Chapter 30

Chapter 30 is the thirtieth chapter of Vampire Sphere.

## Summary

Ge Chen narrates the story behind: millenias ago Set was defeated by Osiris. His power was sealed into the Forbidden Sphere and Osiris placed a protecting curse on it, killing everybody who tries to obtain Set's power. The Lasombra Clan's Sacred Weapon, the Devil Key is capable of opening the Door of the Forbidden Sphere, but despite it they couldn't act rashly because of the curse. But 17 years ago the Devil Key was stolen by Hunters, and the leader of the Lasombra, Fan Le Lao's father was ambushed and killed. Before his death he sealed his son's power letting him escape as a human. Fan Le Lao lived on the streets as a beggar for a year, before his clan found him and raised him to be the next leader. Wanting revenge, he led the Sabbat to attack the Hunters. Trying to protect their Organization they sacrificed a married couple for his bloodlust. Their son was Lin Xuan Chi, who decided to get revenge for the betrayal of the Organization. Ge Chen also reveals that the Hunters divided the Devil Key into two keys, creating the Keys of the Forbidden Sphere. Yue Jian thinks about what he said, and asks his true identity, but before he can answer, the members of the Sabbat appear. A fight breaks out between Ge Chen, Yi Sai and Fan Le Lao. They notices that Ge Chen only dodges and doesn't dare to attack. As he dodges again and again, Fan Le Lao manages to ambush him from behind with the dark thorny vines.

## Description

Ge Chen starts to narrate the story: millenias ago the God of Underworld, Osiris, fought a battle with the Demon King, Set. Set was defeated and most of his powers were sealed in the Bloodlines' Forbidden Sphere. After that that Set schemed and managed to kill Osiris, but he lost lost his spirit and since he couldn't regain his powers, he choose to fade away.

But, the Sacred Weapon of the Lasombra Clan, the Devil Key is able to open the Door of the Forbidden Sphere. And even though the Sabbat wanted to get Set's power they didn't dare to act rashly, because it is not that easy to get out of the Forbidden Sphere: when someone enters he or she will be immediately attacked with fire, ice, poison and arrows of the underworld - this was the protecting curse Osiris put in place -, so nobody would be able to get Set's power before death, since the only one who knew how to lift the curse is Osiris himself. The only one who can survive the Curse of Osiris will be probably Set after his resurrection.

So even though the Lasombra Clan had the Devil Key they had to search for a way to lift or block the curse. But the Devil Key was stolen 17 years ago by the Hunters. The leader of the Lasombra Clan was ambushed and killed. Before he died he sealed the powers of his son, Fan Le Lao, letting him escape and live as a normal human. Fan Le Lao lived on the streets as a beggar for one year, after then his clan found him and after the removal of the seal he was raised up to be the next leader of the Lasombra Clan and the Sabbat. His powers increased as he wanted revenge more and more. But behind the death of his father stood not only just one person and they hidden themselves pretty well, so Fan Le Lao had to lead the whole Sabbat against the Hunters.

The Hunters realized that they won't be able to hold out for long, so in order to protect the Organization, they decided to sacrifice a married couple. They spread the news that they were the one who killed Fan Le Lao's father, and they were even rewarded for it. Actually, they participated in the ambush, but they weren't the masterminds. Fan Le Lao killed them in a really cruel way, but this haven't sated his bloodlust, because what he wanted was the stolen Sacred Weapon of the Lasombra Clan, the Devil Key. At that time the Hunters split it into two Keys, creating the Keys of the Forbidden Sphere. Ge Chen holds it, showing that now they are in his hands.

He also reveals that the married couple also had a son, called Lin Xuan Chi. Ge Chen ponders about that since he was young at that time, he groomed himself to become a weapon of revenge, probably hating both side, yet wanting the destruction of the Hunters for betraying and stepping on the loyalty of his parents.

Yue Jian thinks about what he told her, and and raises the only topic he hasn't mentioned - his identity. She asks him if he is a Hunter, when suddenly the members of the Sabbat appear in the cave. Fan Le Lao asks him if he wants to fight or not for the Keys. Ge Chen puts away them, and orders Yue Jian to hide.

Fan Le Lao and Yi Sai immediately attack him. Yi Sai makes his claws grow longer and sharper and attacks him straight on with great speed while Fan Le Lao is observing the situation. He also starts - he makes a small wound in his palm, and from his blood he creates dark thorny vines and using them in a whip-like style attacks Ge Chen. Ge Chen jumps and dodges and keeps a distance from them which is also noted by Yi Sai.

Fan Le Lao thinks that if he really is the son of the leader of the Ventrue Clan, then in order to remain among humans his strength was probably sealed or suppressed. He orders his man to surround him. Ge Chen dodges them in the air again and his about to land safely away from them when Fan Le Lao makes a sneak attack on him from behind. His vines completely surround him.

## Fun Facts

* Osiris and Set also appear in the VtM. In some legends they are actual gods with stories like in the Egyptian mythology, but in the VtM, Set is a third generation Vampire. The Followers of Set take him as their founder. Some believe he is truly dead, some think he is in a deep, death like sleep, called Torpor and the Followers of Set are waiting for his return according to a few vague prophecy he left behind claiming that he will come back for the Final Nights. Osiris is a forth generation Vampire, that should imply that he is weaker than Set, yet Set was defeated by his hand. He also created a clan called Children of Osiris. After defeating Set he descended to the Underworld and took over the duty of watching over it. He lay dormant for millenias, but he returned to life after realizing that the Spell of Life on the Vampire is incomplete and with that can only be created a mockery of life. He completed it and turned his Children into humans when he returned to the life. After that he vanished and placed his essence into the Web of Faith. Nobody knows if he still has any awareness in that form.
* The magic Fan Le Lao uses is based on a Discipline called Obtenebration . With that a Lasombra Vampire can create manifested darkness by sacrificing some blood. **Arms of the Abyss** and **Black Metamorphosis** are both standard level powers and both is capable of producing dark tentacles (thorny vines here).
* n the VtM the Tzimisce Clan practices a Discipline called Vicissitude which is basically flesh-bone-and-body crafting. For making his claws long he is either using **Malleable Visage**: a vampire with this power may alter his or her bodily parameters like height, build, voice, facial features and skin tone, among other things and such changes are cosmetic and minor in scope; or **Body Arsenal** which transform the bones in your body into weapons (advanced level power).