OOC:: Whoa, that’s a jump of three hours? Give time for other players to make their moves, or enjoy waiting. If my char was asleep that’d be fine (since currently, I’m the only other player), but obviously Aeric is up to something.
Lord Aeric
The lock yielded a small click to the movement of Leon’s fingers. The fire-headed boy turned to smile at me in sweet victory, but then remembered not to at the sight of my face. I waved him off, and he left without resistance. We had already ‘discussed’ that I would enter alone, and, should he want payment, he would await me at the library beneath the earth. I sincerely hoped he stayed, he had proven himself quite useful, this Leon.
I entered David’s house with a silent push of his forcibly opened door. David was a rather successful merchant, but more importantly, he was a merchant who had a surplus of enemies. One of them used to be me, but it wasn’t I who would be blamed for his murder. Being dead sure had its benefits, but I wondered how long they would last. Could a cleric of the One God detect a vampire, just as they could rebuke one? I would have to read more on my return.
I made my way to David’s kitchen. Though he was wealthy, David did not appear to spare much coin on account of his house. The place had a common feel, but most of the floor and walls were covered in rare animal pelts. Warmth and comfort held high rankings on this man’s priority list. And, thankfully, so did his kitchenware. I took the best blade I could find, which happened to be a hunting knife with a hilt of archaic paganwood.
I crept up his stairs; they were made of stone, to my relief. This was so easy. I can’t believe I use to pay people for this. Maybe if I hadn’t been so fat. Well, no, I still would have sent others. Why take the risk? I was walking down the upper hallway now, well on top of the bedrooms. Hah! My luck was high today. In place of doors, David had hung more animal hides, though I could not name them if someone asked. Probably expensive breeds.
I begin casting a spell I learned long ago, sludgeblood, it was called. As the magic ran through me, I slipped through one of the drapery doors. Good, I was right. The ornate doorway I choose was the resting place of David himself, along with his wife. When I finished reciting the verses in my head I gathered the matrix of magic I had channeled throughout my body, unleashing it on the woman. She did not stir. That was one of the beautiful things about magic: your enemy never knew what you were up to.
The man, however, began to move. I wasn’t sure if it naturally or I had somehow given him alarm, but I did not spend the time to learn that answer. My left hand was on his mouth and my right hand shoved his dagger in his throat. I yanked back, creating as much devastation as I could. And then—and then I was in it. Drinking, suckling, it was so good. It smelt like iron flowers, pleased me in a way that my wife never had. That wasn’t saying much, but, it was so good. I slopped it up. Why hadn’t one of my cooks ever made blood dumplings? This stuff was amazing.
I noticed I someone was watching me feed. How rude, all nobles knew not to judge another’s eating habits. The wife’s mouth was slowly opening, now just registering what had happened on account of my spell. That, and the sheer ludicrousness of waking up to a dead man eating your husband’s neck. I gave her what I gave her husband, to be fair, and drank my fill of her as well. Using Leon’s bag, I stole what coin and valuables I could. The Sentinels needed to think this an assassination.
With that thought in mind, I started for the next room. I pushed the animal hide aside, and came face to face with a naked boy, older than Leon. And healthier too, to my dismay. He screamed, and I charged. Instinctually, he dodged, but I whirled around on him. He grabbed a hold of my wrist and shoved towards me. He probably didn’t have a plan, as he just gave me the momentum to pull away. I lunged again, but he was awake now, and fighting for his life. Somehow he spun me around, and I found that there was no longer steel in my hand. Then I found it again, as it plunged into my arm. I screamed at the hellspawn and strangled his wrist. The pain made me slip, and my knees meet the floor. Rather than be pulled down, naked stole away from my grasp.
Good, now I could get him back, the demon. I unsheathed the paganwood knife from my rotted bicep, and stabbed him. His eyes went wide, and I stabbed his ugly self again. Oh, I won. I kept stabbing, and made sure to tear out his throat. I want to eat him whole! Not just drink a little blood. Unfortunately, I need to make sure I killed everyone. I ripped down a pelt and entered another room.
There was a blanket on the ground, and a sword on the wall. Naked boy’s room, useless. I went back into the hallway, and between me and bloody puddle kid stood a tiny girl, just beyond her babe years. She would never grow past the age of six, I reckoned, as I made for her. She bolted in the other direction without so much as a squeak, but slipped in her brother’s blood. She was as good as dead.
Those were David’s only children, at least that slept in the house. I thought that strange; he must have had marital problems. With the children dead, the City Sentinels should assume assassination. I smiled. David, who had been such a troublesome merchant in life, would create quite the chaos with his death. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was happy, or because I had consumed a fair quantity of blood, but that knife wound didn’t even hurt anymore.
Mirra
Vanadorn was a well-built man, especially if you considered his grey and black peppered beard. The thing fell to his chest, and when combined with his wild eyes it made him sort of scary. Vanadorn’s brown, thick skin and likewise thick muscle gave away his Northman heritage. He tugged lightly on his beard, and the plates of his night-black armor scraped on another. “There will be more, aye. More dead like this,” he stated.
“Bestial,” Donden gave his opinion on the matter. He was crouched over at the side of the street now, following a line of blood. It stopped there though, and it’s not like he could track through the main street, or at least Mirra didn’t think he could. Everyone talked like he could though. Mirra herself was sitting on some steps of a shop, off to the side. She had to wait for orders, and she thought this night might be fun when they found the dead guards. Instead, she had spent the last thirty minutes waiting for Captain Vanadorn and Lady-Lieutenant Kate.
The stupid Sentinel woman was tired, apparently, so the captain had taken his sweet time getting here. It was she who spoke now. “I used to know the man just for this.”
“Aye, but is he around? No.” Vanadorn’s hand ceased its tugging and dropped to his side. “We will handle it, we are the Night Watch. It’s our job.” Vandorn beckoned Hughes with his hand. “These two both believed in the One God. Take them to their church, Hugh.”
“I did not mean, I am sorry, Captain. I am tired.” Lady Kate Silvward sighed a deep sigh, and walked over to where Donden was peering through cobbles. “Tell me it wasn’t stayrs. Please.”
Donden pulled his lips together, contemplating his reply. “That’s doubtful, m’Lady,” he vouched. “It was humanoid though. And savage.”
“So it could be human?” Kate sought confirmation.
I jumped up from my spot. “I hope not,” I declared. “Crazy people are easy to deal with.”
“Aye,” Vanadorn agreed. “The girl has the right of it. If a human did this we’ll get ‘em by the morrow.”
Kate let out another sigh, one hand on her hip, the other loose. “Just, let me know, if it matters. I’ll tell you if the Day Watch or the Sentinels turn up anything.” Lady Kate’s hand parted with her hip, and she begin walking. “I’m going home. It was a pleasure to meet you three.”
“The pleasure is ours, m’Lady. Shall Donden escort you home?” asked Hughes. The useless noble just shook her head and continued on. Hughes resumed his work with the bodies.
“Right!” Mirra shouted. “Now that’s she’s gone, let’s get started!”
Vanadorn eyed the short girl with brown hair cut like a boy’s. “And what’s that mean?” he implored.
Mirra heard Hughes chuckling from over by the corpses. “Maybe you should leave it to the Captain, Little.” Mirra just growled.
4:19 AM