You quickly grab one of the many reeds nearby, break it and put it in your mouth as you sink underneath the muddy water you've been stomping through. You just hope that YOU don't get stomped on. Getting trampled on by multiple lizard feet would be a pretty ignoble death.

Of course this isn't even counting whatever the hell might be lurking under the water ready to swim into your ear and lay eggs in your brain. (You have an overactive imagination sometimes)

You lay on the muddy swamp floor, trying to make yourself as small as possible. Doesn't take long before you hear the sounds of lizards shouting their incomprehensible language and running past you, though it's very muted and garbled due to you being underwater.

Despite the water being muddy and your sight getting blurred in the process, you do see a couple of large looming figures run past from your prone position. A couple of the sotakian's taloned feet stomp near you. One right near your head, but you get lucky and none of them actually step or trip over you.

Still, you aren't sure if all of them have passed so you're reluctant to move, fortunately Tych returns and flies near your reed. You can't quite make out what he's saying, but you think you see him waving his arms like an "all clear" signal, so you sit up out of the water and catch a good breath.

"That was quite the bit of quick thinking, plivik." Tych remarks.
"Are they all gone?" you ask in between breaths.
"Yes, I believe so, quite a lot of them actually. From above, I could see them spread out all over the nearby area, you got very lucky. I doubt if running to the left or right would have escaped their gaze."
"Where did you go?"
"As I said plivik, I just flew straight up until they passed. Are you surprised? You already claimed I wouldn't be useful in a fight."
"Yeah I suppose not. Actually with that many, pretty sure I'd be dead as well."
"Glad you're not holding a grudge plivik. In any case, our destination should be a whole lot manageable to deal with now. I suspect only a few sotakians remain in the village so your job should be easier. I will still scout the village to let you know the best approach of course."

You're really hoping that will be the case, because as sopping wet as you are now, you're not exactly in the highest spirits and are eager to get this shitty task over with.

You and Tych make your way to your destination and sure enough the sotakian village is fairly empty. There are still a few lizards around and sure enough a couple of them are guarding a big lizard statue in the center of the village with blood gems for eyes.

Fortunately Tych also mentions that there are some bamboo cages with elves in them. He says they look miserable and in terrible condition (he mentions that pretty gleefully), but he thinks if they got free, they'd certainly try to make a run for it.

So that's your plan, you're going to create a distraction by releasing the prisoners.

You cautiously approach the village and sneak around the huts, hoping that none of the little lizard children wandering around suddenly stumble upon you. When you get to the cages, Tych wasn't kidding about the elves. They look like they might have been in here for weeks and they're skinny even for elves.

However, when they see you, they take notice, but say nothing. You reinforce this by putting your fingers to your lips and then working on the lock. The lock itself isn't even metal, its' a simple latch mechanism that can easily be opened from the outside, so it's child's play to you.

The prisoners looks so thankful and a couple even whisper a few things that you don't understand in their native tongue, but you assume its some sort of thankful. They all start to make their way out and then that's when you nod to Tych and get out of the immediate vicinity.

Tych flies over to the sotakians and begins shouting at them and pointing over in the direction of their prisoners. The sotakians are a bit confused at first by some sprite yelling at them and would probably swat him down, but when they look to where Tych is pointing, they find their escaped prisoners a lot more important to chase down.

The lizards guarding the statue, along with most of the others chase after the prisoners who are now running for their lives. With the village nearly completely empty of any warriors of any kind, you make a dash to the statue and begin prying out its eyes.

While you're not exactly slow in this task, you're certainly not fast enough to escape completely unnoticed, especially since there are still lizard children and a few mothers (At least you're assuming the remaining adults might be female, you can't tell) still in the village and notice your desecration. They begin hissing and converging on your position.

With the gems in your possession, you pull out your sword and begin making a hasty retreat out of this accursed swamp. Lizard children might be small, but they still have a full set of sharp teeth and piercing talons. They're fairly fast too, especially since they're used to this environment. You have no choice but to cut a couple of the little scalies down in your escape, but not before they lay in some good bites and claw slashes on your arms and legs.

It's probably only because of these casualties, that they stop pursuing you as the rest of them get scared and the mothers wish to keep the rest of their broods safe. (You hear some odd wailing noises behind you)

Eventually you put a lot of distance between you and the village. You sort of lost him again in all the mayhem, but you soon find out that Tych is never far from your position.

"Whew! That got intense! I almost thought you weren't going to make it plivik, with all those sotakian children trying to eat you." Tych says.
"I didn't think I was for a moment." You answer taking a breather.
"This might be a weird question, but do you feel bad for killing sotakian children?"
"What?!"
"I mean I know it was a matter of life and death, but still…"
"Damn right it was a matter of life and death! I didn't enjoy it if that's what you're asking, but then I didn't exactly have time to worry about the moralities of killing little scaly children either, who I might add were probably more dangerous than typical wild predator. Felt like I was getting attacked by a pack of animals rather than anything with higher intelligence what with all the growling, hissing, biting and tearing."
"Apologies plivik, I just sort of wanted to know what kind of person you were. Just as you weren't completely sure about me, I also wasn't completely sure about you. I am glad to see you are a person that doesn't enjoy killing even if you are pragmatic by nature. It would have made me hesitant to take you back to my village even if I do desire freedom."
"Hold on, who said anything about going back to your village? We got the gems, we're going back to Ral's."
"You still don't trust me, after all we've been through, plivik? Don't you want freedom? All we have to do is go back to my village and we can be free of Ral's spell! I can even lead you safely out of this forest and have you back on your way to Holgard or whatever other human settlement you had in mind to go to. And you could even think of those blood gems as your reward for this whole shitty experience. Those have to be worth quite a bit. Not like they're common."
"Why don't we just get out of this fucking swamp before I think anymore about this okay?"
"Very well plivik."

Tych shuts up for awhile and the pair of you make your way back. You feel like once you're out of the swamp, the worst of this will be behind you. You have some concerns about potentially bumping into more lizards or even elves, but Tych is fairly confident that won't be the case.

"The sotakians barely ever retreat and especially not on their own territory. Also, the lot that came from the other village will have probably cut off the elves from any sort of escape. Those stupid pliviks are going to be completely massacred. Elves deserve what they get. I hope the sotakians also hunted down those other ones and recaptured them." Tych remarks.

Strange that Tych should be so concerned with your possible enjoyment of killing when he himself obviously gets a lot of pleasure from elven suffering. You get the real impression that elves must have done more to him than he's already said. It's the only explanation for his sadistic hatred.

When you make it back to the forest, night is beginning to fall. You walk a little longer and eventually you make it back to the tree where you slept the first time you passed through this way.

The next morning Tych is buzzing in your ear about heading back to his village again. Considering you'll arrive at the fairy ring in a few hours, it isn't surprising that he desperately wants a final answer from you about the subject.

He already made some of his points yesterday. Besides the obvious freedom, you'd be pretty well off with the blood gems you have.

You head to the fairy ring

You might have very well gone with him as Tych was more or less helpful during the task and didn't display any outward signs of treachery.

However, you did notice one thing in something he said yesterday…

"So what does plivik REALLY mean Tych?" you ask.
"Huh? I don't understand. I told you, it means friend." Tych says.
"I don't think it does."
"Well okay, it's not an exact translation, but it's basically the same thing."
"If that's the case, then why did you refer to the elves as stupid pliviks yesterday when you spoke about them?"
"Erm…I did?"
"Yeah, you did. And given your extreme dislike of them, I doubt very seriously that you were calling them friends even if it made sense in the context that you were speaking about them. Which it wouldn't."

Tych at this point begins to try to explain that the word has several meanings in his language and it all goes back to the complexities of sprites' rich and long history of linguistics. The whole time he's telling you this, he's also flying away from you to a safe distance, which pretty much tells you all you need to know.

"Uh huh. We're going back to Ral's." you say.
"Noooo! I can't go back there, not after being in the outdoors again! I want to be free! Come on pliv…come on friend, you really want to be Ral's slave? Wouldn't you rather be free?"
"Sure. But the problem is, I don't fucking trust you to be the one to help me in that task. Ral said you led twenty other sprites to their death to save your own life, I can't know if that's something similar that you have in store for me so you can gain your own freedom. For all I know you might even be trying to get me killed for the shits and giggles given how much you enjoy elven suffering."
"Now that's not true! I don't hate humans. I wouldn't get any pleasure out of leading you to your death."
"Oh? I guess that's comforting to know that even though you WERE going to lead me to my death, that you wouldn't laugh about it."
"Well of course I wouldn't laugh… I MEAN NO! No, I wouldn't even do that! Shit! You're confusing me!"
"Glad I'm not as confused as you seem to be. We're going to the fairy ring and teleporting back to Ral's place."

Tych tries to convince you that he doesn't have some hidden agenda, but it falls on deaf ears. Eventually he gives in and goes into a litany of swears and curses the whole time you travel to the fairy ring. "Plivik" comes up often, and at this point you imagine that means something like "asshole." Basically Tych's been calling you an asshole since the journey began.

When you teleport back to Ral's place, you find yourself in the same location as you left. Tych looks depressed again as Ral enters the room.

"Ah, I sensed you two came back. I must say, you look a little weathered and worn, though I suppose this task would have its challenges. I trust you didn't encounter too much trouble?" Ral asks.
"Would it matter if we did?" you ask.
"Not really, so where are the gems?"
"Here."
"Thanks, and Tych was helpful? Didn't try to talk you into anything foolish?"
"Nope, he was completely beneficial. Don't think I could have done it without his advice actually."

Ral's surprised to hear you say that, and Tych even more so. The sprite probably thought you'd tattle on him. Honestly, you didn't see much point in doing so though. Ral already told you Tych was treacherous, all it would do is confirm what he told you and it isn't like Ral is going to punish him any more than he already does by keeping him in a glass jar.

As far you're concerned, this might keep the pair of them guessing. Tych especially, assuming the mini-bastard has got any sort of conscience. If he does though, not snitching on him COULD help in the future. Long shot of course, but it's not like you have many potential allies at this point who might help you.

Eventually Ral dismisses you and Tych gloomily follows him into the lab. You take the opportunity to go clean yourself since you're still covered in mud and swamp water.

You hope by all the gods you don't have go there ever again.

You time passes...

Year 21

When you first started messing around with Lisa, she was just like all the other young Dert girls that had started taking an interest in you when you started coming around a lot more. Just a bored girl that found you to be a spark of excitement in her backwards little village.

Lisa however, stood out mainly because she wasn't naïve or outright stupid like rest. (You still laugh about the one girl who thought she was going to force you into a crossbow wedding by having a child. Unfortunately for her, swallowing doesn't result in pregnancy.)

She managed to keep your interest and not in just a physical way. Before you realized it, you were in a relationship again. But it was nice since it allowed you a bit of escapism from your own prison like situation. (And certainly cheaper than going to Holgard whores)

While her father has threatened you with physical violence on several occasions (As many others have as well), you and her have always found places to meet. She always listens to whatever tales of "adventure" you have to tell her. Sometimes you make it sound more exciting than it really is, but she always enjoys them and asks many questions since it's like she's able to experience some of the excitement vicariously.

Lately though it's starting to look like your stories don't quite quell the restlessness that Lisa seems to have…

"Holgard? Oh you don't want to go there now. I think they're about to have a city wide riot or revolution or some shit." You say.
"Well that certainly sounds more interesting than having to milk cows all day." Lisa replies.
"You're also a lot less likely to get killed milking cows."
"Perhaps, but you still get to do interesting stuff all the time, what with you working for a wizard and all."
"I wouldn't exactly say I'm working for him. I think I've already confided to you about my situation as far as that goes."
"Yes I know and that's also a cause for me to worry about our future. It even causes me to have concerns about your feelings for me."
"Oh come on…you know how I feel about you."
"Do I? I sometimes get the impression that you probably wouldn't come around if you weren't tethered by the wizard's spell. I imagine we probably wouldn't have even met if it hadn't been the case. Am I wrong?"
"(Sigh) Well…yes IF Ral hadn't magically enslaved me, we probably wouldn't have met. But it happened and we DID meet AND I chose you to be with. I mean doesn't that count for something?"

Lisa doesn't answer right away; she just takes your hand and looks into your eyes.

"I know you probably do have feelings for me, but I also can't shake the feeling that I'm just a nice distraction from your situation, just as you're a nice distraction from mine. We're both prisoners of a sort, but the difference is my cage is of my own accord." Lisa says.
"What do you mean?" you ask.
"What I mean is I would like to leave this boring village, but the only thing that really holds me back is fear and the lack of any real skill to survive in the outside world, or at least the world you've described to me. And I know you can't be making it all up despite you probably wanting me to believe all those impossible feats you've done."

Lisa gives you a small hug and kisses you on the cheek, which causes you to embrace her a bit tighter than usual. You feel like she's saying goodbye to you right now, but that isn't the case.

"I'm obviously not going anywhere yet, but I'm just informing you that things need to change a bit at some point. I know we have fun together and I hope we continue to have fun together for many years to come, but don't take me for granted."

Lisa goes back to looking at the sky probably still thinking about wanting to leave her boring farm life behind her while you're thinking about how much of an idiot you've been for filling her head with tales of adventure.

You couldn't have just stuck with one of the dumb passive ones could you? Why the hell did you go for the independent thinker of the village?

Well it's done and to be honest it's that trait that made her more attractive anyway. It isn't like you can blame her for wanting to leave Dert. The place is duller than Teckleville ever was.

In any case, you aren't willing to risk losing Lisa even if she isn't likely to leave in the near future. You have to at least make the effort to keep her around. Your reasons are probably selfish, but she's also correct that you would miss her if she weren't in your life.

This would be a whole lot simpler if you weren't under Ral's spell. Maybe it's time for that situation to change. Of course even after all these years, you still have no idea of how to do that and Ral doesn't seem to be relenting anytime soon.

Of course you do have another option and that's going back to Isabella. Despite her invitation of coming back to see her at anytime, you never have for several reasons. Still, you have pondered it many times because you believe that if anyone knows how to break Ral's hold over you, it would be her and she'd probably be willing to help given how much she doesn't seem to like him.

You ask Isabella to help you

This isn't even just about keeping Lisa in your life, this is about not being Ral's whipping boy anymore.

"You're right Lisa, things do have to change." You say and stand up.
"Wait, where are you going?" Lisa asks.
"I'm going to make moves in changing my situation and by doing so, hopefully it changes yours as well."

You start to walk away and Lisa goes after you.

"Wait! Hold on! I don't want you doing anything rash! I mean like I said I'm not going anywhere! I was just talking; I mean I can't imagine I'll ever have the courage to leave Dert anyway. I'd rather be stuck here and you still be alive!" Lisa says.
"Lisa, don't backtrack now. You made a good point and your desires are perfectly reasonable. Why should you be stuck here? If I'm around, all it's going to do is give you an excuse not to take that next step. You'll grow old and resentful that you might have done more with your life." You say.
"I just don't want you to do something that's going to get you killed."
"What if I should die on some fool mission for Ral anyway? You willing to risk wasting more years you could have spent doing something else? No, you had the right idea from the start. You can't be stuck here and neither can I. If I die doing this now, then at least that releases you from any excuse of staying in Dert. Also, this has been a long time coming. If it alleviates some of your concerns however, I'm not going to just attack Ral. I can't, even if I thought I'd be a match for him. Anyway, hopefully the next time I see you, I'll be free. Either way, you'll most certainly be."

You give Lisa a kiss goodbye and leave her to go talk to Isabella.

You head to the Dert graveyard and even though it's still daylight, you don't bother waiting until dusk. You just open up the secret entrance and head down to Isabella's "foyer." Out of some concern for your safety and wishing to show some sort of respect, you don't go any further than that and just call out her as loud as you can several times.

You don't get an answer right away and you can't even be sure if she heard you. She could be a deep sleeper. You aren't sure about vampire habits after all.

You think you're going to have to wait anyway, but you soon get an answer when you hear footsteps and Isabella appears to you in the entrance that leads deeper into her home. (Yes, she's still naked like last time)

"You play with your life, waking me up like this human." Isabella says.
"As I remember you told me not to be a stranger." You answer.
"Hmm, a minor failing on my part thanks in part to your delicious blood. However, you're here now and I'm awake, so state your business and I hope this isn't related to Ral again."
"It is, but it's against him."
"Oh? You have my attention."
"I was hoping you could free me of him. I mean you sort of implied you could when we first met."
"I did? As I recall I said I could kill you, but I wouldn't since I know how hard good servants are to come by. Never really said I could break a geas."
"Well, I guess I just sort of thought you could given how um… long you've been around. Surely you're very powerful."
"Clumsy attempts at flattery (sigh). Though I suppose you're at least trying. Look human, I don't have anything against you. Actually, you're an alright sort, but I just can't help you. Well not in the way that you'd like, though I could be wrong about that."
"What? Does it require you drinking some more of my blood? Here, have at it!" you say and start exposing your neck more to Isabella who steps towards you.
"Oh, it would require more than just your blood to break the spell."

Isabella at this point gets very close to you and begins to show her fangs. Then suddenly she looks up and sniffs the air and with a minor snarl, she throws you aside and rushes up the stairs behind you.

You're bewildered by all of it, partially due to taking a hard hit against the wall and the other fact that she just ran up the stairs and it isn't even nighttime yet.

Just as you're about to follow to see what it's all about, you hear some squealing and cries, which get closer. Your heart sinks when Isabella returns with Lisa and has her by the hair.

"Irresponsible fool! You didn't think to close the door behind you when you entered my home? I can only guess this one is from Dert. You know her?" Isabella asks.

You quickly say you do, as Lisa displays her fear, sadness and probably confusion on the situation clearly on her face and her cries. You can't believe you didn't know that she followed you.

"Isabella, she didn't know. Please, just let her go." You say in a calm manner while raising your hands.
"Let her go? Yeah, I can't do that. She'll tell the rest of those Dert idiots about me."
"I won't…" Lisa starts to say before Isabella twists her hair and forces her to her knees.
"Silence! YOU don't get to say anything!"
"Come on Isabella, she's so fucking scared, she's not going to say anything about you. Besides what are you worried about? Surely a bunch of stupid peasants are no match for you."
"More clumsy flattery. Stupid peasants can do a whole lot more than you think if there's enough of them and they're angry enough. They can certainly cause me enough trouble that I'd probably have to move. I chose this place because it's a nice quiet area far enough away from that city full of criminal blood bags and a blissfully ignorant village close by."
"Wait! Can't we come to some sort of understanding?!"
"Ah yes, you always do like to make deals don't you? Well let's see, before this one so rudely interrupted us, I was going to free you from Ral. If you're still interested in that, I can oblige, however I don't think you're going to like it."
"What is it? Please, if it'll save Lisa and give me my freedom then I'll pay the price!"
"Well, just so happens that I'd like a manservant of my own and despite this recent display of incompetence, I think you'd make a worthwhile one. You certainly are no stranger to menial labor and you're at least pleasing to the eyesight."
"Wait, you want me to pledge myself to you or something?"
"More like or something. I'm asking you to give yourself completely over to me of your own free will. When you do that, then I can drain you dry and we can begin."
"Wait…are you proposing what I think you are?"
"Yes."
"But I'd just be substituting one form of slavery for another AND I'd be dead on top of it!"
"The term is actually undead and really now, you can't possibly compare serving me to be the same as serving Ral. I don't see why this is such a hard decision. I've known mortals who would have jumped at the chance you have. And given that we've already shared a bit of…closeness in the past, I know damn well there's a part of you that likes the idea."

It's taking everything within you to keep control of your own emotions at this point. You don't like the fact that you're so powerless to help Lisa directly.

Lisa doesn't say anything, but just continues to look on at you in fear and just sobs quietly. You can't tell if she wants to tell you to do it, to save her own life, or not to do it because of the consequences. Your only thought right now however, is to save Lisa.

"Alright! Alright! I'll do it. Just don't kill Lisa!" you shout.

Isabella smiles when you say that while Lisa just weeps.

"Are you sure? I need your full cooperation on this. I can't just go transforming you while you're under a geas unless I have your complete submission. Do I have your complete dedication to me?"
"Yes, whatever you want!"

Isabella suddenly picks Lisa up by the hair and tosses her hard into the wall. You instinctively go to help, but are stopped by Isabella who has already grabbed and stopped you.

"Feel free to grab my ass again if it makes you feel better about all this." Isabella says and then bites down on your neck.

It's the same as last time. First pain, then discomfort and then just a weird dizzy feeling. Soon light headiness follows and then you're starting to lose consciousness altogether.

Just before you do though, Isabella stops feeding on you and then quickly bites herself on the wrist. Using the open wound, she pours some of her blood into your own mouth and a metallic taste hits your tongue and eventually slides down your throat.

"Haven't done this in a while, but I think I'm actually wet with anticipation. Mmmm…" Isabella remarks and then kisses you on the mouth before finishing you off.

Everything goes dark.

You don't know how much time passes, but when you wake up, you're feeling quite different. You're not breathing, you're cold and you're hungry.

And that's when you see you're in a room with Lisa who is in shackles on one of the walls. She's been stripped naked and her head hangs down.

"Lisa…?" you utter as you start to stand up.
"Don't worry my little cryptmate, she's not dead. I keep my promises, however I obviously still can't let her leave." You hear Isabella say causing you to turn your head to your left.

Isabella leans in the doorway of the room you're currently in with her arms folded as if she's studying what you're going to do next.

"She can't just stay prisoner here." You say.
"Well that's about the only choice available to her." Isabella replies.
"Couldn't you have just erased her memory or something? I thought vampires could control minds."
"We can hypnotize and charm if we're up close to a mortal, but that's really more for short periods of time and just long enough for us to get someone and finish them off. Of course if we bite and release, we need to keep visiting that person to keep them docile. However, I'm not really keen on travelling back and forth to Dert everyday. I prefer to keep my blood slaves in my home so I know exactly where they are. Nothing worse than your dinner suddenly regaining their free will or getting themselves killed in something unrelated."
"Wait, is THAT what Lisa is for? Your blood slave?"
"No. She's YOUR blood slave. Think of this as my gift to you, along with this being your first steps in learning what it truly means to be a vampire."

You don't even know how to feel. You're absolutely speechless. Isabella has played a cruel trick on you. As you're still in shock, Isabella continues.

"Now, I can tell by your face, that you probably believe me to be the worst sort of monster, but let me tell you, this is me in a merciful mood. Your little…human is currently in a trance that I put her in. Now YOU can keep her that way yourself with my guidance and in doing so, you should be able to feed on her for quite some time without having to get a new person. This should get you used to the idea of what you need to do in order to survive now, not to mention this girl was someone you had feelings for. If you can get over feeding on her then you won't have any lingering pangs of conscious in the future which will make this all much easier in the long run. Trust me, I know."
"I can't…I can't just drink Lisa's blood and watch her waste away as I slowly kill her!
"Well she's going to waste away eventually even if you don't feed on her. In fact it'll just take longer and since I have no intention on keeping her in a trance, you can decide if you want to hear her cries and screams as she eventually gets to the point where she's begging for death as a release from this horrible situation. Or you can decide to keep her docile until she eventually just dies quietly. Up to you, she's your responsibility."

Isabella talks about Lisa being in a horrible situation, which it is, but at least she's completely unaware of it, unlike you. Lisa wanted to leave her village and now it's looking like she's never going to leave this room thanks to you.

You're wishing you never came here. You feel a mixture of negative emotions right now, and maybe it's due to your new state of unlife they feel worse than you ever remember. The worst you've ever felt was during the time you killed Klint after he stabbed Annah.

Right now, your feel like that multiplied by ten, but you're desperately trying to maintain something of rational thought. Then rage takes over, rage like you never had before. You abandon all caution and attack Isabella.

Isabella doesn't even look surprised. She rolls her eyes and even with your new quick vampire reflexes, Isabella easily takes you down and pins you. You snarl, and struggle and try to get up, but she's just too strong for you.

You don't even know how long you do this for, but eventually Isabella tires of your resistance and takes your head and smashes it into the hard stone floor. Would have definitely killed you had you still been human, but instead you're just left temporarily dazed.

Isabella follows up with a few punches and then a display of dominance with her face transforming into something much harsher and monstrous than you've seen before (even whenever she bit you) you briefly wonder if your own face has transformed as well since you didn't give much thought to such things at the time.

With the fight taken out of you, you finally relent. Isabella's appearance also changes back, but she still maintains her hold on you.

"You're lucky I don't stay mad for long, but attack me again and you'll see how mad I can really get." she says.
"You might as well just kill me now and be done with it then." You say.
"Oh no, you don't seem to understand, you're MINE. I didn't transform you into a vampire just to kill you. You'll soon learn that there are things much worse than death…MUCH worse."
"Oh like what you are forcing me into?"
"Hey I didn't force you to do anything. You could have declined my offer and walked away. You gave yourself willingly to me."
"Yeah, to save Lisa! Not this! If I knew you were going to twist shit around…"
"You probably STILL would have made the same choice. Face it. You wanted to be free of Ral and you were tempted by my offer anyway. Saving your human was just an added bonus."
"Stop calling her my human! Her name's Lisa and she's my girlfriend!"
"That's cute, but I'm your girlfriend now. Congratulations on trading up."

Isabella is now just mocking you. Now that you've calmed down a bit, you start trying to think of an unconventional way to still save Lisa.

"Okay. I get it. You're in charge. But maybe we can make a deal." You say.
"Again with the deals. If I hadn't already drained all your blood, I'd swear you were part infernal. Very well, this should be entertaining…" Isabella remarks.
"What if you make her a vampire?"
"I'm not turning her into a vampire; I'm obviously already going to have my hands full with you learning about your new vampire life. I've got other things to do with my time."
"I'll do it then!"
"Hah! Nice idea, but you aren't nearly powerful enough to do that yet. You're not even powerful enough to turn her into a ghoul. In any case I do not wish to have another vampire here anyway. Call me old fashioned, but I believe three is a crowd and I don't see much benefit for me. I'm not into women or orgies, despite all the myths about vampires being decadent sex fiends. I'm also not trying to make a fucking nest. Been part of one of those before and it's worse than living around mortals. So let's stop all this nonsense about turning this…Lisa into a vampire."
"I…just…I can't kill her."
"(Sigh) Very well I can see that perhaps this was too upsetting of a lesson. I will do it to spare you the anguish, but I really hoped you were going to be stronger than this."
"Wait! You said she's mine."
"Yes, I did."
"Then I can do what I want with her correct?"
"If you're suggesting that because she's yours that that means you can release her, you're sorely mistaken. This isn't some contract that you've found a loophole in. My word is still final on this matter."
"No, but she's my responsibility you said. That means I can take care of her if I wish right? Couldn't I just keep her hypnotized and make sure she gets food and water?"

Isabella smirks at your question.

"So you wish to keep her as you would a pet then? How long did you intend on doing this for?"
"Until I can transform her into another vampire."

Now Isabella laughs and completely releases you, allowing you to sit up.

"She won't live long enough for that to happen. You'll abandon that idea as your feelings for her fade or give in to your own hunger first. If by some miracle you some how manage it, she certainly won't be young like you are anymore. You'll be transforming her in her later years…unless you transform her into a ghoul before then, but that has its own set of problems. No, I don't see this working, but if this is REALLY what you want, then sure."
"You're saying yes?"
"I am. It will be interesting just to see how long you last. I imagine you'll last at least a few years even. One of your attractive traits is you obviously have a sense of loyalty and even a little nobility despite your lowly origins. However, the care for your pet will be your responsibility along with your other ones for me and if your pet becomes a problem then I'm going to step in and I think we both know what that means correct?"
"Yes, I understand."
"Very well then, I suppose I should teach you how to maximize some of your new powers, particularly the whole hypnosis thing. Afterwards, I'll give you the tour of my home proper, then you can get to work on what duties I require of you. While I'm sure you won't find most of those fun, I can guarantee one of them will be despite however you may feel for Lisa. That being said, let's get started."

Isabella takes you over to Lisa who is still in a trance. She even releases her from her shackles for this lesson. As you're listening to her instructions, your gaze briefly passes over your wrist and you realize the little symbol that Ral put on you is gone.

You aren't sure if the cost was worth it.

You time passes...

Year 25

How the hell do you keep a vast underground crypt clean?

Answer: You don't.

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 clean. Doesn't look like the slaughterhouse that one would expect it to be.

Unfortunately due to being at her beck and call that means you get to help her or at least do most of it now. As one would expect, it takes up most of your time. You think between her and Ral, you've done more housework than thievery.

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 it.

She also has you doing her. You can't be sure if it's true affection she has for you or just her basic needs that she wants satisfied. It feels like the latter most of the time, but there are moments where it seems to be more. It's just a weird situation altogether and while you'd hate to admit it, its one of the better things about being in servitude to Isabella rather than Ral.

Meanwhile you've got a project of your own in the form of Lisa. You spend whatever free time you have with her. Making sure she's provided with nourishment and drink. Usually you just steal food from the farms in Dert along with drawing water from their well, but occasionally you get something different from Holgard and try to mix things up. (You never thought your thievery would ever be used primarily for food!)

Lisa's reactions to everything are very "neutral." That's of course mainly due to the perpetual trance she's in. She is always polite and docile, and never really doing too much on her own, not that she would have much to do anyway considering she's mostly relegated to her single room. (That you've also taken time to furnish)

Isabella says that in time, you'll be able to get her to behave more like a "normal" person, but the fact is, she'll always be acting according to how you want her to act. Much like a puppet. It's all pretty frustrating.

There's also a part of you that is starting to wonder about what you're doing. Are you doing this because you love Lisa? Are you doing this out of some sense of guilt? Or are you doing this just to pass the time?

At this point you don't know anymore. It can't be out of a sense of "humanity" because other than Lisa, you've adjusted fairly well to the whole snatching up people and drinking their blood until they die thing.

You wonder if maybe you should turn Lisa into a ghoul, since apparently she'd have a lot more free will, while still remaining dedicated to you.

You stare at Lisa who sits quietly in her chair staring in such a way that it almost makes you think that somewhere within her head, there's a part of her that's still the free willed Lisa and she's screaming to get out. Would transforming her really be any worse than she is now? It wouldn't be perfect, but at least she'd be able to do more things on her own without you needing to tend to her constantly.

"I figured you'd be in here." Isabella remarks upon entering the room.
"I finished cleaning for today…or did you need something else?" you answer.
"Not right now and surprisingly my garden doesn't need tending to at this moment. I'm just checking up on you I suppose. Did I interrupt a potential moment of bliss between you and your pet?"
"What?"
"Oh come on, you don't need to deny anything. It's not like I care. I'm hardly jealous of that."
"…no! No! I don't do that with her!"
"What seriously? I figured you were just really quiet about it. Or maybe on the occasions you took her deeper into the catacombs, you were fucking her in one of the more secluded spots there. Guess that explains why you keep her clothed."
"I sometimes take her for walks because I believe she needs a change of scenery every once in awhile. And I'm not having sex with her, because I'm not a rapist. She's under a trance."
"So are all the folks we keep here to take blood from, except we're ultimately killing them. You don't seem to have a problem with that."
"It's…it's just different."
"I suppose it is…but not really. I have to admit, I didn't think you'd last this long with her, but I guess your feelings were stronger for her than I thought…or maybe you're just doing this to prove some point to yourself. Either way, I can already tell that you're starting to realize the futility of your plan."
"I want to make her into a ghoul."

Isabella looks at you and just shakes her head.

"I knew it would come to this. Look, if you really do have any lingering feelings for Lisa, you'll just kill her now and be done with it." Isabella remarks.
"What's wrong with making her a ghoul? You mentioned before that it would stop her from aging any more and she'd still be under my influence. Are you just afraid that if I take this step, it will just bring her closer to me and further from you?"
"Oh you, and your assumptions. Trust me, if I really felt remotely intimidated by either of you in any way, you'd both be dead. However, if you really want my thoughts on this, you turn her into a ghoul and I guarantee it will only make you appreciate me all the more."
"Well what exactly is so bad about turning her into a ghoul? You've never gone into detail."
"First of all, you're probably still not powerful enough to do it even with my magnificent blood in your body, though I suppose you could try anyway. Second of all, I've made a ghoul before and while it's true they make good servants who are completely dedicated to you, there's enough drawbacks that I don't understand why any vampire would bother…unless they're really desperate for ego stroking I suppose."
"Okay, so what then…she'll fawn all over me?"
"Yes, and while that might sound enticing at first, I promise that you'll get sick of it. At least YOU would at any rate. You've never struck me as the time that needs constant reassurance of how amazing you are."
"I dunno, it might still be nice to hear once in awhile."
"Well, if you want to hear how amazing you are, I guess we can go back to my room. I promise, I'll make it sound authentic."

You don't want to, but you actually actual laugh at Isabella's remark causing her to smile.

"Okay, see that right there is a good example of why you shouldn't even bother with this plan. You know you like it here with me." Isabella remarks.
"Maybe I'm trying the best out of my bad situation. We're not exactly equals in this relationship you know." You say.
"Oh and you and Lisa would be? You and I are a much closer if we're going to go that route. You're so far above her right now it's comparing a rot grub to a human. Speaking of rot grubs, that's the third thing you might want to know about when creating a ghoul."
"What?"
"For whatever reason and nobody I know has ever figured this out. Ghouls develop disgusting habit and quirks."
"Drinking blood doesn't already qualify?"
"I'm sure to some it would, but how about eating bugs, dead bodies or even shit? You really want Lisa to kiss you with that mouth after she's been chowing down on a rotting corpse?"
"Well can't I tell her not to do that?"
"You can try, but short of keeping her confined, that's just doomed to failure. As obedient as they are, some urges are just too powerful. And that's just the eating habits. I haven't even gotten to the weird social habits because if allowed to go out and interact with the rest of the world, ghouls tend to lack the subtlety that vampires do…well most vampires anyway. You turn her into a ghoul and you better keep a CLOSE eye on her. Otherwise she's going to go wandering into Dert and probably expose herself to all the little peasant children. I'm sure that won't attract attention at all."

Isabella's made a real good case against the whole ghoulification process. Though you're still wondering if she isn't just exaggerating so you won't try it. You spend time hovering over Lisa anyway; you think you could manage to keep her from doing anything weird.

Part of you wants to do it just to prove Isabella wrong, but then is that a good excuse for doing it at all? Your original intent is so you could stop Lisa from getting any older and giving her a bit of free will.

You make Lisa into a ghoul

Maybe your feelings have faded. Hell, maybe you didn't even ever truly love her to begin with, but you still feel responsible enough for her situation that you're not giving up on Lisa.

"I'm doing it. I can make this work." You say.
"Very well." Isabella remarks with a bit of a sigh.
"I have to say, I'm still sort of surprised that you're so permissive in all this."
"Contrary to what YOU may think of me. I do have a sense of kindness…or maybe I'm just fond of you enough that I don't just kill the pair of you to be done with this failed attempt of courtship."
"Courtship…" you scoff.
"Yes, that what this was, at least to me. What would you have me do? Wait around for you to give me flowers or some other meaningless gesture? Go out to…I dunno the local festival? I'm a fucking vampire. I take what I want and at the time I wanted you. But I can see now that method wasn't the way to go about it. Personally, I don't even think you have any feelings of love for this girl, just a sense of guilt. However, if THIS is what is going to make you happy, then fine. I'll show you how. Either you're going to come to become so disgusted with what Lisa has become that you'll finally do away with her yourself and we can try again. Or you'll stay with her and maintain your delusions. Either way the pair of you will be free because I'm not going to have you both living here if that's the case."
"That's…pretty generous of you, but…" you start to say and then stop yourself.
"But what?"
"Um, nothing…"
"Pfft, I already know what you were going to ask before you realized it would be stupid to do so, though again it isn't going to bother me."
"And what did you think I was going to ask?"
"That what if you just fake it for your freedom and how will I know? To the former, go ahead. If you're REALLY willing to put yourself through all this, just to be released from me, then you deserve your freedom. At least it will give me a bit of pride that I will have released a very patient one of my kind into the world. Lot of young vampires fuck up due to being impulsive. But then, I suppose you've already had a lot of experience at being patient haven't you? In any case, we should get started."

Isabella tells you that the process is fairly simple, however due to you being on the younger side, she isn't sure how long it will take, if at all. The best you can do is just keep feeding her blood on a regular basis until she starts to show signs of change.

"Now of course she's already a bit on the paler side due being stuck down here with no sun all the time. So the thing you're probably going to notice immediately is her starting to show signs of free will. She'll probably start by addressing you without needing to be addressed first. She'll of course also start being very affectionate, wanting to please you in every way." Isabella explains.
"But it's different from the trance correct?"
"Oh yes. Much different. In fact, she'll be immune to that to some degree. Her loyalty towards you will be unquestionable due to sharing of blood, but she's still going to do things on her own and it might not matter how much you tell her not to. As I said, ghouls tend to have disgusting habits and urges. In fact if you've ever heard the tales of how vampires are a bunch of decadent sex fiends, well THAT'S the reason. Ghouls that somehow manage to get elevated to vampirehood, never fully shed those more vile traits. Always best to go from mortal straight to vampire with no transition in between, like I did with you." Isabella says and strokes your face.

Isabella observes you bite yourself and then feed your blood to Lisa. It actually isn't as easy as all that. Despite being in a trance, Lisa still doesn't react well to the whole blood drinking thing, especially that of a vampire's. She starts gagging and coughing even though she's also trying to follow your command of doing it.

Even reluctantly forcing her head to you doesn't work and she ends up vomiting.

"Lisa doesn't have much of a gag reflex eh?" Isabella jokes, which you try to ignore and just refocus your efforts.
"How long do I have to do this?" you ask.
"Well until she at least manages to keep some of it down at least. As I said, it isn't going to happen instantly either. You're probably going to have to do this every day for months. Possibly even more than once a day since you're still a young vampire. All I can suggest is you better make sure you keep YOUR strength up, but you better not go using up all the humans chained up in the larder. Also you're still obligated to your duties to me. Anyway, I'll leave you to it."

You continue to force Lisa to suck on you and eventually she keeps some of it down. You start to feel a little weird yourself so you tell her to stop and you go replenish yourself with someone in the larder, despite Isabella's warnings. You'll just have to go nab humans for her more frequently.

If she thinks all this is going to deter you, it isn't. Now that Isabella has hinted at freedom, your motivation for doing all this is doubled.

You spend months slaving away more than you had under Ral or even Isabella before all this mainly because you have to increase capturing the amount of blood "donors" not just for Isabella, but for yourself. It's really tempting to just grab someone from Dert, but Isabella has always had a rule against taking too many people from there lest the ignorant peasants start getting riled up, or worse, just pick up and leave.

So it's mostly a lot of ambushing bandits, travellers and (ugh) hobgoblins in the forests. There's always Holgard too, but the journey even with your speed is still always a pain in the ass dragging someone from there since you have to keep feeding Lisa your blood at a regular interval. (Not to mention there's currently religious conflict going on there between the factions)

Needless to say, all of this makes you a lot more irritable and tired all the time (Basically, you feel like a human by vampire standards)

Months pass just like Isabella said they would, but you don't give up and eventually you start to see the signs of Lisa changing.

It starts by her talking to you and addressing you by name. She's very confused at first, but as you start to explain it all to her, she doesn't even seem to care. In fact, she seems very happy that you've gone to so much effort to save her life.

"Oh my beloved! I KNEW you always loved me deeply! Let me show my appreciation to you!" Lisa exclaims and proceeds to jump on you.

It's a little strange, but given all you've gone through to turn her, and she seems to be so willing, you don't turn her down.

Isabella still doesn't seem fussed by this turn of events. She does seem to decrease her own demands for sex though. Cleaning is still a priority unfortunately, but considering Lisa now has all this energy she starts helping you do it.

It's during one of these cleanings that you start to see what Isabella was warning about.

"Lisa, I bring in real food, you don't need to eat the bugs crawling around this place!" you exclaim.
"I'm sorry honey, but I dunno…they just looked so…inviting. And they're nice and crunchy too. I like the way they sometimes wiggle in my mouth…mmmm…tehehehehe…" Lisa says trailing off into a disturbing giggle.
"Look, just don't eat them, and don't eat anything else that isn't proper food either."
"But…but what about your delicious yummy blood?"
"That's still fine."
"Good! Because I want some right now!"
"You just had some a few hours ago!"
"But I need it! I need to suck on you!"

It's just the beginning.

Year 26

"Well, you proved yourself. You wanted it bad enough and I'm true to my word. You and your ghoul bitch are free. Now get the hell outta my crypt, it's still night right now, so if you hurry you can find other shelter before dawn." Isabella suddenly remarks to you during one of your few moments to yourself.

You're so tired, all you can muster up is a "huh?"

"You heard me, you're free, get out." Isabella remarks.
"Now?" you ask.
"Yes! I said get out! I'm sick of you doing a half assed job of keeping this place clean and your bitch eating my food. Never mind the fact that I don't exactly get off on hearing you lot have sex. Though I'm guessing that was your idea that she scream as loud as she could."
"I thought you weren't jealous and didn't give a shit."
"I don't actually. But I'm certainly not going to share you in any capacity with something that's currently up in the graveyard as we speak, digging up coffins and eating rotten carcasses."
"What?! She got out again? Why didn't you stop her?!"
"Not my concern and neither are you anymore. You were fun for a while and I don't regret our time. Just confirmed my original thoughts of why I stay single to begin with. Anyway, take care and a part of me hopes that deep down that you do truly love this girl, but then I've always been a bit of a romantic."

Isabella tells you that you've got a short period of time to leave not just her crypt, but also the area. She mentions that if she catches you or Lisa still in the area she'll kill the pair of you since she doesn't want you lingering around to possibly fuck up her relative peace by preying upon Dert.

You gather up what belongings you still value and take your leave. Sure enough when you exit the crypt, you hear Lisa snuffling about in the graveyard. You soon find that she's already dug up a grave and half eaten body parts lie all around her. She looks up from the rotten leg bone she's chewing on and wastes no time in running to greet you, though it's more like an animal loping at you.

Lisa attempts to kiss you, but the stench of her breath is horrible and that's saying something considering how resilient you've gotten to such things. You turn your head away and tell her to calm herself.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm suppose to stay in the crypt, but I just got so hungry and nipped out for a quick snack since I know you don't like me touching the chained up humans in that one room. Anyway, is it time to give me some more of your yummy blood? I could use a drink after that meal! Say, do you want some of this leg?"

You look at Lisa and she's absolutely nothing like the girl you were so fond of years ago. She doesn't even look the same. While she's not aging anymore, she's definitely changing in appearance in other ways. Her clothes and body are constantly dirty; her hair is a matted nest crawling with insects. Her teeth have bits of decayed flesh in them and who knows what else. She smells like the same corpses she eats. Her personality is that of a spineless lackey that isn't even completely obedient.

And the kicker to all this is you willingly had sex with this thing repeatedly just to gain your freedom. You can't imagine the number of times you dreaded keeping up the sham.

Of course it's done now. You don't really need to go through it any longer.

You take Lisa with you

You can't do it. It's not right. You made her into this and she's your responsibility now. For good or ill.

"Lisa, come on it's time to go." You say.
"I know, I know. Back to the crypt." Lisa says.
"No, we're moving out of there. We're going…well I'm not sure yet. But we're going."
"Wait. So…no more Isabella? It's just me and you now?"
"That's about the size of the situation, yes."

Lisa can barely contain her joy. She immediately hugs and kisses you on the mouth. You taste a mixture of rotten meat and who the hell knows what else. It's foul and you immediately push her away and try not to show your displeasure.

"Okay, okay that's enough of that. We'll have plenty of time for that later. Right now we have to leave this area. I think we probably should head to Holgard. I know of a crypt in their graveyard we can use while we figure out our next move from there." You say.
"Whatever you say my love, I will follow you anywhere!" Lisa beams.

You just can't beat undying devotion.

Your journey to Holgard takes a little longer than you would like mainly because Lisa has the attention span of a small child. It doesn't help that she was relatively sheltered from the world as a human, having never really left Dert and then later as a ghoul confined to Isabella's crypt. So this is all very interesting to her.

The biggest concern is when you have to dig a hole in the ground to sleep during the day. You try to pick some place relatively secluded and really stress how much you want Lisa to stay in the vicinity. She of course is full of promises, but you just assume you're rolling the dice.

When you wake up, you are happy to find that Lisa has indeed obeyed your command. You see the remains of a couple small woodland animals, so you guess she might have wandered, but probably not too far. Maybe she's starting to learn.

As you approach Holgard, you have to once again stress to her NOT to just go attacking the first living being she sees. She's heard about Holgard many times, so again this is a very big event for her. You know the only thing she likes more than eating flesh is drinking your blood, so you use that as a reward encouragement. Hopefully it will be enough.

Entering and exiting Holgard is a big hassle nowadays mainly due to the religious strife going on between the various churches. It's going on year two at this point and has just gotten worse. Not to the extent the Varsakken family civil war did, but it could start going that way.

Still, some intimidating looks and minor mental suggestion on the weak-minded human guards causes them to let you pass without question.

Lisa of course asks why you didn't just kill them to which you explain that now that you're going to be living in a city, you both need to practice the art of subtlety a lot more often. Lisa seems confused by this, but hopefully she'll understand it soon, otherwise you you won't be sticking around Holgard for too long.

You both head to the graveyard and find yourself an older one that doesn't look like it gets too much visitation and after a few adjustments, you make a space for yourself and Lisa. And as promised, you give Lisa some of your blood, which she happily accepts.

While Lisa sucks on you, you ponder what exactly you're going to do next now that you're here. You think if it wasn't for Lisa, you'd probably have an urge to just move on and go somewhere far away. Not that you've ever been a wanderer by nature, but Holgard just doesn't hold the interest it once did when you first set out to it as a young thief so many years ago. Things have changed severely and going back to your "old life" in any capacity certainly isn't much of an option anymore.

There's also the fact that there is still that holy war of sorts going on in the city. You haven't really been keeping up on it mainly because you've been preoccupied with Lisa, but you've visited Holgard enough over the past year that it isn't ending anytime soon.

You still wouldn't be that concerned with it, if it wasn't for the fact that the Church of Joachim has seemingly turned from it's normal peace and love teachings and turned into a more militant faction that has been going on about cleaning up this stinking city of evil influences of the earthly and supernatural kind.

The supernatural part is the bit that is cause for concern.

However, you need a "stable" place to stay until you can train Lisa better since just travelling here was an ordeal in keeping track of her. Until that time, you'll just have to redouble your efforts in keeping a low profile and hopefully Lisa does too.

A few weeks later…

After a rare night of going out by yourself and leaving Lisa alone to her own devices, you come back and find her speaking with some woman in the graveyard.

At first you think it's Isabella, but if that was the case, she would have already killed her (And probably you) Besides, Holgard is far enough away from her territory. Plus this woman is dressed in a blue and purple robe. Isabella always went around naked.

Your second instinct is to just attack immediately, but given that this woman is talking to Lisa so calmly and Lisa isn't trying to rip her throat out causes you to believe there are greater forces at work

Sensing that this is going to be a plate full of shit you're going to have to deal with, you merely make your presence known. The woman says nothing, but just watches.

"Hello. This looks…friendly." You say.
"My love! I just stayed in the graveyard like you told me to, and this lady just showed up. I would have killed her, but for some reason…I suddenly didn't feel like it. Maybe I'm learning restraint like you're always telling me to?" Lisa answers.
"What have you been talking about with this…lady?"
"Nothing much. Just about how much I love you and how much you love me and how good corpses taste, but not as much as the living people! She's been very friendly for a meat sack and just asking about when you will return. Um…you're not mad at me are you? Please don't be mad!"
"No. I'm not mad. I'm sure my teachings of restraint had something to do with you not killing this woman. I'm very proud of you. Head on inside home, I'll be in soon."
"Okay! But not too long okay? The sun will be coming up soon and I don't want you to burn up!"

Lisa heads back home, leaving you with the robed woman.

"Alright, whatever little magic trick you used to subdue Lisa, isn't going to work on me, so whatever your business is make it quick because as she said, the sun is coming up soon."

The woman nods.

"Don't get too many vampires making their home in the city. Passing through on occasion, but never permanent residents. In fact I believe you've passed through here on several occasions haven't you?" she says.
"Get to the point."
"Very well. I'm obviously not here to make an enemy out of you. Your business is your own. However, I'm sure you're aware that certain other groups in this city are less accepting of your activities."
"Yes, I'm fully aware of the Joachim fanatics and I've been staying out of their way and everyone else's that matter. INCLUDING the followers of Dorna, goddess of magic. I recognize your robes, sorceress."
"Yes, I'm sure you have kept your head down. But your female friend seems to be less discreet. She was dancing and singing to herself while feasting on a rotten skull when I walked up. What if I had been an angry mob of Joachimites? Wouldn't have been good, that's for sure."
"Yeah well she's still learning. I will talk to her."
"You're not a very old vampire are you?"
"How would you know if I was or not? We don't age."
"True, but the fact that you speak with mild respect about your ghoul and even call her by name makes me believe that you're not old. Most older vampires are cynical and apathetic at best and outright arrogant and cruel most of the time. The way you interact with her is almost an attempt at treating her like an equal. In fact I'd venture to guess that ghoul was probably your girlfriend at one time."
"You keep testing my patience human, you'll learn just how cruel I can be."
"Okay, okay. I'm out of line. I shouldn't presume. Look, I'm sure you're aware of the troubles going on. I'm not exactly sure what changes are coming, but rest assured the followers of Dorna will weather this, but we aren't stupid. We know that we are very small in comparison to the other religions here. The fact that the Joachimites gathered so many in such a short period of time took everyone by surprise I think, let alone their more violent outlook. Between them and the followers of Fel, they make up most of soldiers in this war, which hasn't completely spilled into full on war yet, but it's getting there."
"So what do you want from me?"
"Nothing. Or rather nothing at this time. I am merely seeking potential allies. As I said, we who follow Dorna respect magic and knowledge. We also respect magical beings and would not condemn them to die due to mere ignorance and fear. I believe if we work together, we could both make ourselves a little safer from hostile forces. In fact, we could even set you and your girlfriend up in our own private mausoleum. It would be much nicer than this public graveyard where just anyone can walk into."

Nice offer, but you're skeptical.

"I think we'll be fine right where we are at and as for your offer of an alliance, I'm still not sure what benefit there would be for allying with you lot. As you said, you're much smaller than the rest of the factions. I mean it seems like if I was going to ally with anyone, I'd be better off allying with the followers of Fel. I mean don't they have ties to the Ebony Claw Syndicate? I've even heard rumors that Baroness Varsakken is a priestess. Seems like they're going to be on the winning team."
"Well that IS the safe bet. And it would perhaps be wise in your case to consider it. I'm sure they would also welcome a vampire ally."

Dorna pauses for a moment as if to collect her thoughts before continuing.

"However, think on this as well. If all the rumors about them are true, they are indeed very powerful. In fact so powerful that why have they not just purged all the other sects yet? There are plenty of other rumors going around that the Felians might not even be completely united. Many of the true believers think that the Ebony Claw is a corrupting influence on proper worship of the shadow god. Even the Baroness is having a hard time keeping them all in line along with ruling the city. You ally with them and you could find yourself a pawn in whatever private power struggle they're engaged in and that's along with the external troubles coming as well."
"Maybe I'll just stick by myself, seems to be working just fine so far."
"Again, perfectly valid. You have no reason to trust any of us. I am merely extending my hand. It's up to you if you want to take it. I will leave you to your rest. If you change your mind, I'm sure you're familiar with where our temple is, and you're invited to enter."

The sorceress (priestess?) takes her leave and you head inside your home before the sun comes up.

Lisa of course is waiting patiently by your resting area. You open up your wrist and allow her to suck on you while you ponder your options.

You suppose that some sort of agreement with the Dornans could be beneficial assuming they're serious about providing a better place where you wouldn't be as accessible.

Of course you've dealt with one wizard type before and well…you know how that turned out.

You ally with the Dornans

You suppose it doesn't hurt to hear more. It is true that they need all the help they can get and it wouldn't be so terrible to have a group of wizards watching your back. You decide that you'll visit their temple tomorrow night.

The next night before you leave for the Dornan Temple, you command that Lisa is to be more careful if she ventures out of the crypt and not to call attention to herself by singing or dancing or indulging in whatever other little quirks she has. You also tell her you may even be moving to a better place soon anyway. Lisa doesn't seem to care about that so much as she's just happy to be going where you go.

With Lisa spoken to, you take your leave.

Doesn't take long for you to get to the temple, though you don't really travel to this part of the city as much since you prefer to stay close to home due to all the trouble going on in the city with this religious faction war. The blue and purple temple isn't excessively large but it's ornate enough looking that it stands out.

There are no obvious guards standing outside the temple, but you suspect that even with the factions at each other's throats like they are, nobody is foolish enough to assault the temple directly or even enter it.

You've been invited though so you stroll in, if a bit cautiously since you still aren't sure if they have magic traps set up or something.

When you enter it resembles more of a library than a place of worship, but then Dorna isn't just a goddess of magic, but of knowledge. A few priests notice you come in, but only one approaches you.

"You're the vampire, correct? Heather said a vampire might be coming by and you look like one." a young man says.
"Really? Most of the people I come across can't tell."
"Most people are idiots that don't have the blessed knowledge that only Dorna can provide. But we're not here to dwell on the struggles of the ignorant masses, come with me, Elder Flynn will want to speak with you."

The acolyte motions you to follow him which you do so to what seems to be a meditation room where you see several other priests sitting in a circle with their heads bowed down and their eyes closed. An older one stands in the middle of them all and turns his attention towards you and the acolyte.

"Elder Flynn, the vampire is here." The acolyte remarks.
"Thank you. You may take your leave now." Elder Flynn remarks at which point the acolyte bows his head and does as he's commanded.

Elder Flynn motions you to come closer, but you're still a little suspicious about this so you remain put.

"I'm good right here." You say.
"Very well, I just didn't feel like shouting half way across the room." Elder Flynn remarks.
"So what is it that you wanted to speak to me about?"
"Well you came to us, I figured you had something that you wanted to say."
"You were the one who told one of your minions to seek me out, I'm just here because she said that you wanted allies."
"If she worded it that way, then she misspoke, I told her that we wanted help not allies per say."
"Whatever, so do you want my help or not?"
"Oh yes. Your help would be most welcome. Vampires have a lot of magical energy within them by their nature. Or unnature so to speak. Even lowly ones like you have much to offer."
"Great idea to insult me on our first meeting. So far you haven't impressed, and I've had enough of arrogant wizard shitheads to last me a lifetime."
"Good, because yours is about to end."

And with that threat, the door behind you slams shut and Elder Flynn begins chanting something and the rest of the priests are following suit. You have no idea what he's doing, but it can't be anything good.

You try to escape

You suspect that Flynn most have some sort of magical protection around him, not to mention that even if you did manage to kill him, you're still severely outnumbered. Your best bet is to break down that door. It's solid metal and probably magically locked, but you have to try.

You begin kicking near where the hinges would be, ignoring the fact that Elder Flynn and his lot are still chanting whatever it is that they're trying to do. You eventually make progress and the door begins to give way, though whatever magic is locking it is still holding it in place. You aren't going to be able to destroy the door quick enough at this rate.

You back up from the door and even now you can hear the chanting getting louder, like they're starting to reach the end of it. You run as fast as you can and using all of your body weight and strength you ram into the door, hoping to break it.

You hit the door, which at last gives completely away just as they complete their spell. The room you just escaped from is suddenly bathed in a bright light. Bright as the sun and it has the exact same effect it would have on a vampire such as you.

You feel the burn on your backside and scramble up off the destroyed door and run for cover or more specifically the exit of the temple.

"Get that fucking leech!" one of the acolytes shouts and as you're on your way to escape the priests not involved in the ritual start casting their own spells on you. You manage to slash the throat of one who is standing directly in front of the exit and get the hell out of there though you're still partially on fire and all feeling sluggish from the effects of a slow spell that was cast on you.

Still, you're out of the temple now and from there you easily manage to lose any pursuing priests by ducking into a sewer entrance. After making sure you're not being chased any longer, you take a breather and then promptly swear up a storm at your situation.

"Fuck! I'm a fucking vampire and I'm still putting up with shit and now I'm fucking literally hiding in it! Why the fuck does this keep happening to me?! I would have been better off just letting the mob back home stringing me up for killing Klint. At my misery would have been quick. Shit. (Sigh) Gotta think…"

You can't go back home to your crypt, the Dornans are probably already heading there. Even if they aren't you don't want to risk it. Not that you don't have desire for revenge, but right now, you're hardly in any condition and you'd be fighting an entire temple of those magic fanatics.

You briefly wonder if you shouldn't try to reach out towards the Felians, but then trying to get allies is what got you in here in the first place. Right now, the only person you can trust is yourself. Well there's Lisa, but you think you're going to have to leave her behind, assuming that the Dornans haven't already stormed the crypt and killed her already. You tried, but you can't be bothered to train her any longer.

The situation has changed and you just need to get the hell out of this city. You don't know where, but it isn't safe for you to live comfortably here any longer. This city is probably going to suffer yet another civil war of sorts anyway, it probably would be best to leave. You don't know where you're going to go, but you need to just start over elsewhere. Hopefully away from anymore fucking wizards.

You follow the sewers until you get close to the docks area of the city. Holgard always has trade ships leaving its harbor going to various locations. You exit the sewers and sneak aboard one of them. You think this one is going to the Delantium Kingdom, but it might be going to some place you've never heard of, you don't really care as long as you're away from this area.

Never been aboard a ship before, so this will be a new experience. Hopefully, an uneventful one. You imagine you'll get hungry on the journey, but as far as you know there's enough crew on the ship that you'll be able to get by. Just have to be stealthy about it which even in your current condition you'll be able to do.

You still don't know exactly what you're going to do with the rest of your undead life, but your days as a common rogue are over.