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Betad by morde24
The Guild of Gamers: The Vampire
Chapter 01: How to doom Tamriel in two easy steps
You know, with the benefit of hindsight that wasn't my best decision. I could probably have gone about the whole situation a bit better.
"Miss Rose Edwards, correct?" the smartly dressed woman sitting opposite me asked, making me nod hesitantly. "And you prefer to go by Raven, is that right?"
The woman sat opposite me was dressed in a smart shirt, jacket and skirt, with her black hair done up in a bun, the only part of her that didn't look quite professional was the way her shirt had two extra buttons undone, putting a considerable amount of cleavage on display, a hint of black lace poking out.
It made me feel rather underdressed in just a bloody hospital gown.
I was 99.9% sure that I had died, and it looked like people had been lying to me, because the pearly gates looked a lot like an office.
I wasn't a Christian, but none of the afterlives I had ever heard of came with air conditioned offices or water coolers.
"That's right, where am I?" I asked, making her smile blandly.
"The afterlife, or as close to it as you're going to get. Yes, I'm afraid you died from-" the woman trailed off, looking down at the book in front of her and blinking. "Gunshot wounds, during a police shootout. Well, this is going to be an interesting one." she mumbled as she flicked through it, pausing. "And you died at an asylum for the criminally insane where you had been for three years. I have a feeling I should have read through this before meeting you." the woman admitted as she scratched her chin embarrassedly.
"I'd say it's not as bad as it sounds, but it's probably worse." I admitted, not seeing a reason to lie to whatever this woman was, not if she had a book detailing my life's story.
I didn't know if I was looking at an angel, a demon, or some different otherworldly creature, but I know when it was time to play nice.
"Indeed, let's see here. Quite the rap sheet, Miss Edwards. Robbery, breaking and entering, mass murders, kidnapping and-" the woman trailed off, looking back up at me with a bemused gaze.
"I think I know what part you're at, and I can probably explain?" I said, shifting uncomfortably as the woman chuckled.
"You can explain how a nineteen year old girl managed to get 'torture, human sacrifice, cannibalism and slavery' on her rap sheet?" the woman asked with a slight twitch of her lips.
"Technically, drinking blood isn't cannibalism, so that's a false charge. I kinda joined a cult in college?" I admitted. "I got really into it."
"Yes, your cult. Also known as murders one through six." the woman deadpanned.
"They were fakers, just some dumb girls playing pretend." I scoffed, seeing no reason to try and hide it. "Do you want to skip to the part where you banish me to hell or whatever your equivalent is?"
"Ahh, that won't be necessary. Believe me, Miss Edwards, you aren't even close to the worst person to sit in that chair." she replied calmly. "Moving on, after sacrificing your cult you seduced several people of varying age and gender, luring them to secluded places where you would drug and imprison them, torturing them in preparation for a sacrificial ritual." the woman read.
"Honestly, anyone dumb enough to follow a strange goth girl to a mysterious cabin in the woods shouldn't be polluting the gene pool anyway." I reasoned.
"Indeed, you did this seven times, even going as far as convincing one of your victims to murder her family before you turned on her, adding three more kills to your record."
"I'd argue that those shouldn't be blamed on me, I just gave her the knife, she didn't have to use it." I argued.
"I might believe that if you hadn't pumped her with so many hallucinogenic and euphoric drugs that she had no idea what she was doing, but moving on. After finally being caught, you were declared insane, thanks to your family's lawyers, and sent to the asylum where you bided your time, and slowly convinced the staff you were making progress, befriending nurses, doctors and the guards. After getting into the good graces of a security guard, he confided in you that his wife was having an affair and you used this to slowly seduce him, finally luring him into your cell where you waited until his guard was down, and killed him by tearing his throat open with your teeth?" the woman deadpanned.
"I had to improvise." Raven admitted.
"Indeed, and instead of escaping into the night you stole his gun, killing many of the asylum's staff and patients before you were gunned down by the responding police officers. Excellent, I can see why you were selected." the woman said, smiling. "My name is Kumi, I'm a representative of the Guild, a multiversal organisation who has an interest in unique men and women like you." Kumi said, making her blink.
Multiversal?
"So, I'm not going to eternal damnation?" I asked hesitantly, making her chuckle.
"No, or at the very least not yet. You could still fail but I'm happy to tell you that you're being given a second chance at life, and that you'll be granted power to help you in your endeavours." Kumi said happily.
"Why? And for what cost? Is it my soul?" I asked, making her giggle.
"Don't be silly, we already own that. The cost is that you'll be joining the guild, and you will have responsibilities to perform. Of course, you can decline in which case we send you back to where you were headed. Your world is one where Islam is right, so you were headed to Jahannam, it wouldn't have been pleasant." Kumi deadpanned.
"Then where do I sign up?" I quickly asked, making her laugh again.
"Excellent, now you've been selected to host one of Lord Grayson's systems, and he specialises in supernatural based systems. Due to your actions in your first life, you are eligible for the Cultist system, the Succubus system, the Vampire system, or the Fey system. That said, Lord Grayson's systems work differently from the other founders, and because of that you don't get to choose one for yourself. Also, Lord Grayson insists on the first world being a magic-heavy world, and you don't get to choose that either. All that's left is to sign your contract and get started." Kumi said calmly, offering over the old fashioned scroll, reading through it I made a note of the 'guild obligations' but aside from that it all seemed very reasonable.
Besides, I wasn't going to turn my nose up at a chance to avoid my admittedly well earned eternal damnation, so taking the offered pen I signed my birth name, and watched as the contract flashed a few times before vanishing.
I probably should be scared, but I have spent years studying the occult, and now it was right in front of me, even if it wasn't quite how I expected it, how could I be anything but excited?
"Excellent, with that taken care of all that's left is to say, good luck and I hope you enjoy your new life. I'm sure it'll be a pleasure working with you." Kumi said, offering her hand which I promptly shook.
"So, what happens now?" I asked, making Kumi smile mischievously, but before I could comment on it my vision went dark.
Just before I completely lost my grasp on consciousness, I heard Kumi's apologetic voice.
"Honestly, it's better that you aren't awake for this, sudden changes to your body can be… uncomfortable."
Unable to respond, I slipped into darkness.
Rose 'Raven' Edwards
The first thing I noticed when I came to was that I was no longer in the fancy office, the face full of dirt told me that.
Picking myself up from where I was lying face down on the ground, the second thing I noticed was that I was naked.
Standing up, I slowly look around the area, taking in my surroundings, I can tell that I'm definitely not on Earth anymore, because as I look up into the night sky, instead of the moon I see two planetary bodies, peeking over the mountaintop, illuminating some faintly familiar looking ruins.
Not that I need the illumination, as I look around with a growing smile at how bright everything seems despite the lack of sunlight, and hesitantly I run my tongue along my teeth, wincing as I feel a sharp fang cut into it slightly.
My skin has always been pale, because who has ever seen a tanned goth, but now as I look down at my body, I can only marvel at how beautifully pale I am.
My body feels cold, but while the biting icy winds are certainly noticeable, I don't feel particularly uncomfortable as I stand on a riverbank, as naked as the day I was born.
Still, I'll need to find some clothes soon. I imagine I'll attract enough attention without showing up naked.
Moving away from the river, I come across a well-worn path fairly soon, looking up and down the stone and dirt path to decide which way to go.
Heading down the path, which runs alongside the river, it doesn't take me long before I spot a small medieval village. Surrounding it is a gated wall blocking me from entering with a single guard walking along it.
Slipping into the bushes, I watch from a distance with my new and improved eyesight, the guard clearly isn't expecting trouble since he barely ever even looks out towards the road, and if I'm willing to get wet I could just go into the river and go around the wall, but honestly?
I'm not eager for my first impression with this new world to be a crazy naked woman coming out of the lake, and I can hear the sounds of people moving about within.
It's late at night, but the village still seems decently busy and with a light scowl I head back along the path, I could have tried to get in by lying to the guard, but I don't even know what world I'm in and if you're gonna lie, you need to sprinkle in some truths to make the tall tale easier to swallow.
So, staying off the road and moving through the woods on the other side of it, I head back the way I came. I need clothes, information and as I glance back at the guard, I realise I need to see to my new need.
I need to sate the deep thirst I feel welling within me. The sight of the guard made my mouth water and not because he was attractive, he had a full face helmet on after all.
I need to feed.
I've spent years sacrificing people for gods that evidently didn't exist, not that I regret it as it led to me ending up here, so I'll have no qualms about sacrificing a few people to save myself.
A girl has needs, and right now that need is blood. It's a shame though, I don't like the coppery taste of blood, I've ingested some as a part of rituals or spells I was trying to do, it wasn't nice.
But that's behind me, now I'm in a world of actual magic, and if living life as a vampire means drinking blood regularly then I'll drain an entire village if I have to.
As I follow the path, I pause as I hear the sounds of quiet talking coming from deeper in the forest. I turn in the direction of the sounds and spot a cave opening between two trees.
Heading towards it, readying myself to flee if things don't go my way, and enter the cave.
The sight of some human bones hanging from a string makes me frown, something about this feels familiar, but lowering myself to the ground, I quietly crawl under them, not touching them so they don't make any noise.
This definitely feels familiar and as I follow the passageway, looking out over a cavern, it all clicks.
The sounds of smithing, the waterfall, the rope bridge going across the cavern with a single man standing on it, a bow on his back.
I have cleared this place dozens of times, because it's the best place to get some easy loot when you escape Helgen.
Embershard Mine, just a little south-west of Riverwood, which makes the ruins I was looking at earlier Bleak Falls Barrows.
I'm in Skyrim, land of Dragons and grumpy Nord men.
Oh, I'm going to enjoy this.
Have I spent thousands of hours in Skyrim? Of course, did I spend most of them trying to fix my mod list? Naturally, I could never get the fucking load order right.
I literally dated the nerdiest guy in my class to get him to do it for me, and even he fucked it up. It turns out nerdy and tech savvy aren't the same thing.
No, I didn't kill him. I killed his sister.
And slept with his dad.
Shaking myself out of fond memories, I hide behind the wooden railing and peek out, watching over the cavern as I pay attention to how many people are inside.
I think there were like half a dozen in the game, but I'm not relying on that knowledge as things could be quite different.
There is an archer who seems to be on guard, but he is mostly just leaning against the side of the rope bridge. I can see two people sleeping in bedrolls, another sat at a table with a tankard in hand, plus one man smithing down at the base of the cavern. Of course there were probably some more men deeper in the cavern.
So how the fuck do I do this?
It's not like I've never killed before, but I'm used to my targets being drugged to their gills before I even think of trying to stab them, and right now the only weapon I have is my teeth, which I haven't even tested yet.
Getting an idea, I remember something else about the way Embershard is laid out, and a plan starts to form itself in my mind.
Sneaking back out, I locate the front entrance and from my hiding place within the trees, I see a tall, muscular bald man leaning against a wall watching the path up to the mine.
He's wearing metal armour, iron I think, but his neck is exposed, and while I don't like the look of the sword at his side, I have a plan.
Grabbing my hair, I roughly mess up my normally immaculate black hair, a cause helped by the way I've been trecking through the woods, and picking up a rock I find a jagged edge and use it to cut myself in irrelevant places, I know where to cut to make someone bleed out, and I know where cuts will cause a lot of bleeding without really doing much damage.
A cut above my breasts causes some blood to slowly leak down onto them, and a couple more on my arms and legs make me look like a real mess, which is promptly ruined as the cuts immediately heal, closing up in a matter of seconds.
Well, that's good to know I suppose.
But oh well, the blood is still there and I'm sure it won't be the non-existent cuts the man will be looking at.
Taking a deep breath, I start running towards him, realising that I'm moving way too fast and slowing myself down to a more human speed. As I approach the man straightens up and reaches for his blade, before he freezes in confusion as a beautiful naked woman comes running towards him.
"Wha-" the Nord bandit starts as I crash into him, my body pressing against the cold metal of his armour as I stare up at him with tearful eyes.
"Please, you have to help me!" I cry, throwing myself against him as I look back in 'fear', making him blink in confusion. "He kidnapped me, held me prisoner, I escaped but he's chasing me! Please don't let him catch me again! I'll do anything!"
"What- who is chasing you?" he asked, looking into the woods as he drew his blade.
"I don't know, I've never met him before this happened, he was an elf, a wood elf I think." I cry, hiding behind him as he looks into the woods.
"Fucking elves, probably that creepy hunter from Riverwood." he grumbled, glaring into the woods. "Don't you worry, those elves can't handle themselves in a real fight, he probably ran off instead of trying to fight a big guy like me." he scoffed as I pressed myself against his back.
Moron.
Moving my hands around his waist, I calmly reach forwards and gently grab his dagger. Drawing it and with speed I didn't know I was capable of, I raise it and slit his throat, kneeing him in the back of his leg at the same time, my enhanced strength making his leg buckle, lowering him enough for me to bite into his neck, my eyes going wide as I shudder in pleasure at the feeling of the hot, rich blood flooding my mouth.
As his struggling ceases, I keep drinking as the blood spills out of my mouth and runs down my chin, dripping onto my body.
He falls to the ground, dead, but I just fall with him to keep drinking the crimson nectar, even as his heart stops pumping.
Finally pulling my mouth from his neck, I stare down at him in a mixture of hunger and need, I was so very wrong, drinking blood wasn't going to be a problem in the coming times, it was turning out to be the greatest pleasure I have ever experienced.
As I pick myself up, my hearing picks up footsteps coming from the road into Riverwood, a single set of fairly light footsteps, and as I stare towards the path hungrily, I feel a twinge of pity for them.
I can smell their blood, they're wounded.
They came down this road at the wrong time, because I'm far from satisfied and a single wounded traveller seems an easier meal than the bandits.
Taking a moment to drag the corpse into the woods, I stalk towards the path with a hungry smile.
Ragnar Stonebeard
Go to Cyrodil, she said, it'd be a good experience, she said.
Then he got grabbed by Imperials on the trip home who couldn't tell the difference between a Hunter and a Stormclock, and figured they should just chop his head off just in case.
Of course that got interrupted by a fucking Dragon!
And when he escaped that fucker with Hadvar's help, he got attacked by three bandits who were camped near the path.
So, bloodied, tired and pissed off, he headed towards Riverwood so he could meet with Hadvar and work out what the hell he was going to do next.
Pausing as he spotted a figure standing in the middle of the room, it was a sign of how his day had gone so far that the sight of an incredibly beautiful pale woman barely phased him, even with her complete lack of clothes.
Hey, maybe she was a really devout Dibella worshiper?
When he got closer and spotted the red stains on her upper chest and chin, he could only think of one thing to say as she suddenly moved, rushing towards him at unnatural speeds.
"Fuck."
And with the most inspiring of last words, the last DragonBorn, future saviour of Skyrim, became a snack for a very hungry vampire.
Elsewhere, an equally hungry dragon felt a sudden urge to cackle in joy.
Raven
Dragging his body into the forest as well, easily lifting the large nord, I throw him next to the other one and quickly search his backpack, finding what seems to be the rough tunic and pants that they give prisoners or the poor in the game.
It's not great, and as the rough cloth presses against me, I mentally admit I preferred being naked, it was more comfortable than wearing some oversized rags, and there aren't any shoes that'd fit me since one size does not fit all in reality, but it's a start.
The new guy had a bow, a sword and a dozen arrows, but I have no idea how to use a bow and while I take it and the quiver, I won't be using them without some practise.
He also had some septims, and a small red gemstone, a garnet I think, which I also take.
I'll stick to the dagger for now, and after attaching it to my waist in the looted belt and holster, I head into the mine through the front door, slowly moving through the tunnels as I use my enhanced senses to find the closet bandits, two men both sleeping next to a small pool, a campfire between them.
Moving towards the beds slowly, I resist the urge to feed on the sleeping redguard as I muffle his mouth and thrust my dagger forwards.
Fortunately, in the real Skyrim people don't sleep in heavy armour, and the redguard man is wearing just a pair of rough trousers leaving his chest bare, making finding purchase all too easy as i pierce his heart, not even letting him scream for help as my hand muffles his cry of pain.
The scent of blood makes me falter, but shaking my head I simply lick the blade slightly and move over to the other nord, repeating the process.
After checking that everything was clear in this area, I leave the drawbridge to the rest of the mine up, and head back out of the mine, going back to the other entrance.
I just wanted to make sure nobody would be joining the party.
I'm not going to be able to sneak through this, if I go through the front they'll hear the drawbridge go down and find the bodies, or notice they're missing if I hide them, and if I go through the back I have to go over the bridge, put in the open and the archer is still on it keeping watch.
Vampires are supposed to have supernatural strength, speed and reflexes, and I've seen signs of them all.
Time to see if an inexperienced vampire can handle five bandits.
I don't waste any time, while the element of surprise is still on my side I rush across the bridge at speeds that would make an Olympic runner jealous, the archer barely has time to turn before I pounce forwards and slash at his exposed throat, not even stopping as I keep moving, my next target already chosen as the drunken man at the table tries to rise.
Leaping over the table, I grin as I pounce again, knocking him to the ground as I kneel over him, bringing my blade down and stabbing him repeatedly.
As I stand, I realise that I haven't actually killed either of them, but they should definitely be out of the fight. Turning back to face the other three I watch as they head up the path towards me, weapons drawn.
The one who was smithing is wearing iron armour, the two who were sleeping are just in clothes, which makes them the easiest targets.
The armoured one is in the front, and as they rush towards me I surprise them by just jumping over the edge to the area where the forge is, rolling in the dirt as I rise and charge again.
Only now, the two unarmoured bandits are in between me and the armoured one, and that's a bad place to be.
They're both armed, one with an axe and another with a sword, but that doesn't matter.
Rushing them, the axe wielding bandit manages to get off a single desperate swing before I've stabbed him in the chest with my dagger, but instead of dying like a good little Nord, he surprises me.
Grabbing onto my dagger, he pushes me back and while there's no real force behind it, his grasp on my dagger is impressive considering it's currently lodged in his heart.
As a sword swings towards me, I have to back away and give up my blade,
"Well, that's just rude." I grumble, glaring at the dying man who stole my dagger.
"Die you crazy bitch!"
Jumping back, I smile at the rather angry man.
"I've already tried that, thanks." I say playfully, my response making him pause in confusion.
Well, if he was smart he wouldn't be a bandit would he?
Lunging forwards and knocking the arm holding his blade aside, I use the only weapon I have left as I knock him to the ground and bite down on his throat.
My plan was to do enough damage to his throat to take him out of the fight and get back to dealing with the armoured one, but as I drink deeply I fall into a euphoric haze, unable to stop myself from draining him.
The price for my distracted state of mind makes itself readily apparent as my eyes shoot open, a sharp pain shooting through my back, insides and then my front as the armoured bandit simply takes the chance to stab his blade down through me, uncaring that he stabbed his comrade in the process.
Pulling back from my meal, I barely have time to react as he kicks me off the now dead bandit, flipping me onto my back as he glares down at me, not even hesitating as he stabs down at me again, his blade piercing my chest easily.
That could have gone better to be honest.
Pulling his blade back, he watches as I go limp and lets out a sigh of relief as he looks around the room in shock and confusion, but while he's looking at the corpses of his former comrades he isn't paying attention to me.
I can feel my wounds closing, the one above my heart is healing far slower but with so much fresh blood in my body, I can feel it boosting my regeneration.
He heads up past me to check on the archer and the drunk, and in doing so he misses me slowly picking myself up, groaning quietly as pain courses through my body.
I can heal, but that doesn't mean that I don't feel the pain of being run through several times.
Rising to my feet. I glare over at the man as he kneels down next to the drunk, and charge forwards with a snarl. With a start he turns and readies his sword again, his eyes widening in disbelief as I lunge forwards.
I don't even try to dodge his thrusting blade as I pounce, killing him is more important than not getting hurt, and as I impale myself on his blade my mouth twists into a cruel grin and I bite down as he screams.
Quickly, I realise a flaw in my 'plan'. I'm healing while the sword is still sticking out of my back, and as I screech in pain I double down, watching his face grow paler as I just keep draining him.
I don't stop drinking until there just isn't anything more to drink, and pulling myself off him, I pull the sword out of my stomach with a grunt of pain and a scowl.
Maybe I should look into that whole archery thing.
But then, if I kill from a distance I can't drink the blood of my foes while they are still alive. Drinking from a corpse seems far less appealing.
Still, stumbling my way to one of the bedrolls I collapse. I don't even know if Vampires need sleep, but taking damage was tiring.
I can't hear any movement, and all I can smell is blood, so closing my eyes I let myself fall into a slumber.
"Not exactly the greatest start, but you definitely didn't waste any time." a voice booms as my eyes shoot open, making me blink in confusion as I look around an endless void.
I'm standing on a small black platform, surrounded by a deep purple void, and that's not where I went to sleep.
"Your body is where you left it." The voice reassures me as I look around. "I merely wished to see the girl who carries one of my systems, and introduce you to your hud. I dislike the floating boxes Shiro prefers, or the computers and tablets Kuro uses, so I made this. A place where you can see your abilities, your progress, and other things for you to discover."
"Your syste- Lord Grayson?" I ask, remembering what Kumi said.
"Correct, and you are welcome. Now, I am short on time so allow me to explain the way my systems work. You were a suitable host for four systems, as you already know, and unlike my associates I took a different path. You don't just have the Vampire system, you have all four. The Vampire system is your main system, but with time and effort you can fully activate all four. As for how? That's for you to discover, frankly if you can't work it out then I'll simply hope whoever I give the system to after we retrieve it from your corpse is more competent."
As the voice spoke, four pedestals rose around the platform, each with an orb floating above it, one red, one pink, one purple and one silver.
A fifth pedestal with a white orb rose a moment after the others.
"Consider this your first test, work out how your powers work, because if you can't it won't be long before you reach your second and final death."
"Of course, I won't let you down." I swear, making him chuckle.
"We shall see."
I don't know how, but I know he is gone.
Moving towards the closest orb, the pink one, I reach out and as I touch it pink words appear above it.
Succubus
Succubus Physiology - Rank 0
As a partial succubus, you can use the tantric energies created during sex to empower yourself or your partner, or you can chose to drain your partner during sex and claim some of their strength for yourself.
The Succubus Arts - Novice Rank
Charm - As a partial succubus, you have the power to charm weak willed victims, making them more susceptible to your suggestions. The effect is stronger the more target is attracted to you
Oneiromancy - Novice Rank
The Art of Dream Magic
Invasive Dreams - As a partial succubus, you have the power to slip into the dreams of sleeping victims, twisting them to your whims
'Partial Succubus'
Well, I can't say it isn't appropriate, and if I had charm in my past life things would have been far easier.
There is far more to read, both under the Succubus header and under both the Succubus Arts and Oneiromancy. Further, from what I can tell there are more 'Arts' to unlock, but the words describing them are in a language I don't understand, the letters twisting and shifting.
I don't know how to unlock them, yet, but I will in time.
The Rank 0 next to Succubus Physiology suggests I can rank it up later, enhancing my succubi side, and as tempting as it is to try and work out how to do that, I move to the silver orb.
Fey
Fey Physiology - Rank 0
As a partial fey, you have the ability to telepathically speak into the minds of others, and use Misty Step to teleport a short distance. Your mind is also incredibly resistant to outside influence.
The Fey Arts - Novice Rank
Misleading path - Bring a part of the Feywilds into the material world, 'blessing' a path and making it so that travelers who try and use it will often find themselves lost.
Alluring Song - As a partial fey, you can lure people in with your song, in addition you have a beautiful singing voice that puts trained bards to shame.
You know, knowing I could teleport would have been useful before I got stabbed, but you live and learn I suppose.
Or unlive and learn? Heh.
It's the same story here, I can only read a very small portion of the text, but it's enough to pique my interest. I always had an interest in the Fey.
The purple orb has the smallest amount of readable text so far, only a single skill.
The Cultist Arts - Novice Rank
The Sacrifice - With a complex ritual, you can sacrifice living beings to a deity of your choice, though be warned, sometimes it is better to not garner the attention of such beings. If done correctly, you can gain power through pacts.
I'm in Elder Scrolls, the home of the Daedra.
I'm going to put this one on hold until I'm strong enough that attracting the attention of a Daedric Prince won't immediately result in my swift and painful destruction. I didn't escape eternal damnation to throw myself into an entirely new eternal damnation.
As a vampire, I have the strangest feeling I don't want Molag Bal's attention, or Meridia's for that matter.
Maybe Sanguine? Or Sheogorath!
Wait, no, definitely not Sheogorath.
I like my intestines inside my body, and not being used as a skip rope.
Moving onto the red orb, I smile as it reveals far more than the previous orbs.
Vampire Physiology [Weaknesses] - Rank 1
Your vampiric body has many downsides, the biggest of which is that you will burn in direct sunlight, which can kill you if you remain in it for too long. Silver will burn your skin, and silver weapons are extremely effective against you, as is fire. While a wooden stake to the heart will not kill you, it will paralyse you until it is removed. Magical means such as spells and enchanted weapons can harm and kill you. Running water will burn you. You must feed on human blood regularly to maintain your supernatural strength.
Vampiric Fortitude - Rank 1
Your vampiric body is far more resilient than mere mortal bodies, granting you both rapid regeneration and a body that can take far more punishment.
Vampiric Strength - Rank 1
Your vampiric body is far stronger than regular mortals, granting you great speed and strength.
Vampiric Senses - Rank 1
Your vampiric senses are far stronger than those of mortals, granting yourself sharper vision, hearing and scent.
Misty Escape
As a Vampire, most mortal means cannot kill you, and if you are slain by such a method, you can shift to a mist form and escape as long as you aren't in direct sunlight or running water, and retreat to your resting place to recover.
Spider Climb
As a vampire you can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, while keeping your hands free.
Deathless Nature
As a Vampire, you don't need to breathe, and mindless undead creatures will not perceive you as a threat unless you take aggressive actions towards them.
Vampiric Bite
As a Vampire, blood is your main source of sustenance. Biting someone will allow you to drain their blood, which gives you a large bonus to mana and health regeneration for a time.
…I can walk on walls? And turn into mist? The weaknesses are about what I expected, and I can only thank Lord Grayson that I don't need an invitation to enter houses, or that garlic and religious symbols don't ward me off.
Below this sits a list of 'Vampiric Disciplines', all currently locked but at least I can see the names.
Obfuscation, The Art of Concealment. Protean, The Affinity for Nature. Dementation, The Art of Madness. Domination, The Art of Control. Hemomancy, The Art of Blood Magic. Chiropteran, The Affinity for Bats. Nebulation, The Affinity for Mist.
There may be more, but these are the only ones I can read for now.
Before I spend my time drooling over them, I move onto the last orb, reading the small amount of text with a smile.
The Magics of Tamriel
Alteration
Conjuration
Destruction
Illusion
Restoration
Oh, I am going to enjoy this.
I should have gone out in a blaze of glory sooner.
Bonus Scene - Kumi
Reading through the complete file of her newest client, she chuckled to herself slightly.
Truly, the Guild excelled at finding the most unique people.
Rose, or Raven, could best be described as mercurial, with a moral compass that was spinning so fast she was surprised it hadn't just flown off, at least when she actually had a moral compass.
The asylum believed she had sporadic bursts of murderous rage, but that wasn't true. There was nothing sporadic about it, she just fooled them into believing it was. They thought she was just lucky, because she hid just how smart she actually was.
Her murders were always premeditated, planned weeks, even months, in advance.
She had been enraged when she realised that her fellow cult members didn't believe in what they practiced, because she was a true believer in the occult. She planned their deaths for months, killing them one by one to make them feel like they'd been cursed for their doubt, at the end they'd all been convinced that the murders were supernatural in nature, because that's exactly how she planned them.
She was driven to wrath, but instead of acting on it she'd let it stew for months while she schemed.
Then the rest of her murders were fuelled by her obsession with the occult, using body parts in rituals and sacrificing the victims to her gods.
She believed her intelligence, beauty and success were due to divine intervention, that she was loved by the gods for her devotion, when she was simply an incredibly gifted girl.
Even when she was captured, she simply bided her time, and even being known as a serial killer who used seduction to lure in her targets, she was charming enough to seduce a guard who knew exactly what she had done.
Honestly, she might be onto something about her victims polluting the gene pool.
And after killing him, she performed a small ritual inside her cell, then made up for lost time, using the doctors, nurses and patients alike as impromptu sacrifices.
And they'd just given her the path to immense power, but that's what they did, they created systems capable of granting ultimate power to the wielder, then they gave it to someone who shouldn't be trusted to watch a pet rock.
She was a bundle of flaws and negative traits wrapped in a truly appealing form. Narcissistic, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, a nymphomaniac, highly manipulative and completely incapable of feeling guilt or remorse for her actions.
But then she just described Lord Shiro, so it was no wonder she'd fit in here.
She attended the funerals of several of her victims, watching their families grieve, without so much as a twinge of regret. She even often picked out her next target at the funeral.
But Raven was far from the worst client she had managed, and she had a reputation for her clients thriving in the Guild, and that wasn't going to change any time soon.
Raven would be no exception.