Distilled & Diluted (Kami GearX & ll Daughter of Apollo ll)

[Kami GearX]

Through the dunes of the desert the caravan slowly travels forward, the guards on their camels with spears and shields at the ready as the elephants dragged the huge cage over the soft grains that made the shifting world around them. Inside the cage were humans, covered in rags and filth. Some were looking out of the bars to see where they were going, others sat, knowing well there fate.

Each and every last one of them had been captured for some crime they had committed. It did not matter what their previous rank in life was, as they were no longer that person. Instead they bore the shackles of slaves. To be worked to the bone was their fate, until they keeled over and died for their master's purposes. Or so they thought.

The caravan of slaves was halted at the gates, and as those inside peered forward and around them, they saw not hulking walls, but spires that rose to touch the sky themselves, gilded in gold and silver. However for all the glory it might have had, their was an air of foreboding and dread in this place.

A regiment of men stepped forward from the gate, and the one leading the caravan rode forward with their own retinue of guards. Words were exchanged and papers were handed back and forth. Then, the regiment marched back and blew a horn as the gates shuddered open.

As the caravan passed one of the guards looked into the cages, hollow eyes of uncaring watched as the prisoners were taken by, the metallic armor kept cool by loose robes around them, the spear and shields they carried ornate and deadly. Perhaps this place would not be so bad for these slaves.

They moved through the city on a large winding road of cobbled stone now. Men and women in elegant clothing watched, some accompanied by others that were chained, many more simply stared at the new arrivals.

Soon the new slaves were brought out from the cart, and with a sneer their temporary keeper spoke as they were passed on for auction. "Welcome to Va-Shara, City of the Undying. Perhaps your blood will fetch a decent piece of craftsmanship yet for me."  

[Kami GearX]

Character Profiles

Shal'vamor Desdani

Age: 152
Height: 5' 9" (~1.75 Meters)
Weight: 167 Ibs. (~75.74 kg)
Scars and/or Tattoos: A tribal dragon tattoo that goes from his shoulder up his neck to his left eye, incorporating the fang marks from when he was first given his vampirism
Species: Vampire

More About Them

Powers:
Shadowed Presence - Shal'vamor draws shadows closer around him, making wherever he stands slightly darker than normal. The effect cannot completely disguise his presence.

Addle The Mind - Shal'vamor can make a single person temporarily less cognitive than usual, to a minor degree. If one was to compare it to alcohol they would come close to its true power. This ability only works on humans.

Curbed Appetite- Shal'vamor has, over his many years of existence become less bloodthirsty than a freshly born vampire. He does not need to drink as often as his younger counterparts and can retain his abilities for longer without such sustenance.

Diamond Eye- Shal'vamor's innate craft as a vampire is that of gemstones. His ability to work with them is uncanny and he can often find, chisel and polish out gemstones for jewelry where a human craftsman would only find a flawed stone.

Personality: Shal'vamor is a calm and collected individual at most times in his life. He has very little use for surprise in a city full of other vampires after all. He often goes about his business in a graceful manner, often wasting energy he could use elsewhere to help reinforce the idea of the vampire's superior form. His confidence is also something to note, as his station is not something that most of the kin his age have been able to achieve, instead still working their way up the ranks of vampiric society. This leads to an aloof nature and one of a calculated distance. When it comes to more private affairs, most of this holds though he is willing to crack a smile when amused or finds something quaint.

Bio: Shal'vamor came to this city as a human slave, unknown and seen no more as cattle to be used. As he toiled fields and tended to his vampire master, it became clear he was quickly becoming a favorite. He was no more than twenty five when he was frozen in time and given his abilities.

Ever since being raised from his human shackles, Shal'vamor was ambitious. He did not waste any time escaping from the previous shackles of society and held no empathy for those he was once a part of. Instead he immediately began to toil at finding his vampiric craft, to make sure that he would be able to sustain his own life without reliance on his previous master, even, if he could help it, overshadow them.

Given a small workshop as was customary to help serve the house he was now a part of, Shal'vamor quickly found that gems of all natures were his calling. It was not long that he had acquired his first slave. The vampire that had raised his status presided happily over their new fledgling, biding their time to tie them down fully to the house they owned.

Shal'vamor struck first however, poisoning his first slave and then offering them up as a thank you gift to his previous owner. Filled with hunger they were that his overlord drank the poisoned victim. In the moment of weakness when the poison coursed through his old master was when the beheading happened. Now truly free to form his own house, Shal'vamor was not ridiculed for his cleverness by the elite of society, instead, given a house crest and the house of the one he had slain as well as most of his property. Only a small fee was paid for the transition cost, a few slaves to be drained for those lesser vampire thralls that helped run the more mundane parts of the elite's society.

So Shal'vamor had acquired title and house, and now it was time to make it renown throughout the city. He oversaw the change of work, from alchemical reagents for humans that could spoil to the timeless beauty of gems. He amassed a fortune of blood from the greed of the human slavers and traders, and when he ran low on rocks and ore in which the gems he wanted were hidden away, he would instead trade for coin for a short while so the other traders that wandered to this magnificent city of opportunity could be paid in their own form of greed to give him what he needed to continue his influence.

However, Shal'vamor's empire of jewels and blood could no longer be supported by his own mind and hands. More slaves were gained and rather than gemwork, they were tasked with making sure that everything was documented. For even though Shal'vamor could not grow tired physically, mental taxation had begun to take its toll. One of these slaves, a child was one such counter. She was magnificent in Shal'vamor's eyes. She was tireless in her duties much like he had been and was. Whatever he asked of her it was done. She found ways to acquire what he wanted before he even knew he wanted it. This child was quickly brought along with him whenever he made trades, and even further he treasured her blood the most, taking only the smallest of sips from her despite his want to drain her.

Short human years passed by and the child grew to a young woman. She had never once complained to him and had helped him grow his houses name in the city to the point where he was well recognized. It was time for her to receive her reward. he announced to the entire city to get ready for a celebration of blood and enjoyment, for he was creating the first of his kin within a fortnight. The word spread like wildfire, even among the slaves as some would be chosen to provide the blood and not survive the night.