Vampire: Fall Of The Gods

I had poured several cups of ale and passed them around the tavern as a free round to lure the masses in. After a few minutes the people inside the tavern bought more and more of the ale. Luckily one barrel wasn't emptied that fast so it took around 504 cups of ale to empty on barrel. Vampires tend to drink more than humans so each drank an average of 30 cups before getting drunk. The night was still long so I waited patiently for someone to slip information that I can use. Even though I was waiting for useful information I heard the latest gossip stories.

From what I heard, the third son of the Lord is trying to marry a girl from one of the clans they recently integrated. He had fallen for her at first sight, but she seems to be interested in someone else from her former clan. The third son had gone out looking for that man and even threatened him into convincing her to marry him. The man rejected and was beaten up by the third son. Due to this she had accepted the marriage proposal to save his life. The Lord then lashed the third son thirty times because of his actions. Because of the third son's actions the man that women loved was to afraid to do anything. This also soured the relationship between the Eagle clan and the integrated clan. The lord then sent the women back and even forced his son to apologise relinquish his rights to succeed for using his position to force a marriage.

The other gossip story was about the two other integrated clans fighting with each other. The reason seemed to be to gain favour with the daughter of the Lord. The first sons of the former lords those two clans had each gathered men to help them compete for her attention. The people in the tavern also mentioned that the daughter liked to play with other peoples feelings and tended to cause trouble for her father. Because of the Lords love for his daughter he was simply lenient enough to scold her and the two first sons. A much lighter punishment that his own third son.

From what I could gather from all the gossip was that the Lord had three sons and two daughters. The second daughter being a newly turned vampire. By the time I opened the second barrel of ale I overheard a group of men talk about the message that was sent by Sasha's brother's blood magic. I moved closer to them as I waited for more people to come and get ale.

"You guys remember the message a while ago? The one that announced that the Dragon clan had fallen to the hands of the Bertoldo clan."

"Yes we do."

"It seems that in three weeks time there will be a group that will be sent out to conquer that clan. The group will most likely be consisting of the strongest from those three new clans and of our clan. If we want any part of it we need to become stronger and impress the lord. The spoils we may receive from winning that clan and the Dragon clan is not little."

They laughed as they toasted to becoming stronger. I thank you for buying my ale and spilling that information. That shall be useful in the future for the development of my strategies.

"I haven't seen you here before? Are you a new guy from the newly integrated clans? You have a strong aura around you. Almost that of a lord. May even be the same as a lord."

A young man approached me as he leaned on the counter. He smiled slightly as he examined me.

"I am not from those clans. I have no affiliated clans and travel from Scienta city to other clans and cities selling ale to earn my keep and buy blood orchids."

"I see, then how does a handsome youth like you farm and acquire the needed ingredients to make ale if you are not from a clan? Either that or you must be a noble. Since you earn your keep you simply cannot be a noble."

As I poured him a cup of ale I overheard the customers whispering that the male loving second son found a prey. That alone sent shivers down my spine as I noticed the look in his eyes. I slid the cup to him without giving it to him directly as I was afraid he might try something. So the second son of the lord had interests in men...

"I give fifty percent of my profits to the owners of the farms and some of that fifty percent I also use to buy more ingredients."

"I see, then what do you do with the excess money? Surely you make more than enough to secure one persons worth of blood orchids."

"I have to give some of the remaining fifty percent profits to the places I set up shop like here. I also pay my workers back in Scienta city that brews there. I also have my own family to provide blood orchids for. The rest is for feeding the horses, up keeping the carriage and emergency funds when needed."

"I see. You have a family, you are also wise spending money and self sufficient. You must have been raised in poverty when you where human. So how did you become vampire?"

This bastard. He clearly suspects something. That or he wants to chat me up...

"My wife turned me. Her clan was destroyed by the barbarian clan and she had escaped while the were fighting. She had never stayed in one place for many years and then I gave her shelter from the rain with my mother one day. We farmed a small ground and made a small sum from that. Because we didn't have much protection we were easy targets for bandits and the robbed us burning the place down. My mother was killed and I was dying. She took pity on me and turned me into a vampire as thanks for the shelter. I have been with her since then and we then married."

"I see, sorry to remind you of that tragedy. How long ago did you two marry?"

"Roughly two months ago."

He grabbed my collar over the counter and pulled it to reveal my mark. He licked his lips and let go of my collar.

"Authentic marriage. She was aware of the ritual. I am impressed. How I wish to sip from that neck and run my fingers across that lean body of yours. I like the butler look of yours. Especially due to that Tailcoat and I like nicely dressed men. To bad you aren't interested."

He sighed as he finished his drink and walked out of the tavern. Finally...