Fantasy Bloodlines

[Eliasdagood]

Korvashta sits at her ‘escort’s’ side, refusing to look at him. The messenger has been sent to deliver her to a man she’s heard quite a lot about as of late. He’s been causing a bit of a stir. Some see him as useful, others as dangerous, others still as impudent. Her master subscribes to the former two beliefs, and as such, saw fit to offer her up as both a gift, and a preemptive peace offering. As for Korvashta herself, she sees Benton as the man who may well decide to dissect her and study what makes her tick.

She can see herself in the tinted glass of the car window, slit pupiled amber eyes staring back at her. She’s been cleaned up more than she’s been allowed in a while, her long black hair braided down her back to show the brand of her house on the side of her neck. No doubt Benton will want to add his own seal if he lets her live. Her pointed ears tilt back at the thought, long, pointed teeth bared in anger and frustration. She’s sick of having to wait moment to moment to see if her master of the time will decide she’s worthy of life. At least she’s good looking, for what she is. It isn’t hard to see the traits that mark her as the daughter of a nosferatu, possibly the lowest class of vampire. So not only is she a dhampir, but a low one at that.

She sighs, as the car stops, and the messenger moves around, carefully unlocks her car door, and grabs her arm immediately to pull her out. Does he want to get attacked? Because that’s how you get attacked. For now, Korvashta restrains herself, letting him lead her up to the door, and rap on it three times. She waits anxiously, hoping this won’t end in her having to fight her way out. Because she isn’t sure she can.

St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton had hit a slow patch in his research as of late. His dark magics had been used to great effect by the vampires at keeping not only dhampir in line but also humanity. Curses that last generations and pestilences to keep population under control where two of his most famous works. They had been executed shortly after he revealed himself to vampire society for what he was. Some called him monster or freak. Still others dared to call him human. Though he himself preferred the term Revenant. After his first two contributions to society he was recognized by the government as a worthy member of society so long as he was the only one. They didn’t want the humans getting too many ideas after all. It had been several hundred years since that moment and Benton found himself in a rather strange position. Though no one openly associated with him he would receive requests and gifts from different houses. Some asked for his unique magic and others just wanted to get on his good side for whatever reason. Then there was a knock on his door. He hadn’t been expecting anything had he.... Benton looked through a stack of old mail curiously. As he limped to the door he skimmed through the letter. Benton peered through the peephole of his iron door before opening it. He looked between the two at his doorstep still a bit confused. He was dressed in a grey button down tucked into a black formal pants. Over his outfit was a thick leather apron which he had forgotten was crusted with blood. Taking one last look at the letter and the two of them he tossed the letter aside and opened his door further. “ Please come in, I’m sure the trip out here was exhausting.” He said in a monotone candor. His mangled stitched together face didn’t allow for much expression, but he was trying his best to smile. Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Korvashta watches as the man opens the door, catching the scent of old flesh and old blood. Her catlike eyes observe him carefully, but her expression shows nothing, and she doesn’t speak a word. Her current captor bows, smiling broadly. “Many thanks, Doctor.” He says, in that smooth, saccharine tone Korvashta has learned to detest. There is never anything good for her when they talk like that.

He leads her inside, still holding her by the arm. Which is completely unnecessary, and really just makes her want to rip his throat out with her teeth. She probably could, come to think of it. She’d just have to get him by surprise… that miniature fantasy does get a small twitch from the corner of her mouth. Oh, she would love to, but this isn’t the time.

She stands in the corner where she’s led, still looking almost hungrily at the vampire with her. He either doesn’t notice, or is very good at ignoring her.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” The messenger says, offering a winning smile that’s as charming as it is false. Korvashta doubts he appreciates the smell, but he refuses to react. “Lord Lanton offers his regards, as well as a specimen he believes might be of some use to you. This one is one of very few Dhampir to inherit true immortality from it’s father,” it’s good that he’s turned away, so he doesn’t see Korvashta bare her teeth in anger at being called an ‘it.’ “And it has a few other abilities as well. It has a very animalistic mind, however, often going so far as to attack other Dhampir. I’ve no doubt it will be of interest to study.”

Korvashta flexes her claws, eyes fixed on the vampire as if she’s considering making him her next attack victim, but she restrains herself, returning to her calm, emotionless stance, and hoping Benton didn’t notice.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton silently smiled and looked between the two of them. “ it certainly sounds like an interesting specimen. Perhaps it will provide me with some much needed inspiration.” Benton snapped his fingers and a corpses in a butlers suit came out of an adjoining room. It groaned softly as it took the coat of the vampire and hung it on a rack beside the door. This was his latest creation a Ghoul. Created by injecting his own cursed black blood into a human corpse. A ghoul tended to last only as long as it’s flesh and this ghoul seemed to be stitched together from multiple different humans much like its master. “ Show them to the living room.” Benton ordered as he closed and locked the door. Unbeknownst to the vampires or his offering the car was being taken by another ghoul and driven into the garage.
“ If you’ll wait just a moment I’ll prepare some drinks. What would you like I have quite the selection from wines to something a little stronger... I also keep a stash of clean human blood for my experiments should you feel hungry. Several bags of each type though only one bag of B-“. Benton said as he made his way to the kitchen. “ unfortunately my ghouls don’t understand complex instructions too well so your arrival is fortunate for many reasons.” The ghoul stared blankly at the two of them though behind its stare Benton watched them through his magic.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Well, the smell certainly hasn’t gotten any better. The vampire seems pleased though, these servants are impressive, if distasteful. He may want to wash that coat later to get the smell out. He smiles, dipping his head at the offer of drinks. “Red wine would be excellent.” He says, hoping to cleanse his nose of the scent of corpses.

Khorvashta, of course, remains silent, as she has been taught to. As much as she would love some water right about now, she isn’t permitted to ask for it, at least by her current masters, so until this leech is gone, she’ll behave as if she were still in her old home.

She fixes her gaze on the ghoul, tilting her head curiously as her golden eyes gaze into the blank, dead orbs of the undead servant. She wonders how it thinks at all, at least outside of direct remote control by Benton. Perhaps some remnants of a soul reside to let it understand commands. The thoughts distract her from her anger slightly, but it might be awkward for Benton, since she’s still looking right into the eyes he’s looking through. And her eyes are fairly disconcerting as is.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

It didn’t take long for Benton to appear in the living room in hand with two glasses. One was red wine in the more fancy glasses that had been gifted Benton by a family for cursing a human businessman with a flesh eating curse. It was a rather simple curse that progressively at the victim alive unless treated with recovery magic. A good way to keep one in line. The other glass was a more simple one filled with filtered tap water. Benton first handed the wine to his association and then placed the water on the table in front of Khorvazhta. Benton gestured to the vampire as he took a seat in his well worn chair.” Please have a seat and tell me. What brought Lord Lanton to bring me such a gift. I’m ashamed to say that I couldn’t read his letter as my eyes have begun to fail me again.” Benton said gesturing to his eyes. One of which was completely milky white and the other was cloudy. “ its time to change them again. Unfortunately the eyes always degrade the fastest. “ Benton said with a chuckle knowing that an immortal vampire would know nothing of his plight. “ However it seems my gift has very good eyes... very observant for her age.” Benton said hinting that he saw her looking at his ghoul.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Korvashta looks down at the glass of water, confusion showing on her face. She reaches down to take it, sniffing to see if she can smell any kind of drug in it. She glances up as Benton mentions her eyes, only more irritated when her handler smiles, enjoying his wine. “Oh, Yes. By all of our tests on it, it’s senses are quite good.” He says brightly.

“As for why he offered you it, it’s unique in a few ways, and he thought it might aid you in your research. After all, so many of your accomplishments have already made policing and pacifying the locals so much easier, and we’re all very excited to see what you come up with next.”

Korvashta wonders if either of this men recognize that she understands them. Probably wouldn’t care if they did, but still, it’s quite frustrating for her to have to listen without input. It would be nice if she could just say her name, so she’d be referred to as more than It. Though he did notice that Benton referred to her as a ‘her,’ which makes her slightly hopeful.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton smiled and nodded as the vampire spoke of lanton’s reasoning. It made sense, but at the same time he couldn’t help but wonder if it was the truth. “ I see... does my gift have a name? Benton asked looking at her general direction. Benton made note that the vampire drank the wine which unknown to him contained a drop of his blood. He was curious to see what would happen to a vampire who drank it. Now all he had to do was wait. Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

The vampire seems slightly confused by the taste, but continues drinking. Having smelled nothing in her water, Korvashta drinks thirstily, needing it. The messenger hums at the question of her name. “Come to think of it, I don’t think we-“

“Khorvashta.” He looks very surprised, hearing the low, dry tone of the woman across the table from him. She ignores him entirely, glancing at Benton. “Kora for short.” She goes back to drinking her water.

The vampire is legitimately stunned. They’d been traveling for three days, and she never spoke a single word. Then again, he never asked her a question for her to answer… so she never had a reason to speak at all.

She looks over at him with a sudden, intense gaze, and he looks confused. “What are you looking at?” He asks, looking a bit scared. “You’re sick.”

“What are you talking about? I can’t get-“

“You’re sick. Sweating. Tightness of the chest, by the sound of your breath.”

He stands up quickly, glaring at her, and bares his fangs. “How dare you talk back to-“ He starts coughing, holding his chest. “What the hell-“ He falls back onto the couch, already getting close to passing out.

Korvashta looks over at Benton, and raises an eyebrow. His scent only started showing this sort of sour note since he started drinking. She looks back at the now unconscious vampire. “Hm. Not sickness. Poison.” She says calmly.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton watched calmly as the vampire got progressively worse as his blood began to affect him. “ I’m not actually sure which of that is true Kora. I put just a drop of my blood into your glass dear messenger and already you seem to be at deaths door... how interesting. Well we’ll know more after the autopsy I suppose.” Benton said as he rifled through the pocket of his leather apron and produced a scoop of some sort. “ Khora. Would you be a lamb and bring me one of his eyes? I’d like to see if my ability to assimilate body parts extends to a vampire.” Benton explained as he offered the tool. “ remember to be careful through. The more cleanly you sever the eye the easier it is me.”
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

She looks over at him curiously, taking the tool from him, and inspecting it. She nods, and goes to the downed messenger. She pulls back the eyelid, and starts carefully cutting it away, eyes narrowed.

She’s sure Benton understands that Lanton will take this as an offense if he ever finds out about it. She takes away the pieces of the lid, and glances over at the doctor. “Do you need the muscle?” She asks. “Or just the eyeball?”
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

“ Just the eye... Really I don’t know what our friend here was thinking. Coming into my home. There’s a reason no one stays here long and unfortunately for our messenger here it’s not because of the smell.” Benton gestured to his ghoul which moved to restrain the messenger. “ It seems Lord lanton has given me two gifts today. Don’t worry my friend. If all goes according to plan you’ll be able to extend my thanks in person.” Benton said with a smile as he waited for his new eye.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora considers his words, and smirks slightly. “Ah. Has he done something to offend you, or is this simply business?” She seems a lot more comfortable now that the vampire is out of the picture. She gently takes the eye out, grimacing at how it feels in her hand, and making sure she’s gotten all the muscle fibers cut properly, before walking over to Benton, and offering him the organ.

She tilts her head, curious to hear about what drove him to go after the vampire, rather than Korvashta herself. No one would have cared if he had attacked her directly, not to mention poisoning her. But he’s offering her a chance of retribution, and he already seems to know that will drive her to do what he wants from her.

St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton chuckled as he removed an eye from his own socket and carefully placed the eye in his now empty socket. His blood soaked in the eye animating it and allowing it to function in his body. Benton blinked rapidly as his vision at least partially returned to him. “ it is neither business or vengeance... but an experiment. One that I’m am glad to see is successful.” Benton said as he took the tool from Khora and took out the other eye. After assimilating the other eye he patted the messengers head. “ you still alive there?”
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

The messenger twitches, and Kora tilts her head, reaching down to reach down and move his fingers around a bit. “Muscle stiffness. Hm. Vampires are technically corpses, animated by magic. Perhaps this has some sort of… interference.” She comments, checking the wrist, and squeezing gently. Her eyes widen a bit. “Well… that’s interesting. There is no way any vampire should have a pulse.”
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton thought for a moment. “ Now on to the rest of the experiment. Bring the subject to the lab.” Benton told his ghoul and it did as it was told picked the messenger up like a sack of potatoes and disappeared deeper into the house. “ now then... let’s have a better look at you.” Benton said looking at her expectantly. “ if you’ll follow me please. I need to examine you. I don’t want my new assistant to be hiding some sort of sickness from me.” Benton said as he lead her through his home. Pictures of various people lines the wall some well known others obscure. The smallest of the pictures was a portrait of what seemed to be an older doctor. It depicted him performing rudimentary surgery in a tent somewhere.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Korvashta narrows her eyes, but dips her head. “As you wish.” She says, following after him. Her strange eyes dart around, taking in every detail of their surroundings as they watch. It’s hard to tell if the surgeon is Benton, or an old friend or mentor. Either way, they’re interesting, and might supply her with some valuable insight into her new master. If he was willing to experiment on the messenger so calmly, she wonders what he’ll do to her.

She turns her gaze to him again, tilting her head as she waits for what he’s going to do or say next.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton lead Khora through a maze of hallways that if she was observant, which he knew she was, she would notice that the designs on the wall were made in blood and contributed to a larger magic circuit that ran through the entire house. Benton stopped in front of another painting. This one of a woman and child in dress that seemed from late 1800 or early 1900s. Benton stopped for a moment as if remembering something before gently touching the canvas. The section of the wall glowed a dark purple before opening like a door. Before them Was an elevator or dumbwaiter. The elevator itself was bar with little thought or care for design. Benton remained silent as the Elevator lurched into its descent. After a few moments pipes and wall gave wave to a cavern. It was here that Benton worked on his more risky experiments. The ones he had to make sure didn’t see the light of day until they were ready. There was a very large magic array carved into the floor reason would deduce that the circle was either powering the house or drawing power from it. At the very center of the array was the messenger bound and quite angry. It seemed that the bloods effects had left him. Besides the operating table where the messenger was held there was a small library, tanks that contained... monstrosities yet to be given life, an alchemy and chemistry station, and what looked like a morgue’s cold storage area. As they left the elevator Benton finally spoke. You’ll find a car or two in the library take a seat there for a moment while a check on your guardian.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora dips her head, and heads toward the library section, taking a seat. Her escort is indeed furious, straining at his bonds. Of course, he’s very weak by vampiric standards, and it doesn’t look like he’s getting out of there any time soon.

“What the hell is this?” He hisses, glaring at the doctor with absolute fury in his eyes. But as he displayed with Korvashta earlier, that’s his usual response when he’s frightened.

“I brought you a fine test subject, and the opportunity of an alliance, where the hell do you get off poisoning me and taking me captive?!” Korvashta can hear him shouting in the other room, and sighs, wishing she was in there with them. She wants the opportunity to hurt that bastard a bit.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

“ Come now did you really think your life was so important? None of the houses have ever sent anything more than an errand boy with thier gifts. Why do you think that is?” Benton said looking the messenger in his empty eye sockets. “ I must really thank you for these new eyes. Not only are they in great condition you’ve proven my theory that vampires are also susceptible to my power. You’re masters should be pleased! You’re going to be my next proof of concept!” Benton said with a laugh. “ Oh Khora! Come in the room would you?” Benton asked as he picked up a scalpel. Once his assistant was in the room he asked her a question, “ What can you tell me about the different vampire houses? Start with our friend here please.” Benton asked as he tapped the messengers skull with the flat of the scalpel.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Korvashta comes into the room once called, tilting her head. “Oh, him? Kentaya. Diplomats, capable of powerful mind control. That said, as far as physical abilities go…” she shrugs. “Pathetic. And with one of his eyes gone, he’s got no way to use his hypnosis. So he’s at your mercy until it regenerates.”

“What the hell?! Why are you helping-“

“Next, let’s go with… my father’s house. Nosferatu. They lack the innate beauty of other vampires. They’re more bestial in appearance, and good at animal control, especially with rats, insects, and other such simple minded vermin. Pretty much no one likes them. Not natural born aristocrats, by any measure.

Her envoy seems very angry at being not only ignored, but interrupted. But he stays quiet now, trying to find a way out of this situation.

“Hm… there are quite a few other houses. Are there any ones in particular that you want me to talk about?”

St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton nodded and listened intently as Khora spoke, “ Interesting... no I don’t have any one in particular so just whichever is next. I rarely leave my home so I know next to nothing about the vampire world.” Benton explained as he began cutting away the Kentaya’s clothing so that he can more easily cut into his flesh. Once the envoy was stripped of his fancy clothing Benton began to make a Y cut into his restrained subject. Benton worked efficiently and silently as he listened to Khora brief him on the other clans. Once the flesh was pulled back Benton stepped away looking for some shears. He needed to cut the rib cage open and get at his heart.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

The man screams, thrashing as best as he can in his bonds. Korvashta has to speak more loudly to be heard over the racket. “Well, China has a unique variety referred to as Jiangshi. They extract life force not through blood, but breath. They grapple a target, and squeeze, forcing the victim to release their breath so it can be taken. That said, their bodies are corpse stiff, they’re completely immobile during the day, and they can be scared off by things as simple as a mirror.”

She considers which one she should talk about next. “There’s a house of snake vampires called Lamia native to Greece, but they never come over here. They’re highly matriarchal, and as such have no interest in our society. Unless it was to conquer it of course. Those are all the main clans I can think of off the top of my head. But each one has smaller ones within it, often due to magical tampering.”
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton nodded as he listened. He was remarkably calm and detached as he used the shears he had found to break each of the ribs until he could simply remove the rib cage like taking the top off of a jar. Benton noted that as previously thought the escorts heart wasn’t beating nor where any of his organs actually working. It was a stark difference to Benton. A difference that Khora would soon understand. Benton leaned over the escorts head and with a deft and skilled hand simply plucked his remaining eye out of its socket. “ Sorry about that. I’m going to need two eyes for this next part.” Benton shouted over the escorts screams. Now with two functional eyes Benton gently gripped the escorts heart. “ Now I’m going to need to borrow this... don’t worry though. I’ll get you a replacement quickly. “ Benton smirked as he took a step back and started to unbutton his own shirt. This revealed just how extensive the patchwork nature of his mangled body truly was. It was a simple matter for Benton to undo the stitching in his chest and pull out his own still beating heart. Now he had to act quickly. He couldn’t survive too long without a heart. Benton cut out the escorts heart and all but tossed his own into its space. Meanwhile he shoved the escorts heart into the hole in his chest. Benton braced himself against the operation table as his dark blood and the magic within in assimilated the heart into his body. Benton breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he was alright and alive and turned his attention back to the escort. His heart had made a pool of black blood in the chest cavity. Holding his hand over what used to be his heart Benton poured his magical power into the heart. The array on the floor responded to the power and began to glow with power. He watched with excitement as the heart connected itself to the escorts body and began to beat again. Pumping his black blood through the escort. Benton smiled brightly. “ Hey mr. Kentaya are you still in there?” Benton asked as he went to find some spare eyes.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

The poor man is still trying to scream, the addition of the corrupted organ into his system making him spasm and shake uncontrollably. Korvashta watches curiously. “Mm. Same as before, the body sees your blood as poison. Ah, I suppose you got the blood from a corpse? Or at least some of it? Not enough to kill, but oh, that cannot be pleasant.”

Her tone is calm and low, watching the man. She might as well try and learn what she can from this if she’s going to assist her new master, and this one specifically she loves to see in so much pain. She wonders what it would be like to see Lanton himself in that chair. A grin spreads across her face at the thought.

The man manages a small cry in response to Benton’s question, feeling his body start to go numb.
St. Boethius