen. She was there overlooking him with his hammer in her hands. At first she ran up to the bars of his cell only for the lantern holder to grab her by the shoulder. "Wait."

A woman dressed in all crimson clothing stepped out with her lantern. Her head cocked to the side as she grabbed the cell door. Easily she pulled it from its hinges and tossed it against the wall behind her. Slowly she approached him, she crouched to get low to his face. There was a hunger for blood swelling up in Alton, but then it faded. This women didn't have a scent. She smelled like powerful flowers. It almost burned his nose as she got close. Next she placed a hand on his heart. For a moment she felt his heartbeat then pulled out a vial of what looked like blood. "Are you a beast or a man?" Helen watched as she held out the vial towards Alton and began to pour it over his body. As soon as it hit him he felt like he was in the throws of ecstasy. This was something that filled him with energy, suddenly his legs regained functionality. He felt empowered. Helen tossed his clothes on the ground beside him. "Get dressed." Again the crimson woman hushed her. A crow'like mask stared at Alton, the crimson woman asked again. "Are you a beast or a man?"



Lucia Vale had been following in her sister's footsteps. Only her sister had a head start on her. She caught every carriage after, rode every horse after, took each boat after. When finally she seemed to have caught up a storm separated them. Time and time again this frustrating issue came up of just barely missing her.

It was on a fishing boat that she had the most success. Supposedly she was going to make it to the Great City quickly, at least that was what the captain said. She was a strange woman with a shaved head and one eye, a tattoo across her arms showed a serpent swallowing itself. The ship was fairly small for the trip, but she was assured they'd make it. This simple Cog carried them out until the water had turned black. There they began to drift aimlessly. Night and day started to blend together as their stores ran low. Food and water were in short supply.

Then one day Lucia spotted something. There just below the surface was her sister. She was struggling trying to reach the boat, her arms flailed wildly while she reached out to Lucia. Over the side of the ship there she was looking up at Lucia who was at the port side. Beside her was a large muscly sailor named Bertthard. Bertthard was half asleep laying against the side of the ship. This man had been getting frustrated and wanted them to turn back.

[Vivienne]

"Wait!" Matte said, somewhere between normal voice and a shout. She wasn't sure if this was a great idea or not, but if she looked the part, she might as well act the part. "I'll make you a deal," she said to the female mortician; women usually listened to reason far better then men anyway, "you and your friend here help me until nightfall. A basement, a sewer; I'm negotiable. Plus, let me put my friend in your incinerator there, unless you want another vampire running around, no?" Matte looked at the two of them, trying her best to negotiate a deal between parties, and continued, "In return, no harm comes to either of you. If you think I'm being callous, my alternative is to drain the pair of you, bring my friend back, then we tunnel deep enough to wait it out so to speak. At least my way, we all get out of this alive."

Matte wasn't sure if she still could negotiate as she wanted with her physical disposition what it was at the moment, but she thought it best to try and avoid anyone else dying this day if she could help it. To be honest, she had no idea what Sibil's condition was; she listened, tried to hear if there was any noise at all coming from Sibil, but to be honest there might not be if she was a Vampire. Matte was as lost as these morticians right now, but she had to act the part if she wanted to get out of here. One thing she was sure of was that she'd at least see that Sibil didn't share her fate if she hadn't already if she could help it. If Sibil really did carry the plague, as was accused earlier, than it was probably in everyone's best interest if she met a noble end in conflagration.

She looked at the two morticians, as much etiquette and sincerety behind her words as she could muster right now, and said to them, "Do we have a deal?"

[Tolvo]

The male mortician nodded his head while the woman looked horrified. She simply ran out the door with her arms above her head. Cowardly as he was the mortician rushed past Matte and to the incinerator. A trio of people came running into the mortician's waiting room. They were clad in blue uniforms with silver buttons, and silver swords. Silver beaked helms adorned their helms and resembled a bell with a crow's face. Through the helm the leader shouted at Matte and pulled out a gun. It was exceptionally long and had strange pipes jutting from it that she could feel the heat of. "Halt Vampire, don't turn that body, don't turn any of them!" As he spoke the mortician began to babble. "We don't have a cellar nothing I don't know where any are please just put her in the incinerator don't let her come back!" The silver helmed leader heard this and pointed the gun at the mortician. "Shut up, you are already likely infected, get in the incinerator too!"

[Low-Budget Man]

Lucia subconsciously rubbed her wrist where the laughing moon tattoo was inked as she stared out across the black ocean. A breeze tickled her through her clothes, forcing her to wrap her woolen cloak around her tighter. Her companion, Bertthard stopped being a good conversationalist many days ago. His sour mood seemed to poison any conversation into an argument.

She leaned against railing of the Cog ship as her eyes glazed over and her thoughts turned inwards. Her ashwood glaive was also nearby, slumped over a pile of rope. Its blade sharpened to perfection. There wasn’t much else to do. Where would her sister go in the Great City? Where would be the first place Stella would look for their mother? What if she succeeds? Lucia banished the thoughts. Their mother was dead. There was no way their mother was still alive, and in the Great City of all places.

Lucia’s expressions turned to a frown as movement caught her eye beneath the black surface. A face contorted into an expression of fear and panic stared back her. Lucia’s eyes widen as she recognized the features and the tattoo upon her arm.

“Bertthard! Wake up!” Lucia darted across the ship to grab her glaive. As she picked it up, she glanced at the pile of ropes the glaive was previously resting on. An idea sprang into her head.

“Bert, my sister’s drowning! We found her! Help me here!” Her spry hands wrapped the rope around her thin waist a few times before tying it off. She then tied it around the mast a few rounds before tossing the rest to Bertthard.

“Hold tight and pull me up when I saw so. My sister needs help. Maybe I’ll give you a kiss when this is done.” A acrobat and dare-devil at heart, Lucia leaped over the side of the cog. However she didn’t plunge straight into water. But instead she used the rope’s tension to hold her in place as she stood on the ship’s hull. She stood completely perpendicular to the ship’s walls. Her feet firmly planted on the wood as she stared directly forward into the murky water.

She dangled her glaive into the water, hoping her sister would manage to grab onto the weapon. But only the bladed portion managed to strike the water. She needed to go lower.

“Lower me a tad bit Bert! I thought you sailor-boys were strong! Come on Sis! Grab on!”

[Tolvo]

At first the big lug didn't want to stir. "Not now I'm daydreaming, there's this wicked hot chick underwater, kinda looks like you." At first provocation he finally got up. "There ain't nobody there!" He blurted it out but grabbed onto the rope at her command. Then he looked overboard and started freaking out. "Oh the gods someone's down there! Hey everybody wake up someone overboard!" Bertt let her lower down as others came rushing to see what was going on. They all stammered and began to shout at the person who looked to be drowning. "Something ain't right!" The captain yelled at them and threw a rope into the water that floated near to the drowning sister.

Finally one sailor had enough of this. They dove over the side and into the water and began to swim toward the sister. Then her hands gripped the glaive. Bertt started to pull her up but then stopped. "Holy shit what does your sister weigh? Is she a whale? No offense meant!" Under the water her sister's face twisted to glee as she firmly held onto the glaive with an iron grip. Down below the sailor who dove over screamed under the black water as bubbles hit the surface. A large shape under the water of a twenty foot creature started to come closer. It had teeth like jagged lances, two giant bulbous eyes, spikes along its back, and short stubby fins. Much of its body was mouth and a tendril from the front of it connected to her sister, whom which began to glow brightly. The sailor was ripped in half in a single bite as the others began to scream and reach for the rope Bertt held to pull her up.

[Low-Budget Man]

Lucia mentally berated herself for taking the bait so easily. Blinded by her passion to find Stella, Lucia threw caution to the wind. Now a poor sailor lost his life due to Lucia’s bullheadedness. She had to maintain vigilance against all dangers, unknown and known.

Lucia attempted to wrestle with the fake-Stella for the weapon for a brief moment. Lucia clutched her teeth as she realized she had a choice of losing her life or her weapon. But losing the glaive would guarantee her death in the future anyways.

She had to take a risk. Bert was pulling on the rope with Lucia attached to it. It was like a massive tug of war. However, one didn’t need to be a fortune teller to understand who was eventually going to win in this competititon.

“Bert, drop me a few feet! Yes, I am crazy. Didn’t you know that? I jump off ropes and juggle knives for a living”, ordered Lucia. She maintained her grip on the glaive with one hand and with the other, she yanked out her knife.


Lucia dropped down to just a couple feet above water level. With a tremendous yell, she jammed her razor sharp knife over and over into arms of the fake-sister. Filthy blood spewed from the arms as the grip loosened on the glaive.

"Someone toss something into the bugger's mouth! Aren't you guys hungry for some fish?!"

[Vivienne]

Matte looked at the trio of crow-men and tried to whip up a plan. With the leader's gun pointed at the poor mortician, who was just doing his job before all of this started, she whispered under her breath, "I'm really sorry about this," and hurled Sibil's body boomerang-like, twurling at the three crow-men at roughly chest level. To take advantage of the situation, Matte dove underneath the twurling dead body and lashed out with her claws, targeting the legs of the leader with the gun first, and his two associates second.

Once the three men were done, howling in pain, Matte could smell the blood coming from their mangled legs. Part out of instinct, part out of hunger, and part out of trying to get out of this alive, she quickly ripped the helms off the two sub-ordinates and used her claws to rip out their throats, or at least something that would keep them busy struggling to survive. She then ripped off the helm of the leader, and bite into his now-exposed throat, draining him of his vital life essence. Matte didn't really know what she was doing, but instint took over at this point, as well as a look slice of fear should she not be able to get to night quickly enough. She made a bit of a mess in her inexperience and haste, but it was incredibly refreshing to get some much-needed nourishment.

Satisfied for the moment, she looked at the gun and, quickly guessing, figured that was for her. Taking the glove off it's owner, as best as she could considering the claws and all, she picked up the gun and tossed it into the incinerator, lest it be used for some unfortunate purpose. She looked back at the now-single mortician, who was likely traumatised by this point, and said, "They want you to jump in the incinerator. I'm guessing you don't have much of a future out there anymore. You're welcome to work with me until we get out of this, at which point we can go our seperate ways or you can work with me; it's up to you, but choose quickly," and with that Matte threw the now four bodies into the incinerator for combustion, as well as the silver swords, just in case. She looked at the mortician and said, "Turn it on," not wanting to know if Sibil and/or any of the others were coming back because of her...

[Tolvo]

In the flash of a moment a gun went off. It had been pointed at the mortician but instead Sibil's flying body was struck. Rather than a normal bullet what came from the gun was a shell coated in flame which bored into Sibil's leg and caught her body on fire. Then it struck the three of them. They were knocked down followed by their evisceration. Their leader quivered in fear as Matte drained him of his life. Through it all he was conscious while the others gurgled on the ground holding their throats. One took a swipe with their silver sword and it hit Matte in the shin. This nearly hobbled her but thankfully drinking the leader regenerated her leg wound. Blood pooled around them filling the area with a great fragrance.

A sword stuck out of Sibil's chest which Matte retrieved before throwing it into the furnace. Then she got to shoving as many bodies as she could in along with the weapons of the trio. The mortician was mortified. He fell the ground crying as she spoke to him. He curled up and covered his head whimpering. That was when one of Matte's fears was realized. A hand grabbed her firmly from within the furnace. "My lady, where are we?" Sibil's arm was coated in blood but even now Matte could see her claws starting to form. Outside came another problem. A bottle of liquid hit the front of the building as bricks shattered the window. Those outside had started lighting bottles on fire and tossed them at the building, a fire was starting along the front of the building.



Bertt let her down a bit while the captain roared and bellowed at her. "Drop the damn weapon it ain't worth your life!" There came a deafening scream as Bertt flexed with all of his might, muscles bulged and rippled across his chunky body, he gave up a bit of the rope and let Lucia down lower. "Ahhhh damn it all you wild woman!" Then she was able to stab her false Stella in the hand. This illusion let go and released to show it was a finned black creature with large wide-set eyes and blue arms and legs that was attached to the larger creature. A deep blue blood that was runny and milky shot out all over her. It receded and Bertt began to pull Lucia back up.

The greater fish rose up after her with its maw wide open. She could see it unhinge its jaw so wide it became larger than the boat itself. This made it look like it could swallow the boat whole but its body wouldn't be able to hold them. Others around through grappling hooks into the mouth of the creature which they tied to the sides of the ship. "We're going fishing!" This was all well and good for a moment until they realized they that there was no good way to haul it aboard. Lucia suddenly saw everything fade to blackness. The last thing she heard was Bertt yelling her name.

When she awoke she was tied up. Her glaive was being held by Bertt as the entire crew were on deck. Bertt looked sad and held her glaive with respect in his big meaty hands. The captain circled around her, she was tied to a mast. "Good you're waking up, how do you feel?" Some of the crew began to shout. It was the dead of night, there were no stars or a moon in the sky. Things were mostly dark except for where a brazier had been lit on the deck which others huddle around. The light reached Lucia who was still a bit groggy. Then her senses hit her.

She could hear Bertt's heartbeat above everyone else's. It was quite a bit larger and louder. There was a strange rhythm to it. On everyone was a scent of blood, in their veins. It pumped through them, it danced in a symphony she could both hear and smell. At the end of Lucia's hands were claws. Her skin had turned a pale blue, her mouth was full of thick fangs, and she had a deep seated hunger for blood. The captain turned to her again and asked a series of questions. "What happened, what did you see down there? What are you now? Are you a threat to us?"

[Low-Budget Man]

Lucia blinked the grogginess away from her eyes. Her tongue moved over her razor fangs, feeling its sharpness cut into her tongue. She flexed her fingers in experimentation. There was an uncanny strength to them. She shifted her body into a more comfortable position, feeling her muscles tense and tighten beneath the rope. They felt…cold

She licked her lips as her hunger intensified. The Captain stared at her with his blazing blue eyes, protective of his crew. She glanced at the rope tied around her as she briefly struggled against them, more to test their strength instead of an actual attempt to escape.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. We were fighting the fish, and then it just became dark. What happened? Did it eat me?”, Lucia breathed in a hoarse tone..

“I feel different, but I think I can control myself. I’m still Lucia.” She neglected to mention her hunger for blood. How she could almost taste the scent coming off everyone. Her throat felt parched and her moaned for something.

She glanced at Bertt, holding her glaive. “Keeping it warm for me? Can you sailors cut me down. You’re all being ridiculous.”


Lucia’s red tongue slipped out from her mouth to wet her lips. And she reflexively flashed a smile. However, instead of disarming them with a charming grin, she displayed rows of fangs.

[Vivienne]

"This day keeps getting better and better," Matte mumbled under her breath as she heard the crackles of fire. She grabbed Sibil's hand and quickly said, "No time to explain, details later. Right now we have a problem," as Matte hauled Sibil out of the furnace. She turned quickly to the mortician and said, "I have an idea; work fast. Get me as much water as you can muster, in buckets is fine, a sink if you can manage it." The mortician took off, not having too far to go as this was a morgue. Meanwhile, Matte sized up herself and Sibil with the crow outfits with whichever outfit fit best. There would be a problem regarding the claws, but she'd worry about that later. She was hoping the 'witness' outside wouldn't lead events this far, but it seems fate had a different story to tell.

By now, Sibil had her claws fully out and had a look on her face suggesting that explanations were in order. Matte ordered, "Sibil, there'll time for that later. Get this on, cover yourself as much as possible, Matte said, handing Sibil one of the crow outfits that likely fit her best. "Get some strips of blanket and wrap them around yourself under the crow outfit to keep the light off; I'll explain later." She did the same herself, mummifying herself before putting on the ill-fitting but servicable outfit. By now, the mortician had returned with some buckets of water. Matte told the Mortician to get on the remaining crow outfit, then applied the water generously to Sibil, then to herself, then to the Mortician when he was done. By this time, the flames were getting a little to the hot and aggressive side, so Matte came up with a quick game-plan to help them get out of this alive.

She turned to the Mortician and said, "You know this area better than anyone, and we need your help. Can you get us to a safe-haven? A warehouse, you place, a barn, something not in the wide open?" Matte was hoping that this mortician was 'on the level', but seeing as how the previous mortician was more than happy to bolt instead of acting logically, she didn't want to assume this person was any better. She kept her eyes and ears open for a possible means of escape at all times. She wasn't 100% sure if horses would be a good idea right now, so Matte made a mental note to leave them as a worst case scenario. There was also the Sibil problem; Matte had somewhat come to grips with her current situation, but Sibil had no idea what in the world was going on. Sibil would definitely have to be watched, just in case.

[Zed]

It was black. No awareness. No consciousness. It was nothing. Then a voice in his head, but sounding as if far away. Was it real?

Alton stirred, if only mentally, as his body was like lead. It would not be moved. But then the voice again, clearer now. It had an awakening affect. He began to mentally connect to his body, though movement was still lacking. He could he was whole bodied and nude. After what seemed an eon of effort, he was able to open his eyes to see the bloodied wounds on his body before his head fell back with a thud.

His sense were coming back, smells. It was a glorious and yet terrifying feeling all at the same time. He wasn't dead, but where was he and what had happened to him. He didn’t hurt, which was odd based on the state of his body, what little he saw of it. Taste. Blood. He tasted blood, he tensed. Was he dying and he just didn’t know it? He had heard that could happen. He had seen it happen. Old Freid, when the tree fell atop him, was smiling and saying he felt fine, it was peaceful and then he died. Was this what was happening to him?

There were more sounds, a female voice, dismissive and annoyed, then rending flesh and screaming death howl. His hand clenched in reaction, he tried to bow up from his prone position, but it did no good, he remained as he was. The voices came closer. The Nun.. he smelled the Nun. He drew another deep sniff, flowers. The voice from a moment earlier, speaking to him, but his sense were clouded by the smell of blood. This was a smell he knew well. The smell of a fresh kill, the smell when he would dress the meat. He was hit with a craving as he had never had before.

The cell door was rent from its holdings, and the voice asked again, as the blood flowed over him. This time he heard her, and replied in what he intended to be strong denial of the latter, but in truth it came out as a raspy guttural whisper, “I am no beast…” In his mind’s eye he could envision himself tearing into the throat of a deer, drinking in its essence, its life blood, and then as the vision intensified, the deer became a man.

A thought that would once cause repugnance, now filled him with a sense of purpose, challenge..and power. His body stronger now, as he sat up and dressed in the clothes carelessly tossed on the floor. He stared at the female in the red garb, as he dressed. His eyes never left her. Had she saved him? He canted his head slightly to the side, as he tried to get a better view of her. The nun he ignored. It was clear the nun was subservient to female in red, and it was the female’s authoritativeness that drew him. Who was she and what did she have planned?

Subconsciously Alton had joined a side, a cause, reason for being. It was something that he had not had, in his old life. Yes his old life, it was gone. Now was his rebirth. His awakening. Once he was fully dressed he bowed politely, “I am Alton.. And you are?”

[Mfable]

Trest watched the events unfold before him in silence, trying to blend in with the dead as much as possible, but it apparently did little good. The man has smelled him? Trest slowly lifted got to his feet, leaning against the wall of the alley, cautiously looking to the warrior and ready to bolt at a moments notice. ”My name is Trest. I am nobody. Nobody you’d have to worry about. I’m not like that monster, or any monster. Just a simple farmer down on his luck. Or at least I was.” He quickly scanned the surroundings as he spoke, trying to take in any escape route. How many of these doors are locked? How many lead to other dangers? He turned to look at the warrior again. ”And you?”