Gold Fire 4

Gold Fire 4 is an encounter in Kingdom Aflame.
==Enemies==
* Katrina's Vampire (Kingdom Aflame) (200 Gold, 200 XP, 200 Energy, 3 HP)
* Katrina von Malhaven (Kingdom Aflame) (300 Gold, 300 XP, 300 Energy, 1 HP)
==Transcript==
===Introduction===
The old woman walked through the forest, amongst living trees and dead men. None of the zombies noticed her as she passed. That was just as well -- she didn't have time to tear all their heads off. She was near the castle when undead eyes finally glimpsed her.
"Halt!" the vampire said.
He adopted a fighting stance that was presumably supposed to be intimidating, since it certainly wasn't practical, and pointed a large sword in her direction.
"No," she said, and carried on walking.
The vampire stared at her. When this failed to achieve anything, he leapt at her. A split-second later his sword was on the ground and his back against a tree. Her pale hand clutched his throat.
"Do you know who I am, newblood?"
"N... No!"
"Do you want to find out?"
He shook his head. She tossed him aside and continued towards the citadel.
***
"Vat?"
Blood dripped from Markgrafin Katrina von Malhaven's fangs, precious crimson spilling unnoticed on her gown and the mortal's tunic. She swept the young man off her, onto the couch, and stood. He blinked, still dazed by the power of her bite -- her kiss.
"King Crenus' armies," the messenger said. "They're here!"
"Ve must raise the bone valls! Gather the commanders. Vhere's Heinrich?"
"Mustering the forces, markgrafin. But the army... It's not advancing. They're holding ground and flying a flag of parlay."
"Vun of Crenus' generals vants to parlay?"
"No, not just a general. The king! King Crenus asks to speak with you."
Katrina laughed.
"The man is a fool... Bring him to the castle."
"Yes, mistress."
***
Ranlatta gasped when the skeletal arm reached out, protruding from the masses of packed bones that formed the maze's walls. The vampire batted it aside and chuckled.
"Don't be afraid, mortal," he said.
The general glared at him. But she stayed in the middle of the path, as far away from those skeletal barriers as possible. King Crenus walked beside her. Another arm grasped at him, but he seized its wrist and broke it.
Their plump guide -- a newblood, if the fashion of his garments and cut of his cloak was any indication -- led them through the winding passages, until they passed through its exit and emerged onto the plain beyond. A huge force of undead was there to greet them. Ranks and ranks of armed vampires, zombies, skeletons, wraiths, and mummies groaned and clattered.
A tall, handsome vampire stood in front of the ghastly host. He bowed to the king. The movement made his cloak flutter behind him like a pair of pteropine wings.
"Your Majesty."
"Heinrich."
"I don't believe we've met," he said to Ranlatta.
"Cap... General Ranlatta," she said.
"Charmed."
"This is quite the welcome," Crenus said.
Heinrich smiled and glanced over his shoulder.
"You'll forgive us for being cautious, with an army at the edge of our territory. But you mustn't keep Katrina waiting..."
***
The markgrafin gazed from the window, staring out across her family's territory to the purple legions at its periphery. Crenus' army was substantial. But the von Malhavens' bone walls were a potent defense, and any attackers would be funneled through those lethal passages -- easy prey for her undead warriors. Those who survived the trap would have to face Heinrich. By all appearances she held an insurmountable advantage. This troubled her. The king couldn't be so foolish, so arrogant, as to deliver himself to destruction, could he?
There was a knock on the door behind her.
"Enter."
A fat newblood, bloated like a leech, stood in the doorway and coughed.
"King Crenus and General Ranlatta, markgrafin."
He stood aside to let them enter, before slipping back into the corridor and closing the door behind him -- leaving the warm, blood-filled mortals alone with Katrina. She smiled. Her fangs pricked against her lips. Whatever King Crenus might have planned or may believe, he was in her presence now. And perhaps he would never leave it alive...
The three of them took one another's measure for a long moment. Ranlatta in her uniform, Crenus clad in aureate armor, Katrina in a long, sumptuous black and red dress that drifted around her like clouds of blood and shadow.
"If you've come to pay your respects to Otto," Katrina said, "you're too late."
"The markgraf was a loyal ally," Crenus said. "I commiserate the von Malhavens on their loss."
Katrina laughed.
"And I you. But vhy have you come here? Ve are no friends of yours, vith Otto gone."
"I'd like the two of us to come to an arrangement."
"Oh? Vat sort of 'arrangement'?"
"%name% Kasan was a useful tool in your quest to unseat Otto, but %his% usefulness is at an end. The von Malhavens will gain nothing from siding with a traitor, not after the rebellion's been quelled."
"You vant us to fight for you instead?" She raised an eyebrow.
"No. Simply remain neutral, and don't send any of your forces to support the rebels."
"And vat do ve receive in return?"
"The safety and sanctity of your territory. When my armies march out to put the kingdom back in order, no soldier will set foot in your dominion."
"A tempting offer, but you are forgetting vun thing. If I kill you now, and deliver your body to the Kasan, vat vould %he% give me... The rebels vould make me mistress of all Stromhamre!"
"We're here under a flag of parlay!" Ranlatta said.
"Heinrich may care about such things, but ve gypsies are not so particular..."
She glided towards them.
===Conclusion===
"I thought you might say that," the king said.
Crenus didn't reach for his sword, but his smile alone made Katrina pause.
"Vat-"
The window exploded. Glass rained into the room, along with a blur of white, red, and black. The colors unfolded into a woman's slender form, clad in dark leather, crowned by lengths of bright scarlet hair. Katrina gasped, sucking air into lungs that hadn't needed it in six hundred years. For she recognized the being who stood before her -- though the two of them had never met. It was the lover of the Red Prince. Destroyer of Count Siculus. Ally of the Dragon-Rider. A slayer of drakes who'd tasted the blood of at least a dozen dragons. The vampire all nosferatu save for the most ignorant newbloods or arrogant elders knew to fear.
Mina von Richten.
Katrina, markgrafin of the von Malhavens, met the Red Baroness' eyes. And she read doom within their depths. Doom for her entire family. She looked away and turned to King Crenus.
"I accept. Ve vill not send our varriors to help the rebels."
Category:Kingdom Aflame