Year 26

It's amazing how things can be going fairly well for you, and you'll still find shit to be dissatisfied about.

What might be worse is the new nature of you "confinement." It's another gilded cage. (Or fancy crypt in this case.) While not much is ever demanded of you, Isabella definitely is treating you less than equal as you have to clean the crypt

One thing you never knew about vampires is how they can become obsessed with the smallest details. Probably has to do with the enhanced senses. Isabella apparently is a neat freak and due to this quirk she spent most of her time rearranging, cleaning, and generally tidying up her home. An impossible task of course, but that didn't stop her from trying.

Even the room where she keeps the blood "donors" is kept clean and isn't the slaughterhouse that one would expect it to be.
She still cleans of course, but you're doing most of it now. It's really boring especially since you had to do this to a lesser degree at Ral's and at least there, you were able to let it go for a week at times. Not to mention it's fucking impossible to "clean" a vast underground crypt in the first place.

About the only thing you don't have to take care of is her underground garden, which is her own personal project that she spends a lot of time on. In fact, with you around now she doesn't even have to leave it to get food much anymore. She just has you do that, which is sort of plus, since that's one of two major things that break up the monotony.

You initially would lure a citizen of Dert back to the crypt, but in time you started wandering a bit more and realized with all the bandits making hideouts in forest, you might as well give yourself a bit more of a challenge.

Sometimes you will boldly face a group of them. The poor dumb bastards never realize they don't have a chance and you proceed to tear them apart, satisfying your own hunger and leaving only one or two alive to bring back to Isabella.

The second major thing would be your routine intimacy with Isabella. It's a little odd, mainly because you've got mixed feelings on the emotional side of things. Isabella is very comfortable with the physical aspect, but in a lot of ways she's still pretty distant. Makes a bit hard for you to return serious affection when you aren't sure if you're just there as a dick for her to use when she's in the mood.

While you don't really have any real complaints about that aspect that might make this bit of "captivity" worse since it's really difficult to complain when you're getting quality sex thrown in your direction on a regular basis.

But since you're not totally whipped, you're going to complain anyway. Not to mention you just need more to occupy your time. There has to be more than just feeding and fucking, especially since you're supposed to be immortal now.

Though you'd be lying if you weren't worried, she IS vastly more powerful than you after all and can easily subvert your free will if she so desired. (She never has though)

You wait for one of the rare moments that she isn't in her private garden to speak with her since even after a year she still doesn't allow you in there.

"Oh, hello. Have you been waiting out here for me the whole time?" Isabella asks.
"Sort of. Oh I brought back dinner. A couple of children from Dert this time. I know it's risky since it causes more hysteria in the locals when kids go missing, but I was very careful and I figured you deserved something special." You answer.
"Mmm, you're always so doting. Well, with your news and the fact I finally got my deathshade growing properly, I'm in a good mood tonight, so we can do that thing you always want to do to me after I eat."
"Uh, yeah that's something to look forward to, but I was actually here to speak to you about something that's been on my mind lately."
"Oh, okay then."
"Now I'm already prepared for you to say no, but I want to make my argument clear…"
"Okay, so what is it?"
"Don't get mad…"
"If you don't hurry up and get to your point, I guarantee I'm going to start getting mad. Just fucking say it already!"
"Okay! I want more freedom."
"I see…"
"Now hold on, I don't mean I want to leave you! I just…agh…I need more out of life, or unlife as it were."
"More? You have all you need. A home, a nearby food source, a beautiful companion by your side. I mean I'm not sure I understand."
"And that's all great. Really it is. Probably better than I ever could have stumbled upon. It's like…well okay here's a good example. You have that garden. That garden that you love to spend all, occupying your free time when you have it. I mean you don't even let me in there, so I'm assuming it's something pretty special to you. I guess I'm saying I need my own garden. Not literally of course."
"Hmmm, I understand what you're saying…I suppose I have just taken your happiness for granted."
"Don't get me wrong, I am happy, I just need something more to do and no offense, but cleaning this crypt isn't it."
"Hah, well I figured. I'd hoped that you would have developed a bit of an obsession for it like I somewhat did, but I imagine your servitude to Ral might have dampened that. Okay, so you're basically saying you want a hobby, fine. But I wasn't exactly stopping you from getting one. So what did you have in mind exactly?"

Well so far this is going better than you thought, though Isabella's question brings up the fact that perhaps you haven't thought this entirely through.

"I'm…I'm not exactly sure…I was sort of expecting you to be against it. Okay, well anyway I've been killing bandits in the forests. Lots of them actually." You say.
"I figured you must have found some other food source since you didn't often eat here. So you have a bit of the bloodlust do you? That can happen with new vampires. As long as you don't massacre Dert, I don't care what you do." Isabella responds.
"I'm thinking I'd like to go to Holgard once in awhile."
"You haven't before? Again, I assumed when you weren't feeding much here, you might be nipping off to Holgard to eat."
"I sort of wasn't sure if you wanted me to go that far."
"Sheesh, do I really come off of that controlling? Holgard isn't that far. It's not like you're a lowly human anymore that is going to take forever and a day to walk there. With your speed, you could go there and be back before dawn. Hell, if you really needed to, it wouldn't bother me if you stayed there for a few nights. Get it all out of your system. If culling a few extra humans to satisfy your bloodlust is what you need to do, well Holgard couldn't be a better place to do it. It's a crime-ridden city where murder occurs daily. You'd fit right in and never arouse suspicion."
"True, but it's not just the killing, it's I used to be a rogue before all this happened...and I've been thinking on those days I do miss them."
"So…what then? You want to go to Holgard to be a common thief?"
"Well when you say it like that, it doesn't sound as impressive. It's more like I just wonder if my desire for it is still there or am I just missing something from a simpler time I guess."
"Weren't you doing it during your time with Ral? I know he didn't keep you on that short of a leash."
"Yes, but I was so miserable that I don't think I ever really enjoyed it most of the time. About the only time I did, was when I was training…um…another…"

Isabella's eyebrow raises as you stop yourself from mentioning Lisa. You quickly change up the conversation a bit.

"My point is, I haven't really gotten to enjoy doing it since I left Teckleville. Actually even before that, since I started enjoying it less after my sister left. However, I feel like I should give it one more go to see if it really was something I liked doing, or maybe I just liked doing it with someone who was also interested in it."
"You actually may find such petty thievery much too easy now. After all you have powers that you didn't have before."
"Perhaps, but I also can't just break into any old house either not being invited and all."
"True, but that can be easily gotten around if you can charm the owner into letting you in. There are also public buildings of course like shops. In any case, if this is something you want to pursue, I'm not going to deny you your eccentricities. We all have our interests. I believe this may be left over longings for your old human life, which is natural for new vampires as well. I also think you'll get bored eventually, but I leave you to work through it. Anyway, was that it?"
"Um, yeah basically."
"Good, now I'm going to feed on these children you got me, and then we can do that other things. Fairly certain you aren't going to go anywhere tonight."

Well she's right about that.

The next night you make your way to Holgard and it's true, thanks to your supernatural speed you get there fairly quickly, you don't even catch the attention of the guards outside the gate.

You haven't been here in so long; you never thought you'd actually miss it. Hasn't really changed at all though there is one thing you're noticing and that's the fact the streets are practically empty. Its not even that late, usually there's still more activity than this. You see the watch patrolling around, but they're in groups much larger than you remember. They also tend to eye you very suspiciously.

Granted you're here for trouble, but you decide that it probably isn't the best idea if you start off by murdering several Holgard Watchmen so you start avoiding said groups.

It occurs to you that something here has changed drastically. Last time you heard any news of this place was Heather and she told you there was a war brewing between the religious factions. Maybe things have gotten worse?

In any case you decide to eat first and head to the lower class districts where there are less patrols and probably easier to get a quick meal.

You roam the streets, but it looks like even the lower elements have tried to set up some sort of safety plan during this uncertain time. Bums and the like are lingering together. Whores are as well and even performing their trade in groups. The worst part is instead of the Watch, there are Ebony Claw Syndicate members patrolling around and they're probably even more diligent since some of the ECS are also Fel followers.

You soon realize that you're probably going to have to just enter a tavern and just lure someone away and get them in private or just risk the attention and wipe out a small group as quick as possible. Actually you're keener on the second idea since you're getting a bit impatient with how inconvenient this has been.

Just as you're turning a corner a man in a green robe literally runs into you. It's enough to cause you to stagger since you weren't paying attention, as you were lost in thought.

The man himself is on the ground. He looks scared, but strangely not because of you. He keeps looking around.

"By Yag, you're a pale one. Wait… you a vampire?" the man asks.
"Well there's no point in me lying since you're going to be my food soon." You respond.
"Yeah? Well we that follow Yag all know that eventually we can't beat the odds forever. In fact tonight the odds were REALLY against me. Didn't see it ending like this though, certainly wasn't in the temple betting pool, hah! However I'd suggest you do it quickly before the Dornans get here. They see you and they'll use you for spell components, that is if the Joachimites don't get here first and just burn your undead ass."

The Yagite priest continues to look around, waiting for what you're going to do, but it was always obvious.

"Well guess I better follow your advice and make this quick then." You say and pick up the man and bite his neck. He makes little resistance other than gasping out some last prayer to Yag.

You haven't been eating long when you're interrupted. The Yag priest wasn't kidding when he said someone would be here soon.

"Yagite scum, you'll pay for…wha…?" a female voice says.

You look in the direction of the voice and snarl at being disturbed. You see a woman dressed in purple and blue robes and a couple of other members of her temple behind her.

"Vampire!" one of them shouts and begins to cast something and you leap into action.

"No, wait!" the female member says and backs away, but you and her subordinates aren't listening. You head towards the acolyte that was attempting to cast a spell.

After you easily put your fist through his chest, you feel flames at your back, which the other acolyte has cast at you. The flames hurt, but it isn't nearly enough to save him, you're just too quick and you rip out his throat. You savior the quick taste of blood before turning towards your last foe.

"Stop! Stop! It's me!" the woman continues to shout as she puts a shield up and that's when your bloodlust subsides long enough to finally recognize who she is.

It's Heather.

You certainly didn't expect to run into her on your first night here. In the back of your head, you sort of had a concern that maybe if you ever did, it would stir up complicated feelings about her.

However, at this moment the only thing you're feeling is the desire to slash her open and drink her dry…

You continue

She's nothing to you now. Not a lover, not a friend. Perhaps if you had something more with her, maybe it would be different, but you didn't. A mutually beneficial arrangement, an admission of feelings and a one-time incident of intimacy, doesn't save her. She's blood.

However, you're no fool. Heather isn't without power, so you stop your attack and collapse to the ground on your knees. You put your head low and rub your hands over face.

"Heather…Oh…what have I become?! I…I'm a monster…by the gods, I'm so sorry! I would never…I would never hurt you Heather!" you wail.
"Wha…what happened?" Heather ask, but still staying far enough away with a shield up
"I tried to live with the curse of the cold, but I just couldn't. It had left me utterly alone and had driven away the only thing that was ever good in my life. You. The longer I was in my cold exile, the more I dwelled on what could have been with you. I came close to suicide, believing that moment with you would be the last good thing that would ever happen to me. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had gone through with it."

You slowly stand up and continue to look ashamed by your actions.

"But my will to live I suppose was a bit too strong. Indeed some of that was due to you. I thought maybe, just MAYBE if I could fix myself, that I could rekindle what we might have had. Even if you had moved on, it still would have been worth it, I thought. So I followed a rumor, and then a trail, and then eventually found the undead creature that was bored enough to help me. Risky, but I figured if he was going to kill me, what would I really lose? Fortunately he turned out to be rather sympathetic in his own way." you say.
"But WHY did you do this?! I mean you had to have known the results!" Heather asks.
"As I said…for you…I foolishly believed that somehow I could be different. That it could survive on animal blood or the blood of creatures, it worked…for awhile."

You look at Heather mournfully; Heather still looks a bit cautious, but is looking a bit more sympathetic towards you (Well more sympathetic towards you than she is with her followers laying on the street dead)

"I tried…I tried so hard…I even sacrificed Spikey…I soon realized that I would never be fit to be in your presence." you say and choke up a little before continuing.

"But the call of the thirst was just too strong and I found myself heading back towards civilization…I figured at least maybe here in this cesspit of crime, that maybe killing murderers and the like wouldn't make me as bad…but with each life I take, I find that I'm just getting more detached...I've started thinking about even targeting those that aren't deserving of it… I almost sought you out for help, but I was too ashamed… I'm so lost… Heather….please help me…"
"I…I don't know if I can. I mean this isn't even like the condition you had. I mean I don't know of anything that can reverse being undead!"
"Please Heather…you helped me once before. I see you and know there's hope again. Please help me…"
"I…"

You continue to stare at Heather who now has dropped her magic barrier and begun to move a little closer to you. Your voice and your eyes have managed to get her to lower her guard. It's not complete, but at this point you're close enough that it doesn't matter.

You lunge and before Heather can do anything else, you've easily restrained her and about to bite. She looks at you with wide-eyed terror.

"No, please don't…" she utters.

And for a brief moment, you actually consider it.

"Shhhh, it'll only hurt a little and then oblivion." You whisper and then bite down on her jugular like a ravenous animal.

Her blood tastes different than most humans, but in a good way. Might be due to her magical nature. In any case you drink deeply and hold her tight as if you were making love to her, and in a way you are.

Heather struggles at first, but she soon begins to weaken and then ultimately give in until her life force is gone.

After you're finished, you look at her dead face and close her eyes.

"You finally helped me Heather. May your goddess Dorna embrace you."

With bodies all around, it's sort of amazing that nobody else has stumbled upon you. (Of course maybe someone did and wisely turned around before you noticed.) Not wishing to spend anymore time here, you take your leave and head back home without bothering to engage in whatever roguish endeavors you originally were intending.

As you make your way back home, you feel somewhat weird about your actions. You feel like you should feel remorse, and sometimes you think you're beginning to have a twinge of it, but then it's gone.

You didn't have to kill Heather. You weren't that hungry. You could have stopped yourself. So why did you do it? What was the real reason?

Self-preservation.

If you hadn't killed her, you would have surely done something stupid like develop an attachment to her again and that would have led to your death and most likely hers anyway. Either Isabella would have killed you or Heather's fanatical friends would have.

You don't need to complicate your life like that. Better that she serve as food than as a distraction.

Looks like you're fine with sticking to the basics after all.

When you arrive back home, Isabella soon comes to greet you. It would seem Isabella decided to wait up for you for a change, you weren't expecting her to, but the fact that she did, just confirms that you made the right decision.

"Well that was quick. I at least expected you to stay out until dawn. Did you have fun stealing items and whatever else?" Isabella remarks.
"I didn't bother. I mostly ate." You answer.
"Oh? Well hope you got a good one then."
"I did. I ate my ex-girlfriend."

Isabella's eyebrows rise in intrigue.

"Really? Isabella asks, but not in a jealous way, just curious.
"Well, I suppose she wasn't really a girlfriend…we just knew each other and we were intimate once." You answer.
"I see. And were you so excited that you were intimate again? Perhaps she found your dark charms alluring and in the heat of passion, you couldn't help yourself?"
"I manipulated her into dropping her guard after I slaughtered her friends, then I drank her dry…and I didn't feel anything about it. This woman who once tried to help me, I felt nothing after killing her other than it was necessary. And the only excitement I felt was when I was feeding and holding her warm body close as it slowly turned as cold as mine."

Isabella takes your words in and slowly begins to move towards you while caressing her own body.

"That…is soooo sexy….I had no idea that you were capable of such a thing. Killing random peasants and bandits is one thing, but this…well that's something different. I want you inside me, right now." Isabella remarks.

You sort of wonder if Isabella has always been this horny or maybe this is just her making up for lost time due to a long period of isolation. Either way you're not complaining.

The next night you prepare to go out to Holgard again. This time you're fully prepared to just hunt though.

The city is about to have yet another major ongoing problem, or maybe a solution depending on one's outlook on things.

You time passes...

Chapter 3C1: The Beast Unleashed



Year 30

"Well of course there are vampire hunters running around in Holgard now. I told you that you probably needed to start showing a bit of restraint now that the religious factions aren't killing each other anymore." Isabella remarks.
"You said that Holgard was a perfect spot for me to hunt due to all the crime and violence!" you reply.
"Yeah, but still within reason. I mean from some of the tales you've told me in the past, it sounds like you just leave a killing field in your wake half the time. As I said, you probably were only getting away with it due to the religious faction war, but now that that's over with, they're on to you. Look, you had your fun, but it's probably time to rein it in a bit anyway. You had like what five years? Honestly, I probably gave you your freedom a bit too quickly."
"So what, are you cracking the whip on me now?"
"No, but I will say that I'm fond of you enough that I would LIKE you to still be around for a long time to come. You might think a few vampire hunters are no problem, but I imagine they aren't the only ones hunting you. I mean you were taking advantage of the religious faction war, I have to believe that some of them groups aren't vampire friendly either. Wasn't your ex a Dornan? Pretty sure those wizard priests might have discovered a vampire operating in the city by now and I'm not even counting the fanatical Joachimites you told me about."
"So what are you saying exactly?"
"I'm saying that maybe you should give Holgard a break for awhile if you can't restrain yourself. Go find another hunting ground that isn't going to attract attention. I'm sure there are little isolated towns and villages further east of here. I'm sure there are probably bandits preying upon them as well, so you've got a wide selections to choose from."

You somewhat frown at that suggestion.

"If I'm going to skulk about a village luring peasants to their doom, I might as well be grocery shopping for you in Dert." You say.
"Well I dunno, go wipe out an entire hamlet then, I don't care. Just don't be a dumb ass and leave any witnesses. Because I'm going to tell you this as well, it's one thing if you're going to insist on playing with your immortality, but it's quite another if you start fucking with mine. If your actions end up causing a group of adventurers to come barging down here in the middle of the day, waking up my beauty sleep, you are going to wish you'd been staked and beheaded after I get done with you. Understand?" Isabella says with a calm threatening tone that is enough to unnerve even you.
"Yes…dear." You meekly utter.

Isabella gives you a stern look and then leaves you to your own devices.

Isabella may not have any direct power over you, but she's still powerful enough to crush you if she wanted to. You don't actually think she'd kill you, but you don't doubt that she wouldn't make your unlife miserable for a very long time.

If you weren't so grateful for everything she's done for you, you might be inclined to leave and not return. However in the grand scheme of things you're fairly happy with her so there isn't much incentive to do so.

She's usually right anyway. Might be time to settle down a bit. Mass slaughter is starting to lose its appeal anyway. Well not ALL its appeal, but maybe you should change it up, especially if you want to go back to Holgard one day.

For the first few weeks, you don't go to Holgard and instead wander further to the east a bit. Honestly, you've never traveled in that direction for any extended length of time save for when you released Spikey back into the wild. That was slightly harder than you thought it would be, but at least it was better than Isabella killing him.

You sort of wonder if you'll run into him, but you don't, who knows where he is now. (You hope he's happily eating people wherever he is though)

You do know is if you go far enough you'll reach the borders of the Delantium Kingdom. Of course that's still quite the ways even with your speed and you aren't that adventurous.

What you do find are a few small isolated villages. Bigger than Dert and nearly the size of the your old home of Teckleville. Same sort of people too, funny how no matter where you go, places like this are the same everywhere.

You skulk around these minor villages, luring an unsuspecting peasant or two for food, but it's dull since it's basically like when you do it back in Dert.

You encounter nomads, brigands, and raider types of various races. Again, those are more fun since you can let loose a bit more, but a lot of these tend to be on the non-human side and at this point you've acquired more of a taste for human blood as opposed to greenskin or some of the other savage races you've come across.

Upon your return on these daily travels, Isabella almost never asks you what you were up to. She doesn't seem to care as long as you aren't bringing trouble to her crypt. Sometimes you mention what you've been up to and she listens, and sometimes asking basic questions back, nothing more though.

A few months pass, and you're about ready to go back to Holgard just to see if things have died down there a bit, but you decide to stick it out a little while longer and continue doing what you're doing.

You head to Maldito, which is one of the more remote villages, even compared to most on your list. When you get within sight of it however, you're surprised.

The entire village is in flames. You can hear screaming and yelling still coming from the place and the stench of blood and death is thick. You're getting hungry just thinking about it.

You cautiously move towards the village and find where the majority of the voices are coming from. A mixed group of rough looking orcs, gnolls, and even a few hobgoblins are currently lording it over the remaining peasants they haven't killed.

Currently a couple of the women are being raped and they're torturing the shit out of several of the men. Despite the large amount of savage races, a human seems to be the leader. Figures.

He is addressing the peasants who are focused on him despite all the horror around them.

"Know that you lot brought this on yourselves! All you had to do is provide food, basic goods and some time with your daughters, sisters and wives on a regular basis and this shithole of a town would be spared Green Eye's wrath. Instead you've been hiring mercenaries to cut down our men for weeks! NOW you have to pay!" the human bandit says.
"NO! I swear it! We've done no such thing! We would nev…"
"SILENCE!" the human bandit snaps interrupting the older peasant trying to beg for mercy.

The human leader soon picks the old man up off the ground and stabs him in the throat before tossing him back on the floor.

"I don't actually give a shit if it WAS you or not! One of the villages in this area did, and when they get the message of what we're doing to your village, they'll fall in line, or they're going to suffer the same fate! Rape everyone in every fucking orifice, kill them all and shove their dismembered corpses on big fucking spiked sticks."

Grim stuff.

The odd thing is you actually feel slightly sorry for these pitiful peasants since you probably inadvertently caused this. You were slaughtering so many bandits over last couple of months, you didn't think that they were actually united any way. You also didn't think that these bandit types would jump to the conclusions that the villagers were behind it. Though you suppose it makes sense that they would.

After years of just ruthlessly drinking the living and seeing them as nothing more than blood bags, it seems odd that you would feel protective of them for some reason.

Maybe, this is how Isabella feels about Dert in some ways. The people in that village are all food to her, but they're hers and she doesn't want anyone else fucking with them. You guess you've developed a similar attachment. Who knew?

Yeah, you're not going to let bottom-feeding scum throw away perfectly good food…

You enter the village, you don't even try to hide. You break the neck of three hobgoblins and put your fist through an orc before anyone even mounts an attack.

"Shit! Get your dick outta that bitch, can't you see we're being attacked?!" the human bandit shouts.

The gnolls clumsily attempt to chop you with their long axes, but its all too easy to avoid their blows and shatter their spines, you quickly shut their dog like howls up by stomping their heads into mush.

The remaining bandits fair no better against you.

"He's too fucking fast! He's not human! He's not…" are the last words of a half orc before you finish him off, along with his buddies.

Soon it's only the human bandit leader left and to his credit; he hasn't run off (like some of the hobgoblins tried to do)

"Let me guess…vampire?"

You nod silently.

"Shit…I had a feeling it wasn't just mercenaries after seeing the carnage on a couple of those sites. So are…"

You're done entertaining this lesser form, you rush forward and rip out his throat mid sentence. You drink his blood and throw his corpse next to the body of the old man he had just killed not a few moments before.

Meanwhile the peasants that the bandits rounded up haven't even run. They've all just huddled together watching you, probably with just as much fear as they had before you arrived.

You look upon them and they have never looked more like the herd of sheep they truly are. They are prey and always will be in their current form.

You have a mind to finish them all off, until one brave one approaches on his hands and knees.

"You…you have saved us!" he shouts.
"Saved you? You shortsighted sheep, I only saved you because these assholes were killing off my livestock and I hate to waste food. I've been feeding on you lot for months now. Didn't you even notice how some of you had gone missing?" you say.
"We…we assumed perhaps the bandits had taken some of us in the middle of the night. But please, spare us your unholy wrath and we will worship you, my dark lord!"

Well this has turned interesting…

"Worship you say? What exactly are you proposing?" you ask.
"Yes, we…we can't defend ourselves against Green Eye's bandits and now that you've killed this group, he's just going to send more to finish us off. You could defend us and in exchange we could provide…what you need…." The man says.
"I need blood you do know that right?"
"Yes, but if it means just a few of us dying as opposed to all of us dying then it will be worth it. Please, I beg you. Whatever you wish, we will provide."

This could be just the thing to break up the monotony. It's also perfect due to the remoteness of it all. You'd have people willing to give themselves to you, and the bandits you can just massacre as usual.

Of course doing something like this might be slightly more involved than you'd prefer. You can also imagine that it probably wouldn't be as cut and dry as you're going to want it to be.

Lot of factors still at play and you question if you want the headache.

You accept the challenge

What the hell it isn't like you've got anything better to do. You've been enjoying it more out here than Holgard anyway.

Still you know this isn't going to be all fun and blood, so you need to start establishing rules.

"Rise." You tell the man groveling before you.

He does so slowly before you.

"I will accept your obedience, but you must know what this means. This means tribute in blood when I call for it. This means anyone of you here could be called to sustain me in exchange for my protection!"
"We understand…"
"No, I don't think you truly do mortal. However, you soon will. And if you find my terms at any point unacceptable, there will be no negotiation; I will finish the job that the bandits failed to do and wipe out this entire village. Now, let us talk about your bandit problem."

The man who is the village's speaker says his name is Vic and explains the situation with the bandits.

He says Green Eye, is the unseen bandit leader that is believed to have made his hideout in an old abandoned dwarf mine in the hills nearby. As far as anyone knows, nobody in this village (or any other in the area) has ever seen Green Eye, except the bandits who mention him (or her) from time to time. Still never a physical description either except for the green eye that seems to unnerve them.

Vic says he understands that you will not be able to look over them constantly, but something must be done about the bandits soon since they will surely come looking to see what happened to their fellows and if that happens to be during the day…

You tell Vic to not concern himself with it any longer because you're taking care of it tonight one way or another. He just needs to remember his promise to you. This village is yours and as such, he needs to get the rest of the people back to rebuilding it as soon as possible.

After Vic gives you some basic directions on where the mine is located, you take your leave.

Honestly, it's not that difficult to find now that you know which way to go since you're catching the scent of foul savage races the closer you get. Eventually you get to the entrance, which doesn't even have anyone guarding it though judging by the smell and mess, this is definitely inhabited.

The mine is actually well lit, so you're guessing there must be more human types in here at least. You soon hear the sounds revelry and then in a large opening you see a group of mortals of varying races. Mostly the savage type like hobgoblin, orc and even an ogre. The human bunch doesn't surprise you. There are even a couple elves in the mix and at least one race you don't recognize.
What does surprise you is the equal amount of female members in the group. There are a couple that are obviously bandits as well, but a lot of them just look like they're there for either "fun" or they have a large amount of children around them.

You didn't expect to find a community of sorts here. Makes sense that they're raiding the other villages for food and basic supplies rather than just valuables.

In any case, it hardly matters since you've got a task to do…

You kill three bandits before they even know what's going on, you then kill several of their fun women and the ogre before they all decide to stop trying to defend themselves and start running and hiding. The yelling, screaming and crying fills your ears and you realize with all the tunnels and crevices, it might take awhile to hunt everyone down, so you're going to make this easier.

"Listen up to all those that value their miserable lives! The village of Maldito is under my protection and I am their bloody tyrant. Your actions against it have come to an end! Turn over Green Eye, and I'll allow the rest of you to slink out of here. Choice is yours." You shout.

You voice echoes throughout the mine a bit and then silence.

A moment passes and just when you think you're going to have to hunt them all down anyway, you hear a thumping noise. Soon, you see a single short figure coming out from down a mine corridor; he carries some sort of rifle and is walking with a limp and a faint green glow is coming from the top of him

You then get a better look and he's a dwarf, which you didn't quite expect to be leading this rabble. He's dressed in heavy leather armor, though it might be just regular dwarven miner clothing for all you know. He's got an obvious metal leg replacing his missing one. His rifle isn't one of the usual designs you've seen in Holgard. Has a wider barrel for one thing and looks of much better workmanship. Shiny even.

His face is that of a usual Dwarf, bearded, long hair and grizzled. Of course the main thing that sticks out about him is his green "eye" which you don't think is even an eye. It looks more like a glowing gem of some sort. If it has any magic properties, they aren't affecting you (yet). His other eye is non-existent and covered with a patch, so maybe the green one just helps him see.

In any case, the man obviously has no fear and has come out to meet you alone, which means he's either stupid or he's got something to say and hoping you might be in a mood to listen.

It's going to be one of those nights you see…

"I take it you're Green Eye." You say.
"And I take it you're the one that's been fucking up my people. Edgrin said that he didn't think it was mercs and might be something worse like a vampire for example, but…bah what's done is done now. I assume if you're going on about that shithole village that means you just killed him and all my people that I sent there to make an example of the place." Green Eye responds.
"That's right, and now I'm here to kill you and everyone else here."
"Hmm, and I don't doubt that you couldn't, though I would at least like to propose a different offer. One that you might find advantageous."
"Okay, I'll bite."
"As you can see, much like Maldito, we are just a community trying to get by in this life. We are just happen to be predators rather than prey. I'm sure you can identify."
"Understand, yes. Identify. No. Because if we're using food chain comparisons, then I would the top predator and you lot are in my way…"
"Very well, I get it. How about this? We completely leave Maldito alone forever. There are more than enough villages in the area that we can shakedown. And to be quite honest, we probably don't need as much from them anyway now that you've killed about half of us."
"As far as I'm concerned, those villages are also mine."
"Come on be reasonable. You just said that you have direct control over Maldito who apparently are filled with pleading peasants willing to do whatever you want. I mean unless you're planning on carving out an empire you really don't need all those villages. I might add, that it's beneficial to have us around."
"I don't see how, you're just another competitor."
"True, but you've already made your point to us. I certainly have no plans on tangling with you ever again. Do you really believe that if you kill all of us, that there won't be another group of assholes to just take our place? Then what? You have to do this all over again and while you probably don't have any particular problems with that, you might not arrive to save your village like you did this time. These fucking mongrels and greenskins are stupid as shit and never learn lessons most of the time. I'm probably the only thing keeping them all from idiotically just razing the entire area."
"So what your saying, is I should leave you alive so the status quo can stay relatively intact and give myself less hassle in the long run."
"And to save my own ass, and the sorry asses of my community…such as they are."

It's intriguing enough for you to consider since it might be nice to just rule over the town without actually ever having to defend it again or wondering if you're going to stumble across a burnt husk of a village.

Still, this can't be a negotiation that you feel comfortable with, without some sort of capitulation on Green Eye's part.

"This sounds very nice and all, but at its core, this deal benefits you far more than me. I have no assurance that you'll keep your word. For all I know you're going to just bide your time and regroup. Perhaps even attempt to attack me." You say.
"You're joking right? What the hell are we going to do to you? We have no weapons to even hurt you with, I mean this rifle is mainly just to give me a sense of false security. You think we have any way to contact hunters even if we were so inclined? In fact I'd argue that the villages you've been feeding on would be more likely to do that than us."

Green Eye strokes his beard a bit and sees that you're not moved by his assurances.

"Okay, I think I know what you're getting at. You want tribute from us. Well how about this? We occasionally take women from the villages for…recreation. Sometimes they go back, sometimes they realize that they like it here better. How about we take maybe one or two for you as a gesture of our goodwill?" Green Eye asks.
"That's a good offer, but a child would be better. The blood of the youth always is." You say.
"A…child? You want a kid?"
"Is that a problem? The people that you sent to Maldito didn't seem to think so when they were planning to execute everyone there."
"That was different and it's just that…we don't normally…I mean…shit. Okay fine, we'll start taking children I guess. Um, how many did you need?"
"Oh not many. I mean just one every month is fine. Don't want to depopulate the area after all. And I'd say it's more than fair to you."
"I suppose it is. I accept your generous proposal."
"Of course you will, because it's the only option for you. Now then, I'll be expecting my tribute by the end of this month, have it waiting for me by the entrance, because if I actually have to set foot in this place again, it'll be the end of this community."

Green Eye nods and you turn to leave, though you're curious about one thing.

"Oh, just wondering…how does a dwarf become the leader of a bandit community full of savages anyway?" you ask.
"The mine dried up and I was too stupid to leave obviously." Green Eye answers.

Satisfied with this answer you leave the mine.

You return home, nearly at dawn. Isabella doesn't ask what you've been doing since she knows you've been doing your usual routine of hunting in the wilderness or preying upon the villages.

You imagine she'll start asking questions eventually, she's probably going to nag you about your actions possibly attracting attention, but for now you're going to just enjoy your new hobby.

You time passes...

Year 31

You finish drinking your fill of the girl and release her though she still clings to you tightly like you're her entire world despite the fact that she's already married to some young man in this village.. As usual you have left this one alive since the less outright deaths the better. Besides, the more you feed on these peasants and don't kill them, the more they seem to be enamored with you. The fools believe your "mercy" is some sort of blessing.

"Is there anything else you require of me, m'lord?" she asks in a mild daze.
"Actually now that you mention it, yeah. Now that I'm done sucking on you, I'll give you the honor of sucking on me. You know what to do." You say.

The girl nods and slowly lowers herself before you.

Now THIS is what being a vampire is all about, or at least what it should be. Lording it over the lessers and reaping the benefits. Not hiding on the outskirts of civilization.

Ever since this arrangement you've actually been enjoying yourself again. Even more than when you used to go hunting in Holgard, which you haven't been going to at all anymore.

As for Isabella, she spends all her time in her precious garden and you're starting to wonder if she even cares what you do anymore as long as it doesn't involve messing with Dert or calling attention to your home. The only time she has asked you a question is she started wondering where you were getting all the children from since she was concerned you might be "over farming" Dert, but she seemed satisfied with your answer. She's benefiting so why should she care?

The girl finishes servicing you and then you send her home in a better status for her husband than before.

Tiring of your own time here tonight, you prepare to leave and exit the "home" that you use when visiting.

Before you leave however, you're met by Vic. Usually he knows better than to crowd you like this so it makes you a little wary.

"That's close enough! Encroach on my personal space any further and it'll be the last! Now what is it that you feel the need to waste my time with?"
"Well I was just wondering, since I've been so loyal to you lord and helpful in in convincing the others to stay loyal…I was just wondering if there would ever come a time that you might bless me with the same gift that you have. Not that I would be nearly as powerful as you of course m'lord. I live to serve after all."

This again…

Vic has brought this up before, and this topic has come up with more than a few of the ladies you've been dining on.

You of course always give the same answer, that it isn't a "gift" that can be given so lightly and will only ever go to the worthy. Telling them that you can't make them vampires because you're not old enough to do it yet, wouldn't actually make you look like the "all powerful" dark lord that you've set yourself up as.

Still, as far as you know you ARE able to make them into ghouls. Isabella explained all this to you in your first weeks as a vampire. She always said making a ghoul wasn't worth it since they are some of the most pathetic creatures she's ever had the displeasure of knowing. She made one once and killed it soon after because she found its habits too disgusting and its fawning far too annoying.

Of course Isabella's personality is a little different than yours. You would probably be fine with more fawning. In fact absolute loyalty might be a plus. As for disgusting habits, well you wouldn't have to live with them on a regular basis and so what if they eat a few bugs?

However, it still isn't something you're going to just do right away and would need to think on. After all, you turn one person or multiple people into a ghoul or ghouls, how are they going to act towards the rest of the normal people? Not like you can watch them constantly.

"I'll think about it, now get out of my way!" you say and knock Vic aside.

You head home pondering the possible ramifications of taking that extra step.

When you finally do get home, you find that your night hasn't gotten less complicated.

"Have fun with your human whores?" Isabella asks.
"Thought you'd be in your garden. That's where you like to spend all your time isn't it?" you say, not even answering her question.
"True, but perhaps I've been sticking my head in the flowers for far too long and ignoring the situation that's going on."
"What situation?"
"The situation where you've apparently dominated an entire village to your will. Maybe even more."
"No, just the one. What difference does it make? I'm not attracting any attention and I've been bringing children home to you on monthly basis."
"Yes, which is why I haven't said anything, however I've been noticing a change in your behavior with me."
"You have? Surprised, considering all the time you spend in your garden."
"Okay, if you're bitching about us not spending enough time together, all you had to do is say something and I would have obliged. Since when have I not helped you out in any way I can? It's why you're here in the first place."
"And THAT right there is the problem!"
"What?"
"You treating me like a second class citizen around here!"
"Are you kidding me? I gave you fucking complete freedom!"
"You know that doesn't matter. Not really in the scheme of things. You're more powerful than me. You always will be and you will always see me as your lesser. Sometimes it feels like you scold me as if I was some child."
"Well when you act like one at times, that's what happens. And if I really saw you as my lesser, I wouldn't have even bothered with you in the first place. I saw something special in you, but obviously I was mistaken. Besides all that, don't give me that I never let you have fun business because it's not even true in the first place. If anything I've been TOO permissive. You're on a fucking power trip right now and while I get it because you feel like you're getting the attention you feel you deserve, I'm telling you right now that if you continue like this, it's going end badly."
"I don't understand WHY you're giving me shit for this. You do the same thing with Dert, you're just less hands on."
"Exactly. I'm not rolling around in the pigpen with the pork chops! You're in there, not only rolling around with them, you're also fucking the pigs. AND don't even tell me that you don't do that, because you stink of humans most nights when you come back. Though I'm not so much mad about that bit as I am severely disappointed."
"So what are you saying exactly?"
'What I'm saying is YOU are heading down a path that I've seen play out several times with others I was close to in the past. Not really willing to go through it again."
"So, what then? You're going to forbid me to do this then?"
"No, actually I'm not. You're a free willed vampire, go play with your mortals and lord it over them. That seems to be what is making you happy. What I am saying however is if you insist on doing this though, you'll be doing it elsewhere because I'm not going to sit by and watch the inevitable, let alone get caught up in it. Obviously you feel stifled here, so maybe you need to go do this anyway."

Well that's done it for you. You're not going to get threatened by an ultimatum. You and Isabella haven't been getting along for a while now anyway. If she's giving you the option for a clean break now, you probably should take it while you can.

"I'll be gone tomorrow night. I trust that will be okay." You answer.
"Fine by me. You can sleep elsewhere in the crypt though, because you certainly won't be sleeping in my bed." Isabella says.
"Yeah, probably for the best."
"Well then, it was fun while lasted and I hope you succeed in whatever it is that you're trying to achieve. Goodbye."

And with those cold last words, Isabella turns and leaves you.

While maybe you sort of knew this was coming for some time, there is a part of you that's going to miss Isabella. She did do so much for you, but ultimately you needed your freedom the most.

And now you have it.

The next night, you leave the crypt with what little belongings you still have attachment to as quick as you can. You don't bump into Isabella; you assume she's in her garden as usual.

You make your way to Maldito, where you are met with the usual praise and submissive behavior.

"Vic, get all your best builders and tradespeople together, I want a meeting with them." You order.
"Um, okay m'lord." Vic answers.

You meet with them to let them know that you're going to be around a lot more often, so you want a proper home, rather than the simple empty one room house they just let you use when you are here.

Your news is met with an overjoyed reaction for the most part, though you get the impression some are just reacting more out of fear of defying you. In any case, you aren't asking for much in the short term. Just a small underground area underneath the house you stay at.

"Oh! So like a root cellar!" one of them beams.
"Yeah…just like a root cellar." You answer rolling your eyes a bit.

In any case it's a simple enough task for them that you figure they won't take long in doing it. In the meantime, you have the unpleasant task of digging a hole in the forest and sleeping there. The first night is a real wake up call of how much better it was sleeping in a nice soft bed next to Isabella, but you need to get over that.

A month passes and it's still not finished mainly because one of the more skilled carpenters had a heart attack on the job. You're pissed about this inconvenience, but it is what it is. In the meantime, when you make your usual meeting with Green Eye's community, you tell the guard at the entrance that you won't require a child every month anymore. Instead, they can just bring a girl like Green Eye originally suggested.

By the middle of the second month it's still not finished. You have no idea what the hell is holding these idiots up. Vic says something about the structural integrity is shaky and there being a danger over everything caving in. You're getting irritated to the point that you almost lash out and kill one of them, but then you realize you need these fools right now.

So you kill the tavern owner instead. Not like serving drinks is a job that requires special skills that you need. Besides, his wife can take over and she's more compliant to you anyway.

You start wondering if this would go faster if you made them ghouls. The main problem that you can see is that they're all weak humans that aren't even in the best of shape in the first place and require sleep and regular food. If you made them ghouls they'd work for you tirelessly night and day. (They'd be able to see in the dark as well) And they could eat…well anything really.

There isn't really much stopping you now, since you now ARE here constantly to monitor their behavior.

Though there is a real desire to still not do it too, since you'd essentially be "rewarding" them all for shit work so far. If you were going to do it, you'd rather do for those that deserve it at least.

You make some of them ghouls

You might as well start making ghouls if you're going to be using this place as your new home now. You'll feel safer if with absolutely loyal day guards around anyway.

You call everyone to the village square the following night. It's a little surprising for everyone, but of course they don't want to disobey you.

"Okay, I've gathered you all here because it's come up many times that some of you desire the same gift I have. This makes sense since you would indeed be better in every way and you would also be closer to your god. However, none of you are yet worthy of such a thing. In fact some of you never will be! Yet, I am a merciful master and as such I will bestow a minor bit of my power so that you may get a taste of it. Who knows, maybe in time you will impress me to the point that I will eventually complete your transformation."

At this point your words are met with signs of hope and excitement. You expected that, so that's one less thing to worry about. You're still wondering which people exactly to choose and how many. You probably want to pick the key members in the community though, so you figure you might as well give Vic what he's always wanted first.

"Okay Vic, come on over here and we'll get started." You say and cut your arm to drain some of your blood in a cup.

"Um, me m'lord?" Vic asks.
"Yeah you! Who the hell else's name is Vic in this village? Now come on."
"Uh, that's okay I don't think I'm quite worthy yet. I believe that there are many others here deserving of your gift more."
"You're joking right? You've been begging me to turn you since I took control of this place. You're just nervous, come on."
"No, I really realize now that I shouldn't have annoyed with my petty request as I did. I thank you for your generous offer, but perhaps one of the many lovely young women that…"
"Vic, stop being a bitch and get over here!" you say raising your voice.

At this point the crowd is getting agitated with Vic's stalling and begin pushing him forward, telling him that he's a "chosen one" and he should be embracing this moment.

Vic slowly moves towards your position and then suddenly his eyes roll in the back of his head and he wobbles a bit before falling over.

"Oh for fuck's sake…" you say shaking your head.

One of the other villagers goes over to help Vic, but after some inspection…

"He's dead m'lord!" the village "doctor" exclaims.
"He's fucking dead?!" you say.
"Heart attack it seems. I believe all the excitement of being a benefactor of your glory was too much for him."
"Maybe…"

Something about this doesn't seem right.

"Kick his body. In fact I want several of you to stomp on it." You say.
"M'lord?" someone asks.
"You heard me."

Not wishing to anger you, several of the villagers comply. Vic's body just absorbs the kicks and doesn't move.

"Okay, I guess he's really dead, set his body on fire, no need to waste anymore time burying it. Actually never mind, there's a torch right here, I'll do it."

You take a nearby torch and go over to Vic's body. As you slowly lower the flaming piece of wood closer to Vic's body, you watch his eyes.

You watch…

Then just as you touch Vic's body with the actual flame, his eyes open and his entire form changes into a thin smooth gray skinned creature. Its face isn't anything like you've seen before, having only slits for a nose, a simple line like mouth and its eyes are just white orbs.

"SHIT!" it shouts in different voice than before and immediately rolls away and attempts to scramble for safety.

While the villagers are confused and scared by all this, you of course keep your cool and easily catch this creature and drag it into the empty house you reside at in the village to interrogate it.

"Okay, what the hell are you?" you demand.
"Please! I'm a doppelganger and I'm only doing my job!" it pleads pathetically.
"By job, you mean spying and infiltration! I only know ONE person that rules over a ragtag group of multi-racial misfits that might have the balls to do such a thing. How long have you been working for Green Eye?"

The doppelganger wastes no time in selling out Green Eye. It says it's been with Green Eye for quite some time, but only was infiltrating Maldito shortly after you threatened Green Eye. It says it was originally masquerading as the head carpenter, but soon changed into Vic (and in both cases obviously secretly killed) when it realized you were serious about making the village your permanent home. It of course has been in contact with Green Eye off and on the whole time.

"So what the hell is Green Eye exactly planning?"
"Well originally he just wanted to keep a check on you, but when you made Maldito your permanent home, he got more concerned. I think he's planning on attacking you directly and most likely destroying the village."
"Because that worked out so well last time. So what then has he hired hunters or something? Should have known he wasn't going to be above doing that."
"No, actually he's been crafting silver weapons for everyone. Mostly daggers, but I know for a fact he's been focusing on silver shot for the few firearms we have."
"Where's he getting all this silver from?"
"The mine I guess. Green Eye said it used to be a silver mine before it ran out."
"Well apparently it didn't completely run dry if he's got enough to scrap weapons together. Gotta hand it to Green Eye, though. He's been busy and I underestimated his fear of me. Smart of him to not tell me that it used to be a silver mine too. I didn't even think of that."
"So…what are you going to do?"
"Kill my enemy of course, might as well start with you. Wonder what doppelganger tastes like…" you say and prepare to bite.
"No! Wait! Please! I could help even more! If you attack now, you'd never get Green Eye. He's got a whole system of hidden tunnels, traps and shit. You might wipe out everyone under his leadership, but I doubt if you'd find him. He knows those mines like nobody else."
"Oh, I'm sure I'd find him eventually."
"Well, maybe, but as I said, he's probably trapped the entire place too and considering he's been preparing for you, some of those might even be dangerous to you. Let me go back and…"
"You think I'm stupid? You sold out Green Eye so quick and you were supposed to be on his side. How quick would you sell me out?"
"But this is different, I can see you're the more powerful force in this instance and I always side with the winning team. It's what my kind does. Green Eye doesn't know that you know that you know anything. In fact I can probably get him to meet with you. You're supposed to pick up your new tribute soon aren't you?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well let ME go and pick it up. Except I wouldn't go as me, I'll go as YOU."
"Wait, you're going to copy me?"
"Yes. And I'm going to arrive at Green Eye's place during the day to do it. I will pretend that I'm such a powerful and old vampire that I have the capacity to walk around in the daytime! This will throw them all off so much that they'll scramble to appease you quickly. When they drag out the girl, I will then claim it isn't good enough and that I will be back at night to renegotiate the deal with Green Eye personally. He'll be concerned enough that he'll meet with you, probably seeing if you have any other weaknesses, since thinking you can walk around in the daytime is going to cause him to discard his original plans. Of course it'll actually be you who'll meet him at night, at which point you'll easily be able to over power him and whoever else is with him. Trust me, it'll work!"

An intriguing plan you suppose, you just aren't convinced though.

"Sounds like a shit plan, and I still don't trust you. I don't think you can convincingly copy me anyway." You say.
"The hell you say! I'll have you know that I am one the most skilled of my kind! I can easily copy you, right down to your quirky mannerisms. Especially since I've been observing you for awhile now." The doppelganger says a little insulted.
"Is that so? Well prove it, and maybe I'll make a decision based on how good your performance is."

You let the doppelganger go and it has prepared itself to display its powers to you. It takes a bit longer to transform into looking like you than when it transformed back to its real form.

The first thing you realize is you haven't seen yourself in years. The dop looks like you, or at least what you looked like before you became a vampire, then again you haven't aged since then so that's presumably what you still look like.

The dop then begins to talk like you and act like you. It's very arrogant, condescending and just an all around dick.

Which means it's copying you exactly.

"See? I can pull this off! Just give me a chance and hey, when Green Eye is dead, I could help you in other ways as well!" the dop exclaims as it transforms back.

It certainly is an eager creature. You just aren't sure if you can trust it. And if you can't trust it, then why take chances?

You trust the doppelganger

You're not so much trusting the dop, so much as you're going to take a chance that it fears you enough that it's being honest. Since if it IS telling the truth and willing to work for you, he would come in pretty handy.

Still, you're going to be careful as you can about this.

"Okay, first of all, are you absolutely SURE this plan is going convince Green Eye to meet with me?" you ask.
"Yes, I am. If he thinks something is wrong, but fixable he'll more often than not take a personal approach to it even if it might risk his life, just like when he first spoke with you. If I know him, he'll probably want to appease you so he can give himself more time to re-think a new strategy of how to deal with you if he believes you can walk around in the day time." The dop says.

You can't really tell due to its nearly featureless expression, but it sounds confident in its words. You suppose that will have to do.

"Alright then, we'll try the plan." You say.
"Y…you will? Oh thank the gods! I swear I will be loyal to you!" the dop exclaims.
"We'll see, but first I need to prepare you a bit." You say and move towards it.
"Prepare?"
"Yeah, just relax a bit, don't move and… brace yourself!"

You suddenly lunge on the dop who is taken by surprise by your speed. You bite the dop in the arm and drink a little of its blood. It actually tastes pretty terrible and you nearly spit it out.

In the meantime the dop is making a horrible screaming noise and doesn't stop until you smack it upside the head.

"Stop that, it's annoying." You say and release it.
"Y…you bit me!" the dop says rubbing its arm.
"Sure did. Call it an extra precaution in case you get the bright idea to try to betray me. I can always sense where you are now. So if any of this goes south, I'm going to know where to find YOU immediately."

The doppelganger might have those empty white orbs for eyes, but you can still see the fear in them. Honestly, while you will be able to sense it if it's close by, you aren't going to be able to instantly track it from anywhere. Still, it doesn't know that.

"I wasn't going to betray you." The dop whines.
"Well, now I know you won't. Now you stay here, I'm going to go get one of the villagers so you can blend in again. I'll drain them and you can walk out like nothing happened. The body can be disposed of later." you answer.
"Wait which one?"
"What difference does it make? I dunno the tavern keeper's wife I guess. Might as well considering I already killed her husband. Plus it's an easy enough task even for you and you'll hear all the village gossip at lot easier, not that it matters I suppose."
"Mm, okay. I don't have to worry about you suddenly picking on me to bite now and I prefer female forms anyway, it's always easier when the gender matches."

You pause for a moment.

"Wait…you're female?" you ask.
"Well we doppelgangers are pretty flexible about it all for obvious reasons, but yes, I personally identify as female. Can't you tell?" she says.
"Um, no not really. I mean you're just a smooth gray nearly featureless being. It's not like I can see tits or anything. I mean…I can't even see a hole down there…or anywhere for that matter; then again I haven't really been exploring. I guess if you were a guy it would have been more obvious I suppose."
"Oh you solids with your constant exposed reproductive organs. We doppelgangers transcend such concerns since we only display them when necessary such as for sex or expelling waste. Until that time they remain hidden and protected."
"Okay, well however works…don't really want to know, but if that's the case how the fuck was I supposed to be able to tell that you're female or not?"
"By my eyes of course! Those of my kind that identify as female tend to change our eye color to white while those that identify as males tend to change them to black."
"What color are they normally?"
"Oh gray."
"Great. Very illuminating. Next time I run into one of you doppys, I'll try to remember all that."
"Erm, could you please not call me a doppy? It is considered offensive to my…"

You glare at the doppelganger as your patience wears thin.

"Um…nevermind. Just happy to serve and being included, sir." She says submissively.

You leave the house and find that a minor crowd has gathered from a safe distance. They're probably wondering what exactly happened, time to make up a story.

"Is that…thing gone m'lord?" someone asks.
"Yes, of course it is. Didn't you hear its death scream? I interrogated it first though. Apparently those bandits I thought I took care of have regrouped and will be trying to attack again. However, we know the truth now and can prepare. I'm going to track them down and finish them off for good, however I'm still going to bless some of you and when I do, you will be charged with helping the defense of this village. I trust you all will be up for the challenge should it come to that." You say.
"Of course m'lord! We all will!"
"Then we will start tomorrow night, for now though I wish to spend time with you. The rest of you go home and worry no longer about any of this." You say and point to the tavern owner's wife. She goes over to you immediately.

As the crowd disperses and obeys your command, you head into your home with your victim.

You don't bother with the foreplay and get straight to the feeding. You've done this with her several times already, but this time will be different for her. As usual she puts up no resistance and even as you're obviously killing her she still whispers "I love you" in your ear and holds you tightly.

You finish her off and drop her body to the floor. Meanwhile the dop was watching the shadows. You look at her and from her body language she cringes a bit.

"Geez… you really are ruthless. I mean I've seen you on occasion drink people, but…never quite like that. She said she loved you and you just…look I just want to remind you, I am definitely NOT going to betray you."
"Glad to hear it, now stop wasting time and take her form or whatever it is you do."

The dop wastes no time and soon there is a "new" tavern keeper's wife…actually you find out her name was Kayla. The doppelganger knew her better than you actually did, despite you feeding on her on a regular basis.

After "Kayla" leaves to get more acquainted with her new role, you look around to make sure you can dispose of the real one safely. You aren't sure why you're bothering being so secretive since the villagers would probably be fine with a doppelganger if you told them to be fine with it.

However, you do think it's probably a good idea to slowly introduce such things to them. While they may accept you as a master, they may be less willing to accept some other non-human lurking about as well.

At least not until you make some of them non-human.

The next night you start again with what you originally planned. This time you pick a married couple at random and decide to see how it goes. You give them both some of your blood which causes them to gag a bit and then generally feel "weird."

The pair of them eventually stagger back home, and you tell Kayla to keep an eye on them both since you won't be able to observe them during the day.

A couple days and nights pass and you repeat the process with them and just when you're starting to get frustrated, they start to show a change. The pair of them become more fawning than usual towards you and you don't even have to do anything. They're also paler and beginning to move in a less normal fashion. It's more of a loping gait. Their appetite becomes a lot less normal as well.

You think you've finally changed them into ghouls. You're glad it didn't take as long as Isabella once suggested it would if you attempted it.

However, you soon discover all her warnings were correct. First off, they ARE very annoying with how much they're underfoot all the time. Still, they are very obedient and they soon finish digging out the area meant to be your new resting place under the house. It's crude, but you figure it can be worked on continually. For now though it's functional enough that you don't need to sleep in a hole in the ground in the forest nearby.

Keeping them subdued when you're asleep is another matter however. While you attempt to tell them to stand guard over you, they're little like children in that they get bored and have short attention spans.

While they haven't actually attacked anyone yet, they're acting aggressive enough that it won't be long. This naturally causes some of the other villagers to be wary and now that's potentially messing up your relationship with them.

To counter act this, you give a few intimidating speeches, re-hyponotize a few of the key villagers again and have the two ghouls whipped before the mob and scold them for their behavior. The pathetic creatures soon learn that they aren't going to be chewing on their neighbors anytime soon. Still, it does make other villagers less eager to want to become ghouls now, though you're sort of wondering if it's worth it anyway.

While you're trying to keep a precarious balance of humans and non-humans together through your powers and plain old fear, Kayla reminds you that it will soon be time for her to meet with Green Eye's people and start part one of that plan. You originally thought you might send one of the ghouls with her, but that would probably just confuse them, or they'll fuck up the plan and they might even eat Kayla. So she's going alone. You're still fairly concerned about this, but this is what you've decided on, so that's what you're going to do.

You don't even go to sleep that day; you stay awake mostly pacing in your underground sleeping area. You send Stinky and Fatty (Your new names for your ghouls since you never bothered to learn their real names) to go fetch you a "drink" so you can keep your strength up. You also tell them to keep an eye out for Kayla.

At any moment you fully expect to hear the sounds of an attack above you. You aren't going to be able to help, so you hope Stinky and Fatty are up to the task.

However, the pair of them eventually come back with Kayla who is back in her human form.

"Here she is master!" Stinky says excitedly.
"Did we do good?" Fatty adds.
"Yeah, now get the hell out of here. Go dig up one of the corpses in the forest and reward yourself or something."

You hardly need to tell them twice and they both leave you alone.

"Well?" you ask.
"Well, I'm back and it's done. I made enough trouble that Green Eye will be willing to speak with you tonight. I didn't really want to be at Green Eye's any longer than I had to anyway, let alone directly confront him. Fairly certain that gem eye of his sees through disguises. In fact, I highly suggest that you not talk to him and just attack as soon as you see him, lest you fall under his command." Kayla says.
"You're joking right? I'm a fucking vampire. I am the one who commands."
"Yeah, I know you've got powers of your own, but it's that gem eye. It's magic. How the hell do you think he got that motley bunch to work for him?"
"You seem immune considering you're selling him out."
"Well I imagine that might be a combination of being a doppelganger, along with not being in his presence for an extended period of time. Whenever I was though, I felt the urge to serve him. I mean think about it, he managed to convince YOU not to wipe out his group the first time around. How the hell did he do that? I like to think I've gotten to know you well enough that you're not really a man that takes chances on potential future threats so you sparing him and everyone else seems a bit out of character."
"I spared and took a chance on you."
"True I suppose, but still…I dunno I'm just saying you probably shouldn't speak with him just to be safe."
"Your concern is touching. I'm guessing it's dark about now, I'll be heading out with the ghouls then."
"Okay, well did you need me for anything else then?"
"Not right now and assuming you haven't set me up, I will remember your actions on this task."

You take your leave of Kayla to go get your ghouls. You find them quite easily in the forest nearby finishing off a corpse. One of them hits the other and points at you.

"The master is coming! The master is here!" Fatty says excitedly and runs up to you until you smack him down.
"I need the pair of you to accompany me to an important meeting. When we get there though don't do anything until I say so."

Fatty and Stinky follow you happily as you make your way to Green Eye's mine. You feel like you're walking into a trap the entire time, but at least you've got some help. Normally you wouldn't even be concerned, but you haven't rested or fed too much so you don't feel like you're a full strength either.

Eventually you see the mine and you also see a short figure surrounded by several figures at the entrance. They don't look like his usual men though. They're all female and look very cowed for one thing.

"I wasn't expecting this." You say.
"Well considering you arrived here in broad daylight demanding your tribute and then saying it wasn't good enough, I figured I'd offer you a selection. All of these girls are from the nearby villages." Green Eye says.
"What if I want them all?"
"Well then I guess you're getting them all, far be it for me to fight a vampire that can walk around in the daytime. Interesting trick. Didn't know you guys could do that. Almost hard to believe…"
"Well you saw it with your own eye."
"Actually I didn't, I got the report second hand from one of my men. Granted I trust him…or rather I trust that he believes what he saw, but let's just say, I have some questions."
"I'm not here to answer yours."
"True, but I'm going to ask anyway, because I strongly think something weird is going on here and I'd rather we talk than it come to violence."
"Of course you would, because you'd be on the losing end of that deal."
"Most likely, but are you so sure? I see you've brought two friends with you, meaning you're smart enough to not take this meeting lightly."
"Choose your next words carefully dwarf."
"I always do. I have a hunch that we're both being set up to kill each other. I'm betting you've been talking with that treacherous dop haven't you? I bet that's even who impersonated you. It's a liar you know. All of their kind are, and I should have known better than to have one in my community. Our relationship has been cordial and can remain that way. I will even increase the tribute. We don't have to fight." Green Eye says.

Something is very weird about all this. Green Eye seems a lot more relaxed than you are right now and with how much he's talking; it feels almost like he's stalling you for some purpose. Maybe he's got his men hiding elsewhere to ambush, but there really isn't any place to hide nearby.

The fact that he's pointed out potential treachery of the doppelganger makes you suspicious though. For all you know Green Eye's telling the truth.

You attack

Whether you're getting set up or not isn't the issue. The fact remains Green Eye has obviously still been spying on you at best and gearing up to kill you at worst. You can deal with Kayla when you return because you don't intend on dying tonight.

"Kill everything!" you shout.
"SHIT! FIRE!" Green Eye shouts back.

Stinky and Fatty both advance forward and every one of the girls that looked so submissive, suddenly draw pistols out from their clothing and Green Eye raises his own large barreled rifle.

What happens next is a bit of a blur. Your speed, your ghouls and the nervousness of the girls helps you avoid most of the shots, however at this close range you still catch one to the leg.

This is enough to cause you to stumble long enough for Green Eye to pick his shot, which would have probably hit you in the head, if it wasn't for Fatty taking the silver bullet straight to his body and ripping his gut open and tearing up his insides.

You roll out of the way to avoid being crushed by the falling ghoul, and scramble to get to Green Eye who is already in the process of taking his next shot. Meanwhile most of the girls that fired at you are either running, or they're being mauled by Stinky.

You grab one of the girls that was trying to run and throw her hard into Green Eye. His shot goes wild as she hits him. By the time he recovers, you grab his rifle and then break it over his head. He falls and then you grab the girl you just threw and sink your teeth into her neck for a quick taste that you don't even finish. You then toss her dying bleeding out body aside and refocus your attention back to Green Eye who is trying to get back up.

"OBEY VAMPIRE! O…" he shouts as one last attempt to stop you.
"Not likely." You answer and then rip out his green gem eye.

Green Eye (Now No Eye) screams in agony as you crush the gem. You aren't entirely sure if it ever had an effect on you, but no point in taking chances.

He tries to pathetically kick at you from his prone position, but even with silver lodged in your leg, you easily move out of the way.

He shouts a bunch of curses at you, some that are probably dwarven, but you finally put an end to his flailing with repeated stomps to his head.

It's done. Green Eye is dead and all the bitches that were shooting at you are either dead or run off. Stinky is busily eating one of them, unconcerned with her dead husband lying nearby. You guess she's probably just happy eating and that you're alive.

You have no idea if you rest of Green Eye's people are lurking in the mine or if they fled ahead of time. Chances are, without Green Eye's leadership, whatever remains of the "community" isn't going to stay together anyway. You suppose you could go hunt them down if they are in the mines, but honestly you're a little wary that Green Eye might have set up a system of traps or something to get you in case he failed. You see no reason to bother playing in tunnels trying to avoid traps and ambushes with a wounded leg.

Instead you start destroying to support beams around the entrance and eventually you cause a cave in. If anyone is hiding inside, they're going to have a hell of a time digging their way out.

"Come on Stinky, let's go home." You say.
"Did I do good?" she asks.
"A lot better than Fatty, that's for sure.

Stinky makes a weird laugh and snuffles about looking for a choice piece of meat to take with her on the way home.

"Oh that reminds me…" you say.

When you get back to Maldito, you toss the mushy decapitated head of Green Eye towards the feet of a nearby villager who is standing "guard" as a night watch. He's a little horrified by the head, but stays put wondering what this all means.

"Rejoice citizens, Green Eye and his band of cutthroats truly are no more. I have finished them off utterly. Spread the word." You announce.

Your words and actions of course get the desired effect of praise from the villager, who immediately runs off to tell everyone (and considering that it's fairly late, waking most of them up).

You tell Stinky to go find something to do since you've got something important to take care of. She complies and runs off back into the forest.

You head to the tavern and apparently it's a slower night since not many are in. Kayla is cleaning a glass with a bored expression Everyone though looks when you enter.

"Everyone except Kayla leave. Celebrate the death of our enemies outside." You say.

You don't need to say it twice, everyone obeys and Kayla puts down the glass she's cleaning.

"So…I take it you killed Green Eye?" she asks.
"He had some interesting things to say about you before I did." You answer.
"I'm not surprised. Probably was trying to save his own skin."
"Probably, but I get the impression he wasn't completely wrong. Tell me the truth, did you sort of set that up hoping that we'd probably kill one another? Maybe just side with whoever came out the winner?"
"No, I knew you'd win. I mean you obviously had more power than Green Eye who was essentially a crippled dwarf with a bit of magic to help him. As I said, I am loyal to you now."
"Now. Interesting choice of words. Sort of implies you might not be in the future."

You stare at Kayla who begins to look very nervous.

"So…um…you gonna kill me too?" she asks.
"Should I kill you?" you ask.
"Probably not doing myself any favors, but I suppose if you wanted to play it safe, you should. However, I of course would rather you didn't. I said I could continue to help you and I meant that. There are other villages nearby, and I don't see why you can't take those over as well. I can help."
"Oh, right. The little pose as me, walking around in the daytime trick to make out like I'm a REALLY powerful vampire."
"Well, it's not a bad idea, you have to admit. It'll keep the rest of the ignorant villages guessing of when you'll show up or not. Plus you'll be able to directly take tribute, instead of relying on Green Eye now."
"Still don't see why I really need you. I mean I could easily put the fear into any village all by myself. I can create ghouls for the daytime."
"And you trust your creatures completely to not mess things up? I think we both know the answer to that. Perhaps they do learn in time, but honestly you can't afford to wait around forever for them."
"Okay, this sounds all very nice, about you wanting to serve and all of that, however WHY?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to serve me, why are you helping? You can transform into anything. Surely you could probably say go to the Delantium Kingdom and pose as an aristocrat's wife and live a safe pampered life without much concern. Why risk serving a vampire for not much reward and the threat of violence done upon you? In fact why were you serving Green Eye for that matter? I can't imagine that was much better."
"Well as I pointed out, Green Eye's magic gem had a little to do with my servitude to him. As for you, well you already bit me. You made it quite clear you could find me anywhere now so what's the point in me even leaving? I might as well try to make the best of this situation. Also, on top of being afraid of you, you're using your vampire powers on me, compelling me to stay."
"What? I've done no such thing actually. And if I were, you wouldn't even be aware of it. Well at least I don't think you would be."
"Maybe you're not aware that you're doing it. You are very alluring you know, and I have no idea why because you're even more…abrasive than Green Eye was."

You're wondering if Kayla's on to something, maybe your powers are getting stronger and you have a more "commanding aura" now. You know you always felt it a bit with Isabella and it didn't really ever go away until she made you independent.

You also wondering if you're starting to miss Isabella in some way. Not really on the physical side of things since you got the village girls for that (Though they aren't as good as Isabella of course) but just in other ways. For example, while you definitely don't want a return to someone being above you, you are starting to find it a bit boring talking with people that are quaking in fear all the time. You didn't think you would, but then you didn't think you'd ever be in this position either.

"So, you're saying it's ALL on me huh? Somehow I'm really not buying it. I feel like you have some sort of agenda." You say.
"Well, I suppose if you feel that way then I guess your choice is clear. Could you please try to not make it painful?" Kayla asks a bit meekly.
"Will you stop with that already? I'm not going to kill you…well at least not today. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you probably weren't rooting for me to get killed though you probably wouldn't have been that broken up about it if I had. Also I'm intrigued enough by you that I'd like to keep you around. It's somewhat more interesting to speak with someone who isn't completely fearful of me every once in awhile."
"I think I've made it quite clear on many occasions that I am quite afraid of you."
"Eh, yeah, but it's not the same as the rest of the mortals out there. Not to mention I don't think you're as afraid as you claim you are. But that's okay, since we seem to be on the same page with future goals, speaking of which we should start talking about those."
"As you wish, you're in charge after all."

You and Kayla begin you discuss your plans.

You time passes...

Year 34

Maldito; the village of ghouls and your ruling capital.

Though you aren't exactly sure now if what you're ruling is worth all that much.

Green Eye was terrorizing the villages in the area long before you showed up and was still terrorizing them for you when you arrived. It wasn't hard to intimidate them into submission.

If you killing their former tormenter wasn't enough to do it, then you being a vampire certain was. Kayla posing as "you" in the daytime, was just overkill.

Maldito was eventually ghoulified completely, so if a village steps out of line, you've got an "army" to threaten them with. Though once again, it's overkill considering you could wipe out every one of the villages yourself. The ghouls are just if you need something done in the daytime instead.

Ghouls really are the most loathsome creatures you've ever had to be around. Everything about them disgusts you. Their habits, their sycophantic behavior, their smell, everything. They're lower than humans and you're surrounded by them, but at least their loyalty is certain and they watch during the day.

This is what "ruling" does to you, makes you paranoid. Even with as scared as you have the rest of the villages, you still believe that one of them is going to get brave enough to actually do something about it.

Maybe to some degree you're even hoping one will just to break up the monotony.

Still it's all yours and you don't answer to anyone. You aren't sure if these are really the "best times" though. Something is missing. You spend a lot of time trying to remember the "good old days" but really when were those?

Certainly wasn't when you were enslaved by Ral, though you suppose your brief time with Lisa was the exception. You still wonder what happened to her, hopefully she's doing better than you, if she's still alive.

Wasn't when you had to spend time as a magically altered freak either. Once again, your only bright spot with that was Heather trying to help you. You've been thinking about your brief reunion with her in some of these moments of introspection and you still don't feel bad about it, but you do think that she probably didn't deserve it. Just bad timing.

When you were with Isabella? Well there were a lot of good times you'll admit, but if things were truly that good, you wouldn't have left. You can only imagine if Isabella saw you now, she'd probably just be shaking her head at you. She'd probably even be right to do so. She always did know better, but then you were meant to be free and that's always been your problem.

Even now, ruling all these worthless peasants, you still feel like a prisoner. You haven't really been free since your days as a petty thief with your sister.

Now THOSE were the good old days. You wish you could go back to those times if only for a little while.

As you sit in your own underground lair (Now properly built) you sense someone living approaching. It's Kayla. You still don't know her real name, but dops don't really have them anyway so you just continue calling her by a dead tavern keeper's wife. She doesn't even use that form anymore and just stays in her "natural" one when around Moldito. She only uses human forms (or yours) outside the village.

You're still a little mystified of her exact intentions. She's been with you for a couple years now and hasn't shown any sign of leaving or betrayal. You can't imagine that she's entirely happy with her lot. She's not a ghoul and she isn't a fearful ignorant human either. You're in charge and YOU'RE not entirely happy, so why would she be?

She has said in the past that she's happy serving you, but really have a hard time believing that. You're a tyrannical dick. Unless, she's in love with you, but that would be weird. You actually have been actively not using any sort of suggestive powers on her just to see how she acts. Besides, she's never given that indication though again, maybe you're just bad at reading the signs of a doppelganger.

"Um, am I disturbing you sir?" Kayla asks.
"Not really, just living up to the stereotype of the brooding vampire I suppose. What's going on?" you respond.
"Uh, dunno how to tell you this, so I might as well come out and say it, but I was doing my usual routine in one of the villages and apparently they've caught the attention of hunters."
"Hunters?"
"Yes, apparently a group of them were investigating the village of Ulig recently. Now I don't know if anyone said anything outright, but due to all of their suspicious behavior they might have inadvertently told the hunters something anyway. Many of the villagers I overheard seemed to be worried that they did that accidently."
"Well how many of these hunters were there and where are they?"
"They're currently in Sibogri, but they may be coming here soon. I dunno exactly how many there are, but apparently a sizable group. Ten maybe? Maybe more. I feel like this really can't be a coincidence and someone must have told someone about all this."
"Well obviously, if there are that many. I don't even think there were that many when they were in Holgard and that was a huge city. I wouldn't be surprised if there is so many due to them hearing rumors of a day walking vampire."
"Apologies sir."
"What're you apologizing for?"
"The daytime thing I know was mainly my idea and I was just apologizing to you for bringing this upon you."
"Are you kidding? This is probably the most excitement I've had in awhile. Besides, I imagine that hunters would have come around here eventually."
"So you're not mad or concerned about all this?"
"Not really, it's actually a motivator."
"Oh? Well what were you planning on doing then?"

Well that is the question isn't it?

The obvious thing to do would be to fight, but given how you've been feeling lately, you could probably very well just leave. Where would you go? You have no idea, but it's an option.

In the meantime…

"Kayla. Why are you still here?" you suddenly ask.
"I'll leave sir. Apologies." Kayla responds.
"No, not that! I mean why are you still here?"
"Is…this a test?"
"No! Look, what I'm asking and there is no right or wrong answer here, is why are you still here? I mean are you in love with me or something similar?"
"Um…well…not exactly…it's complicated. Can we talk about something else?"
"Besides the hunter thing, this day is becoming the most interesting one in years. I should have asked this question years ago. What's so complicated? You either are or you aren't."

Kayla is silent for a moment due to the awkward spot you've put her in. You can see her trying to come up with an answer and after some thought…

"Nope, it's still not simple, but I can try to explain if that will please you." Kayla answers.
"Well better than nothing I guess. Go ahead." You answer.
"As a doppelganger, we do tend towards those with power. Eventually we tend to imprint upon them unless someone better comes along. I suppose that explains why I was with Green Eye for so long. However, I was also planning to kill him eventually and take his place. That's sort of what we do."
"So…you're basically admitting to me, that you were planning on killing me all along."
"Well…it's complicated."
"So you've said. Look, you just admitted that you were planning to kill me. I think it would be in your best interest to explain in more detail."
"I honestly haven't really been planning to kill you though. I mean I assumed I would at some point, but considering I'm already impersonating you most of the time and reaping some of power thrill directly when I'm doing it, the feeling isn't as strong. Muted in fact."
"And that's it?"
"There's also the fact that you created a bunch of ghouls that I wouldn't be able to control since they know I'm not really you. Not to mention I don't think I'd be able to kill you, so I'm sort of stuck and now it's gotten to the point where I'm comfortable in my position and don't really feel a desire to leave. I mean I could, but I'd probably feel really lost for a while as I tried to find a suitable role equal in status to this one and that's not the greatest feeling for a doppelganger."

Well more enlightenment on the race of doppelgangers, but you notice she didn't entirely answer the original question. Doesn't matter you suppose, you're going to do what you want anyway, but there is one more important question.

"So you're saying that if I fight these hunters, you aren't going to suddenly switch sides again?" you ask.
"Not likely sir. Hunter types tend to be nomadic and have no real hierarchy. Also they are constantly seeking out vampires and the like to kill. I already know enough about vampires that I don't want to be hunting them on a regular basis. I'm with you sir." Kayla responds.

Well, that's something you guess.

"We're going to fight." You say.
"Never expected anything different sir. So how are we going to go about this?" Kayla asks.
"We need to gather a bit more information. If they aren't staying in the villages themselves, then that means they must be making camp in the forest. Maybe send Stinky…no wait not her. Send Lurky, to scout the nearby forest area. He tends to be quieter and smells less pungent than most of the other ghouls. I want you to keep doing your usual routine of blending in at the other villages. Try to gather as much information as possible. As for me, I'm going to start building up the defenses on this place. Probably should have done it years ago."
"You think you have time to build a wall?"
"No, but I once was a rogue and I knew how to set traps. Didn't do it often, but I knew how. If the hunters storm this place, it isn't just ghouls and me; they're going to have to deal with. The only thing I'll need to worry about are the ghouls accidently setting them off, but I think I can probably make them understand where they can go and where they can't. Let the rest of them know though, that I'm going to address them all as soon as it goes dark, so they all better be around."

Kayla nods and goes to carry out your orders. Meanwhile you work on a few things until it's dark so you can address your ghouls.

You address what's going on to your ghouls who of course all listen intently. They're actually eager to go fight right now, but you tell them there will be time for that soon. You tell them to start digging holes and placing sharpened sticks, spikes and then camouflaging them.

Not all the houses are used in the village anymore since the ghouls seem to all like just staying outside and only really enter the bigger village hall if the sun especially bothers them. You deicide to trap some of these abandoned homes since you imagine the hunters will be meticulous enough to search every home.

You spend the next few days doing this and then eventually you get a report from Kayla who has some interesting news.

"Wait, so they're torturing people?" you say.
"Yeah and they apparently got people doing this in several villages. They aren't letting anyone go either." Kayla says.
"How many of these assholes are there?"
"I still don't have an exact number, but it's looking like more than ten. Maybe fifty and I don't think this is just hunters, the Church of Joachim is getting mentioned a lot, along with terms like purging and cleansing."
"Shit, this is a fucking crusade. How the hell did we not see something this large coming?"
"Well we are a bit isolated even compared to the other villages, but I apologize sir, I probably should have noticed something sooner."
"It's done now. Lurky hasn't even come back yet, so who knows if he's still alive. This is starting to look like more trouble than it's worth. What the hell am I really fight for anyway?"

Kayla doesn't respond, she just shifts a bit nervously at your rise in temper.

You think about your options, and just flat out leaving seems like a perfectly valid one.

You fight

It may not be much and you may not entirely be satisfied with it, but this is your home for now and if you're ever going to leave it, it's going to be on your own terms, it won't be due to getting run off.

You calm down a bit and gather your thoughts.

"Okay, if these are also Joachimites that we're also dealing with, they're also going to have holy men and possibly even a little magic. We can't really afford to just wait for them to come to us, because I've run into these fanatics back in Holgard and they will absolutely kill every villagers if they think it's Joachim's will."
"I don't know much about the human gods, and nothing about Joachim, but from what I heard, I don't doubt it." Kayla says.
"Well generally the Joachimites are supposed to be pacifists, but occasionally you get a very militant sect and they can make a follower of Karn look like pussies by comparison. In any case, this could work in our favor. If they're torturing the hell out of the villagers, those same villagers are probably looking for their undead savior. Meaning me. Now I could go at night, but I'd like to keep up the illusion of walking around in the day. So I want you to take about twenty ghouls including Stinky and go wipe out any hunters or Joachimites at Ulig for starters. I also want you to encourage the villagers to start resisting the fanatics a lot better than they have been doing obviously."

Kayla doesn't look confident in your orders.

"Um…"
"Problem?" you ask.
"While the ghouls leave me be and some of them will even listen to me if I say the orders come from you, but you're asking me to herd twenty of them into battle. I just don't think they're going to listen to me like that."
"Just say I'm giving the order or hell, bring Stinky and I'll tell her and she can relay the rest…"
"It's uh, not that sir. I…um…the ghouls don't like me. Never have. I think they believe I shouldn't be so close to you when none of them get to be. I mean if it wasn't for you, I'm fairly certain they'd attack me."
"Of course they would, but I'm here, so they won't."
"That still doesn't mean they're going to be totally obedient to me. Even when I'm in your form they don't like it. I believe they find my scent offensive."
"Wait, they're offended by YOUR smell? I don't think I've ever detected any sort of scent from you. It's as bland as your near featureless appearance."
"Maybe that's problem. I'd probably have more success if I smelled more like you."
"So what are you getting at exactly? You saying you need to rub up against me or something?"
"Well I was suggesting something a little more than that. If we could be physically intimate, I believe I could adequately copy your scent and commanding presence…"

You've practically got an army of religious fanatic vampire killers beating down your door and Kayla wants your dick. You'd laugh if this situation wasn't so serious…actually you laugh anyway.

"Are you seriously telling me you want to have sex with me right now?" you say.
"I know it seems like a weird time given all that's going on, but it really would help with the task you've assigned to me." Kayla responds.
"I don't see...fuck it. If it's going to help, let's get to it. However, you're going to have to change first. I mean maybe you're a beauty right now to other doppys, but you're just not doing it for me in your natural form."
"Understandable. Um, is there any particular form you would like?"
"I dunno, surprise me? Wait, on second thought, don't surprise me."
"I think I know of a form that will please you. I've heard you describe her enough to me that I think I can copy her."
"Wait, who are you…oh."

And before your eyes, you see Kayla transform into the image of Isabella, well ALMOST the image of her. She's not a perfect match since she's only working by your description and one major thing that's standing out is the eyes. Her eyes are still those blank white orbs.

"Well? Does this work?" Kayla asks a bit hopefully.
"I suppose it'll have to, because we don't have time for you to get it perfect. Well let's get this done. Now is there anything I should know about? I mean you aren't going to start transforming into a gray blob or something in the middle of this are you?"
"Not unless you want me too sir."
"Good and no I don't. Okay, come over here."

Kayla comes over to you and the first thing she does is kiss you on the lips and puts her arms around you. It's weird, for multiple reasons. Least of which is because you're embracing something that looks like "Isabella" but obviously isn't her. While you appreciate the attempt at illusion, those white orb eyes are destroying it.

"Hold on, stop." You say.
"Did I do something wrong?" Kayla asks.
"Not as such, but…you're going to have to turn around and bend over for this."
"Oh, okay."

During the act, Kayla takes every opportunity to insist that you rub her body and press up against her as much as possible as she wants to get your full "essence." While she said she wasn't going to turn into a gray blob during this, she starts having a very "squishy" feeling to you. It's almost like her body is partially melding on to yours.

She tells you to hold her tighter and goes on about how good this all feels to her. You're a little reluctant to do so since it isn't like Kayla's a vampire and you could easily break her if you used all your strength, but then again, you partially feel like you're fucking water. And that of course makes you concerned that she's going to envelope you or something.

None of that happens though, and after an "interesting" time with Kayla, you feel even weirder about it all and there's a sticky gray coating on most of your body.

"Ew." You quietly say to yourself.
"That was wonderful! I've never known someone so intimately like that! I could really feel all your power! It was all so intoxicating! Mmmm." Kayla says and continues to rub up against you and putting your arms around her body.

She's in complete ecstasy and while you're not surprised due to your magnificent sexual prowess, there's shit that needs to be done.

"Look, you think you can take lead the ghouls now?" you say and start separating yourself from her. (Which isn't easy since you seem to be literally sticking to her)
"Yes, I think it should be easier now."
"Good, get going. I want this done."
"Very well sir."

Kayla looks a little disappointed that you're already shoving her out the door, but you had no plans on making this a permanent "thing" anyway. It's going to be a little weird now though.

However, you don't want low morale so…

"Kayla, just remember if it starts looking bad, make a strategic retreat. I can always make more ghouls, but I can't replace you."
"Why thank you sir! And I will, but hopefully it won't come to that." Kayla responds with a smile before transforming into you and leaving.

Well, now things are going to be even weirder, but you'll worry about that later.

All you can do now is wait and hope that the attack is successful.

As it gets dark, you start to grow impatient and begin to suspect the worst, but Kayla returns. Not many ghouls follow her, but she's back. She knows how much you hate interacting with "yourself" so she transforms back into her natural form.

"You're back, I was just about to go to Ulig myself. I trust it was a success?" You say.
"It was, though as you can see, there were many casualties. Most of the ghouls I took with me died, including Stinky. A lot of the villagers were also massacred as well, but I believe they are more determined to fight against the fanatics after my speech to them." Kayla says.
"Okay, it's the start. I'm going to head to Yilbov. It's the next closest village to us and hopefully they don't know what's gone on in Ulig yet, but I trust you let nobody escape."
"No, none of them fled in the first place. They fought to the death."
"Good. That's exactly what I'm going to give them."
"Wait, don't you want anyone to go with you?"
"No, I'm going to do this myself and stealthy because they're probably going to be even more alert for trouble. Better if I go alone rather than having ghouls tipping my hand. It's been awhile since I've done it this way, so it'll be fun for me."
"As you wish sir. Just be careful. The hunters and Joachimites we encountered were well prepared. Silver shot, silver weapons, even bombs."
"Not surprised but…"

Just as you're about to complete your sentence, you see a ghoul running towards you. It's Lurky. He looks severely wounded.

"Master! Master!" he shouts.
"Lurky? Thought you might be dead. What the hell happened to you?" You answer.
"I almost was! Caught and tortured! There are many many hunters and those crazy worshippers in the forest! A large camp!"
"How many?"
"Lots! Well…none now."
"Wait, you telling me that YOU killed them all?"
"No! I didn't even kill one! Had help! Someone like you!"
"Someone like me? Wait…another vampire?"

Before you even put the pieces together, a familiar figure arrives and gets all the ghouls attention in town. It isn't due to her naked body though, it's because this is a woman of great power and dominance.

"Sir…is that…" Kayla asks.
"Yes, that's her and if she's here, it can't be good."

Isabella has arrived and judging by the look of distain on her face, she's not in the best of moods.

She throws several ghouls out of her way and tells them to back off. They comply, but the fact they're all in awe of her and ignoring you completely is telling of how much power she's currently displaying. Even Kayla looks a bit entranced by her.

Isabella approaches you and you just stand there like prey.

Fortunately she just slaps the hell out of you. You take it since you don't have much choice and nobody is rushing to help you either.

You rub your face and address Isabella.

"Hello Isabella, you're looking as lovely as …"
"Don't fucking flatter me, I know how good I look! Ugh…this place…its crawling with ghouls. I don't know how you can stand the filth or the smell. I feel dirty just standing here. I understand you need humans to kick around, but I thought I taught you better than to associate with ghouls. Have you REALLY looked at the company you're keeping?"
"Yes, I'm well aware Isabella."
"Are you? Because I think if you thought about it, you'd realize that hanging around with humans, ghouls, and…shit…I don't even know what you're supposed to be." Isabella says temporary distracted by Kayla.
"I'm a doppelganger. Heard much about you. Pleasure to meet you at last." Kayla says with a little bow.

Isabella turns back to you.

"Well, at least you have someone around here with a little class I guess."
"Isabella, what are you even doing here? I thought you never wanted to see me again." You ask.
"And I would have been glad to oblige. However, your actions here had consequences. Severe ones. Did you really think that you could just conquer a bunch of villages and it NOT cause any attention? My home is ruined thanks to you."
"Wait, what?"
"I suppose its more fool me for not paying more attention to your actions, I just didn't expect you to stir up a fucking crusade. The large group of Joachimites and hunters marched through Dert and burned the entire village. The poor dumb bastards never even knew there was a vampire living nearby."
"They destroyed Dert?"
"Yes, and by the time I found out about it, the crusade had already moved on towards your area. I might have known sooner, but I had already stocked up on villagers previously and had food for a while. In any case, my reliable food source was destroyed and I went to hunt the assholes who did it. Eventually I caught up with them and found your minion getting tortured. After killing most of them with only one or two managing to get away, I turned my attention to him. Of course your loyal minion told me everything that he didn't tell his captors for obvious reasons, however I sort of suspected you were the cause of all this anyway. I warned you and you didn't listen. You never listen…"

And you feel like you're in the crypt again…

Still, as usual she's sort of right. Doesn't mean you like it though.

"Okay, I get it. So I take it you're here to help?" you say.
"Help? Well that is an interesting dilemma. If you weren't involved, I'd probably finish off the rest of these fanatics and hunters myself and be on my way, but considering that you are involved, I'm tempted to just take off and leave you to deal with the rest of the situation. I've probably killed enough of them to qualify as revenge and it's not going to change the fact that I need to find a new place to live since my livestock has all been killed." Isabella says.
"Can't you just go to Holgard or prey upon travellers nearby?"
"Yes, I suppose I could, but ugh…that's not ideal. Then again neither is looking for a new home. In any case, I'm still not convinced on helping you."

"Um…Miss…Isabella? If I may…" Kayla says.
"Actually under normal circumstances, you may not, however since I'm more willing to listen to a complete stranger right now rather than my ex, you might as well dare to address me. Say what you have to doppelganger." Isabella remarks.
"I…we…would be most grateful for your help. While you may have eliminated a great camp in the forest, there are still many enemies currently occupying the villages in the nearby area and as you said, one or two from the camp you destroyed got away. I can only imagine they are already on their way to warn their fellows which means they will be more prepared. I think we would be able to handle this situation much easier with your superior skills assuming you wish to help us, oh great mistress of the night."

Isabella cocks her head to the side listening to Kayla trying to appeal to her sense of vanity.

"Where did you find this one? It's good at this. It's respectful without being excessively annoying like a ghoul or quaking in fear like a human, and it almost comes off as sincere. It may even be sincere. However, I'm not actually interested in hearing your minions beg on your behalf. I'd rather hear YOU do it."
"What for? I mean you either care enough about your revenge or you don't. I mean I was planning on taking care of this myself before you showed up anyway…"

Kayla suddenly goes over to you.

"Sir, I really think we should take her help. There are an awful lot of hunters still alive and we would probably lose less humans and ghouls with your ex helping us. It will just be better in the long run."

You ask Isabella for help

It would be the pragmatic thing to do. Isabella is a lot more powerful than you are and at the very least, it'll make all of this go a lot easier and quicker. You put up with Isabella's superior attitude for years, you can put up with it for this small moment.

Also there is a small part…well a little more than small actually, that misses her.

"Isabella, and I do mean this sincerely, I would like your assistance on this task. I fucked up, and should have thought about consequences of trying to carve out some sort of empire of sorts. Especially when I don't have much help to begin with. I got drunk with power and overly confident about everything. So again, if it will appease you, I'm begging for your aid." You say.

Isabella looks at you as you try to look as humble as possible to her.

"Nice. Not as convincing as your doppelganger though." Isabella remarks.
"What? I'm being sincere! I really do want your help!"
"Yes, I know you do and I even know you mean it, but my concern is, are you actually going to LEARN from any of this? I seriously have my doubts about that. Chances are when all this is over, you'll go right back to doing the same thing, perhaps even believing that you'll do it better next time."
"So, you're not helping."
"I didn't say that, stop presuming my actions!" Isabella snaps.

There's a pause and then Isabella shakes her head.

"By the gods I'm too sentimental for old flames sometimes…" she says to herself.

"I will help you, but this is the last time! If you decide to continue acting like an idiot after this, you're on your own. Okay, give me the lay of the land so I know exactly where we're attacking."

As soon as Isabella is given a map of the area and told where certain places are specifically, she seems uninterested in the specifics and repeatedly says she'll take care of most of the remaining villages tonight and any remaining ones she'll deal with tomorrow night.

In the meantime you proceed with your own plan of going to Yilbov. Kayla stays behind with the ghouls.

By the time you get to Yilbov, it feels like a very familiar scene. Namely when Green Eye's men were pillaging Maldito, though minus the rape and double the torture and burning alive.

"FOLLOWERS OF THE EVIL SPAWN MUST BE PURGED! THE WILL OF JOACHIM DEMANDS IT! NOW REPENT AND ACCEPT THE MERCY OF JOACHIM BEFORE THE RIGHTEOUS FIRE CLEANSES YOUR FILTHY SOUL!"

Several villagers are tied to stakes and begging for their lives. Some are saying they were forced to serve you, others claim ignorance, and none of it does any good of course. The fanatics are burning some infidels tonight and that's that.

Meanwhile there are several hunters patrolling the village in groups of two. You manage to actually take out four of them before alerting everyone to your presence. It was a good try at least.

"IT'S THE VAMPIRE! KILL IT! KILL IT NOW!" the head zealot shouts and quickly burns the rest of the villagers tied to stakes.

Gunfire, crossbow bolts, and silver throwing knives are all fired or hurled in your direction. It's a bit chaotic with all the villagers running around, but at least some of them are taking hits for you, though perhaps not voluntarily.

You take down several Joachimites, before the head zealot calls forth a beam of light from his hands and aims it at you.

"FEEL JOACHIM'S BURNING LIGHT, DEMON OF THE NIGHT!"

You feel it all right too, and it hurts like hell when it briefly hits your chest. You quickly get a nearby villager to use as a shield, but it doesn't work, you soon smell flesh burning as the beam burns right through the villager.

You get temporary relief by ducking behind a house. The problem lies with the zealot being on a high platform in an open area and his spell seemingly following you without error. You peek behind the corner and see that he's still yelling about killing you all the while his victims are screaming and burning close around him.

While you're pondering your best move to get to him, you get shot in your side by a hunter. His next shot would have been your head had you not been quick enough to dodge. You rush the hunter and break his neck with ease and trying to ignore the pain of the silver now lodged in your body.

"Shit…need to finish this asshole. What this…oh this might work." You say and find a spherical metal object on the body of the hunter. It's a firebomb.

You grab it and the body of the hunter and go to face the zealot again.

"YOU CANNOT HIDE BLOOD LEECH! THE LIGHT WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU!" the zealot says as his light beams hit the body of the hunter.

You smell the burn and it won't be long before it goes through, but you hopefully don't need that long.

You throw the firebomb at the zealot, which misses, but it didn't need to hit him and you weren't aiming at him anyway. You just needed it to hit one of the burning villagers near him.

Before you know it an explosion occurs showering the entire area with wood, flames, and body parts. You continue to use the body as a shield. Last thing you need is a random piece of wood flying into your heart.

After the destruction has died down a bit, the remainder of the Joachimite fanatics clumsily try to bash your head in with silver cudgels. They fail and join the rest of the dead.

And there are certainly a lot of them. This village is in complete ruins. Most of the villagers are dead or hiding, a few though are angry.

"YOU! You brought this upon us all! Even Green Eye was better than this! You've been preying upon all of us and it stops today!" someone shouts and then you feel a silver bolt in your back.

"Agh! Fuck! Ungrateful wretches!" you exclaim and turn your attention to the group of peasants that have grabbed hunter weapons to finish you off.

They have about as much success as they did. Your wrath is swift and brutal. After putting down the minor peasant revolt, you address any villagers still around, but hiding.

"If you still wish to live under my protection, you had best find shelter in the nearby village of Ulig. If not, then I suggest you take to the wilderness now, and forget about this place for the rest of your short lives."

You take your leave of the village and head back home. A little slower than usual due to all the silver in the side of your body. You're going to have to get Kayla to help fish the stuff out.

Eventually you get back home and find that Isabella is already in your lair and speaking with Kayla! They're seemingly having a friendly conversation as well.

"Oh that doesn't surprise me, he's always been like that. I think his parents must have… oh speaking of which, look who just came back. Sheesh, you look a little worn." Isabella says.
"Um, welcome back sir! I was just talking with Isabella." Kayla says a bit more nervously.
"Yes, I've been finding Kayla an excellent conversationalist and it's rare I find those."
"Hm, while you two were talking I've been getting shot full of silver! I thought you were going to help!" you exclaim.
"I did and I finished."
"…but…you couldn't have! How many villages did you get to?
"Three. Five was how many you had right? You already dealt with one and I assume you just dealt with the other. Also, I managed to save most of your little humans in the process. You know what your problem is? You have too many villages to look after. You should just group all your followers in one big place. It'll be easier for you to rule that way, if you're going to insist on doing this."

You have no words you just sit down still in pain. You think Kayla is going to ask if you're okay or go see to you, but instead she continues to hang around Isabella.

"Hey, that's a good idea Isabella. See? Isn't it good you begged her for help?" Kayla says.
"Best idea ever obviously." You say.
"Okay I know what the problem is, your girlfriend isn't showing you proper attention, am I right?" Isabella says.
"What?!" you answer.
"Um…" Kayla stutters.

Isabella looks at the pair of you back and forth.

"Well that's what you two are right? I mean I've gotten a vibe between the pair of you and I'm usually not wrong on these sorts of things."
"No!" you say.
"Um…I suppose it's complicated." Kayla responds.
"What's so complicated? Not like anyone else is in the middle of this…wait, he's not fucking a ghoul is he? Because that would be…"
"I'm not fucking a ghoul!"
"Then what's the problem? You two are fucking right?"
"No!" you say.
"Um…it's complicated." Kayla responds again.

Isabella start to laugh a bit and you're getting annoyed. Kayla just remains silent.

"What's so fucking funny?" you exclaim.
"You of course. We're not together, do you actually think I care what you're fucking now?" Isabella says.
"That's not the point."
"Okay, look since I'm not going to get a straight answer from you, I'll ask your girlfriend. Have you two been intimate? Don't worry, I don't care."
"Well, we have, but it was only once and I sort of talked him into it because it was part of a plan." Kayla answers.
"Oh this just gets better. Talked him into it huh? I'm sure you didn't need to try very hard."
"Okay, you've had a good laugh, but I don't see why this is any of your concern." You say.

Isabella stands up and gives you a serious look.

"I'll tell you why, because your actions have had consequences in my life for quite some time. From the moment you showed up at my crypt begging me for Gray Moss for Ral, to the moment when you had that frozen curse and even now you brought a crusade on my doorstep. You've been quite troublesome since we met, but I've been talking with Kayla here and I've found some illumination which I didn't expect to."
"And that would be?"
"That would be despite it all, I've always helped you out because I like you. And because I do, I'm going to go back on my word and help you again."

And before your eyes, Isabella spins around and with one quick move she rips Kayla's head off and throws it across the room and into the wall behind you. You stand up as Kayla's headless body leaks gray goo from the body.

"SHIT! What the fuck did you do that for?!" you exclaim.
"What? You didn't actually love it did you?" Isabella asks.
"No! But…she was a useful servant!"
"She was serving nobody but herself. I talked with that one long enough to see that. You can't trust doppys."
"Thought you said you never saw a doppelganger before."
"I haven't, or at least not one in its natural form, but in any case I didn't say I didn't know anything about them. You don't live for centuries without reading tomes and books about things every now and then. That doppy had sex with you, meaning it most definitely gathered enough of your presence to take the next step, which was to copy you perfectly, dispose of you and take over."
"What? No, that can't be right."
"I'm serious. Have I ever lied to you?"
"I suppose not, but still…"
"Hell, it was getting friendly with me when you weren't here. I wouldn't have been surprised if it would have turned into you and then later some where down the road tried to get close to me in your form. Wouldn't have worked of course, I would have known that it wasn't you. Anyway, I should get going, it'll be dawn soon and I'm going to have to dig a hole in the ground. It's so undignified, but it is what it is."
"You're leaving?"
"Well, I told you I was just here to help. What, you weren't hoping I killed the doppy because I wanted to get back with you did you?"
"Would it really be so bad?"

Isabella walks over to you and kisses you.

"No, but we're obviously in different places right now. Tell you what, assuming you survive another century, come find me in the Delantium Kingdom."
"You not going back home?"
"No, because you're most likely going to still be fucking around here and possibly drawing attention to yourself again, plus it's not going to be the same with Dert gone. Besides maybe I need a change of scenery anyway. Going to miss the garden, but I can make another one elsewhere, better maybe. Who knows? See you around."

You watch as Isabella walks toward the exit of your lair, but before she leaves she stops.

"Before I go, tell me. When you were intimate with the dop, did she look like me at the time?" Isabella asks.
"Well… sort of…but not quite. It's complicated." You answer.
"I knew it."

Isabella laughs and leaves.

It's been an eventful night and you've got a lot to do tomorrow night, but for now, you're going to get some rest.