Fable - Ask Greatness comes at a cost

[Lorenzo Vitale]

Lorenzo looked over at the vampire. The more he opened his mouth the more Lorenzo learned little bits about him. He wasn't the first 'above it all' man that he'd met, nor would he be the last. It was annoying, but nothing Lorenzo hadn't dealt with before.

"No, I suspect you'd not." Lorenzo returned to Afanas . "Simply do not prey in the borders and you shall ensure your lack of participation." Lorenzo took a sip of the wine he poured, then looked over at Cosimo Imiliane . The face looked familiar, but didn't completely ring in Lorenzo's mind. He was young, so perhaps he met the man when he was but a child.

"I'm Lorenzo." He introduced himself to the gambler. "The last time I was at the Marcuttio's their second son asked me for a rapier after being challenged to a duel by Tybalta. It was about fifteen minutes before his death. That was . . . six years ago, if memory serves."

They were then joined by a fourth man. He smelled of a similar mix as Lorenzo and Afanas, but was also an obvious foreigner. Two vampires from out of town in one day. In one tavern at that. Fate was an interesting mistress this day.

"Some of the merchant princes are in need of new arms. I believe this gentleman here is looking to swell their ranks." He motioned from Crowne Garisi to Afanas. He decided the last entry to the table had likely overheard his description of territory, mostly as he loathed to repeat himself. The Family would deal with whatever they needed to, and him offering any advice was a courtesy.

 

[Afanas]

Afanas regarded the newly arrived stranger with revived enthusiasm. He was a difficult one to keep in a sour mood, and thus he found himself smiling once more, although far more subtly, hoping to not flash his orifice more than he already had.

He gave Crowne a curt wave, meaning to look friendly, but likely came off as stiff.

He found Lorenzo's words mildly humorous. Him? Feeding on people? Such was a rare occurrence, and even when he did, he only ever targeted cutthroats, bandits, and an occasional rapist. It wasn't like anyone would miss those people. If anything, he was a favor to society at large.

The parasite sustained itself just fine on domestic animals, thus eliminating the need to devour sapient beings. Still yet, over time, it developed an appetite for…atypical morsels; supernatural critters, monsters, and even other vampires.

It broke all nourishment into two categories: insipid nutriment and delish victuals. It boasted enough wit and self-agency to demand the latter from its host. Afanas was all too happy to oblige. It helped scrub some of the culpability and awkwardness off what little soul mother nature graced him with.

"You needn't worry about your mortal cattle, or whatever you denigrate them as. My voracities lay elsewhere. I prefer it when my to-be meals have a sliver of a fighting chance. Keeps me sharp."

When Lorenzo diverted the flow of their little skull session towards the merchant business, Afanas simply shrugged. At no point did he intend to make himself seem unscrupulous.

"Guilty as charged, I fear."

 

[Cosimo Imiliane]

"Oh of course, Tybalta," Cosimo felt the familiar mix of envy and admiration at the name, though he managed to keep his tone casual and matter-of-fact, as if Lorenzo had not just mentioned one of city's greatest duelists. A prodigy they called him. Pompous ass. Cosimo had put nearly a half-dozen of their sons and daughters in early graves with his blade. Fair duels, but not a tournament setting, so they called it monstrous.

Cosimo yanked himself out of his self-wallowing as a third stranger joined and they began discussing mortal cattle.

"What the fuck?" He looked between the three strangers, starting to rise out of his seat, fingers of his right hand drifting toward his dirk.

"Who- what are you three?"

 

[Crowne Garisi]

Crowne liked Afanas. He seemed like a generally sound fellow. When he nodded, Crowne returned the gesture. He had no idea what had been discussed before, but all this talk of territory made Lorenzo seem quite odd. Perhaps a gangster of some kind? For a vampire with the inclination, such a job seemed natural, a way to get blood and power in the same step. However, his good humor sort of disappeared when talk of feeding began. It was always terrible but necessary to obtain blood, and slow guilt always crept in whenever the deed was discussed.

However, his mind was temporarily taken off of it when Afanas used the phrase "Human Cattle" and he blinked for a second. He figured it was meant as a tiny slight towards Lorenzo, but even so, the vampire's refinement left him not expecting such words. Luckily, the topic was left to the side quickly as Lorenzo offered him some advice. "You don't say! Perhaps we'll see each other again, then. I'm in a similar business." He said with a grin as his illusory set of teeth momentarily flickered to reveal a fang.

A slight buzz almost immediately after notified Crowne that his illusion must have broken slightly, so he closed his mouth and quickly went slightly more tense. This tension only compounded as Cosimo began to freak out and he snapped, now a bit scared. "You two. Do not answer him while he is looking at me. Illusions are far easier to break when they are known to be false, and that will end in consequence." Nothing from before would suggest his sudden change in intensity, so Crowne hoped they would heed his warning.

He could probably hold back the violence, but it would certainly hurt to do so. "That is not something you have to worry about, friend. Nobody intends harm." He intoned cautiously, unsure exactly how Cosimo would react to such a comment.

Afanas Lorenzo Vitale Cosimo Imiliane

 

[Cosimo Imiliane]

“Oh yeah? Is that what you tell your mortal cattle?” Sneered the boy.

He couldn’t help himself. He could sense the waters he was treading in, deep and dark with no way of knowing what exactly lurked beneath.

A thrill raced through him.

 

[Lorenzo Vitale]

"Last I checked all cattle was mortal, lest you be trying to squeeze the blood from a stone." Lorenzo replied to Afanas . An arrogant idealist, with no sense of decorum. He'd be a perfect fit to join the ranks of the Merchant Princes. Unsurprisingly the comment disturbed the boy, Cosimo Imiliane , riling him to action. Lorenzo's hand went over the boy's shoulder as he stood, giving it a firm stopping point but not working to crush or otherwise impair.

"The Mercuttio boy lost much more for similar offense." He looked the boy's eyes as Cosmo's hands went for his dirk. He'd exert a gentle downward force, aiming to put the boy back in his chair.

The newcomer Crowne Garisi was similarly startled by a flicker in his illusion magic. Lorenzo's attention was focused on Cosimo, so he didn't see exactly the flicker, but he felt the magic pulse all the same.

"You asked what we are. I have been blessed with a very old curse. One that obliges me as a hunter to the end of my days. I don't know the stories of these two, nor would I tell you if I did, but they are likely similar tales and variations." So much trouble to go through on the indiscretion of one foreigner. Perhaps he wanted it this way, and Lorenzo was simply playing to his hand. He suspected the human had some usefulness to him.

"Are you a hunter Cosimo?" He made no effort to justify his knowledge of the man's name. Afanas had already accused him of listening, and Lorenzo did not deny.

 

[Afanas]

Know-it-all, hng.

Anafas' batlike ears flicked, swished, and swooshed as they picked up on the remainder of the conversation.

Lorenzo struck him as a proper bastard, the kind to chuck friends and foes alike over the metaphorical parapet if it meant gaining an upper hand. The very thought of sharing common denominators with someone such left Afanas' face scrunched, like that of a young child woefully tricked into chewing on a lemon slice.

Nonetheless, Crowne's words washed over him in waves, extinguishing the flames of enmity and rerouting his attention towards the newcomer.

Illusion magic? Afanas thought something was off about the stranger but didn't anticipate the extent of it.

And consequences? They were in a public, relatively crowded space, and, as much as he considered Cosimo to be a cheeky, sharp-witted son-of-a-bitch, Afanas thought what little psyche he had would be irreparably stained if he permitted harm to come the boy's way.

He quickly handed his wide-brimmed hat to Crowne, already preparing for the worst possible outcome. It was an almost comically large piece of headwear, in truth, broad enough to block, from being viewed, everything from the crown of Crowne's skull to the base of his neck, should such an action be necessitated.

He offered Crowne a silent thumbs-up, a gesture as inspiriting as it was maladroit, before fixing Lorenzo with an condemnatory lour. For a second, the skin of his face seemed to bulge and shift, predominantly around the areas of his forehead and mandible. Facial musculature, no matter how extensively trained, couldn't have produced the sort of movement reminiscent of live worms wriggling under one's skin.

Afanas gritted his teeth and curbed the change before it could take hold.

"He speaks truly. You'll leave this place unharmed and with all your bits intact, Cosimo. I swear it on my soul, if you believe in existence of those and think I'm fit to possess one."

"Regarding the peculiarities of my origin… I'll go out of my way to put your mind at ease by saying this. I am neither cursed nor undead nor am I a demonic entity playing pretend with you. The iteration of me you see sitting before you is the one I was born as. I have my father, the creature whose traits I've inherited, to thank for it."

 

[Crowne Garisi]

So the boy's name was Cosimo, then. He didn't give their jab the dignity of a response, just leaned back slightly in his chair as Lorenzo turned to stop the boy from doing anything rash. Well, that was good. He cringed a little bit as the vampire half-ignored his warning, but his expression went back to normal when he realized Lorenzo was trying to be very specific to himself. It was all very theatrical on their part, but Crowne got the vibe that it was just part of the game they played normally.

The next question asked was odd, for the entity Lorenzo referred to as a "Hunter" was obviously a vampire. Well, that was if the word didn't mean something entirely different to the man. Surely this Cosimo fellow was just a normal human in the wrong place at the wrong time, or else his reaction would have been far different. From what he had interacted with other vampires and magical humanoids, they tended to be a bit less...shocked, maybe. Yes, that was a good word for it.

Catching Afanas' gaze upon him, he figured the vampire was trying to guess exactly what he meant by consequences. The truth was, it would probably be pretty easy to resist going berserk, now that he expected to. The problem usually was that when the Rules activated, they were unexpected. That kind of came with the territory of being a killer in the night.

Crowne accepted the hat with a raised brow and figured it was probably to deal with his warning. The gesture was definitely appreciated, but given the very hair on his head was fake, it wouldn't do him all that much good. He did wonder, however, who made such a large hat in the first place. That seemed like a story for another time, though. At the following thumbs up an amused expression crossed his face and thus the illusion's face as well.

Afanas' following look toward Lorenzo was not quite as fun, and given he was looking at the vampire, Crowne caught whatever transformation his new acquaintance was attempting to hold back. Luckily, it seemed successful. He proffered the hat back to Afanas, slight concern on his face. "You seem to need this...more than I do." he stated, an armored finger pointing subtly towards his own forehead. His Rules had given him some empathy for others' "involuntary issues", in a manner of speaking.

When Afanas began an attempt at further mollifying Cosimo, Crowne figured he should probably do the same, at least slightly."I will admit I am not as I seem. It is not by choice, but know it is for the sake of both you and I. That is all I'm willing to say for now."

Afanas Lorenzo Vitale Cosimo Imiliane

 

[Cosimo Imiliane]

An invisible force exerted itself on Cosimo, forcing him back into his seat.

Magic?

His lips curled in a defiant sneer, "A hunter? No. I don't even know what you're talking about."

Cosimo squirmed in his seat, fingers itching for the hilt of his dagger. "So what is this, a bar for freak monsters? Should've known by the minotaur."

Maybe he could stab the one with the red hair before they did something with their magic. He'd have to be fast though....

"Unharmed and intact, huh. And why is that? Are you all part of the syndicates?"

 

[Lorenzo Vitale]

"Are you always so dramatic?" Lorenzo responded to Afanas. Swearing on his soul for a man he'd shared what, two drinks with? The holier-than-thou attitude was growing weary. To his credit Crowne Garisi was far more guarded, not offering more information than necessary.

Cosimo Imiliane 's response was a bit disappointing. He had heard of the boy before now, his exploits with dueling, the disappointment of his well-to-do parents. He'd heard the same song in different keys with another six over the last century, and recruited two to the Family. This one though? He wasn't sure the boy was ready.

"This is a bar for anyone with coin, under the protection of a syndicate. The one I represent. Though we've no quarrel with you that I'm aware. If I were you I'd be careful of strangers offering protection, as you may incur a debt you are unable to pay." Lorenzo said to Cozy, then stood.

"In any case, I have made my warnings and have other business to attend." Lorenzo looked over at Afanas. "For your sake, may your words be true, and us never meet again."

Lorenzo then walked from the table. A flash of lightning struck outside, booming through the tavern and filling it with light. When the flash faded, Lorenzo was nowhere to be seen.

 

[Afanas]

Cosimo Imiliane Lorenzo Vitale Crowne Garisi


Afanas shrugged when Crowne declined his offering of headwear. He presumed the illusion spell to be intricate to a degree that'd allow it to persevere a while longer. Had the push come to shove, albeit, he'd have readily plopped the hat onto the man's head, wrapped him with his maroon cloak, and hurried him out of the establishment before he killed or otherwise ate anyone.

Afanas slowly reattached the broad piece of fabric to the spiked pauldrons gracing his shoulders. He readjusted the hat upon the crown of his skull, making sure that no wayward locs got into his face in the process.

He watched Lorenzo leave, eyes narrowing ever so slightly at the ginger. Once Lorenzo went out through the doors and disappeared to god-knows-where, Afanas felt relieved enough to let air wheeze through his flared nostrils.

"You know, if he wasn't such a prickly prick of a man, I would've let him in on the big plan. He'd probably have an aneurysm, though, haha."

"Three days from now, I'm supposed to take a hike to Reikhurst for a conference with King Jürgen Kaiser. Three days because I ought to also catch an audience with someone from the merchant council before proceeding. If all goes smoothly, there'll be a couple hundred seasoned veterans backing my cause and possibly another two or three thousand on the back burner."

In all fairness, the thought of visiting Reikhurst crossed his mind months before he arrived in Alliria. Rumors had it that Jürgen was a stern but fair ruler, a man of sound mind and sharp wit. The curse of vampirism only served to magnify his inherent strengths.

"These men I intend to mould into the city's newest defenders, to live and serve under my meticulous scrutiny. The ordeal as a whole could provide a myriad of favorable opportunities, especially for you, Crowne. You could acquire a sense of purpose and start anew by discarding whatever murky past is gnawing at the back of your mind."


The idea he pitched with such unshakable conviction was all of twenty minutes old, having hatched in his head seemingly out of the blue while the vampire contemplated Urberus' sagely words. He didn't think it important to reveal this trite detail, for it would undoubtedly jeopardize what little goodwill he garnered.