[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/iNTeljM.png[/img][/center]
[Color=red][b]Time:[/b][/color] Sunset, October
[Color=red][b]Location:[/b][/color] Ember Grove
[Color=red][b]Interaction with:[/b][/color] All

Ember Grove. The small town that truly awakens while many of its people slumber. Most stories begin at the break of dawn, but it is not the case here. Gothic bloodsuckers blend into the nightlife scene. The hounds of the night freely weave between the trees of the forest they almost call home. There are also the crafty spellcasters secretly participating in out worldly rituals. Despite how well they all seem to thrive, these things don’t simply go bump in the night carelessly. It’s all thanks to the scarred misfits of humanity taking responsibility for being the boogie men to the monsters, even as the sun sets over the horizon, welcoming the night. 

Hate, love, fear, joy, and even death lie ahead in a story where so many intentions and vendettas cross paths. We know who the players are, but how will the game turn out?

The sun slowly sinks away in the far west, painting part of the sky with the warm colors signifying its departure. The night is nigh and the air chills enough to remind those of Ember Grove that winter will rear its head in the coming weeks. Today marks Friday, and to some, it is the start of a reprieve and a chance at relaxation. To others, it’s a chance to let loose and party hard. The weekend begins, and so does its many ventures. This is a night to take advantage of. The question is... Will you?
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[Color=gold][b]Time:[/b][/color] Sunset
[Color=gold][b]Location:[/b][/color] Ember Grove University
[Color=gold][b]Interaction with:[/b][/color]

The transition from day to night was deemed beautiful by many. It often signified a slow peaceful end to a day, no matter how dull or how lively it had been. It was a visual treat to catch in the sky slowly lost its natural light. And as many saw it as an end, Alexander and many of his kind viewed it as a start.

A black Rolls-Royce Phantom was neatly parked in its reserved parking space in the closest faculty parking lot to where Alexander’s art exhibition would be held at Ember Grove University. The moment the sun gave its visual farewell to the day, a black-suited driver exited the vehicle and opened the rear passenger side door to for the man of the hour. Alexander Drake made his exit, [u][url=https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ae/ee/b8/aeeeb83576a0961d28fa43fcc0d03e51.jpg]dressed for the occasion[/url][/u]. His eyes peered towards the sweet ending of the sunset.

[Color=gold]“And down she goes.”[/color] He commented before started for the wing of the university that housed its library. Alexander had taken less than five steps, and two well-dressed men were at either side of him. His personal security. Their eyes scanned their surrounding, while Alexander calmly walked to where his art exhibition would be held. He called the exhibition, [i]A Sliver of Beauty Found[/i]. This was not is first, but would be his last. Painting portraits was beginning to become mundane with each stroke of the brush. Today would mark the end of a hobby that he grew quite fond of. It had taken so long to get this one right. Several decades of trial, error, and practice. 

[u][i][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o26qoCYLdS8]Ambiance[/url][/i][/u]

Alexander hadn’t seen many people on his way to the exhibition from the faculty parking lot. He had scheduled his exhibition at a perfect time. Only those interested in the beauty of fine art would have the want to attend the event. He had given the University a hefty “donation” in order to make this event possible, and they ensured it would be nothing but perfect. The university had a designated area used for exhibitions. It was typically used by students and even some haughty professors. The space welcomed guests to a large room with portrait painting produced by yours truly. A large table was positioned in the center of the large room with several platters of the finest assorted cheeses as well as an assortment of perfectly aged wines. Alexander figured choice could serve as a theme for the portraits of those who lacked such a thing. All the painting, every single one, was of a slave. Beautifully dressed and colored, yet there was a hint of despair in their eyes. As beautiful as many of the portraits were, the faces in them held a hint of sadness if you looked long enough. It’s what inspired the name for the exhibition. [i]A Sliver of Beauty Found…….[/i] in despair. From the large room led to a few others that held paintings of events witnessed by Alexander over the course of his near three millennia of life.

With a welcoming smile, Alexander would greet those who entered and speak to the intellectual as well as the interested. He would barter with those willing to purchase a piece. If he was going to be surrounded by humans, he preferred it to be the ones with some kind of sophistication. The brutes and feeble-minded would ignore this event and partake in the uncivilized events that occurred on a Friday night. Smooth jazz music played within the area to give off the calm sophisticated ambiance he wanted and had read about in a few art magazines he had read over.

Alexander’s eyes peered towards a painting of a beautiful young woman he had completed only weeks ago. He had loved her eyes that reminded him of a calm overcast sky. Her elegant blue dress had fit so perfectly with the background only lit by the flames of Alexander’s fireplace, allowing shadows to dance around her form and compliment her raven black hair. And though he should have felt pride for possibly one of his best works, Alexander couldn’t shake the fact that this woman had recently escaped his domain of New Paeonia.