Background

       In 2010 a string of bizarre murders were reported in the English capital of London. The victims all had puncture wounds in their necks. The police fearing there was a serial killer with a vampire obsession launched a nation wide man hunt, they failed to find anything.  Then in 2012 everything changed.



       The inquiry into the police investigation went on for month’s, the Olympics came and went with the lacklustre performance of the British athletes covering the stories of mysteriously vanishing spectators.  Finally on 20th November 2012 the story finally broke.



       The news stunned the public, many thought that it was a big practical joke, and therefore just a waste of tax payers money. The Prime Minister called for swift and decisive action to be taken. A night fall curfew was put in place across the capital, and the army was sent into the city to route out the vampires…

       Publicly the war lasted for 3 years, much of the capital was deserted in that time, the economic ramifications were felt globally as virtually over night the whole London stock exchange collapsed. The great depression of 2015 spelled the end of the war, army troops were withdrawn from the capital and the curfew was lifted, the war was declared a success and that vampires had been wiped from not just the capital, but the whole country.

       In 2016 a special branch of MI6 was formed, in secret, and recruitment and training began of government funded Vampire Hunters. V-Branch used existing ties within other countries to form a global network that tracks and hunts Vampires, the guerrilla war has been fought ever since.

       That was 14 years ago, the war still rages …

Current Situation

    There vampires have a strong hold in Camden, no hunter has ever returned after trying to infiltrate this area. The hunters believe this to be the location of the Council … They are correct.

    The Vampires are trying to extend their area of influence. They are using vampire recruits to set up fang gangs in strategic London areas, each vampire gang has a safe house and a leader. Using these safe houses the council hopes that they can expand their stronghold and kick the hunters out of London for …

    V-Branch HQ is in Waterloo, no vampire has ever survived going into Waterloo.

Players

There are three main classes of vampire;

•  The Elder
•  Oldest of the vampires, these have been around since before the war.
•  Physically weaker than the other vampires, they look old and frail, have a superior knowledge of the vampire history.
•  Elders all have a pet which they use to perform actions that their frail bodies will not allow them to., either a Hellhound or a Zombie.
•  Hellhounds – or more accurately Vampire dogs.
•  Give early warning of nearby enemies.
• Weaker than vampires, but superior in strength to a human.
• Fast, agile and stealthy.
•  Zombies.

•  Slow, cumbersome and hard to hide.

• The council is comprised entirely of elders. Elders that are not on the council serve it by researching and seeking out lost artefacts of the Vampire civilization.

 Vampire Soldier

•  Vampires that have been “recruited” (selectively turned) by the council.

• Each one is recruited for a particular speciality which they posses and perform better than other vampires, these are;

• Strength

•  Stealth

• Ranged

• Technology

• Soldiers answer directly to the council and do most of their grunt work.

• All soldiers start close to the council chambers.

Rogues

•  Vampires that have not been turned by, and have no link, to the council.

•  They are generally untrained in any particular field, but through the need to survive have learnt a bit of everything

•  Rogues usually live in areas where there vampire presence is weakest. Their movements are therefore usually unnoticed, however if they are spotted help tends to be hard to get.

Becoming a vampire has three key stages:

• * The Dream:  A vivid dream of the day you were bitten, where you were, what you were doing, who it was that bit you, why they bit you etc. The more detail the better.
• * The Awakening: The realisation of your surrounding, where are you, who is there etc. Rogues can wake up anywhere in game day London. Elders can awake anywhere at any time in history.
• * The Remembering: The memory of who you once were, what you used to do, who your family was etc. Elders remember their past as a vampire until the current time, Rogues and Soldiers remember their lives before becoming a vampire.

Rules

• This RP relies on advancing your character, gaining gang members, attacking neighbouring areas to expand your influence, and fighting off rival Vampires. Failing to advance will result in the Vampire Hunters tracking you down and killing you. You’ve been warned.
• Every vampire has a crypt, this is their home, and safe house (you cannot be killed in your crypt). Initially it can only fit 2 people in. Improving it or replacing it takes time.
•  You can die, things that can kill you are;
•  Sunlight
•  Wooden steak through the heart
•  Beheading
•  Fire
•  Things Vampires can do:
•  Overpower normal humans they are naturally stronger than Humans. With the exception of the Elders.
• Convert humans, when you feed you can choose to just feed or to feed and convert. Converted humans will join your gang.
• Research vampire relics/artefacts, the more powerful the relic the longer the research, location and retrieval take. Some relics may not exist at all, especially the really powerful ones.
• Recruit a gang of vampires, however you can only have as many as will fit into your crypt.
• Things Vampires can’t do:
• Go for more than a week without feeding, after 2 days the vampire starts to weaken, after 7 days they slip into a hypo-haemic coma and can only be saved if someone feeds them blood.
• Turn into a bat, or any other form of animal, unless they have a relic that does such a thing.
• Be resurrected, sorry but once you die you turn to dust and it blows away in the wind and you are never seen again.
• Enter a church. Therefore if a human enters a church they are safe.
•  Each page (25 posts) is a day unless otherwise stated.
•  The council may set special tasks from time to time. These have a time limit for completion set on the number of posts. Only vampires with connections to the council will know about these tasks straight away.
•  No godmodding, you’re a vampire, not a deity. If you don’t state in your starting post that you know something, then you don’t know it until you learn it. Learning things takes time.
•  You can create more than one vampire if you wish.
• OOC chat is written in italics, and only OOC chat can use italics
  
•  Keep it clean, and enjoy!

Map of London


Vampires must select where they are starting out, Elders and Soldiers must start in Camden (the red bit), rogues can start anywhere else. When you take over an area it will be marked on the map as being under your control. You can should you wish fight each other for a particular area, holding certain areas has certain benefits, which will remain secret for now.

<----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >
To start a character follow this template:

Name: Faith

Gender: Female

Class: Elder

Dream/Awakening/Remembering: (this can all be one long piece of text or you can split it up into the three sections if you think it is easiest.

Crypt Location: SW 4

(If Elder) Pet: Hell Hound (Sasha)

<-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

I will post my character after a few people have posted theirs.

NB: I will need help running this as well, I need someone to either be V-Branch or the Elder Council. Or maybe one person to do each of them. PM me and we can discuss more what being them entails. (you can have your own character as well as run them).

---

Mortalitis_Infinitas:

You have gained enough renown to purchase the "Creative Director of European studios at Microsoft Games Studios" title.

Name: Niah

Gender: Female

Class: Rogue

Her Story: 
Before she was bitten, Niah was a successful young doctor in London, constantly seeing the aftermath of vampire attacks and the constant war between the vampires and V-Branch. Having just been offered a great new job overseas, providing an escape from London for both her and her fiance, Vincent. He is all she has in the world, her family having all died during a brutal attack by rogue vampires several years ago. Niah's hate for vampires is surpassed only by her love for Vincent and her dedication to her secret obsession with trying to find a way to reverse the process which turns a human into a vampire.

Niah and Vincent had been out for a celebratory dinner following an offer for a job in Iceland researching vampirism and potential cures, which would provide her with both safety from the threat of vampires and an outlet for her obsession.

Walking to her car after dinner, Niah was attacked by someone or something which seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Being caught off guard, there was little she could do to fend off her attacker, and she was quickly overcome. The last thing she remembers was a sharp pain in her neck....

Now Niah has awoken to strange surroundings, cold and dark, with a foul smell. She quickly realises what has happened, what she has become, and she is overcome with feelings of rage and despair. She will find the creature that did this to her, and she will get her revenge.

Soon her thoughts turn to Vincent...

Crypt Location: N3

---

*Insert something amusing here*

Name: Vincent

Class: Rogue

Vincent lay motionless on the cold damp floor, drifting in between consciousness and unconsciousness, not quite reaching either state in any meaningful way. His breathing was heavy.
As he drifted back into a state of semi-consciousness he glanced at a small pool of blood to his right hand side and suddenly the memories flooded back. He winced as the events replayed in his mind.
As a rather unsuccessful actor and writer, Vincent had never had enough money in his pocket to fully support himself. He has passion and loved his job but that every elusive break into the business never seemed to fall his way. Then he met Niah, his fiancé and the love of his life, who basically turned his life around. With a little encouragement he had recently submitted a novella to a rather prestigious publisher and was awaiting a response.

After celebrating Niah's new job offer in Iceland, Vincent remained in the restaurant for a while to catch up with an old friend he had spotted on the table opposite.
Once he was back home he removed his coat and creeped upstairs to the bedroom so as not to awake Niah, if she had already fallen asleep.

As he walked into the bedroom, he immediately noticed that she wasn't there, and hadn't been there. Puzzled, he figured he must have beaten her home. Perhaps she'd run into some friends herself and decided to do some more celebrating of her own.
The wine he'd had with dinner had made him rather sleepy so whilst lying in bed, wondering where Niah could be, he drifted off.

He awoke slowly and soon discovered that he was sleeping in an empty bed. Worried, he picked up his mobile phone and set off to go look for her, making phone calls and sending messages to anybody who might have seen her. After a whole day of searching with no results, he reported her as a missing person to the police and returned home. He entered his bedroom and to his surprise he found his fiancé sitting right before his very eyes on the side of the bed.

She was in tears, her appearance gave the impression that she had been sleeping rough out in the streets. He tried to comfort her, but she would not respond, so he walked over to put his arm around her.
It was then when he saw the marks on her neck and a blood stain still visible on her skin. He backed away not sure what he should do, think, or say. He recognized the bite marks and was suddenly filled with a deep dread that gripped his soul. His legs became weak so he quickly pushed his weight again the wall. His leg swung sideways and he kicked a small coffee table. A glass of water fell off from the edge onto the tiled floor and smashed into pieces. He gulped hard and took a minute or two to compose himself.

After a moment of silence he walked steadily towards the bed and sat down next to her.
They embraced and begun the process of coming to terms with what had happened and after hours of talking and tears Vincent had made a decision.
Niah was aghast and constantly refused to fulfill Vincents desire. She never wanted to harm him and was sickened by the thought of turning him into a vampire.
Soon though, it became apparent that it would be the only way they could stay together and Niah wanted revenge. Vincent promised her that he would stay by her side no matter what happens, but the only way that would be possible if he too were to change.
They lay in bed and embraced each other as closely and tightly as possible. Vincent closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He felt a sharp pain on his neck and suddenly his world turned to blackness.

The memory ended as suddenly as it had begun and the world around him begun to move into focus. He turned to his left to find Niah laying on the floor next to him, she was still sleeping so he rose slowly, careful not to wake her. His moved his hand up to his neck and brushed his fingers across the deep bite marks. Taking a deep breath he focused his mind and new what he had to do. He would stick by Niah all the way, until they had their revenge.


Crypt Location: N3

---

The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

Name: Van

Gender: Male

Class: Rogue

In the after math of the curfew, Van's family were caught out in the street with dozens of others wondering if this was truly over. If they had won. As the last of the national gaurd left the area, it was everyone's shock when a roar of engines came through. A team of LRVs glided through the slums that onse were Longfield. As necks craned to watch the jeeps take air through a street a grip of panic rooted Van's feet: a mob of cloaked figures emerging from the late-night fog, which had become synonomous with a gang of vampires.

In the Immediate chaos that ensued, the screams of horror that pierced the night, Van couldn't move. Not knowing that his Family were fleeing, he turned at the call of his name to find it was too late: a blinding flash tore the street, and pain seeped through every flake of  skin on his left leg. All wen't black.

As Van woke, he saw what was left of his watch still strapped to his wrist. If it was intact, a whole week had gone by. Raising his head, he was filled with the darkness of the grotesque scene before him. The entirety of his street, his nieghbours, freinds, family: all dead inside the dank, dim-lit room. Walking the mounds of corpses, he felft most all his humanity drain when he found his mother's drained, and gnawed body, lifeless, ontop of the last heap. Asvoices approached, he dove behind a pile, and brushed his neck: bite marks. He saw how his skin had paled, become sallow and grey. The face of his watch revealed his once bright blonde hair and shag were matted down, soaked with blood. His cold blue eyes had become a piercing grey. The door opened.

Immediately, Van pressed into the first figure, applying a muay thai power kick, dropping the what was revealed to be a man, as his hood fell back. Turing to the startled lady, he elbow-knifed her, and caught her as she fell. Draining her neck, he felt the coppery swill enter his body, and he was satiated. It was here he stayed for three long years, toiling on the little, to craft a fine blade, which he pocketted, along with a number of stakes. It was time for Revenge.

Crypt location: NW 10.

---

OOC: One of the best RPs I have seen for a while. Let's not let it die.

Name: Debussy

Gender: Male

Class: Eldar

1891. Paris. Place de l'Opera. Debussy looked out across the sea of faces infront of him; this was Paris' finest, all come to witness him perform. This was it, this was his moment. He raised his hand, holding the thin piece of wood delicately between his fingers. He drew breath and as he did the audience seemed to as well; for a split second the hall was completely silent. The silence before the storm. The musicians broke into sound. Perfectly timed. Loud then quite. Slow then fast. The clarinets perfectly answering the deeper cellos.

Debussy allowed him self to smile. This was the culmination of ten years hard toil, yet something was not quite right. Behind him, he could hear something that wasn't his music. It was jeering. He frowned. Everything was going so right, how could the crowd be jeering him? Then he remembered the abonnes, musical patriots they called themselves; opposing the performance of any but French composers. Debussy was French, at least he thought of himself as French. He was, technically speaking, half English.

The catcalling and whistling was rising to a crescendo and Debussy's musicians had all but stopped playing. All of a sudden the mood of the protest changed. Bottles were being hurled at the stage and one struck Debussy on the head. He legs felt weak and he fell to the floor. There were screams around the hall and, as the bourgeois were flooding towards the exits, the protesters marched on the stage. Debussy could see weapons among them but he couldn't move. His legs were too weak and his vision was clouding. He could feel warm blood trickle down his face. He had quickly decided that this was not a normal protest. The faces were contorted with hatred as, to the right of him, he saw the manager being stabbed repeatedly. He tried to cry out but found his voice, for the first time in his life, had failed him.

He felt himself dragged up and he turned to face his rescuer. Only it wasn't his rescuer. He looked upon a face full of hatred and blood lust. He tried to fight him off but he was too weak and his assailant too strong. He screamed as the man bit into his neck and dropped him to the floor. He looked up in terror. But the man was gone and Debussy fainted.

---

Cretin=

brainless, stupid and full of pointless information that makes no sense and appeals only to other cretins. They can be found in every single internet forum, where they race to post as many mind-numbing messages as possible.

sorry for double post.

He from 1905-1917 Debussy lived in Russia. He also fought in both WW1 and WW2 and played a mojor part in the French resistance. In 1956,he moved to London where he had heard of a growing vampirism movement.

For an eldar he is quite young and although being physically stronger that many of his eldar brethen he lacks and knowledge that many of them possess. What knowledge he has, he aims to use to his advantage soon. This stems from the fact that he was with the Bolsheviks as they stormed the Red Palace and there were some powerful relics beyond wonder. He need only track them down. . . .

Pet: Vampire Hound.

---

Cretin=

brainless, stupid and full of pointless information that makes no sense and appeals only to other cretins. They can be found in every single internet forum, where they race to post as many mind-numbing messages as possible.

OOC: Thanks SgtF, I'll try my hardest not to let this die.

Also, I'll be updating the map as time goes by so you can see what areas are controlled by who, However you may need to clear your cache to see the updates, as I have found out.

@SgtF: Where's his crypt location?

Name: Faith

Gender: Female

Class: Elder

Acrid smoke hung in the valley, the still air made it cling to the hillsides like a thick fog. Bursting out of the smoke a figure lurched, blood covered what little remained of its charred clothes, trickling down its cheeks and dripping onto the grass. The figure paused, panting desperately, it raised a hand to wipe blood out of its eyes, the bare skin beneath was that of woman, some might have even said she was pretty. Letting out a gutteral cry the woman started running again, pushing through the thick undergrowth of the forest that surrounded her village. She had to get away from the attack, she knew what happened to women the Visigoths got hold of. She had grown up with Visigoth raids as a fact of life, living a semi nomadic life her tribe went wherever they could survive, this brought them through Visigoth territory. It was a small sacrafice to make, compared with the slavery they would have suffered by venturing within the Roman Empire.

As she pushed on through the undergrowth of the pine forest the sound of the fire raging in the valley below began to fade. She almost imagined that she could hear someone behind her, chasing her through the forest. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was chasing her, but just as she did, her leg caught on something. As she fell her head hit a tree trunk, and her world seemed to spin. Something appeared from behind a tree, a black chasm in the darkness, a chill shot through her spin. She attempted to get up and run but her ankle gave way, a fragment of bone pierced her skin and she let out a scream of pain. Just as her world started going black the dark figure leant over her, a flash of white as it grinned at her, cat like, then blackness.

Through the darkness that had encased her vivid dreams began to well up. They felt more like memories than dreams, but they were so twisted and that they couldn't be memories, no human would do such things. Rivers of blood flowing through towns that burned, mountains of bones piled in dark, damp basements. Screaming. The thrill of the hunt, the scent of blood, chasing. Screaming. A look of terror, a whimper. Screaming. A bite, feeling the warmth as the blood trickled down her throat. Screaming, the screaming, it sounded different now, more real, piercing a thick fog. Screaming.

Faith sat up. The screaming ended. Opening her eyes she looked around her, a woman stood, covered in a linen cloth, staring at her. Looking down at herself she could see why the woman had been screaming. Her body was covered in dried out blood, it crusted her like a red frost. A memory flashed through her head and she looked down at her ankle. It was covered in a thick layer of blood, she tested it out. The ankle held firm so she stood up. Looking back at the woman who was still staring at her, Faith grinned, a primal urge took her over.

That had been her first kill, her first feed. A vivid memory of the power she felt as the blood entered her body and surged through her system. That had been nearly 2000 years ago now and it was still just as powerful. Sinking her teeth back into the girl that lay on her bed, Faith drank.

2000 years was a long time to be on this Earth, Faith had seen the world change beyond recognition. She had been in Rome to watch the fall of the empire, as the Visigoths sacked the city, she had stalked them, picking them off one by one during the night. She had sat on the cliffs of kent as the vikings had ravaged Eastern England, stood on the walls of Jerusalem during the Crusades, walked the streets of Paris during the revolution and stalked the Romanian countryside during the Nazi occupation. She had seen the depths of human hatred, reveled in the pure that they inflicted upon each other. Nothing had prepared her for the war.

The sheer ferocity of the human attack on their civilization had taken her off guard, she had been forced to retreat, she had fled from London and gone to Prague. She had spent 13 years there, researching, using her knowledge that had built up over 2000 years to find a way to repel the attackers, now she was back in London. She finally thought she had it.

Pet: Hell Hound (Sasha)

Crypt Location: WC1

---

Mortalitis_Infinitas:

You have gained enough renown to purchase the "Creative Director of European studios at Microsoft Games Studios" title.

OOC: The only thing I'm not so sure about is the fact that it seems very possible that we will die from what I read in the OP. I don't want to have spent time developing a character and plan what will happen in the future only to have him killed off by somebody else...I really don't think I'd have the urge to start again if that happened.

Vincent sat hunched over a laptop, searching through countless websites trying to get to grips with what he had become. Niah was pretty much one of the top minds in the field of vampirism, but she was still sleeping and he did not feel he should wake her just yet. He ran his hand through his own hair absentmindedly. It felt unusually soft, as if it were a fountain of silk threads. He glanced at the large mirror in the corner of the room and noticed his previously blonde hair was turning darker and darker.
He let his fingers move down his left arm and noticed that it was now absolutely hairless. The texture was unusual and his skin was beginning to look very pale.
"My god," He whispered to himself, "The transformation is quick."

He stood, forcing the chair to groan against the floor as it was pushed back by his legs.

Vincent took in a deep breath and began the laborious process of transforming their once rather nicely decorated home into something a little more suitable. He boarded up the windows and any other openings to the outside world that might let dangerous beams of sunlight in. He smashed every electric light he could find. Even though he was aware that only sunlight was fatal the bright light they emitted had begun to sting. He was also suffering from a growing headache in the back of his head that the darkness seemed to soften.
Vincent squinted in the darkness and hoped that in time he would gain better nocturnal vision. He worried what the neighbours might think for a moment.

Finchley, before the three year war used to be a rather well to do area. The years have taken their toll however, now the majority of N3 is rather run down. Vincent sighed and murmured to himself.
"Well...at least our house will fit in now" He mused.

The only immediate problem was their close vicinity to St Marys Church. They would have to be very careful not to tread too close.

---

The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

OOC: The death thing is more to stop people doing completely moronic things, it's very hard to die in it to be honest. Think about it, someone can't come along and kill you without you wanting to be killed because they can't control your actions during a fight. Therefore if someone walks up and says "steaks del through the heart" you could just say "the steak narrowly misses my heart and I run off".

Only time it really comes into play is trying to do stupid things like attacking entire army regiments, or walking into the V-Branch HQ by yourself. At the end of the day, any deaths handed out by the admin are for being an idiot basically and I'm not that horrible a person so ... yeah I think you are safe there Del.

---

Mortalitis_Infinitas:

You have gained enough renown to purchase the "Creative Director of European studios at Microsoft Games Studios" title.

Van slouched against the wall of the garage, which once had been his home. After waking from his never-ending torment in sleep, He had returned to The Square to raid his house. As it transpired, the lair in which he had been secluding himself was on the corner of Bath road and Bay's farm court. the quick walk shed much light on the situation. Years of hiding had hidden the world from his view, or more rightly, him from theirs. after 2011, Longford had lost it's village characteristics, and was built up. But by the end of the curfew, it was little more then an urban-decayed slum.

His house was rife with dust and spiders, but all their possesions were still intact. Van had managed to retrieve a butterfly knife, some of his old leather attire, bandages, gloves, and his Father's old outdated Macbook Air, it's power cord and bag, and military issue M9. He secured the side-arm in his belt, put on the old leather jacket, zipped it and donned the hood, and finished up by wrapping the exposed skin on his arm with bandages, followed by the gloves.

Van watched the sunrise, from in his old abode, and watched as the light revealed the most minute details his vision could not. It was quite apparent the area had been long abandoned since the curfew after-battle, and saw no sense in loitering. Booting the archiac machine, Van thought over his best move. Vampires would never travel by day, so he would have a head start looking for survivors, or if not, some one which would pledge their alliegance to him. The internet connection of the area had thinned, and the wait was ridiculous, but Van's plan would come to fruition. London Heathrow Airport was still operating, albiet it be by the hour.

The cash left on him should ensure a ticket, and with hope, a way past metal detecters, to London city Airport. From there, he would find other means of travel out of Newham, through Tower Hamlets, and into London city.

OOC: God, this is really testing my knowledge and geography. I hope I'm right, cause I have had to resort to Wiki up a enough info to make this. Hehe. It's gonna take me forever to get the hang of that isn't it? Knowing where I actualy am in this RP?

---

OOC - you know that London isn't abandoned, it is still a thriving city, the war is waged behind the scenes, hence the name - Underworld. Flying from Heathrow to City? ... I don't even think they do that but never the less .. one word - Underground. Faster, cheaper, and less likely to get you caught in sunlight! but yes, certain areas have not been reinhabited since the initial war happened, but most of the city is perfectly fine and runs the same, if not better than it used to. Sorry if that wasn't clear in the OP.

Faith paced the ground between the tombstones, the moon shone bright over Highgate Cemetery and she could make out the names on some of the graves, glancing down she read the names as she passed them, a few she recognized, Michael Faraday, Karl Marx, Douglas Adams, most she did not. She was sure that some of these graves were here because of her. She was just starting to drift back off into memory when a voice broke the silence.

Faith? The council will see you now.

She turned to see one of the elders standing there gesturing for her to follow him. She called to Sasha who was sniffing around the grave of Karl Marx, she let out a growl and then turned and followed Faith into an ancient crypt.

The Council had been clever in their building of the chambers, from the outside the chambers looked like any other ancient crypt in the graveyard, if you walked into them you wouldn't even notice anything unusual, but in the back wall was a door, concealed in the stone. If you passed through that door you stood atop an ornate spiral staircase that plunged away below you, gargoyles lined the wall, their eyes red with flames that burnt inside them. At the bottom of the stairs was a vast hall. It was said in times past this was a ballroom used by the vampire high society, now it stood empty, a chasm that threatened to swallow all who entered.

Faith stood at the bottom of the stairs, she had been to the chambers before, but something about them now felt different, they felt empty. She shook the feeling off and walked towards the great door at the end of the hall, it swung open as she approached and a tall, frail looking man greeted her.

So tell me Faith, what have you found in Prague?

OOC blue writing is V-Branch and other human related activities to do with tracking vampires down.


Captain Skinner looked up at the white board by his desk, another name had been added to the missing persons list for his district. Niah. That was number 27 in the last 3 months. He picked up the phone and called the chief inspector, he'd asked to be notified if anyone else went missing.

---

Mortalitis_Infinitas:

You have gained enough renown to purchase the "Creative Director of European studios at Microsoft Games Studios" title.

OOC: London City Airport is actualy somewhere in the south of Newham, iirc. And sorry bought killing a part of Longfield, but most people wouldn't want to move into a small village on the borders of a place thought to have once contained vampires. You would probably want to be somewhere with a visible defence, like a large city, something with a live-in security force, not like military, but police. That would mean without significant populace, the Government would put the area out of their mind, and neglect it. Even though living in somewhat a built-up urban area gives people a crowd to move in... and remember, he wrapped his body, and wears his hood. Playing his cards right would mean the ability to travel small distances during the day...

---

Niah awakes to the sounds of hammering and breaking glass. Groggy, she allows herself to fantasise that the past few days were just a bad dream, that she hasn't become a monster and dragged Vincent down into the same dark, horrific fate.

Eventually the sounds stop, and she hears Vincent approach the bedroom. She notices the boards on the windows, the smashed lightbulbs and finally accepts that it hasn't all been a nightmare. She is a monster, she has become the thing she hates the most in the world and she did drag Vincent, however willingly, into the darkness with her.

Niah is torn between wanting to end it all, destroy the monster that she has become, and the need for revenge. Some monster did this to her, will likely do it to others if it isn't stopped... It must be stopped!

For the moment, though, the hunger has returned...

OOC: Do we have to live in a crypt, or can we stay in the house which Del has so kindly mutilated for our needs? I'm thinking that, seeing as I've been reported missing, people are likely to show up looking or whatever...

---

*Insert something amusing here*

OOC - No you don' thave to live in an actual crypt, it's just the name given to any vampire safe house and yes the police have been informed and are currently looking for you (see the blue writing to see how far they have got). Of course, the sensible thing to do would be to declare yourself as found, but I'll leave that up to you

---

Mortalitis_Infinitas:

You have gained enough renown to purchase the "Creative Director of European studios at Microsoft Games Studios" title.

Vincent tried to smile at Niah. The sort of smile that says 'I know things aren't looking to right now, but it isn't the end of the world'.
 
"We should move everything we need to the basement. Chris and Alice across the road knew we would be moving to Iceland soon," He said, packing up the laptop into a black briefcase, "...But they might be a tad suspicious that the whole place has been boarded up. Let's make it look like we've moved already. We also need to go search for supplies, I think candles are going to be a must, I can't stand this darkness. Oh and it might be an idea to find some suitable attire in case we get caught in daylight."

He paused.
He'd gotten quite involved in the whole vampire idea. He thought perhaps that he wasn't taking their predicament entirely seriously, he felt more like he on stage. As an actor he saw his life as yet another role to play and was more than happy changing and trying something new. It would also make for a very nice autobiography.
What was he thinking?  He was suffering from vampirism. This was a disease, he was ill and not thinking straight. OK. Get a hold of yourself. You are Vincent, you are not one of...them.

He walked over to Niah and put his arms around her.
"It's going to be OK. We'll find who did this to you." He said, then brought a half grin to his face, "And if anybody can find a cure for this thing, you can. I have faith in you."

Niah kept a lot of lab equipment in the basement, it would be a perfect base of operations, the perfect 'crypt'. Not to mention the Gladiator high security steel door that the previous owners had had fitted during the three year war. They would be safe.
However, something was nagging the back of his mind, something he had done the night Niah had gone missing. He brushed the thought away, then looked Niah square in the eyes.
He pursed his lips and shook his head slowly.
"You need to feed...don't you..."

---

The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

Name: Klanis
Gender: Male
Class: Elder


Klanis's story is one of the oldest stories in Vampire history. Much of it is now but legend even to many of the elders.

The silence was pierced with screams, as the natives were surrounding them. Klanis told his younger brother to be brave. Arrows shot over the hill and dozens all around them dropped to the ground. The war had become real for him now, he had no other choice, he had to fight.
    The fighting lasted until nightfall, The invasion had been a complete failure, Klanis's brother had died for glory. Klanis left the camp that night to find his brother's corpse, but instead found a wild man chasing other people looking for their fallen comrades. The night went silent, the moans and sobs stopped. Klanis found his brother lying on the ground with an arrow through his right eye. He kneeled over his brothers body and wept, and then it happened. The wild man had silently made his way beind him, knocked his head with a shield, and the last thing he remembered was a strange searing pain in his neck.

    He awoke the next morning to a bright sunrise. Klanis's army was packing up for a retreat from the battle, they had mistaken Klanis for dead. He rushed back to the camp to gather his armor and head out. When he returned from the battlefeild, his friends were shocked that he was alive, several even said that they saw him go down. One of his friends said something he would never forget. "Klanis, you've returned from the dead! you know what that means, don't you? It means you can't die again, you're going to live forever" upon which they all started laughing, It was time to head home for Carthage.

Klanis was born in the year 710 BC in the young city of Carthage. He was one of the first Vampires, this was before the time of the Solar restriction, enabling Klanis to live out the rest of what would have been his natural life in relative ease. During this time, he began to hunger for flesh. For nearly a month after becoming a vampire, he became a ravenous meat eater, prefering it raw. Then soon after he made his first kill, a young stable boy. This satisfied him for a week, and he began to love it.
He began to feast on random people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was hungry. But then when his Wife of 15 years noticed he hadn't aged a day, he Unwittingly feasted on her too. To which he never forgave himself. Since that day he became the most righteous killer he could. He targeted thieves, conmen, rapers, and thugs. By the 650's BC all of his friends and family had died.
 Having nothing left in carthage, he left Carthage and headed to Egypt. He killed only criminals, and for a short time became a powerful govenor of what would later become Alexandria. however, he faked his own death in 628BC and headed east for Babylon.
There he took up the profession of Scholar, and became knowledgable in much of the Sciences. After he faked his own death once again in 596BC he traveled to the mystical land of India.
Here he would live various live for the next 600 years. In this Time, he met the Buddha, and even became friends with him. The Buddha is one of only 12 humans that ever knew what Klanis really was. The Buddha in his infinite wisdom told him "you are an instrument of death, but as death must have life, you too are an instrument of life, and in knowing that, you too can attain enlightenment."
300 years later he would meet Alexander, who envied The immortal Klanis. Klanis followed Alexander's army back to Babylon and from there to Greece, and from there to Rome. In Rome he watched as the Romans conquered and destroyed the Empire that had become of his Homeland. At first he was infuriated that they were doing this to his people, but then he realized that they wern't his people anymore, everyone he knew had died by the time he left, they just called it the same thing.
He stayed in the Roman Empire for about 350 years. About 10 years before he fled the empire he told a Roman Magistrate that he was an expert assasin and was hired to eliminate threats to Roman control.  There was a very specific reason he left Rome's grip.  Around 35 AD he was given an order to take out some nutjob stiring up trouble in Judea. He walked into a garden one night to meditate, when his target walked into the garden as well. Seeing this as his chance to finish the job and get back to his lover in Rome, he Snuck up behind him and prepared to bite. as he did, he heard this crazy man start talking to someone he called father. although it was only the 2 of them in the garden. When he was finished talking to himself, The man turned around to see Klanis crying. They talked for a few minutes, where Klanis confessed his purpose, told him his situation as being a vampire, and how this Man whose name would later be known as Jesus Christ reminded him so much of his friend from long earlier, Buddha. Jesus then forgave Klanis, told him that he would remember him when he came to be with his father. He then Stood up, walked out of the garden, and was arrested.
The guilt of having come so close to killing someone so like his old friend, traumatized him almost as much as when he killed his wife 700 years earlier. So he fled to the east, except he took a wrong turn on the silk road, and instead of ending up in India, he ended up in China. Where he lived for 200 years before going back to India. He ended up in the Gupta Dynasty as an advisor and started the first religious tollerance movement in history. When the Huns attack in the year 500, Klanis found himself in China once more. where he stays for 1000 years . In 1500 he decided to revisit Europe to see what had become of it. He made his way to Venice and decided to settle there. He lived there for 300 years and met another Vampire for the first time in 2000 years in 1657. Faith was her name, and while there meeting only lasted for a few days, he learned much about the world of Vampires and how ever sice the time of Alexander No new vampire could live in the sun. With this info, the words of Buddha Came back to him, He was a tool of both life and death, and that would be his path to enlightenment. So until Napolean invaded in the late 18th century, he worked furiously on a way to allow younger vampires walk in the day. Since his meeting with Faith he had seen more and more vampires, to him their actions seemed sloppy, and less thought out, the seemed to lose focus, and lack discipline.
    He moved from Venice to London for the first time in 1807 where he picked up his research, however, did not work as hard as he did when he was in Venice. after 50 years in London he grew bored with science and research, as he had not yet found a cure. So he decided to travel the world, and see places he had never seen before, like America, Most of Europe, and he also traveled to places he had been to before like India, Egypt, Rome, even Carthage, where it seemed like only yesterday he had watched Rome set sail to destroy it, and only the day before that he had killed his wife.
he saw the world as it was truely beginning to change at a faster speed. But he settled back in london eventually. When he caught a man attacking some lady, he stopped him, and killed him. The lady thanked him, as he had just killed Jack the Ripper. From there it is a mystery about his life for 100 years, but in 2002 he meets Faith again, this time in Colorado. She calls him to go back to london where a Vampire council is beginning to form, and they want to know his story and especially what he had determined in his 200 years of research on making a way for the younger vampires to be able to walk in the day.

By the time of the story, Klanis, though being righteous as he can, and kiling as little as possible, has feasted on well over 270,000 people in his nearly 3,000 years on the Earth.

OOC: Well Long story, lot of work put into it, i should have plenty to work from.

---

One should not speak unless it improves upon the silence.

For some reason, in my last post, I called the Winter Palace, the Red Palace. I meant, of course, the Winter Palace.

Krypt location: WC2.

Debussy peered out of the shuttered window of his safe house. It was cloudy, but what little light there was in the dark room was hurting his eyes. He watched the people outside milling about. Pathetic. In the grand scheme of things, what did it matter whether these people lived or died? The vampires were the new breed, the next step in human evolution and had been growing in number ever since the 7th century BC.

A human patrol marched past and Debussy instinctively readied himself for action. But it wasn't needed and the patrol marched on.

The blood lust was rising again, the hunger was always unsatisfied but it could be compromised with. Debussy remembered with fondness how, in 1914, he had surprised and devoured an entire regiment of Tsarist loyalists. Ah, those were the days. His prime. But those days were long gone, even if his body was physically capable of such a feat (which it wasn't), the soldiers
of mondern London were armed with silver bullets. Debussy had felt the taste of silver on a number of occasions and it wasn't , his life saved only by his faithful hell hound who Debussy had called Mozart.

Anyway, he would wait until night fell before he went on the hunt. In the mean time he had work to be doing. He returned to his desk and, hunched, poured over the ancient parchments.

He was researching the origins of the Tarot. If he found the original source of their powers he could . . . Debussy shook with laughter and grinned. The time would come when he had the power to wipe out the plight on the Earth that was humanity; or so he hoped. Perhaps he was exaggerating but he couldn't help it. To the right of him lay a book -La Tarots- on the page, a grinning d lay, splayed out, staring up at him. Even if this was a replica of the original card, Debussy could feel the potential power rise of it like smoke, he found himself salivating. Power. . . .

The ancient Greeks had used the Tarots against the might of Persia and they had then been under the control of Athens. There are then reports of them in Rome, then Jerusalem.  For a long time no record of the Tarots could be found until 1833 when they were recorded as one of the treasures of the Romanov dynasty.  Until  1917 they had been held  in the  Winter Palace and Debussy had seen them there, felt their power,  but  was over come with  blood lust and  forgot them.  Oh, how he regretted  it  now.

But that was were the trail ended. There were reports that Stalin had had them in his possession, even used them. If that were the case, Debussy doubted even if they remained. However, rumors had been spreading that they, like Smirnoff, had been smuggled out of Russia had had found themselves in France, the exact location remained unknown yet Debussy had an unhealthy obsession with them had would keep looking.

Eventually he hoped to return to  France but not now. For now he would bide his time.

---

Cretin=

brainless, stupid and full of pointless information that makes no sense and appeals only to other cretins. They can be found in every single internet forum, where they race to post as many mind-numbing messages as possible.

The 10 minute sprint to Heathrow Airport revealed what problems had befallen Van's eyes. Locking himself into the dank vampiric safe-house, he had adapted to the little-to-no-light, leaving his regular vision severely hampered. Looking any where near the sun was nothing short than a super-human effort. Needless to say, Van was watching his feet the entire time, running with the memorised map.

The airport's propal for a northern runway had officialy been transfered to terminal 6, a new area providing several services to public passengers and aircraft owners. As Van entered the termnal, he realised the second biggest danger of his day travel: He was supposedly dead. If someone was to recognise him, It would be a rather problematic situation. Entering the 4 year old terminal, Van noticed the lack of windows, and was quite thankful he could draw back his hood. The flourescent lights weren't lethal, but the sensation was unpleasent enough.

Approaching the nearest counter, the surprise on the plastic-pretty attendents face, was something to get used to. Van must of thought how pale he looked, and how matted and greasy his hair would have been. Not entirely sure he could pass for human he cleared his throat and a gruff bassiton voice spoke in place of his own:

   'I need a ticket to the airfeild in London city Airport. Within the hour if possible. And I think we can skip the formalities.' And retracted his hands from the desk, revealing 5 £20 notes. After some quick typing, the atendent handed a ticket over

   'Here you are, Mr. Johnson. Have a pleasent flight.'

walking to the other end of the terminal, a man took the look at his ticket, and then directed him to the line without the metal detectors, security, etc. Or he would have, if there was one. passing through the gate, Van glanced at the ticket as he pulled his hood back on. The pilot and plane was over to the eastern edge of the runway. Weighing up why he did this, he noticed he needed a feed. so it was decided. No chance of being spotted, except by the pilot, and a nice feed at the end. Granted he could dispose of such evidence....

The 10 minute flight was quick enough, end just as the pilot was about to get out, instincts drove Van's fangs through the tender flesh of the man's neck. The coppery fluid entered Van's mouth and he knew he would be for another day of two. Whilst an unorthodox dietry requirement, porphyric hemophilia had provided many new abilites, all which Van knew would be tested: his strength, Speed, and stealth were all modified, and he became a better hand-to-hand fighter, with enhanced vision. All he needed was some more firepower to his small armory he carries.

Now a small run from London City, He knew where to get some 'intel.'

---

The chief inspector had arrived at the station after half an hour, Skinner had filled him in about the new missing person.
"Damnit Skinner, that's 27 in just 3 months, one every other day,"
"Yes sir."
"Do you know what that means Skinner?"
"No sir."
"We have a vampire."
"But they were destroyed during the war sir."
"I was around before the war Skinner, I've seen this before. Call all available men back to the station, we're going to need everyone we've got for this one."
"Yes sir."


Steve was sat at his desk, in the security room at Heathrow Airports Terminal 6, reading a magazine and drinking his coffee when something on the security monitor caught his eye. A figure sprinting up to the entrance with a cloak wrapped around him covering his face. "this isn't " he thought.
Picking up the phone he dialed Special Branch, "Hi, I'd like to report a possible terrorist at Heathrow Airport, Terminal 6, figure seen sprinting towards entrance concealed by a large cloak. Request advice."


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Faith glanced up at the man "Yes sir, but can we summon the rest of the council, this is important."

The mans name was Rill, he had lead the council since its inception at the turning of the new millenium, however he had been a defacto leader of the vampire civilization for hundreds of years before hand. He had managed to maintain the balance between the growth of their society and the protecion of their interests for hundreds of years. His face had changed since she had last seen him back in 1846. It was unusual for a vampire of his age to change so drastically over such a short period of time. The vampire aging process was a sudden sharp occurance that gradually tailed off. By the time a vampire reached 1000 they barely changed in physical appearance again.

Rill's eyes had sunk, he looked haunted. Faith felt she knew why, but before she could ask Rill answered. "That's not possible my dear, the council is ... seperated."

Faiths heart sank, she had only been gone for 13 years, when she had left the council was talking of rallying and counter attacking the Human forces. No thought had crossed her mind that they might fail.

Rill seeing the look on her face gestured that she should take a seat next to him at the council table. The table itself was huge, there was space for 50 people to sit around it, the polished wood sparkled in the firelight. It was rumoured that the wood had been soaked in the blood of a thousand humans, mind you there were lots of rumours in the vampire world. As faith looked at it she could have sworn it was stained red, but her eyes couldn't seem to get purchase on the wood. Rill chuckled and put her mind at ease, "It's ok Faith, the rumours are wrong." Faith began to chuckle but Rill cut in "It was actually 2000."

Faith stared at him and was about to say something when he cut across her again. "Maybe another time Faith, we have serious business to attend to first, tell me what have you learnt?"

Faith looked around at the empty seats, she felt very small and alone all of a sudden. "It concerns the Ancients sir."

Rills face didn't change, he just concentrated on her face intently. "Sir, what happened to the council?" This seemed to snap him out of his concentration, and she thought she saw a look of sorrow in his eyes for an instant. His eyes looked around at the empty seats and then came back to focus on her face.

"For thousands of years our species has hunted the shadows, we have maintained a balance between our species growth and remaining hidden, a myth, an that does not exist. After the humans learnt of our existance many turned from the council, saying we had failed them. In the initial human push we lost nearly 4,000 vampires..." His voice trailed off into nothing but a whisper. Suddenly his fist pounded the table, a look of pure hatred on his face. "Those scum, those new bloods" he spat the word with such vitriol that Faith flinched "They said that we were archaic, out dated. They claimed that we were holding them back, that they were the new stage of human evolution and that we were hiding from our true selves. I tried to coucil them, to make them listen, but they ignored me. They left the council and vowed to make the humans bow to their will, that was 8 years ago, without them the strength of the council was severely diminished. We couldn't resist the human attacks and so the council dispersed. We went into hiding, and now the council is seperated."

Faith looked at Rill in shock, she couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Sir is there no way we can find the elders and bring them back?"

Rill smiled again, which unnerved Faith. "Relax child, the elders did not go far. I will send word to their refuge in Manchester, the should be here by the morning."

Faith relaxed, a bit. "Will the elders be enough?"

Rill just looked at her again, seemed to be thinking something over, and then he said "That all depends on what news you bring to us."

"It's about the ancients sir." This statement alone would have made any other vampire gasp or laugh. The ancients were a legend amongst vampires, no one believed that they existed, they were the vampire equivalent of the Titans. A prehistoric race of super vampires that walked the earth long before man, day walkers and father to the vampire race, they were said to have had weapons so powerful they could drain the blood from a person half a mile away, rings that granted the wearers powers of telepathy and mind control, swords that could cut down an entire army with one swing. They had become powerful beyond imagination, but with that power came a terrible terrible price. A civil war had broken out millions of years ago that had completely destroyed the ancients civilization, and scarred the very face of the earth. The survivors of the cataclysm had become wild, savage animals, that would feast on any living thing. Their hatred and anguish at what they had become would pass on to their victims, spawning the vampires.

Strong supporters of the legend called themselves the "order of the Ancients" and pointed to the Saber Tooth cats as proof of the legend, some even said that the saber tooth cats themselves were the ancients. Most vampires tried to avoid talking to them.

Rill just sat there, impassive. Faith continued. "well, I don't believe that the legend itself is true sir, but, there is evidence that suggests that one of the artifacts associated with the Ancients myth is real." Rill leant forward at this. "The order call it Zarcoths Will, it is a ring. According to legends it contains the blood of the first, captured in the stone stone itself." Faith paused to see if Rill would say anything to this, he didn't. "Vampirism has evolved throughout history, as you know, some of the earliest vampires could walk in daylight and were extremely powerful. It's what the legend of the ancients is based on. The gradual distillation of their power" she paused, Rill leant forward and said "go on." in a voice that suggested if she didn't finish what she was saying then she wouldn't finish anything ever again.

"If a vampire wears the ring their power is distilled, their vampire senses amplified, they gain  strength, speed and  agility that no other vampire has ever had before. Sir, they become the embodiment of the first, they have undiluted powers."

Rill just looked at her and said simply, "and how will this help against the Humans, we already have enough soldiers."

Faith was knocked back by this, she had expected him to be excited about the ring. The fact he wasn't made her angry, she pounded the table with her fist and spat her words at Rill "With this ring we can finally have a champion to lead an army. A leader to unite all vampires together. We can turn the tide against the Humans because we wont be divided anymore. Bickering and petty feuds have crippled our society, vampires are going rogue all the time and it is only a matter of time before our enemy capitalizes on our weakness and destroys our kind for ."

Rill just looked straight into her eyes, he took a deep breath, "So do you know where this ring is?"

---

Mortalitis_Infinitas:

You have gained enough renown to purchase the "Creative Director of European studios at Microsoft Games Studios" title.

Klanis Made his way into the council room. Wearing Silk robes with Flowering patterns on them reminescent of 16th century China. This was in stark contrast to his obvious middle eastern skin and physical traits. special silver sunglasses covered his eyes much like swimmers goggles and reflected in the light. One would not guess that behind these glasses, his eyes had all but glazed over with age.

Rill and Faith turned to face him as he walked in. Both slightly smiling for different reasons.

"Cleran, or should I now call you Rill, it has truly been a long time" Klanis stood there and scanned the room Remembering faces from long ago. Some he didn,t even know were vampires. Some of these people were last seen in China, India, Rome, and even one from Babylon. There were others standing by the doors that were obviously quite new.

"Klanis, you havent changed a bit, the last time I saw you was 130 years ago, in Vienna I Believe. It is to see you again, it has been too long." The smile dissapeared from Rill's face, it was time to get back to business. "Faith here is talking of some ring of power. She says it will make us stronger, faster, and able to be as powerful as the Ancient ones."

"Really? the ancient ones, their power from a ring?" Klanis laughed. "Faith dear, Have you seen an ancient lately? have you ever seen one? I didn't think so. Faith, All the Remaining ancients are in hiding, in the remotest places of the world, and thats a thing. The Ancient ones are powerful yes, but you don't want that kind of power, not even to destroy the humans. Such power would drive you beyond insanity. Such power can kill. You say there is a ring, well yes, there is a ring, 1 ring, one single solitary ring."

Stunned by this, by the fact that Klanis knew of the ring as well, Rill wanted to know more.

" Rill, yes, there is a ring, and I know where it is, but you can't get to it, I can't get to it now, but I have seen it, once. But not for a long time. however, it can wait, I havent eaten in a week, i will return shortly."

---

One should not speak unless it improves upon the silence.

OOC: Oh Jeez this one looks great!

Name: Anthony

Type: Rogue (Soon to be soldier)

His story:    Anthony was a British commando before the war but after he decided to retire from the military and did so with an honorable discharge. When the war started he became fascinated with vampires and pursued a career in investigating them. When he heard about V-Branch he became astounded.

Anthony joined V-Branch and began hunting them using his knowledge of weapons. When the war ended he was fired from V-Branch for his beliefs that vampires still existed. Anthony refused to give up and began hunting vampires on his own. Many times he returned to V-Branch trying to convince them that he was  right, but again he was humiliated, and swore his revenge on V-Branch.

After a year of hunting solo he heard rumors that an elder was on his own in Sector W7 of London and decided to kill him. As he approached the crypt he stopped and looked at the building. Anthony got cold feet and left. While walking to his car he heard a hiss. He turned around and saw a Hellhound running at him. He shot it but felt a grasp from behind him. Even though Anthony was very fit he was unable to break away and felt a painful but abrupt sting on his neck, like a bee sting.

Anthony slowly lost consciousness and when he woke up he was laying down next to a trash bin in an alleyway. He stood up and stumbled a bit. He felt the area where the pain was... There were two holes. He checked his teeth, fearing the truth. He had became the very things he hunted. He walked into the street and a speeding car hit him. The man exited the vehicle and went to check if Anthony was alright. Anthony stood up and grabbed the man by his neck. He bit him and stole his car. Anthony rushed to his home in W4.

---

OOC: You guys are not making this easy on me with all these unsubtle goings on ... ... ... . Remember the population thinks that you have been eradicated, they would be most surprised to find that vampires still existed. It would also mean that V-Branch would be on to you, which is never a thing.

Frank woke up to the sound of a ringing phone, he shook his head and tried to clear the fog of sleep from his head. After a few seconds he picked up the phone "Hanwell Police Department, how can I help you?" after listening for only a few seconds his face dropped, "hang on a second sir, I just need to get a pen. Ok, now what happened?" Frank started furiously writing on the piece of paper, he was writing for a few minutes and then he stopped. "Ok thank you sir, I'm going to put you through to our reception they will take your details down and I'll send a squad car round to your location" He pressed line 1 on the phone, there was a brief pause "Hi, Doris, can you send a squad car to the junction of Oakley Close and Church Road, possible pedestrian fatality, also can you take the details of this guy, I'm about to patch him through." he paused for a second said  "ok" and replaced the reciever. Looking down at the piece of paper he read it back to himself. Lying in the road, hit by motorist, ambulance had been called, feared dead. He leant back and looked up at the broken ceiling fan. he muttered only one word "***"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skinner stood at the front of the room, the officers were sat around looking a bit restless. They thought this would be another lecture on not smoking in the squad cars, or not accepting free drinks from the local pub when they were on shift. Skinner shook his head. The chief inspector walked into the room and over to Skinner "Is this everyone Skinner?"
    Skinner looked around the room "with the exception of Dave and Sarah who are attending a domestic disturbance and Niel and Peter who are organising security for the mayors speech this evening, yes it is." the chief inspector look around at the room. "ok job Skinner."
    Turning to face the men the inspector cleared his throat. "Right then men, as you know we have had a spate of disappearances in the last 3 months, the latest is a lady by the name of Niah. Reported missing last night, wasn't seen for 24 hours prior to the report." he paused and looked around the room, some of the men were nodding, "the disappearances seem to fit a pattern, it's one I haven't seen for nearly 20 years, and I hoped that I was wrong, but with this last disappearance we can no longer ignore it." he paused again and took a deep breath "we have a vampire in our district". A snigger went up from the back of the room. "Do you have something to say sargent?" the inspector demanded. Silence "Didn't think so, now listen up Captain Skinner here is going to brief you on how this is going to be handled." he turned and nodded at Skinner who stood up and walked to the front of the room, as the inspector passed him he said "Skinner, get them to do a house call on this Vincent that called in the latest missing person, maybe he knows more specifically where his girlfriend went missing from." Skinner nodded and then turned to the men.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve replaced pressed the end call button on the pad, and looked back at the security monitors, he could see the man in the cloak as he took his hood off and walked over to the check in desk. He saw him hand over some money and walk away from the desk with a ticket. Picking up the phone he dialed 7465, the woman behind the desk on the monitor picked up the phone "Hello ma'am, It's Steve Argent here T6 security. I need to know the flight number of the plane that man you just sold the ticket to is getting." a pause as the woman spoke "oh, I see. Ok then, can I have the registration number of the plane?" another pause, and Steve wrote down a number on a piece of paper "thank you for your time." and he replaced the receiver. He looked at the monitors again, the external camera showed, off in the distance, the flash of blue lights as the police tried to battle the traffic to get to the terminal. He picked up the phone again and dialed a different extension. "Hi, it's Steve here, T6 security. very well thank you. Yourself? to hear it." he laughed, then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing "Sorry Bill, I would love to chat, but I called for a reason. I need the flight plan for the private charter plane registration N872093847." there was a long pause and Steve started writing on a piece of paper, then he stopped midway through writing. "Hang on a minute, are you joking Bill?" another pause. "To City airport? Bloody hell." and he hung up the phone. This didn't look .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A dark figure stood alone in the park feeding the ducks, he looked nervous. Another figure appeared walking up the path, it approached the first figure and handed over a piece of paper. The first man nodded, folded the paper and put it into his pocket. The second man turned to leave. "Agent Finn, if what this note says is true, then we are in serious trouble." Agent Finn turned back to the first man "Hank, my source has never been wrong. This one came in two days ago, a direct flight from Prague. She's old sir, we have records dating back to the 16th century that reference her." Hank looked at Finn, "Thank you Agent, that will be all" and he turned back to the ducks.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faith watched Klanis as he left, she hadn't seen him for a long time, back when him, Rill and her were in venice. She smiled as she remembered one night in particular, sitting on the Bridge of Sighs under the stars, she had looked down the canal, the moon had risen over the city, blood red as it shone through the dust of the city. A young girl holding a violin had walked up to them asking if they would like to hear some music. Klanis had smiled at her, turned to the girl and told her they would love to. As she started to play they had both stood up, Klanis had circled around behind the girl, Faith just stared into her eyes. A look of fear crossed her face and she stopped playing, Faith had reached out a hand and stroked her face, "don't worry my darling, we wont hurt you, we just want to hear your music." Faith had grinned, revealing her fangs. The girl screamed, Faith sank her teeth into her arm. Klanis into her neck. The violin fell to the ground, the neck splitting and the strings snapping with a twang. The girls screams grew fainter as her blood was drained from her. When the last whimper had ended they had let her body drop to the floor, lifeless and empty. Faith looked at the body "Now that was music." They picked up the body and threw it into the canal, disappearing into the shadows as people came out to see what the noise had been about.
    Turning to Rill she spoke. "He knows not what he speaks of sire, he believes that the ring belonged to the elders, it did not, the ring I speak of belonged to father of all modern vampires. It is unclear if the Ancients even existed, but this ring does exist and it is not beyond our reach as Klanis believes." She looked up into Rills eyes, "I am asking for the councils help in retrieving it." Faith could feel Rill looking at her as she said this, and before she had finished she already knew the answer.
    "Child, if Klanis believes that this ring is unobtainable then I am afraid I have to listen to him, all you have is legends and tall tales, he has lived for a thousand years more than you and he has never given bad council." Faith lept out of her chair and kicked out wildly. "I can't believe you will listen to him about this, I've spent 13 years researching this ring and I know it exists and I know where it is. If you wont help me then I will find the ring myself." She turned and stormed out of the chmabers.
    She called to Sasha as she left. It was time for her to go home finally.
    As she approached the door to her basement flat she wondered how it would look, it had been 13 years since she had last set foot in it after all.

---

Mortalitis_Infinitas:

You have gained enough renown to purchase the "Creative Director of European studios at Microsoft Games Studios" title.

OOC: Actualy, I have it all planned out, I always have. Just something I picked-up with many RPGs that I play. But now, hes right where I want to have him stay, so the fun is now the stealth mode. Also, because I hate having that vision in my head for RPing, my character, and others can't see it, I drew a nice little picture of Van. How could I upload it to post the pic?

Van was hurrying to his new 'haven'. If memory served, someone here had a little following that could be of use. Assuming She hadn't been caught yet. Travelling up Hertsmere road, Van found what he was looking for. the old warehouse looked innocent enough, but after all, when attention turns to an invisible enemy, following a ghost takes all your concentration. Walking up to the heavy door, Van apreciated the the new night. Pulling off his hood, he tucked it under his leather jacket.

Now he would need to think through very carefuly. He had the head start, but for what he didn't remember. He had a nice little situation to explain to Alex: He was sure travelling through an airport would have attracted undue attention, so now he needed shelter. He had hastefuly used his knife to make the pilot look like suicide, but was sure a dead man's fingerprints would arouse suspcion. To halt any investigation he had 'borrowed' the man's wallet. After all, you don't buy your own coffin when you need it.

Gathering his wits, Van opened the door and headed in quickly. Guessing that he had roughly 30 minutes untill any chance of interuption, he rushed the length of the hallway.

   "One, two, third on the left. I hope" cautiously opening the door, he was appeased with the sight. Alex was standing over near a podium, up the far end of the room, with numerous benches laid out in the room, directing a trio of people into some sort of line-up, presumably for what duties they had tonight. After all, a black mass needed some measure of work.

   "Well, thats... Unexpected. To say the least" Alex's blatant statement less then phased Van. She always had a talent for under-statement. "So what brings the walkings a walking corpse here. Other then the presumed ?"

   "Long story short, I need a place to hide, food, and some gear. No sun if possible." And without hesitation, Van strode forward to the podium, casualy swept his glance over her, then continued"Well, it's more a demand actualy. And why not throw in some followers while I'm at it?"

   "Not LaVey himself would approve of giving followers, but I suppose he wouldn't believe the circumstances. Why would you want to take these people? They're yung, rebelious, headstrong and follow every word I say.... In other words, they're idiots."

After 25minutes oftalking, It pleasently enough finished with directions to a store room, full of blood for a eucharist, and a nice surprise. No idea what it meant, Van prised open the crate as ordered, and it contained a quaint supply of six FN p90s and 120 of the magazines, 60 of which were labeled phospherous tracer. Completely disbelieving of this discovery, and even more speculative about why they were here, Van returned just as the first worshippers sat down.

Following the standard ceremonial format, the mass got to finish the eucharist, just as the lights went out. Then the usual event, an orgy, commenced. Tempted though he was, despite his quickened pulse, and his muscles' pulsating with desire, Vand worked to the place where 5 young, athletic-looking people had sat 3 of which were male, and 2 were female, including Alex herself. Here at the front of the room, there was 10 minutes for Van to silently bite all of them, then have them resume normal activity for dismissal. Which of course was easy enough, as Alex and the 3 men had discussed all this prior, but whilst the last, the girl, was 'busy' with one of the movers, Van gave a quick bite of her neck, and she wasn't in any position to make a noise, nor notice.

Once the sermon was complete, the people who had taken up the bites stayed up at the altar, and waited for Van to approach. They realised this would be difficult. One of the Men, Reese, was a seventeen year old orphan, and covering for hi was too easy. But Van gave Kyle, Jack and Max instructions to fake their own deaths, because if they didn't they were as as dead anyway. Max started sweating profusely at the remark, and she said she would play along, and others agreed without a change in resolution.

Now they just had to be careful, L\lay low, and cover what little tracks they were permitted to make, until the best laid plans commenced.

---

OOC: Out of curiousity, Munchie... How does turning someone work? Does a simple bite do it, or is there more to it? Oh, and what can we eat? Does it have to be human blood? Can we feed off animals, other vampires?

Niah refused to feed, not until she found a way to do it without killing anyone. She was a monster, but she refused to give in so easily to the bloodlust.
"I'm fine. Let's get all this set up. Be sure not to break any of the equipment, I think we'll have a bit of trouble replacing it now".

Niah busied herself with moving everything to the basement, using the menial work to numb her mind, to stop thinking about how how horrible her... their ... situation was, and to think of what to do next.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her.
"Vincent, what did you do when I was missing? You didn't call the police, did you?"

---

*Insert something amusing here*

Vincent paused, trembling with a box full of clothes in his arms.
"...I did." he said, dropping the box, letting the clothes fall out all over the floor. He grabbed the telephone and paused once more to compose himself. He dialed 999.
"Hello," He said calmly, "Could you put me through to the police station please? N3"
He waited patiently by the phone, glancing over at Niah and then back to the phone again. He shook off the nerves as soon as he heard a voice in the telephone.

"Hello, the name is Vincent Dafoe" He said cheerfully. He summoned up his best acting abilities, making sure he did not even hint something was wrong, "Yesterday, I reported a missing person, by the name of Niah. Well I'm pleased to inform you that she has been found. She was merely staying with an old friend she met that night. Her phone had run out of credit and the place she was staying at unfortunately had no landline. Terribly sorry for any trouble I caused, you can call off the bloodhounds now." He chuckled.

The police asked a few questions after this, specifically if Niah was unharmed. He confirmed that everything was fine. On top of that he also made sure to mention that they were in fact flying to Iceland the following day, as a passing comment. That should throw them completely off the scent.
He placed the phone back on the hook.

It took quite a while but eventually all their worldly possessions, apart from a few bits and pieces that would have been left in the house anyway, were stored in the basement. They both entered and Vincent locked the door behind them.

He set up the laptop and began researching his new role. An advertisment for donating blood caught his eye...

---

The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.