Path of the Vampire forum

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Cosimo Alessi> The catacombs were new to Cosimo. Kind of. He'd known about them and what lurked there--he'd been told stories, but he hadn't had a chance to explore them yet. Given his new capabilities, he figured it was the right time. Taking his new weapons, he'd gone on a hike through the sewers (having got lost along the way, but finally getting there in the end) to find the catacombs. At first he'd been fascinated by the antiquity, but had soon been distracted by the bags of flesh and bones that tried to mow him down. After a few hours he was covered in dust and a tiny bit of mooncalf gunk (he'd had to slip away from that one beast, and avoided any others that he happened to see. Avoided them like the plague). And he realised that he had not yet eaten. Fed. Whatever they liked to call it. It was something he was still getting used to, and he could understand why his former fellow paladins might think that vampires were unnatural. Taking blood felt unnatural. But he couldn't resist the taste. Oh, the taste...

So when he saw the lone human wandering the halls of the caverns, he couldn't help himself. He stalked his prey. He focused. He seemed able to feed without drawing any attention whatsoever—was told it was a Mystic thing. Which was pretty great, given Cosimo’s track record of royally ******* everything up. He thought he’d be able to have a bit of a nibble on this one and all would be well. Except, well…

As soon as the blood hit his stomach it began to burn. Oh, it burned! Like a ***********, it burned. But, he’d known about this, hadn’t he? Some of the Paladins had done something to their blood to make it toxic to vampires. Why should he expect anything less from a human wandering the catacombs? Not just some nice little anthropologist, then. Not knowing whether the person would then be out for Cosimo’s head, he quickly snatched the recently-given tome from his pocket and raspingly chanted the words written therein. Within seconds he was wrenched from the catacombs and dumped on the rooftop gardens.

Perhaps it was just the poisonous blood. Perhaps it was that mixed with the first-time use of the tome, and the recalibration of his body. But he hadn’t even the chance to gain his own balance before he was emptying the contents of his stomach onto the grass; all red and clumpy, goop that looked like he was hacking up his own lungs, strings of it clinging to his chin and lips. His fingers dug into the grass and he continued to heave even after his stomach was empty, the edges of his vision blurring. What the merry ****?


<Elizabeth Naarc> As the woman wandered the sewers, a small realization came to her mind. In her haste to get her newest childe a tome for a proper place to rest, if he so desired it, she had neglected to tell him of the traps. Not wasting any time, the woman returned with the use of her own tome to find her childe hunched over, vomiting. Her nose wrinkled at the sight and smell of it, then sighed and pulled out a white laced hanky with the letter 'E' sewn in it, that she had made years ago when she returned from the realms and moved to her childe. "I see your first night has been...rough." The woman sighed as she moved to him, the hand with the hanky moved to his shoulder to rest as she both offered him the fabric along with a reassuring touch. "What happened?"


<Cosimo Alessi> It took a while for Cosimo to become aware of the soft voice and touch - and that he had been asked a question. It took him a while to realise what the white blur was, too. A hanky. Who the hell carried hankies these days? But the thing looked delicate and precious so Cosimo found himself waving the thing away and wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his long-sleeved shirt. He lurched sideways, ending up sitting on his backside, knee raised and arm draped over it. The sword was strapped to his back and the gun lay in the grass at his feet. At least they had come with him. "Poison blood," he said. "I forgot," he added.


<Elizabeth Naarc> With the dismissal of the hanky, the woman rolled her shoulders and tucked it safely away once again. "Yes. There are more and more humans with those relics. It is why I buy blood, or boost my own these nights." Elizabeth stared at the male thoughtfully.
"If you would like, I can give you some funds. So that you may purchase some packs, or you may even feed off Elise. I can leave her here. She would not mind." Elizabeth stepped back from him and the pile of muck he left on her garden grounds. "She is my thrall." Elizabeth furthered her explanation about who Elise was.


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo shook his head. "I do not need any money," he said. Which was kind of a lie. As Elizabeth had seen--as she had saved him from--he had been penniless and without a home. Now she had given him a home. And maybe some purpose, too. The change would... take some time to get used to, and he was still trying to find his feet. He was still wary, about whether he actually like it or not. But regardless, he could only appreciate all the woman had done for him. "I will just not try feed from the humans in the catacombs, no? I will be fine," he offered with a tentative smile.


<Elizabeth Naarc> The blonde woman simply nodded her head. "That sounds like a good plan." Cosimo was a survivor, as she had seen on the streets when meeting him, and so, she knew he would be fine. "But should you change your mind about any of the offers, they are always available to thee. I offer the same to everyone." So not to insult the male's capability that truth was added on to her statement. "How are you finding things to be? Outside of this unpleasant encounter?" The woman slowly moved from the pile to a crafting bench where she started pulling out items like bracelets, rings, pens, pads of paper and other odds and ends. They would be riffled through later when there were less pressing matters to attend to.


<Cosimo Alessi> The words filtered into Cosimo's brain but the male was only half listening. He was half trying to crawl away from the mess he had made, but realising that it was his mess and he should at least try to clean it up. Except, how does one clean bile from grass? In the end he was picking grass and throwing random blades onto the bloody mess, but that was probably only helping to ruin the beautiful gardens. So in the end he turned his back on it. He blinked at Elizabeth and pushed himself to his feet--feeling odd, lounging around while she was not. He stumbled a little on his own feet but leaned against the same crafting bench to cover it up. His stomach rumbled. He ignored that, too. "Different," he answered. But then he hesitated, and sucked in a small breath. His lips peeled back. His thumb pressed against one of the sharpened canines. "Is it normal?" he mumbled past his thumb. "They do not go away...."


<Elizabeth Naarc> Elizabeth watched the male, rather amused at his attempt to clean things up. She held back the laugh that threatened to spill out by placing her left hand over her lips and then coughed lightly. Though the humour still shone in her bright blue eyes. "Yes, the adjustment will take time. Some adjust to it rather quickly, others...others not so much." Elizabeth thought back on some of her other childre that had lived and passed on past the depths of the realms. Where they went, she knew not, but the connection no longer remained. "And no, they do not go away. You are a vampire now. That is one of the many things about us. Along with other things. Like abilities, the path you initially walk...the list goes on really." She admitted before extending a hand to a small sitting area. "If you like, we can go sit. It may help your stomach settle easier." Elizabeth did not move, she simply waited to hear what he wanted to do.


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo stared at Elizabeth. More to the point, he stared at her lips. Not exactly her lips, either, but at her teeth as she spoke. Again, a lot of it went over his head because he was focused on the original answer and the original question. He reached out a dusty hand to lift the edge of Elizabeth's lips. To see the dull curve of the ordinary teeth and the ordinary sharpness of the canine. He was still leaning. Sitting down might have been nice; he still felt like he'd swallowed a bucket of acid and his pallor was proof that he still wasn't feeling quite right. But he was stuck on that one question. "No, no. I am not sure you understand, si? Look. Look," he said, taking his hand away from Elizabeth's mouth and lifting his own lip. Pointing to his own canine. Abnormally sharp. Not ordinary. Elizabeth's weren't abnormal. "Why are mine sharper than yours? Is that... is it a path thing, too?"


<Elizabeth Naarc> He was staring at her, and so a hand went to her face to rub off what she suspected was dust or grime off her face. But before she could do that, he was touching her and pulling at her lips. The woman took a small step back, taken off guard before he expanded on his teeth. "Oh." She said with a shake of her head. "No. That is not a path thing." Elizabeth frowned, uncertain why some vampires had teeth like his and then others, like hers. "I do not know why you have such a thing. I suppose we could stand here and make assumptions, but I think it would only make for more questions. The only thing your path has to worry about is-" The woman swallowed and looked away. "If you happen to die. When you come back, you may not come back as yourself." Her eyes narrowed. "The one who sired me and a childe of mine both walk your path. My sire has been fortunate to return to her normal appearance, my childe however, not so fortunate." She offered him a smile. "But I do not see that being a problem in your life." She at least hoped as she gave Cosi a reassuring nod.


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo arched a brow. He was dumbstruck, for a few long seconds. He didn't know which to focus on first. The fact that he could ... come back from the dead?! Or that if he were to do so he would... "What do you mean? I might come back as... not Italian? Or... not..." he blinked. He frowned. Like he was having difficulty computing. "Will I remember, who I was? And... where do we go if we come back? What... who do I come... how do I come back?" he said. Probably now more than ever he needed that seat. He pushed himself from where he leaned and pushed away a wave of dizziness, before sauntering over to where Elizabeth had previously indicated.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Elizabeth Naarc> Elizabeth kept quiet as they walked, debating where to start first. "Should you die, you can come back, yes. If you come back...that would be your choice. Some have not. But it is possible." She sighed and sat down, the woman pulling a tray of tea and buscuits towards her corner and far from him, as to not tempt him to eat them. "And no, you may not come back as Italian, or as Cosimo." Elizabeth frowned. "You must take the body of another living person when you return. And you will remember who you are, what you did and even that place. The shadow realm it is called." Elizabeth poured herself a cup of tea, but let it sit there. "It is not a pleasant place to go, so I would avoid it at all costs if you can."


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo happily took a seat, his legs sprawled out in front of him. He could just lean back and close his eyes... just for a little bit. But no. He was still too curious. He still had a lot of question. They had covered a lot since his turning but they had not touched upon everything. Not at all. He chuckled under his breath. "Oh, shame. I was going to go drown myself in the river for fun, later," he said, and turned a half grin at Elizabeth. No, dying did not seem like a pleasant experience. Once his gaze hooked on Elizabeth it stayed there. Kind of. It danced between her fingers and the tea she had just poured. As if he were a dog nearly begging for scraps. "But perhaps I will get a better body, huh? A..." he cleared his throat. A fully functioning body, he was about to say. But, not in the mood to divulge his past and how exactly he was broken, he did not mention it. "More pleasant to look at one, si?" he said instead, keeping up with the playful banter.


<Elizabeth Naarc> As he talked, the woman took two packs of sugar and ripped it open, followed by collecting a spoon. She poured sugars in and then stirred them in. Her eyes moved to him, then she stopped making her cup of tea. "Drowning would be a pleasant way to go. But impossible for our kind." She set the tea aside, along with the spoon. "I cannot drink it, but some rituals and customs are difficult to erase." Elizabeth admitted with a roll of her shoulders. "And I have seen far worse bodies." The woman smiled at him. While he was gruff around the edges, she supposed there was a certain charm to the young man. If not, then he would not be here. "Oh," Elizabeth paused from their talk about vampires as she looked past him. "I would avoid wandering the garden too much. You might find yourself with a few injuries if you go too far south." Elizabeth frowned. "There are traps to keep unwarranted individuals out of certain places within the home." Her eyes returned to him. "I would rather not dig shell casings and other bullet holes out of you. Yet." She smiled once again, her eyes hinting at a small attempt at humor.


<Cosimo Alessi> For a moment, Cosimo was confused. Why would drowning not work? But then it dawned on him. Yes. One of those things that he had yet to become accustomed to. His chest still rose and fell with habitual breath, even though he did not need to. But he remembered waking up at the beginning of the night as if he had just broken into the atmosphere after nearly drowning. A sucking gasp and gulp of breath. But he hadn't needed to. There was no burn. He ignored the compliment and glanced in the direction Elizabeth indicated. "Hunters?" he asked. He used to be one. For two seconds. It made sense that vampires would want to keep men like him out of their homes. "... perhaps not bullets, no, but I do have some tatuaggi that I do not particularly need," he said with the arch of a suggestive brow. "If you slice them away, do you think they will come back, or will they go away?"


<Elizabeth Naarc> The woman nodded her head. "And other things. Not all kindred, vampires, are friendly." Elizabeth told him with complete honesty. She fell silent as her mind brought up a translator to understand what it was he was saying before answering him. "You wish for me to remove your inked skin?" Elizabeth frowned heavily before thinking on his request. "I know not. I have altered my appearance throughout the years, more superficial things. Hair colour, eye contact colours. What you speak of is not so easily changeable and would be painful. Do you dislike them so much that you cannot live with them any longer?" Elizabeth's eyes moved to where she suspected a tattoo or two might be; his upper arms as she thought of how a procedure like that might make his arms useless for a few evenings.


<Cosimo Alessi> The tattoos adorned Cosimo's shoulder and upper back. He hadn't been in the order long enough to get any more. He shrugged his shoulders. "I do not know why I got them. I did not know what I was doing with my life so I fell in where I found myself," he said. It was a matter of course. His life had landed on a particular path and he had not the means to derail it. It was a series of unfortunate events. "I do not wish to be mistaken for a hunter, if ever I were to be found with my shirt off. It is not a matter of... no, that is a lie. I hate them," he said.


<Elizabeth Naarc> A brow raised high in light humour. "Do you often find yourself in situations without your shirt upon your body?" The woman lifted the cup of tea up and took a deep breath in through her nose. "Vampires can tell when another of their kind is around. It is an ability of ours. The ability to notice things. Or notice the lack there of human capabilities and needs. Breathing for example. Heart beat." She studied him intently. "If you wish, I would not mind attempting it on a smaller tattoo. There is no point in attempting to remove a large one if it is impossible to do such."


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo nodded. Obviously, he wasn't squeamish about the possibility of pain. At least, in that moment he was certain he could handle it but there'd be no promise he might not pass out during the process. Cosimo was unpredictable like that. "But just because another person happens to be a vampire too does not mean they do not mean you harm," he said. It was uttered like a statement but he was looking at Elizabeth with an arched, inquisitive brow. Though, it wasn't really a question, either - she had already said that not all vampires were friendly. "Even if I am a vampire, if I have the marks of a Hunter I am not sure I would be welcomed with love and kisses," he said. He hadn't answered the other question; he had only offered a fleeting smile. Once upon a time there'd been plenty of situations and scenarios where he'd landed somewhere public with no shirt on. Those days were over, however. And again, it was an issue he preferred to skirt around.


<Elizabeth Naarc> She took what he said and kept it to herself. It was interesting to her that he cared so much about what others thought. "While you may not get kisses, you are more than welcome here. In your family home, among the members here." She assured him. "But I understand your reasoning. We can attempt your request whenever it is you are ready." She would leave it to him, because Elizabeth could personally care less what anyone thought of her childe and his past. Her siring preferences were her business and she tended to sire those that others would not. What that meant was still not known to her, but perhaps it was because she was given a second chance when all others would have discarded her given her past and the treacherous things she did while she was human.


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo nodded, frowning a little, wondering why she would repeat that he was welcome here. He shook his head. "I did not think that I was not welcome. I mean to say... I just do not like them. They represent for me a part of my life that I am ashamed of," he said. Not that he could see himself in the mirror, to be reminded - but he knew that they were there, and that was enough. "Maybe... not tonight. I do not know whether I am hungry or whether I would like to empty my stomach again," he said. He even managed a laugh.


<Elizabeth Naarc> Shame. Elizabeth knew that feeling very well. The tea was set aside for two reasons. It was getting cold and she felt it was time to let him get comfortable in his new surroundings. To explore. "You are welcome on any floor in the estate. I shall look in to getting you your own room, if you would like that." The woman rose slowly, put the empty packets of sugar and the cup on the tray and then moved to him. A hand went to his shoulder as she focused on helping him with his eating problem for the night. "Hopefully your stomach shall settle soon and you can continue on with your nightly activities." With a small squeeze his blood was boosted and she moved to the portal. "I spend most my time here. Shall you need anything, here is where I can be found. Or an email would work too. Do have a good evening, Cosi." The woman dipped her head, moved to the fadeportal and vanished to carry on with the rest of her tasks before returning and taking part in her nightly routine of waiting.


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo did like the sound of getting his own room. He liked that very much, given he legitimately had nowhere else to go. Unless he were to go back to living on the streets, in which case he would have to find somewhere out of the sun. Which was harder than it might sound. Maybe the sewers? But they weren't very safe. Not at all. Though, Elizabeth left before she could lead him to a said room--he would just have to explore and find some place to sleep until the room was sorted. For the time being, however, comfortable with whatever it was that Elizabeth had done to him, he stretched out on the bench and curled up right there, amongst the trees in the garden. It was pleasant. He would explore later. He just needed to close his eyes. Just for a few minutes...