library Blackthorne Library

[Kitsuyumia]

A massive library inside Blackthorne castle, many tomes and runic scrolls are kept here. In the center is an alter in which sacred rituals could be performed.

[IsabellaRose]

Elena flipped impatiently through another book, then shoved it back into its place on the shelf. She took down another, then another, and another. Each one was rifled through quickly the returned to where it belonged. The information she sought was likely not here. The library was impressive and contained far more information than she would have expected in such a small coven, but the information she sought was rare beyond anything she had seen here. It was possible that it had not survived the years. She shook her head at the thought of all those books and scrolls lost over the centuries, all that knowledge casually burned, destroyed, tossed aside like she now tossed aside human life. 

She sighed and turned back to face the altar in the center of the library. It was a beautiful collection, a lovely room. But in the end, it would burn like everything else. Why did she even bother trying to find the one thing for which she searched? It was a fools errand, a joke of a thing to keep her hands and mind occupied because, even after all these years, she was unable to end her own life. So she sought the one thing that would help her catch the world up to where she was, knowing she would never find it.

She paced the library, heels clicking on the marble floor, echoing across the room. Her long, black gown nearly swept the floor at her feet, the shimmering platinum woven into the fabric catching the light and reflecting it back from within dark folds. Her pace was slow and steady, her movement fluid and graceful. She moved like a feline stalking its prey, and more often than not that's how she viewed everyone around her. Prey or tools, but rarely as equals. She turned, started along the far end of the library, then turned again and started back. She walked the perimeter of the room, no longer looking at books or even really thinking, but rather in a meditative way, movement erasing thought, senses disconnected from reality, mind open to possibility and awaiting inspiration.

Edited February 20, 2022 by IsabellaRose

[KanTheKnight]

The main entrance of the library opens behind Elena's notice, Vance deciding to walk in here. The front view to him reveals the nihilist vampire's appearance but he frankly didn't come here to pay attention to the woman. He talked enough to one vampire, he can't go and settle for two. In silence he walked at the far right starting shelf rubbing his chin. "Hm.." He began reading titles and checking books.

He was mainly looking for something related to swords and the Spruce More Forest. Like, discovered ancient places or a general mapping. "Hm.." He took books, looking through them; if he couldnt find anything he moved on. Finally after some searching he managed to find one. He took a seat down and opened it beginning to skim through. "Judging by the pages..This might be it." 

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by KanDaKnight

[IsabellaRose]

Elena stopped pacing the moment the human entered the library. She quirked one eyebrow as she smelled him. Simply human. Was dinner being served? Mmm, maybe he'd run and she could pretend to enjoy a hunt. Sometimes it took her back to her youth, the thrill of chasing, stalking, then pouncing on a human, the feel of her teeth in flesh, the taste of blood in her mouth, watching the light fade from their eyes...

She moved up behind the human where he sat and leaned in, but then sensed it. He was a thrall. Damn. She was hungry, but she wouldn't stoop to offending her hosts by devouring their thralls. Instead, she feigned interest in his literary find. 

"Pray tell, what have you found that so interests your young mind?"

[KanTheKnight]

Vance was having a quiet studying approach, listing page after page picking up any details that he deems worthy. Worthy enough to get him familiar with the Spruce Moore Forest. "Damn..What the hell..This area is massive..Hm.." His index finger traced around the area where the Midnight Mansion would be. Strangely someone in the book scratched it off before. "Weird indication. Something happened here perhaps? If it was Miana, or, a vampire..They had a reason." Vance didn't catch onto Elena until she called, to which he looked up, hair leaning backwards. Spotting her made the boy stand up and turn around to face Elena. "..Hm." Instead of now studying the pages, he gave a look over Elena. "...A vampire, huh." He slightly closed his book together. 

"What would interest you so much in that anyways?" Its like he almost knew something. "You look pretty elegant, complimentary wise. Are you perhaps from the old era?" He deducted that much from Elena's style. It was just a guess and she can always manipulate the truth of course. "A vampire sneaking up behind a human..Are you hungry? I'm not an open food source, I'm afraid.." His eyes were a little sharp in-case of an unwarned attack. He is familiar with vampires, way too familiar to not be able to handle one in terms of hand combat or speed.

[IsabellaRose]

"Don't you know it's not polite to ask a woman her age," she said without expression. She seemed more bored than anything else, but had taken an interest in the book he was reading. "And don't panic. I don't eat off someone else's plate."

She leaned close, trying to see the title of the book he was reading. "Studying the lay of the land, I see. Find anything interesting?"

She moved away, turning her back to him, letting him know that she didn't consider him a threat. Her slow and stately pace seemed incongruous when compared to the graceful and flirtatious sway of her hips.

[KanTheKnight]

"..." Vance took a big notice over Elena's bored look. "I apologize, I admit its a bit disrespectful to you." His demeanor changed and for a reason. Women who are powerful leaders or of nobility deserve their personal respect. And he was applying that for her. "I'm glad to hear. It seems you take the position of Thralls quite seriously.." As she takes a lean next to Vance he caught on quick what she wanted to check, in thus unfolding the book once more. 

"Interesting..? Hm, maybe." He looked at this scratched off place. "This seems like an old book yet somebody vandalized it with very specific intentions.." He scratched his cheeks catching a glimpse of how Elena travels with that gorgeous form. Although, he isn't a pervert and doesn't get persuaded by it. "Say, what are you looking for?" He called out to Elena. "You'd have a reason to be here, surely." 

[IsabellaRose]

"Secrets in the woods," she mused to herself. "Something someone doesn't want you to know about. How very interesting."

She walked further away then called out to him, "I bet you're just dying to get out there and find out what it is that was scratched off of your map."

She glanced back over her shoulder when he asked what she was looking for and quirked one eyebrow. How dare he question her? "You are the curious one, aren't you? And quite fearless."

Turning she strode back to where he stood. In her heels she was only and inch taller than him, so they were basically eye to eye, but she used her vampiric presence to appear to loom over him briefly, threateningly, her shadow expanding to cover the wall and ceiling. "Careful, little thrall. Your Master only provides you so much protection from the consequences of your curiosity."

She stepped back and was just Elena again, a woman in a long black dress, standing before a young man, her shadow normal. A smile flickered across her lips but did not touch her eyes. He was an interesting one. No fear in the face of an ancient vampire. If she didn't know better, she'd have guessed him for a slayer. What interesting company you keep, Miana, she thought to herself.

She looked him up and down. He was not afraid of her, which meant he was either stupid or had faced and slain vampires before. "You've killed vampires, haven't you, boy?"

Edited February 23, 2022 by IsabellaRose

[KanTheKnight]

"Not really." Vance confirmed. "This book isnt directed to me. Im not dying to go look what is there either." He began listing the book again continuing to gather his information whilst standing in place. Until Elena's ego shines through. Her approach was immediately spotted through the words she used for Vance. He looked unamused as she approached him, instead he lowered his hands entering a different stance than usual. He looked ready and unpredictable, like he could strike from anywhere as Elena gets eye to eye with him. 

He stood silent under her presence, but those eyes said everything. His loud enough heartbeat does not falter. "Oh?" is all Vance said his stare not faltering. It was like an endless void spiraling down his colorless eyes. "Weren't you the one who approached me, and is now taking distance once more?" He put the book next to himself the stance unfaltering. One foot pivoted towards Elena at all times as she moves. "Yes, I have. Enough ancient vampires in fact to not fall under a technique which exploits the sight." He turned around walking over to search for a different book. "You're no different than them. You're given a false sense of security and begin exploiting it.." His head stayed forward, away from Elena. "And that is why, they wrote their own demise." 

[IsabellaRose]

I should just kill this human, Elena thought. Rules of hospitality be damned. 

She continued walking slowly away, her back to him. "You're not like most humans." She turned at the other end of the room, looked at him. "You'd rather kill me than talk to me, wouldn't you?"

She was mildly amused by how confident he seemed. But in the end, the most entertainment he could offer was his confident attempt to kill her before dying at her hands. She wasn't even sure why she was wasting time with a human whose blood she couldn't drink. 

She was, however, curious about this map now. What would be interesting enough to scratch it out so no one would find it? Perhaps she'd investigate herself at some point.

[KanTheKnight]

"..I used to be." Vance commented. "I'd be blinded by an event that can't be fixed. A grave mistake for me. Its common for hunters." The shuffling of pages echo'd in the library. "But I'm not like that anymore." His head twitched slightly at her question. "..Not really." Something about Elena reminded him a little bit of Miana. "Everyone is different. Just because you're like other ancient vampires..Doesn't mean I reject the idea that you have feelings." He got up stopping the shuffles. 

"I dont want to kill you.." Vance spoke in a sympathetic tone, as Elena was old enough in this world to witness things and destroy things. "..You feel alone don't you? In this world.." He put the book back in its place looking for a different one. "..That's a good enough reason for me to not hate you." Vance went silent after those words, finding a new book. Seems like what he's searching for is specific. 

[IsabellaRose]

Elena... felt something. For the briefest moment, this human caused an emotion to stir within her. Nonsense, she thought. There was nothing left for humans or anyone else to make her feel. It was simply... surprise. She was surprised that a human might actually understand anything about her. That he could sound even remotely sympathetic. That one who had devoted so much time and effort to destroying her kind could look beyond his limited mortal viewpoint. 

Still, for her to be surprised was something in and of itself. How often had anything surprised her prior to her self-imposed exile? Almost never. She mused on this human, on his words, and on this place to which she had come. Perhaps there was more to this place and those who dwelt here than she initially thought. 

"You are an interesting specimen," she said to Vance from across the room. "I don't believe I want to kill you, either." She said it with amusement in her voice, as if the thought had only new occurred to her that she might let him live. She meant it as a de-escalation of the tension between them, but it had been a long time since she had tried to relieve tension without rending flesh and tearing veins, and it likely did not sound as amusing as she intended.

Her voice took on a resigned tone now, as if she had no choice now but to be polite if she weren't going to kill him. "If we are not going to try to kill each other, I suppose introductions are in order."

She turned and faced him, took a few steps before presenting herself in an exceedingly formal manner. "Lady Elena Yaroslava Dragovic," She offered the barest nod of her head.  "What shall I call you, thrall?" 

[KanTheKnight]

"..." Elena confused the boy with her comment about specimens. "She thinks I'm a specimen? Well-Actually..Being a thrall is like that.." He ponders in silence. "I'll take that as a compliment.." Holding the book that is next in line he heard her high heels tip onto the floors towards him. At that moment he rose up and turned around seeing her elegant approach. "Well if you believe so." His semi-fighting stance was gone showing trust. "I'm Vance Stripeth." 

He flashes her a gentle smile upon her introduction. "I'm guessing you've been in Blackthorne longer than I have, no?" He rubbed his chin looking into her eyes. By observing them for a little while he spoke up. "Are you..Hungry?" 

[IsabellaRose]

She maintained her elegant and stately stance, her eyes fixed on his, black and unreadable, like those of a bird or reptile. How long had she been here? The years literally blended into each other. It felt like about a month, which likely meant it had been several years. Her perception of time passing had changed over the centuries. "It doesn't seem as if I've been here very long at all," she said distantly, as if trying to remember. "What's a few years when you've lived hundreds?"

When he asked if she was hungry her lips almost started to smile, the faintest hint of a twitch. She was indeed hungry. It had been too long since she fed. What a perceptive human. Perhaps it was part of his thrall nature to see the hunger in a vampire She tried to remember what it had been like to have thralls of her own, then remembered the blood, all the blood, when she'd slain them all. Every thrall she had, ever vampire she'd sired, dead by her own hand. It had to be done. They had grown into something she could no longer recognize as her own. She came back from the reverie and continued to stare into his eyes.

"Everyone is hungry for something," she said almost under her breath. "And so rarely satiated."

She did smile then, a wide, pleasant smile, the kind one offers a stranger when trying to be polite, but the smile did not touch her eyes. "I was just about to head out and find someone to eat," she said. She started toward the door. "It was... interesting... making your acquaintance, Vance Stripeth."

[KanTheKnight]

She had a good point, it really is nothing compared to hundreds, to which he nods along. "Guess it is..I noticed that too. I've been around here for a few weeks." the boy stated until following up with a statement which explained his curiosity. "First time catching a glimpse of you, Elena." Not only that, it is his first time not enduring an attack from an ancient one. For Vance it's always been an expected consequences, but he does not fred as him and Elena seem to be on neutral terms.

Seeing she froze up from his question made Vance ponders what she really was looking over. Until she made him freeze back in return. Something to be hungry over. Vance knows way too well, his eyes pan a little. Until hearing Elena get distant. They quickly look back. His smile grows a little more from before. "I guess you could call it that..It was new to me too. Farewell, Elena."