Dragons Awakened [PM/Invite]

[Nikolae]

Nikolae knew he had a somewhat off-putting air about him; he'd been accused of siring a string of creatures more welcome in a mafia than a city of vampires. And he as the mob-boss. He'd taken it as a compliment, despite the scowls his demeanor sometimes earned him. The girl didn't seem all too eager to speak to him, though, and he was fairy certain that was the reason. He worked over the problem in his head and then ultimately dismissed it. He'd been this way since the night he'd woken alone with death ringing in his ears and a missing shadow he was certain Peter Pan had stolen. Sometimes he still thought that.

"I'm sorry for the way your early nights in the life went..." He offered with a grimace, nodding to the woman encouragingly. He wasn't entirely certain who her maker was, but it was clear it was someone within his bloodline. It was also clear that Raeth knew. Maybe he'd ask later. If he remembered. "But it seems you've found a way to make your new life something good." He smiled, serpentine eyes glittering in the candle light surrounding them.

He nodded to Raeth's words of encouragement aimed at the girl, agreeing silently. When his childe then answered his question, the dragon listened to each word individually. He seemed to be weighing the answer his right-hand was offering. In truth the question had been loaded, because with his return Nikolae had slowly began to think of two goals and a handful of conclusions. He wanted his lineage reborn. And he wanted a group outside of the lineage as well. Two halves of his own whole. One neither equaled the other, though each was equal in importance to him now that he was walking the streets in the open again.

"That's very good, Raeth." He replied finally, finding truth in the mans words. "I suppose many would say we did only care for our own ends. If our desires happened to coincide with the aims of others, then we would work with those others. If they didn't, we didn't care to know those others at all." He shrugged. He wasn't ashamed of his past, nor the past of his Dragomir. They'd been a proud breed, remained so, and would continue to be so until his final breath was drawn. Until the Shadow Realm proved more alluring than this mortal realm of blood and death. Oh, he had plenty of other things he still had yet to finish. Strings hanging from his hands waiting to be drawn and put into play. But they would come.

"What do you think, Charlie? Are dragons something to be feared, hated, or worshipped?" He was speaking in the abstract now. More about the mythical beast he'd painstakingly built his lineage on. No, they weren't really dragons with wings and scales and a horde of gold. But they strived to be as like the dragons of ancient lore as possible with a set of fangs and an eternal hunger for blood.

[CharlotteC]

Az's question was a good one, she just wished she knew what the truth was behind it. She had been told that it was because they 'hated her hair' when she asked just before her death, but she suspected that there was only one reason that she had been killed because there was no way of them knowing that she was in the 5th at the time that she was killed. And that was because she was Killian's only progeny in the city. And his newest. She thought to herself. She continued to think about it for a moment before she finally answered "In truth, I have no clue what their reason was, but basically the entire situation became genocide. I had just joined the 5th as a favor to Killian, but I had not yet made it known that I had done such so I don't think that was the reason. Basically the Ty just got a stick up their *** about the 5th and killed everyone in it. Me... I suspect that it was more just because I was under Killian, I was young and I was easy to find. Like I said though, I don't know for a fact."

That was the truth, but then, she was incapable of telling a lie. She sighed for a moment and then shook her head again, that really was a **** storm in the greatest form. All the death, all the pointless death. She hadn't had a bounty on her head, she hadn't had one since the very beginnings of her vampire life. Again, she just couldn't figure out any other reason than they were bullies picking out the young and weak to take down because it would be easy for them. She was still thinking about it when Nikolae spoke up as well, first conveying his sympathy for how her early nights had been before pointing out that she had indeed made her life better. Of course, that started after she had made a 'fatal' mistake that meant that Killian had truly abandoned her. It was both a pro and a con in her view.

On the bad side, what she did, probably would have got her killed had Killian or Robert turned her in or if she hadn't had a pretty tight reign on Cordy and Killian did fully abandon her, choosing to kill himself because she had done it even though she hadn't known because he hadn't told her that it was a big no no. He left her and she had found someone else to take her in, to care for her, to give her what it was that she had needed. Elliot was her sire now, even if he hadn't bit her.

Niko's question had her raising her brow to him and she couldn't help but smirk a bit. For a moment she felt like giving a very nerdy answer, instead she once again went with the truth because hey, she couldn't help it. "It depends on the dragon in my book. If the dragon seeks to instill fear in people, then it will be feared, if it doesn't do anything malicious then it should be marveled at, but I don't think any creature should be hated, really, truly hated. I can only speak of dragons I have seen in movies or TV shows, but a dragon burns down a village, it should be feared, if a dragon saves lives it should be respected, if it's made out of solid gold, it should be stolen." She added with a sinful little mile that hinted at her love of taking things that didn't belong to her.

[Azraeth]

A frown was offered up when Charlie launched into her explanation of what had happened. Azraeth did not normally take issue with Tytonidae nor their methods. They served a purpose in much the same way that everyone in the little vampiric community did. What he wished in truth, was that there were more effective means of dealing with evidence of vampirism when it was made public – a way that did not involve violence. How many of the young to the undead life had gone into the realm of darkness and not emerged, or had emerged more insane than when they had entered? Yes, if one slapped a dog enough, they learned not to do a particular behavior. But if one continued to slap that same dog even after they stopped the behavior, they became wild. Vicious. Angry.

Monsters begat monsters.

He didn’t like hearing that she had been attacked, possibly for her connection to her sire. In truth, he didn’t know Tytonidae’s intelligence well enough to guess whether or not they had found out she was a member of 5th column or not. It was entirely possible they had sunk a spy into the ranks. Hariasa had been the leader hadn’t she? Chad’s old flame. She had seemed crazed when he had known her, so he tended to believe she could have let someone with foul intentions in.

Whatever the case, he placed the blame for that solely on Hariasa’s head. A person leading a faction needed to be able to protect their members from total annihilation. Her inability to do so had cost a member of Azraeth’s family dearly it seemed. Though there was truth to Niko’s words. Adversity made vampires stronger. Because nothing could truly kill them. Not if they had the will to live and prosper. “May you never have to face that sort of thing again. I’m sorry you had to, to begin with. With Nikolae and I having returned, I would like for the Dragomir to grow centralized once more. I don’t know whether or not you claim us or our name, but you can expect us to offer you at least advice.” Like not joining certain groups.

He listened then to Charlie’s answer. About the nature of the dragon. To be feared or loved and respected. He supposed the words made sense, so he didn’t elaborate further on what she had to say. The answer was perfect in and of itself. “Perhaps we can take this across the street to the Necropolis. While I love the Temple, it has such a serious air to it. Reverent, and something tells me, you’re more than a little irreverent, Charlie.” His smile was good natured, even as he brushed past the pair of them towards the door, glancing over a shoulder to the pair a moment later, before lifting a hand to beckon.

[Nikolae]

Nikolae vaguely recalled the antics the Tytonidae group had been up to just before he'd had enough of the town and it's never ending politics. Even then Velveteen's group had been, generally, up to no good. But Nikolae had been hard-pressed to give a damn by then. There had been a time he'd championed the simple laws all vampires were expected to abide by - laws that seemed easy enough to understand and live by. But enough bickering had brought any attempts at peace almost to a grinding halt. It was impossible to please everyone, after all. Even if he still didn't quite understand the desire for some to flaunt their vampiric nature to humans. Weren't the Blood Thieves and Paladins enough proof that that was a terrible path to take? Weren't the humans with their meddling and scientific experiments - experiments he was still sure to this day had brought about his very birth - enough of a deterrent? But no. It still went on, every night. Still - Charlie's statement gave him some pause. Had he really left his Dragons to be slaughtered for no other reason than pissing off the temperamental leader of a group of owls? It gave him a chill of self-loathing if it were true. And he had no reason to believe she was lying now. What could it possibly gain the girl to spin a tail to a patriarch she didn't even know?

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that." He repeated solemnly, his slit-eyed gaze resting on the woman for a heartbeat before he eased his shoulders back. There was nothing to be done for it now. The past was just that - long past. Mistakes had been made by fools more powerful than him, and no doubt would be made again. If nothing else the girl seemed happy now, and that was all any vampire in this doomed town could really ask for.

"Alright, Raeth. We can go to that club. But don't expect me to be social with anyone else." He said dryly, a dark eyebrow lifting to challenge his first borne to insist otherwise. "And luckily for us, we aren't made of gold. Though my bank account might state otherwise..." He winked to Charlie and even chuckled under his breath. "Feared, respected, though. Those I can take. Gladly." He nodded and strode after Azraeth, slipping out of his beloved Temple with an oath under his breath.

[CharlotteC]

Charlie gave a gentle nod to Az as he hoped that she would never have to go through that sort of thing again. One of the many reasons that she had left the 5th was so that that particular thing wouldn't be the reason for her next killing, if she ever had one. She had been damn careful about what she did and when she did it, she still avoided the idea of her parents seeing her, despite the fact that Zo had given her a good and viable idea of seeing them, letting them know she was safe and alive without 'breaking the masq' that she so loathed. But instead of thinking on that, her attention was drawn back to what Az was saying, mentioning claiming the family. She didn't really know if she did or not. She knew that she claimed the d'Artois now because Elliot had taken her under his wing, protected her and helped her if she needed it. She did, in a way still see the Worthington line as one she was part of so in a technical sense, claiming the Dragomir line would be the same as the Worthington to her.

As she was thinking about this, Nikolae's voice called her attention away from Az for a moment, and again she gave a silent nod to what he had said, a soft smile on her face. She was glad that she felt, if for the current moment, safe with the males, they had felt bad for what she had been through instead of hopping on the 'Oh you shouldn't have done this' or 'You shouldn't have done that' band wagon that Ty people she had seen talking about people on the Crow seemed to like to say. Then her eyes shifted back to the younger male, asking if they could head over to the Necropolis and then teasing about her being 'irreverent'. To her that was more a burn than she let onto. She had been born into a strong Christian family (granted she was all for breaking a few 'commandments') so she knew when to be respectful of places such as the temple that they stood in currently. Still, as Nikolae agreed, she smirked at the older male.

With both males she doubted that she would be in any harm of being attacked in a place that she wasn't big into going into. When it came to clubs, if she went into them she chose Nightmode. Then again, she wasn't a big clubber anymore. Still she went with them, as she moved from the temple she smirked to Nikolae "Now see, telling me that is just tempting me to hack into said account." It was a teasing tone she held, but the truth was there in her eyes, it was tempting. Plus, she couldn't lie, everything she said was always the honest truth. "I won't, but it is still so very tempting." She said with a laugh, after all, she was a thief... or at least, when she wasn't hacking systems to clean them out of their expensive files.

Then her eyes turned back to Az and she brought up something he had said earlier, "Currently, I see myself as a d'Artois, but I also would help any Worthington that asked for it if I could. It, to me, would be the same with those of this line. After all, I can't change whose blood runs through my name. The only thing I don't claim is the man that turned me and basically ditched me. In truth though, it would be up to the head of the line as to what I am to him. But I am always happy to have more people to give me advice... so long as they don't see that advice as shoving their gun in my face and blowing my head off." She said with a soft sigh, but she wasn't too upset, just shaking off the bad thoughts that still haunted her from time to time because of that awful place.

[Azraeth]

Azraeth was not at all in the dark as to how Nikolae felt about the original owner of the Necropolis. There was history there. Before it had been opened, Amaranthia had attacked one of their blood. Az couldn’t have said who exactly it was (he had memory issues), and that had all but set the tone for how Raeth’s sire felt about the woman. Dragons were infamous for that. Though they may not always have acted immediately, they never forgot when one of theirs was harmed. Nikolae had been one of the men that had helped to kill Amara in the Necropolis, a testament to how he felt about her situational pacifism if Az had to guess. But Niko was like that. It was a trait that had been passed along to his childer.

Sometimes the only answer to adversity was to become stronger, become stronger and always remember.

That was the way of the Dragomir.

“Of course not. Though you’ll likely have to beat the blood dolls off with a stick. We may want to go to the rooms below the club’s first floor to get a little bit of privacy.” There was a ritual altar there as well, one that Az had used in the past. But he had felt a connection to the Necropolis for a long time, even after he had ceased to work there. He regularly checked in, even if it was something of a relic of the past. It seemed like the only ones who really frequented it anymore were humans and the occasional vampire that needed a place to rest for the night. Them and the staff of course.

Leiren and Azraeth had never gotten along. She had practically spat at him in rage when he’d started dating Amaranthia. That had been in the past, when Raeth had been less…forgiving of sleights. So he’d teleported her into the sunlight.

“I wish my own bank account was so fat. I have been doing a lot in the caverns lately though. I take a pickaxe with me and just go to collect gems all day. I’m saving up to buy an ATM and crafting bench.” After that, he needed to focus on getting ingredients for the homebound ritual, but that was something that could wait for another time. His ultimate goal was to have a hub for the members of his lineage to use at their convenience. He wasn’t much one for laying a bunch of traps or making some sort of fortress like the Broussard compound had once been. Maybe one day when he had the funds and accommodations.

The trip across the street was a short one, and they didn’t have to wait for any lines to get in. Azraeth simply let himself inside along with the others before making his way towards the back. “I think time will tell whether or not this city sees you as a dragon.” He said after Charlie spoke. “Family for me has come to mean something different than it used to. I used to offer up my love and protection to anyone that wore my name. I think that was selfish in a way – because there was this expectation of loyalty to that name. I have since opened up myself to other people. There are some in the Worthington I would do almost anything for, but I would openly give of myself to just about any member of the vampire community.“ His brows furrowed when he realized how that might sound, though he motioned to a table.

He slid in a moment later.

“I expected people to be loyal enough to me and to that name to forget their grievances with members of the lineage, and to take my orders when I handed them out. This worked for a while, and then it didn’t. Now I see family as something else entirely. The only thing I expect out of my childer is that they listen to my advice. They don’t have to heed it, but that comes with its own perils. Family is never something that should be exclusive I think. I leave that to factions and gangs, and what have you. When someone has my trust, they are my family.” He left it at that, his rambling answer. He knew of the d’Artois, had met Pi at one point. The meeting had gone well enough, though Az didn’t have a solid opinion of the woman other than that she seemed aloof but polite.

One of the pleasures of neutrality was that Az didn’t feel the need to be bothered by the connections that people made. If someone wanted to be friends with a mushroom, that was their choice. Shunning the political world in the way that he did gave him an objective perspective in that way. It was much like he said, he could see anyone as family so long as he trusted them. And trust with him was something that was given immediately. The only way a person could have that taken away was to hurt him or hurt the people he loved.

“You will need to introduce us at some point. And no, I can be frank with my advice, but never violent.”

[Nikolae]

Nikolae had less than a clue what a d'Artois was, and he silently attested that to some lineage that had cropped up once he and his had scattered to the winds. But that sort of thing had happened time and time again. Very little stayed the same in Harper Rock - something truly astounding for such a small town. Immortals came and went, some to stay forever locked in the Shadow Realm while others simply vanished. He wondered mildly if they'd gotten themselves killed while outside the damned town. Probably, he answered himself.

He still got the chills when coming to the building Azraeth for some reason still seemed to gravitate toward. Weren't there any other clubs in this damned town? It didn't matter that Amaranthia had long since departed - whether to the Realm or to see some of the outside world. It didn't matter that he'd once paid a long-defunct Faction to help him see her dead for her crimes against him. No. None of that mattered. He still didn't like her, and therefore didn't like her establishment. Though he was certain the latter had happened first. The woman had gone on and on about her club being neutral ground, and then created more violence than anyone else on the grounds - before hiding behind her claims of neutrality to keep her own hide safe. Ridiculous. Preposterous. And an insult to any code of non-violence, such as the one he strictly imposed in the open area of the Dragomir Temple.

He shouldered past a male blood-doll who'd gotten too close for comfort and sat down firmly on one side of Raeth. Nikolae never scooted anywhere. His hands folded on top of the table and he eyed the lone flickering candle in the middle of it's wooden surface.

"Killian was a bit of a spit-fire. Always looking for trouble. He and his partner." He shook his head with a downward tilt of his lips. "A shame, really. That Alyss had potential in spades. I knew she hated Chad - who the hell didn't? But it was still a shame to watch her walk out of the Dragomir without even a backwards glance. Killian, I kept some contact with after the two departed. Not enough, though, it seems." He nodded with another small apologetic smile.

"Enough talk of the past, though. It's never good memories that are brought up." He flattened his hands on the tabletop, fingers spreading outward in a parody of the sort of rituals Azraeth so loved to do. He chuckled under his breath. "The future is that much brighter for the trials we have overcome. Has anyone ever said that? If not then you can put my name to that quote." He nodded again, a fond smile curling his lips now as his slitted serpentine gaze glanced over the two he was sat with. "The former Dragons that once roamed the streets are mostly asleep. I still see a few thankfully. But Raeth and I have both been busy rebuilding the lineage, creating more cold-blooded dragons in a city all but starving for them." He smirked, somewhat proud to say so.

[CharlotteC]

Charlie arched her brow as Az mentioned the caverns, going down for the gems. It was a tempting thing for her as well, all those extremely expensive stones just sitting there begging to be plucked from the wall or the floor or the ceiling. But at the same time, that energy could be spent towards building guns or traps that were much needed and far less effort, or raiding a building for all of the things that lay hidden in crates and behind vault doors. And then there was all the time she spent making all kinds of scripts for the computer and such. She had such a busy life. Then again, if she really wanted to she could pass off one of her trinkets to Rhett and send him down there with a pick axe - but she really liked him in the slums and he enjoyed being down there as well. He made quite a killing there.

"I've been down there a time or two, but I'm not really up for the battle between those people down there. While I love making guns, I really really suck in battle." She said with a slight laugh. It was true though, she had a hard enough time going against hunters or mooncalves when she went down into the sewers and the catacombs. Her skills were elsewhere. Mental, mostly. She then glanced over to Niko as they made their way into the club, she could almost see the tension there but she said nothing, instead she turned her attention back onto what Az had said to her. Time would tell. That was truthful of most things though. Time always would tell, now she had nothing but time.

As he continued to talk about loyalties and such, she would smirk or smile a little at things, but she remained silent for most of it. It was rude after all to interrupt, plus she agreed with him so what would be the point of interrupting him? None, that she knew of. Her chocolate gaze took in the club she had been in maybe once or twice in the year that she had been in the city, but then glanced back to the guys, joining them at the table before she smirked to Az.

It was then that Niko began to once again speak, it seemed that this place irked him so much that it had rendered him speechless, or at least, that is how it appeared to Charlie. But she didn't say anything. It was up to him if he wanted to share what was bothering him. Instead he spoke of Killian and the woman that he was bound too, of course, she had never met the woman, at least not past anything maybe in the family crownet. She couldn't say anything about the lady, but Killian. There was plenty she could go with there, but at the same time, as she was shaking away the thoughts of the past Niko was saying the same thing out loud as if he had been reading the downward spiral that was her thoughts and wanted to distract her from them.

"It would be good to see the line grow, wither or not I am part of it, you two seem alright and the fact that you care about the line is a good sign to me. This city needs good lines run by people that actually care about them." Then she looked to Az and smirked a bit "And I would be willing to introduce you guys, if nothing else, to the man who has taken me under his wing and has treated me as if he had turned me himself, any time you wish. He may bring his wife or girlfriend or whatever she is to him as well. I'll have to talk to him about that part." She said with a soft laugh. "But Elliot is a good guy and seems always up for meeting new people. Actually, he owns a bar in Redwood, I work in the place over it currently. The bar is called Lancaster's. Have you two heard of it or been there?" She asked as she looked between the two men.

[Azraeth]

Azraeth got comfortable in his seat, his legs crossing at the ankle so that they could stretch out in front of him, even as his fingers clasped together, woven carefully atop the table. He knew very little about Killian and never would have claimed otherwise. The two of them had met a couple of times, but those interactions had been brief at best, and never particularly meaningful. Alyss had not really been any better, though she had been the one to give Az the moniker ‘Grand Dragon’. He had liked her if only because she had been in his direct bloodline, and would have relished the chance to get to know her better; a chance that he never really got. But that seemed to be the case. Azraeth also had yet to meet Wafa and anyone she may have sired, though she had been a vampire for years.

He blamed Asher for that one, the man had always been on the…possessive side when it came to his progeny. Seemingly liked to keep them to himself and tucked away from Raeth and the other Dragons. Now that it seemed Asher was totally out of the picture and Az’s world had begun to actually settle down for once, it was something he intended to fix. Ignoring the bonds of existing blood in favor of making new connections was not a mistake he intended to make.

“For a while, it seemed to be the popular thing to do to leave the Dragomir. Mainly, it seems, after Niko and I took up silence as our spoken language. No lineage can prosper when the source of its blood does not flow with life.” He commented idly, thinking briefly about that time period. There had been a point at which wearing the name Dragomir had been a promise of protection, when people had not lightly involved themselves in the affairs of dragons. Those times were long past and not likely to return. Az had no control over who his childer turned or who his siblings turned. The ability to save someone did not make for a family. And he was not the leader of a gang or any other faction.

But he could love; that was the only gift when given honestly, was worth anything to begin with.

There had been a time that Az had only cared about what someone could do for him. Mr. Scratch probably would have rolled in whatever grave he found himself in, if he’d found out that had changed. No, what was important to the Dragomir was forming that bond.

“I have met Pi, though she likely wouldn’t recognize me. I recall her being a merciful woman. She forgave my brother for his trespasses against her.” Az had actually met Pi a couple of times, though the first time had been when the Dragomir and Grigori had been working together to take down some shared enemy. Back then, she had been more of a footsoldier than anything else, working closely with Mircea and Habren. From humble beginnings, as the saying went.

When a blood doll drew closer, looking hopeful, Az lifted a brow and leaned across the table. “Do you carry Arbor Vitae here?” The expression he got in return was a confused one.

“Well go check at the bar, would you? If so, bring a bottle or two for the table, thanks!” He said politely, before dropping back into his seat to once again address the pair.

“I haven’t been there, I don’t think.” He said in relation to the bar that the d’Artois owned. “But thank you. I think too many people set out looking to do great things with their blood and forget that the ones under them are people. I just want a place to call home again. I crave being surrounded by a sense of family. Whether or not those people are turned by me or just my close friends, I don’t really care.” He just wanted people to fuss over and dote on. That was his weakness really, and his strength - his ability to accept people without reservation or expectation.

“I would love it if you were to set up a meeting. As I understand it, the d’Artois ran the auctions this year? I wasn’t able to participate in those, but do you know anything about that?” A change in topic, as his sire had requested. Last he’d heard, Amara had been the one to run the auctions. He didn’t see much point in them, but people seemed to enjoy them just fine.

[Nikolae]

"I don't venture out as much as I used to," He admitted with a look that might be regret though he'd never admit it outloud. "I don't think I've heard of that bar. But Raeth has been trying to get me to go to more of them." He replied with an easy smile. It was easier to let down his guard when indoors, away from prying eyes of strangers or enemies. Or strangers that might one day be enemies. The Dragon was nothing if not weary and just this side of paranoid. "I've heard murmuring about some biker place, too." He added with a grimace. An odd thing in a town full of immortals, zombies, fairies, and other things that went bump in the night. But a time and place for everyone, he supposed.

"Are those auctions still a thing?" He found himself asking with more than a little surprise. He'd been a little amused the first time he'd heard about them, even though it made him deeply uncomfortable if he were honest with himself. Vampires selling themselves off for what amounted to pocket change for most buyers. Or at least he assumed it must be pocket change - it was the sort of money that he might lose to pick pockets simply for forgetting he had acquired quite so much in a few weeks time. At that thought he reached into his jacket pocket with a grimace as he heard gems clang together. He really did need to sell things more often, already he was realizing the weight of the things weighing him down.

He watched the blood doll at the bar, the mans confusion amusing Nikolae for a moment even if he himself was more than a little confused. He generally only had simple preferences for his blood; that it not be polluted with toxins, disease, or illness. Bonus points if the human were in relative health weight-wise. All the points if the human was a stone-cold vegan. For some reason their blood tasted the least repulsive, while an overweight smoker riddled with any number of diseases only took one sip to prove their blood was all but unswallowable. He grimaced at the memory as it returned to him. He'd sent that particular human right back on their merry way to the bus and nearly wretched in the alley to get the taste out. Mouthwash was an amazing invention if ever there was one.