gorgenmast

The Vampire princes

Never before had overcast skies been so welcomed. A hazy blanket of gray hung over the heartlands, bearing the brunt of the sun's harsh rays. Moribund Edward, swaddled in a filthy black robe, sat huddled upon the back of a donkey clinging to life. Emily remained faithfully at Edward's side while the former chamberlain of Felboge Keep led his donkey down the road. They were a queer sight to behold, a beautiful young woman dressed in soiled palace finery accompanied by a shirtless vagabond jockeying a donkey bearing some shivering wretch. Passersby regarded the unusual party with raised eyebrows. The chamberlain paid little mind to the passing onlookers; Prince Edward's life depended on his timely arrival at Castle Bathory.

In the early afternoon, the three had crested a hill and were afforded their first view of the Capital. Castle Bathory, a massive citadel with magnificent spires reaching toward the sky, sat in the center of a dense and sprawling city with its own skyline of far less grandiose watchtowers. Ringing this great city were the greatest walls in all the land, 30 feet high ramparts built out of the native sandstone with parapets and numerous guard towers with onagers affixed atop them. Surely, within such impressive fortifications, Prince Edward would be safe.

"Your majesty, you are nearly home! The castle is in sight at last!" The chamberlain exclaimed.

Edward groaned, but he had soon fallen silent. His labored breathing was the only sound, but even that was quieting down. Emily bit her lip. She fought tears. She looked ahead towards the castle from the hilltop. She prayed for Edward as they continued on towards the castle.

The highway ran ahead of them another mile through the patchwork farmland of the heartlands to the northern gate of the Capital. As the road neared the gates, a teeming line of wagons and people stretched out, standing before the closed gates of the city.

"Best to just turn around," a wagon driver said as he rode up the highway in the opposite direction. "You'll not get in. Castle guard's locked the Capital down. Only folk with prior appointments with the guard captains are allowed through the gates."

"What for?!" The chamberlain snapped.

"Assassins tried to kill Prince Edward a few days ago is what I heard," said the wagon driver, pulling the reigns on his draft mule so as to stop the beast. "Heard firedust was involved, killed a lot of innocent folk. They're saying his brother, the feller up in the Weald, that 'es behind it. Whatever happened, it was real bad, and now nobody's getting in. Hope you lot don't need to get their too desperate-like."

"But I do! I am escorting our prince back to the castle at this very moment! They have to let us in!"

The wagon driver took a glance and the huddled body upon the donkey and let out a snort of laughter.

"Yeah? And I'm 'is majesty Zachaeus 'imself!" The driver flicked the reigns to galvanize the mule to continue on, snickering to himself as he went.

"They have to let us in," the chamberlain repeated to himself, pulling the donkey along down the road to the Capital.

The three arrived at the rear of the gathered travelers and wagons halted by the locked gates of the Imperial Capital. The chamberlain led Edward and Emily over the shoulder of the highway, cutting around the line and eliciting a hateful barrage of cursing from frustrated travelers. After an hour of weaving and budging through the crowd pressing in at the entrance, the three had arrived before a contingent of guards standing before sealed gates of the citadel.

"Let me in! It's just a wagon full of apples for God's sake! They're going to go bad and I'll be ruined if I don't do something with them soon!" One merchant demanded.

"I cannot let you in," a guard reaffirmed. "No one is allowed into the Capital until further notice. Now, take your wares elsewhere."

The chamberlain led Emily and the donkey-mounted Prince up to the gate, drawing irritated glares from the guards posted at the gates.

"Can't you see that there's no entrance into the city? Turn around."

"I am defector from the court of Ulrek Bathory, escorting Prince Edward and this foreign dignitary back home. His majesty needs urgent care. Let us in immediately."

The guard's stoic visage broke down for a moment as his frown cracked into a grin.

"Hah! If nothing else, that is certainly the most creative excuse I've heard all day. But my orders still stand. Please turn around."

"Please..." Edward groaned from under the robe. "Help."

The eyes of all the guards within earshot opened wide upon hearing that voice. These were the guards of Castle Bathory, and were well acquainted with the voice of Edward Bathory.

"Y-your majesty?" A guard asked, drawing closer to the robe-swaddled being atop the donkey. One gently pulled back on the hood and gazed upon Edward, pale and bloodied and shivering.

"OPEN THE GATES!" Screamed the guard, loud enough for the guards in the gatehouse high above could hear. "OPEN THE GATES AND LET THEM THROUGH!"

---

As soon as they had been permitted through the gates, a carriage and a large guard escort had been summoned to take Edward, Emily, and the chamberlain up to the Castle. Within the hour, Prince Edward had been placed in the castle's infirmary and was being attended to by a dozen surgeons and apothecaries, with the ever-present Emily at his side. The chamberlain had elected to stay outside of the infirmary, giving the healers ample room to work. He remained in the vestibule just outside for any word as to the prince's condition. No sooner had the chamberlain sat down on a bench within the waiting room that a number of the castle's honor guards clad in magnificent plate armor approached.

"So it was you that we have to thank for returning our prince to us?" A guard adorned with a flowing cape of red silk asked of the chamberlain.

"I am," he reported.

"I am Commander Yorrek of the Castle's Guard, and I wish to express gratitude on behalf of the entire guard. We are in your debt."

"I was but serving our Prince and King. No need to thank me." The chamberlain noticed that Commander Yorrek's cordial smile withered at once upon uttering the word 'King'.

"We understand you have gone to great lengths in that service, in the most literal sense. You have traveled a long way to be here, have you not?"

"Indeed," the chamberlain affirmed, his own smile disappearing as he recalled the journey. "I was, until recently, a servant of the Baron of Felboge Keep. Ulrek means to commit terrible crimes against the Empire, and I must relay what I have witnessed to our King at once so that he can adequately prepare himself."

The guards exchanged nervous glances to one another while the guard commander paused for a moment.

"That will not be possible," said Commander Yorrek.

"And why not?" The chamberlain demanded, standing up from the bench. "This is critical. Zachaeus must be notified at once."

"His Majesty is... missing." One of the guards behind Yorreck blurted.

"Missing?! How is he missing? This is our King, not some keyring you've misplaced!"

"Don't lie to him," said Yorrek somberly. "He deserves to know the truth."

"The truth?" The chamberlain asked with wide eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Come with us," ordered Yorrek. "And we shall show you."

The Vampire princes

Rumors of my death are highly exaggerated

The Vampire princes

This RP isn't over until the fat lady sings

The Vampire princes

The moors surrounding Felboge Keep glowed with a thousand flickering specks of orange. The hills of the Weald had transformed at dusk into a sea of embers. They were the torches and campfires of Baron Ulrek's massing army. The low roar of a hundred conversations, horses whinnying, and smithy hammering ringing overtook the placid chirping of crickets that had prevailed over this land only a week ago. The smell of smoke and thousands of suppers being prepared carried on the moor's breeze through to the window where Ulrek Bathory surveyed his growing host.

"How many are they now?" Ulrek asked, continuing to survey the sprawling camp.

"Thirty eight thousand as of this morning's count. Some of the levies from Solleckshire arrived early in the afternoon, so they may be forty thousand men at dawn tomorrow." One of the knights assembled at the stone table behind him reported.

"That is less than I had hoped," the vampire prince said with a sigh as he turned from the window and strode to the head of the table. "I had hoped for at least fifty thousand before marching south."

"We can continue to wait," another one of Ulrek's knights suggested. "We can wait another fortnight for additional levies to arrive. But already we are quickly depleting the keep's food stores. We will have to forage off of the surrounding countryside in a few day's time. This is certain to anger the serfs, and even then, there will not be enough to feed the entire army. Provisions would still have to be carted in from elsewhere. That will only add to the tremendous expense of this endeavor."

"The expense means nothing to me," Ulrek dismissed. "But I do not wish to starve the populace."

"Agreed, your majesty. I think, therefore, that it would be wise to begin the march south to the capital. It may not be as many as you like, but 40,000 men is still the largest army that the Empire has seen in at least an age. With the Dwarven cannons and Bristlebeard's dwarven levies on their way, Zachaeus and Edward will stand no chance of breaking our siege."

"I do not intend to lay siege to the Imperial Capital," said Ulrek. "I do not want to starve the subjects of my future seat of power, to force my father's hand and make him surrender. No, I will blast my way through those ramparts, cut down my runt of a brother and any guards that remain loyal to him and show my father that I was the greatest of his sons of before running Pthaalma through his heart."

The knights looked at each other with wide eyes. If Ulrek meant what he said, this would be the bloodiest battle in the history of the Xelwyth Imperium. A hundred thousand men could easily die if their master intended to burst headlong through the Capital's formidable defenses.

"Very well," gulped one of the knights. "To that end, we have made some contacts with a number of mercenary groups who will provide sorely-needed muscle to our ranks." The knight turned his attention to the table, where a huge map of the Xelwyth Empire and surrounding realms lay sprawled out. Several sheets of vellum had been stitched together to make a detailed map of the entire realm. Stone figurines borrowed from chessboards had been laid out across the empire, denoting army positions, fortifications, and other points of interest.

"From the port at Solleck, we have sent our moneyed men up to the Broken Lands, and purchased at the Fanghall the services of a flotilla of Broken Lander reavers." The knight gestured to a white bishop piece set in the jagged fjords of the frigid wilderness far to the northwest of the Xelywth Empire. "They will more than sufficient to blockade the capital's harbor and prevent boats carrying Edward's men to sail out and sally out behind our forces."

"Lord Goutfoot and his cannons are still some distance away," another knight added, pointing to a queen piece in Felmurg Mountains north of the weald. "Separated from our forces by mountain passes and switchback roads through the Felmurg Mountains, it will be some time before they can rendezvous with our forces. Even so, it would be wise to march south now and surround the Capital. This would keep Edward and Zachaeus' forces trapped within the walls and allow our forces to forage on the more fertile imperial heartlands while the dwarves lug their cannons through the mountains. However, it will cost a tremendous fortune to keep these mercenaries around for an extended time."

"Never mind the expense," Ulrek dismissed. "If it is advantageous than it shall be done. I will worry about the costs later." The vampire lord sensed a new presence in the vicinity. Perhaps a guard patrol or servant out in the hallway. He paid it little mind.

"Your majesty, I would like to urge a measure caution in terms of the expenditures. Remember that both Matteas and Rory have been slain by the vampire slayers. You owe now 200,000 golden vespers to whoever carried this task out per the conditions you spelled out to those men. I am concerned about the ability to pay for everything."

"I said never to mind the expense," Ulrek snarled. "Everything will be paid for in due time."

"Well if coin is of no concern, then perhaps I can be of assistance."

The gathered knights turned at once to face the newcomer who had casually barged through the doors into the chamber. A dwarf, clad in a cuirass of mithril scalemail and a cape of lion's fur, swaggered across the floor toward Baron Ulrek and his knights. The dwarf sported only a half of a thick red beard, for a full half of his face was covered in gnarled scar tissue caused by some horrific burn. An eyepatch covered the eye on the burned half of his face, but his disfiguration did not seem to effect the dwarf's demeanor in the least, as evidenced by the dwarf's confident smirk. The knights were visibly shocked by the arresting appearance of this unannounced arrival, though Ulrek had earlier sensed an unfamiliar presence and did not appear alarmed.

"And who might you be?" Demanded one of Ulrek's knights.

"Kharald Halfbeard," the dwarf announced. "Hope I didn't disrupt your discussions. I told the guards I had urgent details concerning the war effort and they let me in." The knights glanced at Baron Ulrek, meeting the dwarf's smirk with a stoic, icy glare, and knew that the vampire lord had already probed his mind and found that this dwarf was telling the truth or at least meant no harm.

"Who said anything about a war effort?" One of the knights said defensively.

"No need to say anything. I just walked through a camp of about thirty thousand men. It seems plainly evident to me that Baron Ulrek Bathory means to go to war. And what a war he means to wage. A fortnight ago, I was up north in the Hoarstrath when I saw a caravan of a dozen cannons carried by a hundred oxen come through the valley led by one Orrin Goutfoot. He tells me that one of the vampire princes means to use his favored toys against the walls of the Imperial Capital, all expenses paid and then some. Seems to me that you lot are preparing for the greatest war these lands have seen in many centuries."

"The rumors are true, Halfbeard," Ulrek said at last. "My father has committed against me a great injustice, and I shall go to any length necessary to exact my revenge."

"Then I can help," said the scarred dwarf. "On my way to this keep of yours, I took stock of the army you lot are assembling here. They're numerous, no doubt about that. But they're peasants, not soldiers. Most of 'em don't even know how to hold a spear. You send a rabble like that against the walls of Castle Bathory and it's going to be a massacre. There's plenty to be said for numbers, but when it comes to a fight on the ramparts you're gonna need folk who know how to kill a man."

"I would assume you know how to kill men," said Ulrek.

"You don't end up with a face like this picking turnips," Halfbeard drew a circle around the scar-covered half of his face with his index finger. "Aye, I know how to kill a man, and I have thirty-five hundred men, dwarves, and other folk who do too. I have catapults, trebuchets, ogres-"

"Ogres?" Ulrek repeated, his eyebrow raised. "You have ogres?"

"Aye," Halfbeard nodded with a wide grin. "They've all been hunted in the lands of men, but up in the mountains and valleys of dwarven lands, ogres yet live. I've got a handful of them; big, mean ones too. Nothing makes an enemy formation rout like seeing an ogre sicced on them."

"I shall have them, then," Ulrek declared. "Bring all of your men, your ogres, and siege equipment south to the Imperial Heartlands with all due haste. For tomorrow, I march against my father and brother."

The Vampire princes

Sorry for dropping off the Earth. Just got back from travels and am ready to get back at this. I intend to finish this RP so don't fear.

WHEN BAE EATS TRASH 🗑😍😻 (gorgenmast you ruined it)

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Felicitaciones mi amor! :D Un besito para tí y tu familia! Muaaaa! XD Jajaja! Os extraño mucho! Espero que todo vaya bien. Ay mi vida que linda eres no puedo esperar verte de nuevo!

The Vampire princes

((A collaboration between gorgenmast and Vampiretwilight))

The former chamberlain of Felboge Keep bounced uncomfortably upon the back of donkey, swaying wildly with each step of his comically-small steed. He was nearly asleep and kept awake only by the sheer discomfort of the ride. Despite the discomfort, the chamberlain found himself nodding off every now and then. No harm in dozing once in a while, thought the chamberlain; the roads of the Imperial Heartlands were quite safe. Brigands and highwaymen were rare this close to the Capital after all.

The chamberlain had been traveling at a grueling pace ever since leaving the dominion of Ulrek Bathory. Four days ago he had crossed into Solleckshire, the wards of Matteas Bathory - who the chamberlain soon learned was rumored to have been murdered with his suitor by highwaymen en route to Castle Solleck. A dubious rumor. What sort of highwayman is brazen - or well-prepared - enough to ambush a Baron along with his entire retinue of guards? If such a tale were true, it would certainly be the work of Ulrek Bathory. All the more reason to hurry south toward the Capital and relay news of Ulrek's deeds to King Zachaeus. To that end, the chamberlain purchased the fastest means of travel he could procure without raising eyebrows: a young donkey from some serfs in Solleckshire, and proceeded southward to the capital as quickly as his humble steed could carry him.

It was dark now, and a thin sickle of a crescent moon dimly illuminated the surrounding countryside. Unyielding moor had given way gradually to a rolling patchwork of farmland, pasture, and woods delineated by cobblestone fences and the occasional wolf tree. The chamberlain reckoned that it was at least two hours past midnight, judging by how chilly and dark it was at this hour. Just a little farther and he would find a place to sleep for the rest of the night.

Up ahead was a crude wattle-and-daub hovel off the roadside. A patchy, moss-infested thatched roof and the surrounding acre of weed-riddled fallow field suggested that it had been abandoned for some time. The groggy chamberlain decided this would be as good of a place to spend the night as any he would find and guided the ass off the road up the short trail to the abandoned hovel. The chamberlain was too tired to to notice the fresh hoofprints and tracks in the dirt surrounding the hovel.

The donkey raised its long ears as the chamberlain dismounted and announced his discomfort with a short, wheezing bray. Something had spooked the beast.

"Shhh," the chamberlain hushed with a gentle pat of the donkey's snout. "Nobody's lived here in the better part of a decade." The chamberlain staggered around the back of the hut, noticing a gaping hole in the wall of the structure before unfastening the belt on his trousers hanging limply to his waist below the robe. The escape from Ulrek's keep had visibly exhausted the former chamberlain, who had resorted to poking two new holes in his belt to keep his trousers on his waist. Standing at the edge of the fallow field, the chamberlain gave a refreshed sigh as he unfastened his trousers and relieved himself into the brush.

The chamberlain heard something rustle in the weeds, startling the donkey and him as well. Warm piss splattered onto the leg of his pants and robe as he recoiled from the rustling bushes. Hastily, he refastened his belt and lowered the folds of his robe.

"Who goes there?!" Called the chamberlain, backing away toward the braying donkey.

Edward let out a groan after he was startled awake. He had fallen into a fairly deep slumber but the shout had caused him to awaken. Emily had awoken as well, having let out a gasp as a result. Edward tried to sit up, but Emily forced him to lay back down against the tree.

"You're too hurt." She had actually scolded him.

Edward sighed and complied. The princess nodded in approval before carefully replying to the shout. She had no idea who it was after all.

"Who...who are you?"

Edward rolled his eyes but Emily did not notice. He tried to reach out to hold her hand as well, but Emily still didn't notice. she kept her eyes in the direction that voice had come from.

"A... courier," the chamberlain responded after a moment's pause to the voice in the brush. "I am a courier on an urgent errand for his majesty King Zachaeus. In the name of your King, leave me in peace and in peace I shall leave you."

"Wait....you work for father?" Edward managed a weak reply, trying to sit up again.

"No you don't. Lay back down. You're too injured to move." Emily scolded him again.

"Alright alright, princess. I'm fine. Do not fret over me." Edward groaned afterwards.

"Not precisely, I am but a-... wait. Father?" The chamberlain repeated to himself, dumbfounded. "Who are you?"

Emily tried to shush Edward before he could speak.

"You're majesty, you need to rest."

Edward spoke anyway. "Edward...Bathory...Prince....Edward...Bathory. Son of..." He trailed off.

Emily bit her lip in worry.

"Edward Bathory?!" Without hesitation, the chamberlain bounded into the brush after the voice. Nestled within a bowl of stamped-down weeds at the base of a wolf tree, the chamberlain found the vampire prince sitting upright, with a beautiful young woman clad in a ratty cloak hovering anxiously above him. The chamberlain recognized the handsome young man immediately as Edward Bathory.

"Your Majesty!" The chamberlain immediately bent the knee and bowed low before him. But out of the corner of his eye, the chamberlain saw a dark stain of vampiric blood matting his palace finery. Even for vampire skin, Edward's was alarmingly pale, verging on pale purple. His thin lips were turning a worrying shade of blue. The chamberlain's heart sank, for Edward was nearly dead. If Edward's grievous wounds were not attended to, he would die. Ulrek would win his father's contest not with love, but with hatred and fratricide.

And that, the chamberlain decided, could not be allowed to happen.

"His Majesty needs immediate care," the chamberlain concluded, turning to the pretty young girl at the prince's side. "The best apothecaries and doctors in all the land can be found in the Capital. They will be able to help the Prince, but it is at least a day's ride away, and the sun will rise in a few short hours." The chamberlain paced about in the wet, dewy weeds, racking his mind for a solution. After a minute of pacing, the chamberlain tore his tattered robe off - still wet with a small patch of still-warm piss, leaving the chamberlain only ill-fitting trousers over his legs.

"It is a lowly thing for a prince to wear, but it is thick wool and it will protect you from the sun's light. You must put this on and come with me. I have a donkey that can carry you to the Capital."

Edward just barely managed a nod. Emily nodded. She frowned with worry as she looked at Edward. Edward let out a groan.

"Damn...silver blade."He managed to say that much. He could feel Emily put the cloak over him but he did not care. His eyes had closed once more.

Emily stood up and proceeded to help Edward get to the donkey.

"He fought a very powerful vampire hunter to save me. the hunter fled but not before they each took damage. The hunter had a silver blade."

A vampire hunter. So this was the work of his former master.

"Ulrek," said the chamberlain gravely as he supported the shuffling Edward to the braying mule. "I knew he was planning something of the sort. You must understand, I served under his brother, the Baron of the Great Weald. I saw what Ulrek was doing after he returned from the Capital and I knew he had malign intent. I tried to warn them, but I suspect my messages were never received, but I will see to it now that he and the King are sufficiently warned. Ulrek must not be allowed even another week unchecked."

Emily and the chamberlain helped Edward over to the ass and helped lift the wounded prince upon its thankfully-low back.

"It will be better than walking, your Majesty, but only marginally so. Brace yourself for a rather unpleasant ride. We will have to move quickly."

Edward groaned but otherwise did not respond. Emily nodded. She had had a bad feeling and told the chamberlin as much. She touched Edward on the cheek as they began to leave. Edward needed help, and quickly.

With the vampire prince swaddled in a piss-soaked robe upon the tethered ass, Emily and the fugitive chamberlain of Felboge Keep made their way down the southern road toward the moonlit horizon and the Capital many leagues beyond. For if Edward did not survive the journey home, peace for the Empire Under Shadow would die with him.