Fantasy Bloodlines

[St. Boethius]

Benton muses as he pats the mans head. “ Well yes and no. It’s blood from a corpse yes, but my magic is fused within it which allows this body of mine to move and function. Unlike vampires all of my organs actually function. My magic keeps them preserved for a long while, but eventually it all rots away and I have to replace them. Usually with human organs, though it is good to know that organs from a vampire work as well.” Benton explained as he started sowing himself back up. “ my blood animates those ghouls, but it can’t bring back the soul. I theorized that if I did the same thing to a vampire I could completely revive them, but I suppose we’ll have to wait until my blood and magic take over his body.” Benton said as he finished patching himself up and buttoned himself up.
“It might take a few minutes... maybe an hour. After all his stagnant blood is being corrupted by mine and circulated through. Who knows what the end result will be. Let’s leave him to stew for a bit. I’ll show you to your room.” Benton said as he gestured to the elevator.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Korvashta nods, moving to stand at his side. “I’m excited to see what it will do to him. I’m sure it will be interesting.” She comments, waiting for him to lead the way. She has a lot to think about. Including the fact that he already has a room ready for her, which surprises her slightly. Unless he means a cell of course, but she feels like with how he’s acted thusfar, that isn’t the plan.

He’s also answered one of her questions about the ghouls. They’re bodies, and rudimentary minds, but nothing of what they used to be remains other than that. They’re just husks. Still, she wants to know more about everything here. She has quite a few questions already.

St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton lead her back to the elevator and back above ground. A few ghouls that functioned as lab assistants would alert him to any changes in the test subject. Once they were above ground again and the elevator safely hidden away Benton lead her through the house back to the front entrance. In the foyer there was a set of stairs leading to a second level. On the second level there were multiple different rooms. A game room that had a pool table and a stock of liquor. A much larger library with books of a wide variety of subjects, and several guest rooms. With the master bed room being at the very end of the corridor. At the other end of the corridor was a large bath, a much more normal laboratory and study, and more guest rooms. At the end of the corridor was a very large room that acted as a meat locker housing unused ghouls or corpses. There were a total of four such rooms scatter across the building.

Benton led Khora to the guest room right next to the large bath. “ This will be yours. It may need a bit of sprucing up, but whatever you need I can arrange it for you.”
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora is surprised to see that this room is actually quite nice in comparison to her old one, which she shared with other Dhampir and a few guards. She turns toward him, trying to understand why he’s treating her so kindly, after turning on the vampire that brought her so easily. Was it simply because he would have left soon?

She dips her head, smiling. “Thank you.” She says, with less of the low monotone that she usually has in her voice. She’s legitimately happy about this. “When will you have need of me next?” She asks, wanting to know when she should be ready, and hopefully get an idea of what he wants her to do.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton thought about that for a moment. “ Not until our subject in the lab is done cooking I suppose. Fill free to wander the grounds. I just stocked up on groceries and supplies for the bathroom should you need a snack or want to wash up. I only have one order to give you Khora. Do NOT enter my bedroom under ANY circumstances.” Benton’s relative kind demeanor towards her became very stern as he wanted her to understand that this was his only rule. “ Now then. I think I’ll head to the study and relax for a bit.” Benton said cheerfully before making his way there.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora dips her head. “Understood.” She says calmly, reassuring him that she will remember that rule. It shouldn’t be hard to tell where his bedroom is. Assuming he sleeps normally, his scent should be strongest there. For now, though…

She hums, seeing a small desk with a pen and some paper in the corner of her room. She sits down there, and sighs, slowly starting to write. From the expression on her face, it might seem that she was working on something very important. Her brow is creased, and she pauses often, crossing out things every so often when she’s dissatisfied.

But if Benton ever looks at the paper, he’ll see that one, she has terrible handwriting, and two, she’s writing very simple phrases, often misspelled. Korvashta’s mother tried her best, but their time together was short. Korvashta has the reading and writing skills of a third grader at best. She’s trying her damnedest to learn, but none of her masters ever bothered to teach her.

St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Several hours would go by without any indication from the ghouls of any changes. Benton used his connection with the ghouls down in the basement to check on the escort. What he found was the same writhing mess he had left hours ago. The only difference being that his veins were more pronounced as they slowly filled with black blood and it seemed the escort had been vomiting up the blood that had pooled in his lungs. At this rate it would be morning before a definitive result would present itself. That meant he would have to explain the disappearance. With a sigh Benton drew up a letter saying he had received the gift and that he would be taking the messenger for a different project. To compensate for the loss Benton would provide the house 3 ghouls. He then explained that the ghouls needed the blood of thier master to activate. Benton wouldn’t mention that his own dormant magic would give him eyes and ears inside the home, but he wouldn’t be able to control them. With the letter written up Benton went to Khora’s door and knocked. “ Khora? I have a task for you.”
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora nods, and goes to open the door, catlike eyes shining bright with curiosity. She feels good after her nap, unable to remember when she’s slept so well. That said, her hair is a bit messy, and one of her hands is stained with ink from her clumsy writing.

“What can I do for you?” She asks, tilting her head. She’s eager to know what he wants from her, so she can feel a bit safer. Her general strategy with all of her masters is to do what they want very well, so they’ll not want to get rid of her.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton couldn’t help but smile at her current state. Eagerness aside it was clear she had just woken from a nap. “ I want to deliver this letter to your former master. Before that I want you to load three of the ghouls from that room into coffins and use the elevator therein to bring them to the garage.” Benton explained as he gestured to the end of the hall. “ But by all means clean yourself up. And we’ll need to remove that brand of yours before we head out.” Benton said as he made his way to the cold locker to pick out which ghouls to gift the lord. “Hmm... one female with ample endowment... one male with decent muscle mass... what should the last one be...” Benton mused as he looked through the naked ghouls hanging from the ceiling like slabs of meat. It also reminded him he needed to recast the embalming spell to stay off thier decay for the next few decades. “ Aha! Let’s go with the former body guard. It’s muscle memory should prove quite useful to him.” With that decision made Benton unhooked his chosen inanimate ghouls and began preparation to transport them.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora dips her head, smiling at the mention of removing her brand. She’s surprised he doesn’t want to add his own seal, but the less pain she has to go through, the better. She quickly takes the opportunity given to wash her face, and comb her hair a bit, before tying it back and out of her face.

She walks into the room with him, and takes a moment to locate the coffins. She glances over at the ones he chose, and finds ones that seem like the right size, getting them out, and carefully setting each ghoul into one once he’s done with them. She wants to make this look nice, so she puts some effort into that, making sure each one is put in neatly.

Once they’re all in the coffins, she carefully brings them all into the elevator with her, and hits the button to bring them down to the garage. Hopefully her old master will accept these in return for his missing diplomat.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton didn’t tell her about his plan to place his own seal on her because it involved a lot more than a simple brand. That and he wanted to be sure she would last before he made the decision to add her to his ‘house’. With the ghouls on the way to the garage Benton went to change into his best formal wear and set out a fitting dress for Khora. He wouldn’t say where or why he had such a thing, but if asked he would sayit was a gift. Once he was changed he made his way down to the garage and helped Khora load the ghouls into the hearse there. “ I’ll finish loading them in. Why don’t you go change?”
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora dips her head to him, and heads toward the elevator, glad to get out of these clothes. They have a small amount of blood around the sleeve from her work on the eye earlier, and it annoys her. She’s surprised to find a very nice dress waiting for her. Better than anything she’s worn for sure, certainly. She changes into it, and examines herself in the mirror, making an effort to braid her hair. The dress fits her nicely, and she quite likes it.

She finishes fine tuning her appearance, and nods. She’ll never look like the aristocratic vampires she’s called master over the years, but she’s pleased that she looks a bit less like a slave. She heads back to the elevator, and down to the garage, going to join Benton. She is still waiting to have her brand off, but doesn’t want to display her impatience.

St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

It didn’t take long for Benton to finishe loading the ghouls so he had some spare time to actually think about how he would go about removing the brand. Healing magic might work, but his magic wasn’t very geared towards that. He could kill the flesh and easily remove it, but then she would be left with an unsightly scar... unfortunately by the she arrived in her new dress Benton hadn’t come up with any ideas. He had to take a moment to just take in how well she looked in the dress, but the problem remained. “ I’ll be honest with you here. I’m not sure how to remove the brand without leaving a scar, and I’d rather avoid taking you under the knife just yet. Do you have any ideas? What is a house brand anyway? If is like branding cattle or is there something more?” Benton asked completely out of ideas.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Korvashta nods. “Effectively like branding cattle, yes. In the event that a Dhampir escapes, and tries to flee, it tells whoever captured them who they belong to. And of course serves to mark them as a Dhampir in the first place, if they look more human.”

She puts a hand to the mark. “I don’t remember much of the process. I was… twelve, I think. But from what I understand, it’s the same process used on cattle, with the addition of ink being painted over the wound, just in case regeneration deals with the burn itself. And, of course, minimal medicine to prevent infection, while still leaving the burn scar.”

She considers the options for fixing it. “I think the best option would be to do as you suggested, and cut it away. I inherited immortality from my father, and some regenerative energy as well. If it’s cared for properly, it shouldn’t scar as badly as it would a human. Besides, I can have adverse reactions to some healing magic anyway.”

St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton scratched his head trying to think of an alternative, but only sighed when none presented itself. “ Alright then I’ll cut it out. You’ll just have to bear with it I suppose. “ Benton said before producing a scalpel from his coat pocket. Benton held her steady and quickly cut away the brand from her flesh. He made sure the cut wasn’t too deep and tried to keep the blood from staining the dress. “ My magic doesn’t heal so we’ll have to rely on your regeneration to fix it in a hurry. “ Benton said as he wiped her and the scalpel clean of the blood turning cloth red. “ That’ll have to do for now. I hope you know where we’re going. Benton said getting in the drivers street.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora stands very still as he works, tilting her head back to let him get at the brand better. She clenches her fists, hissing in pain, but does her best not to move. Once he’s done, she gets into the car with him. “I should remember.” She says, trying to think of landmarks they passed on the way here.

Her regeneration isn’t as good as a full vampire. They’d heal such a simple wound in seconds. As it stands, it will take a few minutes for the skin to heal.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton marveled at the regeneration for a moment even if it was slower than a normal vampire the fact that he could see it was a wonderful experience to say the least. After he was done eyeing the wound Benton climbed into the hearse with Khora and began the drive to the home of her former master. One thing Benton never got tired of was how easy it was to cut through traffic when he drove the hearse. People either assumed he was transporting a vampire or a body and either way they tended to keep thier distance. With Khora giving directions it wasn’t too long until they arrived at the door step of the lantons. “ Alright, let’s off load the gifts and leave the letter. No need to stay here any longer than necessary.” Benton said as he got out of his car and began unloading the coffins.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora sighs with relief when her master says they don’t need to stay and actually talk to these people. She really hates them. She looks up at the castle, seeing the red and gold seal on the flags, that only recently marked her neck. She puts her hand to the place it used to rest, feeling the skin. It’s sensitive, new skin, but it seems she was right about it not scarring. If she’d tried to use her claws, it certainly would have, but the sharp, clean scalpel did much better work.

She turns away, smiling, and gets back into the hearse next to Benton. “Is there anything else you have planned for today?” She asks curiously. It pleases her immensely that he lets her speak freely with him. The Lantons were very strict on her never speaking unless asked a direct question, that had a complex enough answer that it required her to speak. Something about men not heeding the words of beasts.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton started up the hearse and began making his way back to his isolated manor. “ Besides the new project I don’t have any plans. Is there anywhere you would like to visit before we head back? I don’t make outings very often so this will likely be the only opportunity for quite a while.” Benton explained as he cut through the heart of the city before making his way to the outskirts where his manor was located. There were enormous amounts of shops from food to hotels to things that belongs in a red light district. Benton didn’t seem to care for any of it after all before eternity what was the point of trivial pursuits?
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora looks around, then shakes her head. “I wouldn’t know where to go if I did want to.” She says. “They didn’t allow me outside very often, and never without an escort.” She shrugs, leaning back in her seat. “I wonder how Myrtis is doing. His body will probably be trying to regenerate his eyes at this point, but I don’t expect that to go well.”
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton nodded when she effectively said she was fine and didn’t have anywhere she wanted to. “ Ah so his name is Myrtis. Well I’m sure his body has a lot more to deal with than just regenerating his eyes. If all goes according to plan his vampiric body will soon be animated by my power making him effectively a ghoul with vampiric abilities. “ Benton explained. Though he had assimilated organs from Myrtis Benton didn’t know if the eyes retained thier hypnotic gaze. It would be something to test sometime soon. “ Once we get back we’ll check on him.” Benton said as they exited the city. The rest of the drive would be uneventful. By the time they were back in the house Benton would know that the ghouls had been activated. He could only hope they would be accepted as trade. Now that he was back home Benton made his way down to the lab.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora does her best to control her eagerness as they continue the travel home. To see her captor become a slave even lower than herself is something that she will relish in. As much as she hated him, he wasn’t wrong when he called her violent. The only reason the vampires that owned her were safe was because they made sure she’d never have the means to kill them. She’s more intelligent than they gave her credit for, but no less vicious.

She walks down to the lab with him, both to see what the subject is looking like, and to be nearby if Benton needs anything from her. “Have you made a ghoul from a living creature before?” She asks curiously, wondering if Myrtis will be aware of what he’s going through. She hopes he will. She wants him to suffer.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton seemed to become quiet and sad when Khora asked the question about living ghouls. “ I... attempted it twice before... both... both ended in failure.” Benton silently gave Khora a look that said to drop the subject and he approached Myrtis. “ Abd how are we feeling this morning?” Benton asked as he checked on the status of the conversion.
Eliasdagood

 

[Eliasdagood]

Kora nods, knowing better than to press it. Myrtis looks up at Benton, his breathing a bit heavy. On another note, he’s breathing in the first place, so that’s new. His eyes have grown back most of the way, but are having some trouble, leaving blood trailing from the sockets. “Numb.” He says softly, seeming a lot more complacent than before.

Color is starting to come back to his skin as his blood is moved around by his new heart, though considering that much of his blood is black now, it’s not a pleasant color. It’s not clear if his calmness or compliance is because of exhaustion or the blood taking over his mind, but he does seem to have retained some intelligence if he has been converted.
St. Boethius

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton smiled it seemed like the experiment was a success at least in the first stages. “ Unfortunately that numbness won’t be going away. With time you’ll regain some feeling, but the majority of you feelings will be dulled. “ Benton explained in a patient and almost caring manner. “ It looks like you’ve lost a lot of blood. I’ll set up an IV transfusion for you. The soon all of your blood is assimilated the better you’ll feel.” Benton said as he prepared a bag of his own black blood. “ If all goes well you’ll be seeing Lord Lanton again very soon, and in theory you should be able to walk under the Sun.” Benton continued his explanation as inserted the needle into the carotid artery and started the transfusion.
Eliasdagood