TVC II Chapter 1 - Old Faces

[Mello]

Alastor looked down at the night, seemingly uninterested, although the Knight asked a pertinent question. He smiled grimly, and tapped his mask, it produced a soft clinking noise.

"Simple, this. After I became homeless, and before I wore this, people didn't want to be seen around me, I was actively ignored even. People didn't want to know me merely because my face is.. different. My travels with the circus only confirmed how self-centred, arrogant and conceited society was. I admit I became insecure, and rejected myself from society seeing as it didn't want me. I became a recluse and since then I've been able to ponder on my experience of society."

"And you, what influenced you to take up your.. errand?"

 

[Kavok]

"What made me take up my quest? Well... I wanted to make a name for myself. Completely for myself. My older brother is intended to inherit my parent's titles and lands, and I was to play second fiddle and be a spare part. I didn't feel like living my life like that, I wanted to do things I felt like doing without having to worry about how it might effect my family or make my brother look. So I left. I took the questing vow, hung up my lance and all responsibilities imposed on me to my homeland and left. I do miss home sometimes... though I was thinking I would end up visiting it at some point after I finished my quest. Now I'm not really too sure if that will happen." Kavok stood there for a moment thinking about how this night is probably going to ruin his life, one way or another. 'I never really felt I would end up getting out of here alive, though getting out here while not being alive might be worse... I get that with how nice most of these vampires are, they probably didn't intentionally become monsters... But at least some of them seem to have embraced it fairly well. I guess there are worse things that can happen to someone then be forced to live forever on the blood of mortals. Actually never mind that does sound really bad. There may be worse but that does sound absolutely terrible.'

Shaking himself slightly, Kavok comes back from the world of thought. "Though anyways, when you were talking about people in positions of power earlier, I must say you made some rather good points. But... Generally people in power deserve that seat of power." Thinking of his brother "... Generally... Though without some form of power what happens then with life? People no longer able to respect others or their various aspects of life. No longer would people be able to trust one each other, and there would be almost no advances in anything. People would no longer have the ability to focus on their trade because they would have to do something to provide for their family. Society is formed to help ensure that at least the majority of the people can get along and prosper together. People then have more of a chance to do what they want." Though after a second of thinking "... I guess that would also create social pressures for what position in society your expected to fill. But anyways, without the rules of society, trust would be an exceedingly rare to come by, and most likely harder to maintain." Gesturing over towards the people near the thrones. "I very much doubt you would still be bre-... well... moving... voluntarily... if they didn't have social rules regarding killing guests."

 

[Mello]

Alastor chuckled, a deep and intimidating thing.

"A society can perfectly well survive without leaders. Take ghouls for example, magnificent things. They live in groups and there is absolutely no trust between any of their members. Sometimes a larger ghoul or even a ghoul king will draft them into service for itself, but even then the ghouls are just as likely to turn on their leader if no food is found. Not being able to trust one's neighbour, I'd argue, is a good thing. It keeps you alert, and if someone else lets their guard down, you can cut them down and take their possessions. All we get with these.. rules.. is weaker people hiding behind them so that they can keep themselves alive. In nature the weakest member of a group fights to try and eat more to survive. In 'intelligent' society they merely strut around demanding respect and help. The entire system is inherently unfair. But I guess you only really see that from the outside. It's just people exploiting others using 'rules' as their justification."

"Besides respect is perfectly possible without a leading figure, if anything its much easier. If you see someone or something do something impressive or achieve a difficult task, they gain respect. All that.. authorities" he quickly glanced at the von Carsteins on their throne, "seem to do is try and convince you to respect them so they can exploit you."

 

[Sweeney Todd]

"An intriguing conversation, if I may." Kenshiro said he strode over to Alastor and Kavok.

"A world without rules, you say? So you propose that we should all live in the 'state of nature', as some thinkers call it? In such a world, you would have been born simply because your father wished to copulate and dragged your mother away by force for reproductive purposes. It's interesting that you'd say that. No offense, but compared to many in this room, you would definitely be considered weak. So, in such a world a conversation like this, or any 'civilised' conversation would have been impossible simply because the strong would crush the weak on a whim. We would exist in a perpetual state of war against anyone and everyone else, and it pains me to say that you may not be ready for such a war. The rules of society may not be fair, but unchecked human nature, or vampiric nature is hardly an improvement."

"As for respect, perhaps that respect has already been earned, and you simply don't know of it?" Kenshiro said in a pleasant and respectful tone of voice. He had already observed a combination of willful ignorance and insanity in the young childe known as Alastor, but despite that there was no hint at all that Kenshiro was being anything other than serious.

 

[Mello]

Alastor nodded politely at the newcomer, at least this person was worthy of some respect in the lines of self-restraint.

"I will happily agree that I may not survive in this theoretical world, but after all I am a parasite of what we hold as society, feeding off its weakness. Although I may not win on the brute force front if there was no society, I could live in hiding, as I have done for the majority of my life. Not that my personal survival is important anyway." he smiled wistfully, "I'm just another Cog in the machine."

"As you say though, everyone left to their base instincts is hardly improvement, but what else could we do? I'm not even asking for a fair system, for not only would that be nearly impossible, but impractical. Everyone would be hung up on making everything equal that even less would be done.

Think though, all of unintelligent life has survived without co-existing on any more than a basic level. Yes, thousands would perish, but" Alastor closed his eyes and imagined his heaven, "it would equal itself out eventually. Then only the best of us survive, they represent the future of our race, and we continue. In this system all weakness is rooted out. Now we practically encourage it with our pity and sympathy." he almost spat angrily.

Calming down a little, Alastor straightened up a little and gazed upwards, becoming strangely thoughtful.

"Hrm.. I can't think why anyone would want life right now to change. Unless.." his eyes narrowed, were they mocking?

"If I were to have been kicked out by the system we all live by at birth, to be ignored and left to live alone. I wouldn't want to be part of the system that seemed so cruel to me would I? I'm not sure I'd want to remember why either, as if I just can't face being different to everyone else, being alone..". He paused and shook his head, as if he wasn't quite sure what he had just said.

 

[Bounce]

Elanor smiled shyly at the knights compliment. "If only that were the case. I came from the imperial city of altdorf and it is more of a sewer mixed with a dune heap and the humans they breed like well humans. But it was home and so it has always meant something to me thought i doubt i would recognise it now."
Elanor looked to where gravelclaw stood and shivered. "He is a vampire, one who has embraced his bestial nature to the full. There is in fact much difference among vampires."

"It might be good to speak with others." She said although regretfully for she much enjoyed the knights company.

 

[Kavok]

"... I'm sorry sir, but if I'm not mistaken your entire argument is that you feel it is unfair that the weak survive off the pity of the strong. But won't that always be the case? When you are respecting someone stronger, they are also pitying your weakness and letting you live to respect them. When respecting someone weaker, for what ever reason that may be... generally I would think you'd be respecting them for some aspect that is stronger then yourself, but I guess there may be a time when you get so strong you can still respect those who are weaker then you, just because they are stronger then some others... But when respecting the weaker, isn't that the same as giving them pity for trying so hard, yet not quite being good enough?" Kavok pauses for a second, looking Alastor over, before continuing. "Also... Are you sure its a problem with how society treats all people, ether good or bad, or is your problem with how you never got any pity from the system called society? Because you seem to have quite a bit of self pity. Maybe instead of just day-dreaming and complaining about how unfair society is, maybe you could try improving it instead. The only way I can see society falling as a whole would be if every civilization were to fall to chaos. May the lady... and any other power out there... prevent that from happening."

 

[Sweeney Todd]

"And therein lies the difference between man and beast, or 'unintelligent animals' as you put it." Kenshiro said as he replied to Alastor

"Animals naturally form an equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but man generally does not. Civilisation and society exist precisely because man is not quite like the other animals." He said, having noted the fleeting look of bliss on Alastor's face and the simmering rage that replaced it.

"When you say 'the best of us will survive', I see that your definition of 'the best' could be considered fairly specific. Such survivors would be the epitome of physical qualities...and have nothing else. Nothing else would be needed, and nothing else could survive in such a world. No intellect, no art, no music, just tooth and claw. Are you sure that's what you want? Be careful what you wish for." Nostalgia flitted across Kenshiro's calm demeanor, hinting at his personal experience on the subject. He nodded in agreement as the mortal knight joined their conversation.

"Indeed. If you hate society for abusing you, take heart in the fact that your continued existence is in itself a kind of revenge against them. Perhaps you should seek to grow stronger, both in form and in spirit, so that no one can abuse you any longer."

 

[The Dread King]

Morturion smiled inwardly as necromancy flowed back into his veins. It was good to feel immense power once again. "Although the necrarchs may seemed to have exceptional skill with magic, the Liches have unchallenged control over death. And all those who are taught have grown into mighty beings. We are standing on the shoulders of giants; we must grow to be as strong as they were. Without a powerful liche, no-one is there to retain undeath as a whole, and this, I think, is one of the reasons why necromancy is waning."

He continued, "Not only are there risks and drawbacks such as those, but also there is the problem known as the sire. A get can easily end up as a thrall to them. For some, the siring process is simply another way to get control, and I do not like the idea of being manipulated by selfish, or mad, bloodsuckers. Because that is what, in the end, most vampires are. They cannot hope to take on the world without a council like this one, and even then, the infighting is strong." Morturion swept his hand around the room, pointing out Graveclaw and the Imperator.

"But liches...those who have been taught well can become some of the most deadly beings on the earth. The dreadlords that were liches were vast in power, and Nagash made himself a god. Even Kemmler, who was attacked by his own acoyltes, became a greatly feared name, became the Lichemaster."

Morturion was not angry, but he strongly believed that his view was right in this matter, and spoke with enthusisasm. "I shall wait until I am ready to become a Liche, not become a vampire first. Although this inevitably leads to a much longer wait, I would rather not take the risk of vampirism. Will you try to become a liche yourself, or are you content to stay a necrarch, lord Nekhlior?"

Morturion nearly said 'master'; he cursed himself silently for getting back into his old habits. Remember what happened, he thought, remember his treachery. Behind that friendly attitude is a deadly killer, the last surviving get of W'soran. And watch your back. Most of the people in this room are just waiting to kill you... Morturion glanced quickly around the room, looking at the disgusted and offended faces of the Von Carsteins and the Blood Dragons. Although everyone had calmed down, Morturion did not like what he saw. He glanced at Kraskor for a moment, seeing a look of iron-hard promise in the blood dragon's features. And it was a promise that possibly held a bleak future for Morturion.

 

[Get of W'soran]

Nekhlior chucked softly.
"I don't think we can describe The Great Necromancer as a mere Liche, whilst it is true that strictly speaking this was his form he managed to break the boundaries of his physical self and transform himself into...as you said, a God of undeath." The Necrarch smiled "But had he invented the improved Elixir of Life and used it on himself, I believe he would have equally evolved beyond what we see as the limitations of vampirism."

The Necrarch grinned suddenly "As for Masters of Undeath, my power rivaled even that of Arkhan and I would be willing to bet V'azrin was his equal in the realms of Undeath and even greater in other areas of the arcane. Then you must remember W'soran was superior to us all. Taking these things into consideration, and the fact that Arkhan was the greatest of the Nagashi Liches then it is safe to assume that being a Liche would not make one naturally greater than the learned of the Lords of the Night in the realms of magic."

Nekhlior shook his head slightly "No this failing of Necromancy is directly linked to the destruction of it's creator simply due to him being the creator although why that would be I do not know, it is not as if the magic of the high elves, for instance, failed simply due to the elf who created high magic passing away from this life."

"As for Kemmler" Nekhlior sneered "He was a mere mortal Necromancer constantly trying to out run his life-spans inevitable end, giving himself such a grandiose title was mere showmanship perhaps hoping it would scare rivals away...if so it was a poor choice."

Nekhlior turned to glance briefly at the von Carstein thrones, looking thoughtful "The greatest of the Dreadlords that managed to retain such positions in the last days of...Nagash's" he said, using the name with reluctance "reign were a collection of the most powerful whom have served since the Trueborn joined Nagash against Khemri and the city states. They where all vampires aside from The Black."

"But if you wish to become a Liche, I wish you the best of luck, they are a dying breed." Nekhlior suddenly grinned again, wide enough so that his fangs were visible "As for me, it is too late, my soul is already sundered in such a fashion that becoming a Liche would be impossible. The vampire form in immortal and immutable."

Chuckling the withered vampire shook his head "Besides, I have yet to see a Liche transformation...and I have seen a few Nagashi achieve such...give any greater magical benefits that the blood of W'soran and nothing that matches the strength of a vampire lord."

The Necrarch stopped to lean heavily on his staff, almost as if he truly was a frail old man, and nodded to himself. "But some good points were made. The thrall period can be a very unpleasant few decades and too many of my kind are engrossed in temporal pursuits. If one were to decide to become a vampire they would have to be careful to selecting a sire and that is assuming that they are given a choice and there is a number of sires to choose from...something that is unlikely under almost any condition."

 

[The Dread King]

Morturion considered what had just been said by the aged necrarch. "From outside the system, it does seem that vampires are more powerful than liches. Arkhan was a liche, and so did not suffer from mortal feelings. Yet as a vampire, V'azrin retained a small degree of mortality...and that led to his downfall. And as a liche, it is much easier to escape the true death. Take W'soran, for instance. He still died when attacked by Melkhior...if he had been a liche, he could have rebuilt himself piece by piece, and got his revenge on his mad apprentice later on."

"Nagash was unrivalled in magical power, and was known to despise the forces of chaos. Perhaps some of his power was holding back some dark force of the daemons, and now that he is dead, not enough is stopping them from draining the power of necromancy bit by bit from this world. Due to the souls I have seen, a remarkable trend among the undead ones has been observed. The magic that normally surrounds them has been drifting away, leaving them eroded, withered, almost as if...death itself is becoming uncertain. If chaos were to reign, almost nothing would be certain, and if the dead rose unchecked and uncontrolled by their undead masters, it would be a terrible thing indeed." Morturion looked grim, his face darkened and worried, but with a bitterness behind it, a solid core of anger.

 

[Bounce]

Elanor wandered over to where the necrach and necromancer stood talking about death. A very grim and solemn conversation. She was concerned by what she heard.
"We cannot allow such a thing to occur. The dead must remain in our control whether mortal vampire or lich . Although you must forgive my ignorance but what exactly is a lich ? It sounds like some form of blood sucking parasite."

 

[Get of W'soran]

"That...human feeling was a weakness of V'azrin's, it has little do with the condition and more to do with the individual." Nekhlior spat "For all his strength that was a pathetic method to end his existence."

"As for Liche's having the power to return from death...I do not know if this is strictly true, if it was then why did Nagash require the Black Pyramid to resurrect himself?" Nekhlior said looking thoughtful "And with us vampires...it is always possible to resurrect us no matter how we die. There are many rituals that can allow one to collect the ash's of our dead brethren but it of course requires an ally willing to do such. There are other ways though...I will not divulge them but one can ensure the body and spirit will be whole after being destroyed. I myself have suffered the so called true death three times." the Necrarch said, sneering at the thought of true death. "As for W'soran's death...precautions were taken to ensure father would not come back seeking vengeance." Nekhlior giggled "V'azrin was not pleased."

Nekhlior nodded his mood shifting drastically from amusement to sharing Morturion's troubled expression "It is fully possible that Nagash was the only true single person who could stand against the might of chaos but we..." Nekhlior waved a hand around the room and smiled faintly "as vampires have had our souls disconnected from that which is known as the Realms of Chaos. This makes us utterly incorruptable by such forces...as such a coalition for powerful and strong allied vampires could certainly at the very least cause a great deal of trouble for the foolish followers of those mad Gods."

Nekhlior turned to look at Elanor and nodded
"Of course we must child, a world of constant chaotic change would destroy our kind. We are constants...we can not withstand such an environment" the Necrarch said thinking of Tzeentch.

"As for Liche's...they are an advanced form of undeath... conscious thought and retaining their intellect much like we do. Nagash was one although he used warpstone to mutate his form...he was perhaps too happy to use that unstable element." Nekhlior said before grinning "Basically they're big magic skeletons." he added jokingly.

 

[Mello]

Alastor remained impassive, regaining control of himself somewhat.

"Ah but there would still be art and music. Those who survived would now just practice their arts in secret, then that way they are less influenced by fashion and other such things, we would gain much more rich arts out of ourselves, and looking for them would be amuch more difficult and rewarding task."

"I merely don't like pity, Kavok, it is a stupid emotion, I can't see any advantage to it either. Indeed my existence is a mockery to them, hence why I make sure my, individuality is felt by everyone. Other than that I'm not too concerned. Music matters more to me."

Alastor chuckled. "There's a reason its a wish, outsider." he said the word with relish, almost a compliment.

 

[The Sanguine Prince]

She was lost...lost in the magnificance of the stars, but they were fickle things. Esmerelda could not discern their meaning, or rather they refused to give her any answers. Frustrated that she cn't get any answers, the queen turned back to the council. Her eyes first glimpsed on Lord Nightwere, and winked at him whilst puckering her lips flirtatiously. She then turned her attention to the conversation about undeath, a topic she was peculiarly interested in. Esmerelda found the ancient Necrarch's comments on liches amusing, memories briefly flashing back of her 'midnight activities' with one of his particular bloodline, even the most corpse-like Vampires have needs. Cringeing inwardly at she had done to attain Necromantic knowledge, for no courtesan would have remotely agreed to it, she added her own verse into the conversation.

"Magical skeletons with enough power to make a living Necromancer green with envy. I myself don't trust them normally...as they are humans that have walked Necromancy path long enough for their sanity to go out the window". Esmerelda then grinned, exposing her elegantly curved fangs, "Plus they are no good at forming the beast with two backs and there would simply be no "life" in that relationship".

She turned to the younger female Vampire, Elanor "I concur that the dead must remain under our whim but most important of all...what happens to us when Necromancy is at it's lowest ebb? I'd wager it would bring about a more permanent true death, in what manner I dare not imagine".

 

[Kavok]

"Would there truly be art of any form out there? What purpose would it serve with everyone worried about how they were to survive? And no, without society there is no trust between people because that is what society is. Removing society from the world leaves it with only individuals out for survival for themselves. Trusting one another, which I might add is different then inspiring fear in the hearts of others, is essentially all that society has. It is trust in others that enables rules to be made, and have them expected to be followed. Also even if for some strange reason someone decided to make any form of art, what would it be? All things serve a purpose, and the various art forms have generally created things that are designed to invoke feelings within the viewer or listener. But without society what good would that do? Who would that be shared with? You'll have no friends or companions to show off your latest drawing or play your latest song, for why should they both trust you enough to visit and also what purpose would that art serve? Without society, survival is all that remains to matter. With society, you have others that can help you to survive and thus give you the leisure to think of other things like creating a culture for the society with things like the arts." Kavok glanced over and saw Elanor go and talk with Morturion and Nekhlior, and saw Esmerelda walk over to join in on the conversation. 'Great... Of course she goes and talks with the old necromancer... I really don't like that guy. Well I doubt he will do anything too soon after being being shoved back into his place by the vampires. Actually... with how I'm thinking, I'm likely to get shoved back into my place... Though I very much doubt that will end anywhere but in the ground. What ever, I hope she doesn't get herself into any trouble with him. I'm honor bound to respect the claim of that knight vampire to his head. This is so much easier thinking about them as if they were just normal people... But adding vampire to the equation... that really messes things up... they mostly act too normal. Sure they have been talking about some weird things sometimes, but they largely act like normal nobility. Oh the lady is going to hate me... Hmm... I wonder if they lady has an opposite... like the other side to the same coin... A lady for life, and a lady for death... Yeah I'm screwed. That probably would have been an interesting philosophical question for myself if I wasn't in this situation, but right now it is just continued blasphemy.'

Looking back at Alastor, Kavok returns his focus to reality.

 

[Dark_Wolfen]

As the morning drew nearer and nearer, Nimrais had little time left to go for the castle.

"I really enjoyed the company, Verdant Heart, and I thank you and your troupe for a fun night. But the sun is rising, and I have places to be. I must take my leave for now," she said, slightly sad that it was over so soon.

Sensing the urgency in her, the Verdant Heart offered his horse to Nimrais. "If the matters are so urgent and haste is required," the Verdant Heart paused his speech for a few seconds, "then you should take my horse to get there." The Verdant Heart let the air breeze through his vines as some sort of calling to Wyrdash, and it didn't take more than a few seconds for the beautiful horse to arrive.

"Oh, I have my own horse. You don't have to..." Nimrais started to object, but the Verdant Heart cut her off. "Wyrdash is much faster than your own horse, little vampire. Take good care of the creature, for I will need it again." Nimrais stood there for a few seconds, looking at the horse and how the Verdant Heart walked calmply to it and took it's reigns and led the horse to Nimrais. It didn't seem frightened or anything. Nimrais run her fingers along the flank of the horse. "A fine creature," she remarked, "I'll take more than good care for it." Nimrais climbed on the horse and blew a kiss to the Verdant Heart and waved at the people in the camp to anounce her departure. "Thank you again for your compassion, Verdant Heart. I hope that our paths would cross again sometime soon!"

The Verdant Heart did not lie, the horse was nimble and agile and seemed to move through the forest like it was a normal road. It took her far less time to reach Drakenhoff than she had estimated, which is good, she thought, since now she had all the more time to make herself presentable. Upon arriving at the castle, she looked in awe at the size and structure of it. It was truely a vast piece of construction. As she neared the castle, the shadows began to grow again, becoming more... alive.

When she reached to courtyard she demounted from the horse and asked one of the servants to put the creature in the stalls, so she could return the horse when the meeting was over, but as soon as she asked so, the horse turned around and left again. She walked a bit after it, thinking she just lost the horse and broke her promise, but then realized that such a fine specimen would probably be returning to it's owner. "Not a well trained horse, I see," the servant remarked at the departure. "It wasn't mine anyway," Nimrais replied distantly, thinking back about earlier. She went inside the castle, the hallway was riddled with portraits. At the end of the hallway stood a vast number of guards from all kinds of allegiances, judging by how much different their equipment was. "Damn it, the meeting must have already started then," she thought to herself. She quickly asked another servant if there was any room for her to change into something more presentable. She retired herself into the nearest chamber and began switching clothes and getting off the smell of dirt, travel and horses. She slipped into an elegant dress of black with purple. The dress had a lot of ruffles on the edges and lace in it, with linings and decorations of golden thread. It was her most beautiful dress and costed her a fortune, but it would probably be relatively normal attire for truely wealthy nobles. As a finishing touch, she put her hair up in a knot at the back of her head, holding it all together with a golden pin, blending in with her natural hair colour. After an hour or so, she was finally done. During her stay in the chamber she heard all this yelling and even some loud crashing noises. What was even going on in there? Was it safe for her to even go inside further?

When she returned to the main hall, Nimrais was quite reluctant to enter the throneroom. They must have been in there for quite a while already. Just walking in would draw too much sudden attention to her, not something she wanted right now, since she didn't know what to expect. "You know how to get in there unnoticed," a dark figure spoke from the shadows. "You've been doing it basically for the past dozen yours already.. just... work it a little bit more." The voice sounded deep, sweet yet disturbing. Nimrais paid no further attention to it, but he was right. She conjured up some shadow magic to engulf her. It changes she made were subtle, not noticable. She didn't turn invisible, but she might as well be. The grey magic made her appear as ordinary as possible.So bland, so boring, so featureless. As she entered the room, some of the occupents looked at her passing by, but paid little to no attention to her. There were some vampires bickering here and there. She'd never seen so many vampires in her life. Let alone all in one room! And.. there was even a mortal knight among them. "What is he doing here?" she thought to herself. "well, if he feels comfortable here, why shouldn't she be welcome?" Nimrais slowly started to lift her magic cloaking so not to draw attention to her sudden noticable presense in the room and became more noticable, blending in like she has been there all night.

 

[Mello]

Alastor smirked

"Explain to me my music then. I haven't seen a soul save for Kraskor, who occasionally visits me, for five years or so. I have been self sufficient and have created my own organ, with the entire of human civilisation wanting me dead if they found me. If civilisation was merely a group of individuals surviving on my own, would my life be harder? You travel alone yourself, you must realise how easy it is to live on ones own. Or does the loneliness get to you, the lack of the comforting society everyone seems to want."

He stared at the ground bitterly. It seemed he was truly alone in this world, no-one else saw the truth..

 

[Get of W'soran]

Nekhlior chuckled at Esmerelda's comment.
"I myself studied the Dark Arts for many years under W'soran as a mortal...although I suppose that wasn't true Necromancy for it took the Great Necromancer some time to refine the art." the Necrarch said with a smile before tilting his head "The beast with two backs? I do not believe I have heard it before...how does a beast have two backs and how does one form it? Do you mean one mutates a beast with the powers of chaos?" he asked sounding curious.

As Esmerelda addressed Elanor the corpse-like vampire shivered.
"It should not be happening...an entire school of magic should not be failing...it should not..." he muttered before trailing of to a volume that even vampiric senses could not pick up.

 

[Kavok]

"Alright... Your music... On a quick assessment I would have to say it is the product of your wish to express your various emotions caused by being rejected by society. For if society had completely existed do you truly believe that your songs would have as much emotion put into them, or at least the emotions that are in them? Out of most of the music I've heard and learned of some of the factors in the artist's life, you are one of the ones most effected by society. Remove society from your life, and where would the great sadness, that you seem to draw upon while you play, come from? Though I get the feeling more that your point is that you are creating music while trying to separate yourself from society completely. To be honest, you all as a species are slightly different then humans. You have fewer needs then a normal human would, and needs that would have to be fulfilled less frequently. Or at least that is what I'm currently taking things to be. I do think that is one of the reasons I'm still alive, you all don't appear to just immediately jump at the chance to drink blood. But back to you. Also, do you really see yourself as separated from society? You have social relations with another, this Kraskor person, and does he not have social relations with others? What does society truly mean to you? Is it society you hate or just a particular society of people? Also, just a random something... This..." Kavok motions at the large group of vampires within the room. "This would have probably been a society that would have very easily accepted you if that is what you were looking for, though now I feel you may have a slight bit more work to achieve that."

Kavok lets out a small sigh while he thinks a bit on his travels. "Hmm... As for my own travels, I don't really think I missed interacting with people much. My travels are caused by an odd self exile from places I've been to try and prove my worth to the lady of the lake. Which is probably not going to go well by the way... But for the most part, that just consists of moving along, and surviving till I get to prove myself. The only times I really get to take a break from that would be when I have the opportunity to trade with some of the people I do pass and get some supplies that will last me quite some time. That did give me quite a bit of time to just think to myself about various things..."

Kavok shakes his head after a moment, his mind having wandered down random paths just a bit. "Never mind, I feel these sorts of things have more effect when the individual discovers them for himself. I should probably be moving on to converse with some of the other guests."

 

[Sweeney Todd]

Kenshiro nodded again as Kavok spoke. If one were to only listen to his voice, one could be fooled into thinking he was one of a group of monks discussing philosophy over a cup of tea.

"As has been said, we can see that what you feel about society drives you and your music. But assuming society simply didn't exist, what inspiration would you then have for your pieces? Perhaps you wish to become the person you'd have been if society didn't exist at all? If so, become that person, instead of simply wishing it and hating yourself for what you are now."

 

[Bounce]

"A permanent true death."Elanor repeated Esmerlda's words. Would that be such a bad thing. She was unsure if she believed in an afterlife and she doubted she qualified if there was but there was something strangely comforting about just being in peace and darkness and emptiness. Beast with two backs? For some reason Elanor felt esmerelda was referring to some weird sex position and this was both intriguing and disturbing.

"It should not but it does." Elanor replied to the necrach. "We can stop it though. I am sure of this."

 

[Get of W'soran]

"A true, permanent death, would be terrible indeed for any afterlife that exists can not exist for us. A mortal's soul exists both within their physical forms and within the Aethyr but the vampire soul is cut of from the Aethyr. It is my believe that it is this connection that allows the mortal soul to leave the body after death...although whether this is to some underworld of Morr or if it is cast into the void of chaos I do not know."

Although truth be told he had his doubts as to whether or not the failing of Necromancy could actually lead to the death of vampires. But it would at the very least lead to the extinction of the greatest strength of the vampiric race.

Nekhlior stopped for a moment to look around at the other vampires assembled "The problem is...this 'weakening' of the school of Necromancy might not be solvable by physical prowess." he said the majority of the gathering seem to be warriors not scholars.

Also he thought to himself I am curious that the champion of that hateful Asaph would want a renewal in Necromancy...for it was the Necromancer that banished them from the world Nekhlior shifted his gaze back to the vampires that had joined in with the conversation Although without the power of the Great Necromancer's Great Ritual would the Tomb Kings also be no more? And a God requires pious servants.

 

[The Dread King]

"Nekhlior, Nagash's black pyramid was just a better way of preserving his soul than the usual liche methods," Morturion replied. "A liche can place...connections...to their souls much more easily than the most powerful vampires can. Some vampires cannot do so at all, without followers trying to bring them back. Liches can rebuild themselves over the years, and all their soul sources usually have to be found and destroyed before they can be truly killed. Even then, there if the off-chance that they will stay in a form of half-life, and return to undeath later on. Upon resurrection, they are not simple mindless corpses, as vampires that have suffered the true death can become, but sentient beings with wills of their own; they lose none of the skills or memories that they possessed before their "true death."

Listening to the other vampires pipe up, Morturion said questioningly with a grin, "A two-backed beast? Is it what I think you are talking about? Well, although a liche may not seem to be able to form one of those, perhaps it is for the best. The word "beast" is used correctly there, as the two-backed beast has been the downfall for many a vampire or human; I could name thousands who have falled to the curses of lust and love. In fact, it is one of the liches' great strengths that they are not tempted by the idea of forming the "two-backed beast."

Focusing on Nekhlior once more, Morturion stated, "I believe that if the council's members work together, and if they work in the right way, the waning of necromancy could be checked. But it will be hard, and we do not know how powerful, and, far more importantly, who our enemies are. We only have our suspicions. How can one fight the shadows? First, we must find out who leads the powers plotting against us; then we must work on how they can be stopped." And then, if who I think is among the council's enemies is among them, then I must make sure that I am the one who slays him.

 

[Mello]

Alastor's reality shattered a little. It was as if one last pebble at the castle of glass had been thrown. The crack in his mind splintered out, thenn the whole thing cam shattering down.

"MY MUSIC IS MADE BY THE SUFFERING CAUSED BY NOT HAVING A SOCIETY TO BE IN! The only reason I hate it is because it abondoned me when I needed it most. If I were accepted by society, then I would be overjoyed, but now an eternity of THIS!" Alastor motioned towards his mask in rage.

Alastor choked on his tears. "Believe you me I'd rather be sitting at home, a human, a child. My mother would be alive.. I only notice society's," Alastor paused to draw in a breath, with a hiss, "complete and utter arrogance because I have never been able to comfort in it. My music exists as the only outlet to the the hate that the entire world shows me. Hunted down by everyone, no respite from anyone.. the world showed no compassion to me. Why should I SHOW ANY?".

He tried teleporting away, but the wards had interfered with his mind. He cried out in agony as he half-shifted out of reality, his body trying to split apart. He sank to the groun, breathing through his teeth. He drew his cloak around him.

"Why... WHY??"