Legends of the Creatures of the Night

Gather round, my friends, and pull your cloaks a little tighter around you. The tale I am about to tell is not one for the faint of heart or the young, but is instead a tale of sorrow and dark powers. This tale is the tale of the Vampyres, those creatures of beauty and evil who once roamed the lands of Genesis under the dark cover of night.

Many have heard of the Vampyres, the near mythical creatures of old. But not much is known of these creatures, and the old tales are but mere reflections of the dark truth. I have gathered together information on this forgotten group, this race of creatures who have been left behind by the movement of time, and I will now pass on what little knowledge I have. Believe not all you hear, as who knows what fallacies might be mixed in with what I have to say?

The Vampyres were not always so, just as they are now not so. Once the noble sons of princes and of Elven kings, the pride of Man and the strongest of Goblins, for long eons did the Vampyres roam the lands, lords of their domain when the bright rays of the sun had left the earth to be replaced by the cool cloak of darkness.

In times of legend, the great god Draco did hold his reign in the land of the dead. Draco ruled supreme over all who entered his realm, for they were the souls of the newly dead, sent to him for safekeeping. The great god Draco grew weary of his reign over the countless millenia, for little happened in the land of the dead. And in Draco's weariness, mischief and anger crept into his immortal heart.

Draco turned his gaze to the lands above, the lands of the mortals. Here on this land, people lived and loved and laughed. Things were in a flux in the realm of the mortals - ever changing, according to the whims of mortals. This land was in stark contrast to the timeless realm of Draco.

One century, Draco's gaze passed over the beautiful Elven princess Serena, one of the most vibrant of all mortals. Draco looked upon Serena, and desired her for himself. Exerting powers never before used, Draco cast Serena down into the underworld, into his realm of Death. Because Serena's time, as cast by the Fates, was not up, Serena found herself still alive in this shadow world, lost between life and death.

Serena's companion in the mortal realms was the Dwarven lord Baldric, master of the great Dwarflands. When Serena was taken by Draco, Baldric grew angry, and armed himself with mithril weapons of great potency. Baldric gathered together his elite guard, and set off for the lands of Draco.

When Draco saw Baldric setting off on his journey, he laughed long and loud, on his great throne in the heart of the Underworld. Never before had one of the puny mortals sought to cross him, and Draco immediately grew fond of Baldric. But Serena was also dear to Draco, and he refused to forsake her.

After long decades and centuries of wandering the lands of the mortals in search of Draco, Baldric discovered an old witch, who told him of a way to find the dread lord. This witch prepared a potion for Baldric and his followers that placed them in a death-like trance. Draco's minions came to Baldric and his followers, summoned by the spirits hovering above their bodies, spirits freed by the potion.

These minions took the dwarves to Draco for judgement, as happens with all mortals when they die. Draco was saddened when he saw Baldric, for his fondness had grown with Baldric's attempts to find him. However, his sorrow quickly turned to a great anger when Baldric revived from the potion and looked upon Draco in his true form. Baldric drew his mighty sword, and slashed the visage of the god, blinding him in one of his eyes.

Draco roared with pain and anger, stunning Baldric. Looking down at the comatose dwarf, he plotted his revenge. Because Baldric was in the land of the Dead, Draco was powerless to kill him. Draco instead decided that Baldric would never see the land of the Dead, but would forever live in limbo, between the darkness of night and the light of day, a creature of the twilight.

In revenge for the loss of his eye, Draco cursed Baldric, so that he would only see in the dark. If Baldric gazed upon the light of day, the light would sear his flesh and wound him greatly. Draco leant above Baldric, blood from his rent eye dripping onto Baldric's face. Unconscious, Baldric swallowed the blood of the God, inadvertently dooming himself to a life of undeath, a life of hungering after the blood of others, seeking through their death to gain his own rest.

Baldric awoke to find that the blood of the God, coursing through his veins, had changed him greatly. Fangs had grown out of his teeth, and his fingernails had grown into steel like talons. His heart beat only in time to the coursing of the blood of Draco, and his sight was changed, so that he ever after lived in a twilight of vision, blinded by light and making out shapes in the darkness.

At the last, Draco took pity on Baldric and took him to Serena, Baldric's love. As Serena looked upon Baldric, she recoiled in fear, seeing the changes wrought upon him by Draco. Baldric, glancing upon the mortal Serena, was immediately affected by the curse laid upon him, and he launched himself at his true love, viciously rending her. At the last, he stopped himself from draining her essence, and despaired for what he had done and what he had become. Tears of blood formed in his eyes, and one dripped upon the ravaged form of his Elven love, lying bleeding on the dark stone of the Underworld.

This tear, falling upon Serena, worked its magical transformation, and before Baldric's undead eyes, his mortal love was turned into his immortal consort, queen of the Vampyres.

Draco felt sorrow in his heart as he looked upon his two creations, the first of the Vampyres. Taking them by his hands, he took them to a desolate mountain in a far off land of the mortal realm, where he stayed with them for a century and a day, telling them of their powers and their duties. Having done all he could for his children, he returned to his realm, leaving behind the start of the great Family of Vampyres.

Baldric and Serena explored the world anew, like children, seeing things through their changed eyes. As they wandered, they came upon other beings that had a special spark that attracted them to the Vampyres, and these beings were inducted into the evergrowing Family. As they wandered, tales of the Vampyres spread throughout the lands, bringing terror before them.

One day, when they judged that the time was ripe, they emerged in their full glory, announcing themselves to the world as rulers, by virtue of their godlike powers. Their reign was mighty indeed, spreading to all corners of the world, encompassing all that lived under the stars above.

Their reign brought with it a time of darkness for the mortals, who banded together to attack the Vampyres and their brood. The battles that were fought were long and hard, but always the Vampyres won, for they took the bravest and the strongest of their opponents and made them as they were, to rise up as Vampyres.

This time of domination lasted for centuries, but Baldric, Serena, and the others of the Vampyres at last grew weary of the incessant combat, and retired into the shadows to seek new lands. People still claim to see Vampyres, late at night hidden amongst the shadows cast by a new moon, but the Vampyres have left the realm of the known lands. Maybe one day they will return, if their creator, the great god Draco wishes it, but until they do, the lands of Genesis have lost something precious, the beauty of the cursed Vampyres, the doomed wanderers of the night.

Having read the ancient scroll, you can look around the library and ask for another manuscript to read, or you can consult your map of the strong hold to take you to some other area of the guild.