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Thousand Year Old Vampire: Guillaume d'Orléans
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<blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 8848294" data-attributes="member: 11760"><p><strong>Florence, 1447</strong></p><p></p><p>I watched the vampires sword fight on rooftop, the moonlight flashing silver off their blades. </p><p></p><p>I was several blocks away, concealed in supernaturally black shadows, still an outsider in la danza nera of the Florentine vampires. At this distance, I could not tell whether the intricate battle was simply sport of in deadly earnest. I had seen both in the past, including among mortals on the streets on the city.</p><p></p><p>But the swordfight was so beautiful, it didn't matter whether it was the beauty of art or the beauty of great predators in nature.</p><p></p><p>And then a silhouetted head and shoulders popped up between the battlers and me, peering into the shadows.</p><p></p><p>"Who's there?" The tone was accusatory.</p><p></p><p>I slid down the roof, listening for any sounds of pursuit and headed toward the nearest dark and open windows I could find, landing quietly on the floor of an enormous room.</p><p></p><p>I waited, unmoving, listening for any signs of life or sense that I wasn't alone. It was a dim space, the walls lined with training dummies and weapons racks. But it was also all covered in a thick layer of dust. An unused space for training and sparring.</p><p></p><p>A light came from a room at the end of the hall, and a man was illuminated by the light of the candle he now carried. His hair was white, but his back was straight and we walked confidently into the darkness. He wore a sword, although on his right side, rather than his left.</p><p></p><p>"Who's there?"</p><p></p><p>I stood up. There was nothing this man could do to me unless I allowed it.</p><p></p><p>"Is this a fencing school?" I felt the candlelight on my skin as I looked around at the room. This place had once trained dozens.</p><p></p><p>"It was."</p><p></p><p>"And what happened?"</p><p></p><p>"The wrong person got killed."</p><p></p><p>I looked back at the man and I saw he was holding his candle stick in his left hand. He raised his right, which had been shorn of its fingers and thumb.</p><p></p><p>"My punishment."</p><p></p><p>"Leave the great swordsman alive, but deprive him of his ability to be who he once was?"</p><p></p><p>He nodded, in as casual a fashion as I suspect he could manage. The candle light picked out other scars on his throat. He had nearly had his throat torn out as well, and not by a sword.</p><p></p><p>"My people believe in a cruel justice."</p><p></p><p>"It is not for me to say," the man said, who was not as old as he looked. What I took for age was the loss of hope and pride.</p><p></p><p>"How large is this place?"</p><p></p><p>I had begun to rebuild my investments, spread out over multiple industries this time, and spread to other cities as quickly as I could manage. I would never again be as vulnerable as I had turned out to be in Cologne, when I had arrogantly thought myself a great master of the night time world.</p><p></p><p>"It is a large space. Some have asked about purchasing it as a storage place or for weaving."</p><p></p><p>"And does it have a basement?"</p><p></p><p>"It does, my lord."</p><p></p><p>"Good. I will purchase your school and you will begin your lessons again immediately. Florence has enough buildings full of crates of fabric. You will do what you do best, once again."</p><p></p><p>And so it was that I came to dwell beneath a school of fencing that had but one student, learning how to kill in a more beautiful, more elegant fashion that I had for the centuries of my existence so far.</p><p>[spoiler="Character sheet"]Prompt 38 + 7 - 5 = Prompt 40</p><p></p><p><em>How do you conceal yourself while you sleep? What steps have you taken for protection? Check a Skill and create a Resource. Create a mortal servant Character if you like.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Wilhelm Black</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Skills</strong>: </p><p>Bloodthirsty (checked); </p><p>Knows the secrets of killing vampires (checked);</p><p>I control the beast; </p><p>Skilled merchant (checked); </p><p>Cook Portuguese seafood dishes;</p><p>Knowledgeable of medieval medicine; </p><p>Knowledge of vampire anatomy; </p><p>I can draw the shadows in around myself, creating supernatural hiding spaces;</p><p></p><p><strong>Resources</strong>:</p><p>The Spear of Aeolius, an ancient Roman spear capable of killing vampires</p><p>Diary: A leather-bound German-made ledger book</p><p>An ever-beating heart, which magically will not die</p><p>Florentine fencing school</p><p></p><p><strong>Characters</strong>:</p><p>Juião/Julian Black: a Portuguese orphan turned my servant turned vampire (Immortal); </p><p>Filippo Vadi: a Florentine fencing master with the fingers of his right hand cut off (mortal); </p><p></p><p><strong>Marks</strong>: My eyes cannot stand bright light and I have to remain in shadows at all times; my touch is fatal to plants; </p><p></p><p><strong>Memories (five, up to three Experiences each)</strong>:</p><p>1: I am Guilliame d'Orléans: I rescue a dark-haired girl from attack and Constansia pledges herself to me, believing me to be a servant of Satan, and we soon wed; Constansia conducts her Satanic rituals and summons a demon, Raum, to serve me in the form of a raven;</p><p>2: I am Wilhelm Black: Brought into the society of the Nachtvolk of Cologne, I watched their leader slowly dismember a vampire, leaving him alive for hours, just in agony; with the help of the mortal Itzig family, I become a rich merchant, with investments across Europe.</p><p>3. I am Wilhelm Black: Julian, now a violent enforcer of the Nachtvolk, gifts me an ever-beating heart; </p><p>4. I am Guglielmo Nero: After Florentine banks collapse during the 100 Years War, I move my banking operations from Cologne to Florence; poisoned by Averardo de' Medici, I wake up in Florence 100 years later, the Itzigs dead, my banking empire dismantled in my absence; setting myself up in Florence, I come to own and operate out of a fencing school.</p><p>5.</p><p></p><p><strong>Diary (four memories, up to three Experiences each)</strong></p><p>1: I am Guilliame d'Orléans: The night the other heretics were burned alive, Carnutes fed upon me as I screamed in pitch black darkness; I confront Carnutes about him making me a vampire and he confesses he did it out of loneliness and tells me I will suffer in the same way some day; Carnutes possessed Raum and led the Archbishop of Tours' men to try and killed me -- but I used the Spear of Aeolius and killed Raum and Carnutes instead.</p><p>2: I am le Passeur or "the Frenchman": The Portuguese orphan Juião helps me after I am burned by sunlight, unafraid of my supernatural nature, and I take him in as my servant; Juião teaches me to cook with the seafood I catch underwater; at his urging, I prey on battlefield wounded as I tend to them.</p><p>[/spoiler]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Whizbang Dustyboots, post: 8848294, member: 11760"] [B]Florence, 1447[/B] I watched the vampires sword fight on rooftop, the moonlight flashing silver off their blades. I was several blocks away, concealed in supernaturally black shadows, still an outsider in la danza nera of the Florentine vampires. At this distance, I could not tell whether the intricate battle was simply sport of in deadly earnest. I had seen both in the past, including among mortals on the streets on the city. But the swordfight was so beautiful, it didn't matter whether it was the beauty of art or the beauty of great predators in nature. And then a silhouetted head and shoulders popped up between the battlers and me, peering into the shadows. "Who's there?" The tone was accusatory. I slid down the roof, listening for any sounds of pursuit and headed toward the nearest dark and open windows I could find, landing quietly on the floor of an enormous room. I waited, unmoving, listening for any signs of life or sense that I wasn't alone. It was a dim space, the walls lined with training dummies and weapons racks. But it was also all covered in a thick layer of dust. An unused space for training and sparring. A light came from a room at the end of the hall, and a man was illuminated by the light of the candle he now carried. His hair was white, but his back was straight and we walked confidently into the darkness. He wore a sword, although on his right side, rather than his left. "Who's there?" I stood up. There was nothing this man could do to me unless I allowed it. "Is this a fencing school?" I felt the candlelight on my skin as I looked around at the room. This place had once trained dozens. "It was." "And what happened?" "The wrong person got killed." I looked back at the man and I saw he was holding his candle stick in his left hand. He raised his right, which had been shorn of its fingers and thumb. "My punishment." "Leave the great swordsman alive, but deprive him of his ability to be who he once was?" He nodded, in as casual a fashion as I suspect he could manage. The candle light picked out other scars on his throat. He had nearly had his throat torn out as well, and not by a sword. "My people believe in a cruel justice." "It is not for me to say," the man said, who was not as old as he looked. What I took for age was the loss of hope and pride. "How large is this place?" I had begun to rebuild my investments, spread out over multiple industries this time, and spread to other cities as quickly as I could manage. I would never again be as vulnerable as I had turned out to be in Cologne, when I had arrogantly thought myself a great master of the night time world. "It is a large space. Some have asked about purchasing it as a storage place or for weaving." "And does it have a basement?" "It does, my lord." "Good. I will purchase your school and you will begin your lessons again immediately. Florence has enough buildings full of crates of fabric. You will do what you do best, once again." And so it was that I came to dwell beneath a school of fencing that had but one student, learning how to kill in a more beautiful, more elegant fashion that I had for the centuries of my existence so far. [spoiler="Character sheet"]Prompt 38 + 7 - 5 = Prompt 40 [I]How do you conceal yourself while you sleep? What steps have you taken for protection? Check a Skill and create a Resource. Create a mortal servant Character if you like.[/I] [B]Wilhelm Black Skills[/B]: Bloodthirsty (checked); Knows the secrets of killing vampires (checked); I control the beast; Skilled merchant (checked); Cook Portuguese seafood dishes; Knowledgeable of medieval medicine; Knowledge of vampire anatomy; I can draw the shadows in around myself, creating supernatural hiding spaces; [B]Resources[/B]: The Spear of Aeolius, an ancient Roman spear capable of killing vampires Diary: A leather-bound German-made ledger book An ever-beating heart, which magically will not die Florentine fencing school [B]Characters[/B]: Juião/Julian Black: a Portuguese orphan turned my servant turned vampire (Immortal); Filippo Vadi: a Florentine fencing master with the fingers of his right hand cut off (mortal); [B]Marks[/B]: My eyes cannot stand bright light and I have to remain in shadows at all times; my touch is fatal to plants; [B]Memories (five, up to three Experiences each)[/B]: 1: I am Guilliame d'Orléans: I rescue a dark-haired girl from attack and Constansia pledges herself to me, believing me to be a servant of Satan, and we soon wed; Constansia conducts her Satanic rituals and summons a demon, Raum, to serve me in the form of a raven; 2: I am Wilhelm Black: Brought into the society of the Nachtvolk of Cologne, I watched their leader slowly dismember a vampire, leaving him alive for hours, just in agony; with the help of the mortal Itzig family, I become a rich merchant, with investments across Europe. 3. I am Wilhelm Black: Julian, now a violent enforcer of the Nachtvolk, gifts me an ever-beating heart; 4. I am Guglielmo Nero: After Florentine banks collapse during the 100 Years War, I move my banking operations from Cologne to Florence; poisoned by Averardo de' Medici, I wake up in Florence 100 years later, the Itzigs dead, my banking empire dismantled in my absence; setting myself up in Florence, I come to own and operate out of a fencing school. 5. [B]Diary (four memories, up to three Experiences each)[/B] 1: I am Guilliame d'Orléans: The night the other heretics were burned alive, Carnutes fed upon me as I screamed in pitch black darkness; I confront Carnutes about him making me a vampire and he confesses he did it out of loneliness and tells me I will suffer in the same way some day; Carnutes possessed Raum and led the Archbishop of Tours' men to try and killed me -- but I used the Spear of Aeolius and killed Raum and Carnutes instead. 2: I am le Passeur or "the Frenchman": The Portuguese orphan Juião helps me after I am burned by sunlight, unafraid of my supernatural nature, and I take him in as my servant; Juião teaches me to cook with the seafood I catch underwater; at his urging, I prey on battlefield wounded as I tend to them. [/spoiler] [/QUOTE]
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