Nestled into the Umpqua Forest, Eugene, Oregon is a very busy college town that bustles about 24/7. A very rainy urban oasis in the middle of dense green forest. Within this town, among the unsuspecting human race, live vampires, just like anywhere else in the world. Currently staying on the Northern outskirts are a coven of governing vampires dedicated to the keeping of the Code. The Code is the vampire law that all vampires must abide. Of course, there are delinquents.
Live as a vampire or human in the world of Ashen Nights. Abide by the Code or break it and face the consequences. Create your own coven or your own empire... For the vampire, the whole world is a playground.
Updates June 28th Zo will be gone until July 7 and today is gypsydancer's 18th birthday. Happy Birthday!
June 24th The Dannati Coven has finally formed. I'm working on the little things... but it's official.
The Simplest Serenities « Thread Started on Jun 12, 2008, 11:28pm »
There were dual qualities when it came to being alone. A bittersweetness, if you will. And not the temporary, 'bored, nobody around to talk to for the day' kind of alone, the alone kind of alone. Where no one comes, no one goes. Nothing changes except for scenery. The independence one experiences while wandering the earth for whichever reason. And that journey was quite bluntly, forever. There was the pro. And there was the con. A double edged sword really, one that had been at rest near Kassady Patrick's throat for over two centuries. One she had come to regard as a blessing in some ways but in many many more, a curse. Then again, it was hard to believe that she wasn't cursed as a whole soul. Well...what remained of it anyway. That dark little thought was ignored so abruptly it didn‘t even surface. One of the perks of course, of being alone was the freedom to do freely for oneself. Kassady had to say she enjoyed that feeling, if nothing else. Today, she had felt like taking a birds-eye-view on the world. Being immortal, she had the opportunities and time to do those kind of things. Not only that, but she pretty much had no physical restriction. Her body was fairly limitless. (Again, a bittersweet kind of thing.) A door to any possibility really. She had drifted through this part a day or two ago, and immediately liked it for an unknown reason. Something just kind of clicked, something making her want to stop and spend a little of her time here. Time was something she had plenty of- all the time in the world, really. The forest, Kassady had figured, was a safe bet. The woods were thick with the ancient trees that stood like an entire plain of solemn men. Their limbs were creaky and coated in leaves and vines, and twined through in knots around each other, like some kind of familiar embrace. So far she had not smelled a hint of human flesh. That potent and oh so seductive tug on her senses that made her whole body do a 180, from calm and collected to instant predator.
Kassady had sprung up the minivan wide trunk of an ancient oak hours ago, and had nestled herself down on one of the branches. She sat as still as a statue, perfectly composed, her pointless breath in an even rhythm, minutes apart. Her body neither twitched nor stretched, birds had even attempted to land on her once or twice. From her view she could see the feathery green tree tops all around her, like an enormous green sea. Far beyond them were the concrete spires of city, to which she paid no attention to. Cities were irrelevant to her now, just places to be avoided, where trouble could happen faster than one could imagine. The breeze up here was cleaner, that was definitely something she could tell. A vampire’s sense of smell was far more honed than even the most successful bloodhound’s. Her eyes also could have detected probably the smallest little hint of action, but she didn’t feel the need to gaze. Pale, granite eyelids were shut gently over her view. Nothing had to be seen for her to know it was there. Everything was there, always around her. It all just had ceased to apply to her really. She could stand in the rain now- she wouldn’t catch cold. She could lie in the sun, she wouldn’t burn. Hell- she could stand in front of a car if she wanted to. Her bones wouldn’t break. They couldn’t… none of it could.
From her position, she had a little window through the branches where she could view part of a trail that wound through the thick forest for hikers. The packed dirt was splattered with gangly tree shadows. A thick root bisected part of the trail, a vein of the woods poking up to the surface. A change in climate perhaps brought the breeze upwards from the human trails, to where Kassady perched in mock-sleep. All at once her eyes snapped open, the day old scent of human warmth from below her creating a nauseating longing. Though it wasn’t fresh, she still felt it deep in her being. It was as if her heart had skipped to life and beat passionately from within her. Maybe a hiker had brushed against the tree trunk the day before, just enough to cloak a few inches with his print. Or maybe- Kassady fantasized, he had cut himself on the bark…
No.. She dug her finger’s into the branch, little dents and cracks splintering through the surface of the wood. It wasn’t fresh. She could control it. It wasn’t fresh. Old smell. No Blood… Deep breaths, for consistency more than oxygen, calmed the ravenous predator that longed to burst from her skin. Besides, she had just fed three days ago. She was in control. Over two hundred years of practice…
Finally, the thirst calmed back to an annoying tick in the back of her head. Kassady relaxed back into the tree, and stared up at the night sky, hoping in vain for something to comfort her mind.
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Re: The Simplest Serenities « Reply #1 on Jun 13, 2008, 1:22pm »
It was odd how places like these could draw me in. This forest could only be hundred or so years old, so young...but the twisted branches in places made it feel ancient. Like me. Of course I was nothing in age compared to Aries, no body was at the moment. But human thoughts often plagued me, even right hundred and fifteen years after that life had ended. I saw fuzzy images of my father's crinkled old face, Isabelle's sweet smile. Ekatrina. I shook that thought away. I did not want to go back to that night. I did not want to return to my nasty memories of transformation. Far too much pain, far too much I had lost in a mere three days. I'd lost the chance to marry, to love. To have children, to watch them grow...and I had lost my chance to die and go to 'heaven' as Christians called it.
I had stopped under a wider tree, the thoughts trying to drag me under. I had spent four hundred and eleven years under that blanket and I was not going back so easily. But it was almost too easy to let myself go. Let the bloodlust drive me as it once had. To dwell on my human days, and become the raving fiend that Germany had known in the early 1200s. I let the unneeded breath of air drag into my lungs. I let my eyes wander, over the green prestine of this forest. Who was to say in the next fifty years it would still be here? My fingers grasped onto the bark, as I listened for some sort of inner sound. The tree was life, but no sound came from within to let others know. You simply had to trust it was still living. Trust. Something that never occured to me.
I did not need anyone. The world could do quite nicely without me. I reared back my hand, clenching it tight, and rammed it into the truck of the tree. There was a splinter of bark, and that was all. I had not done much damage to the elder tree than I had wanted. Fate tempted me to try it again when I looked skyward. Sunglasses did not cover my eyes this night, and I was glad. I prefered to be without those infernal things, but they rested in my pocket for the dawn.
Her figure was curled i nthe branches, white and still. At first, if it had not been for my keen sense of smell, I would have thought her a drained human. She was of my kind. I hissed with displeasure. I had thought myself alone. But she was staring just as stupidly into the sky as that human Mercedes once had. "Oi! What are you doing out here?" I hissed again, taking the time to form words. I could have easily been up in the cradling branches with her...but I prefered my perch on the ground.
Re: The Simplest Serenities « Reply #2 on Jun 13, 2008, 1:40pm »
((Im gonna attempt to change to first person here, it seems the pattern on this site lol just btw hah))
Something that had always frustrated me was how many people talked about the beautiful sky. Stars, sun, clouds, whatever. How big and spectacular. But it was empty- couldn't they see that? It had no content, no substance. It was pretty much an illusion. I snorted sharply in my own bored disgust. Damn poetic idealism. I used to like poetry..I read it before..Alexander read it.. I willed the thoughts away. I hated how they'd seep in from the darkest corners where I thought they were hibernating. Little scars that flared from time to time to weigh down my dead heart. I bit onto my lip, smaller eyeteeth grazing over the pale pink skin of my lips. Once upon a time that would have hurt.
I wondered how other vampire's did it? If somehow they coped with their condition and succeeded with it- that was used it to progress themselves. I had wondered far more than once if perhaps I was a mutation, and not all were able to remember their oh-too-brief human past. It would have been a dreadful mutation, wouldn't it? I had resolved however, that there were many things I still did not know about myself. Having no sort of mentor or associate of simliar kind, of course. Finding out more would come with my eternal amount of time.
I had no idea how much my mind had been milling over in dull flow of thought, until two senses were assaulted instantly. First, the dim but sure scent of another, and second the groaning shake of he tree below my body. It was from force, and it only took so long for my shock to dissolve before I was able to put two and two together.
Below me was a young vampire. By young of course I mean that his eternal age, when he was changed, was a vibrant one. My gaze locked viciously into his, as I stood swiftly from where I was. He yelled to me, with a tone as if I was disrupting him. I couldn't help the naturally defensive feeling that circled my predatorial senses, as if preparing for a territory fight like packs of wolves. It was just a reaction, I struggled to control it. "Trying to find some peace and quiet actually." I bit back, glaring down to him. "But you did a lovely job of ruining that, didn't you?"
I hadn't seen another vamp in a little over a year. I tended to steer clear- my first few encounters were with extremely hostile covens. I still had the proof from my shoulderblade down to my hip.. He hadn't leapt at my throat first off though, so I figured I could do better then snarl and snap. After all- who said monsters couldn't be civil?
« Last Edit: Jun 13, 2008, 1:41pm by OctoberEsque »
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Re: The Simplest Serenities « Reply #3 on Jun 13, 2008, 2:25pm »
Zion Alexander Koslov;
I let a snarl build in the back of my throat. Insolence. How dare she talk to me as such? Like some common household dog. A scowl fitted my features nicely, and the scar stretched as my eyes narrowed infestinately.
"Yeah, I suppose I did. Had fun too." I folded my arms, the leather of my jacket creaking. I didn't need a jacket, I just like the way the leather fit across my shoulders. Staring up at her, nestled in the tree I waited for her to mover or... something. This was my, I counted mentally, fourth or fifth tiem I'd met another vampire. She reminded far too much of my creator.
I stared into her lovely face with pure hatred. All the women of my kind reminded me so much of her. And dammit all if I didn't have a name to put with the blurred face.
"Who are you anyway?" I demanded, pulling myself up into the tree's gnarled branches. My pallid, and cold hand grabbed a slimmer branch, which I snapped rather unpurpously.
"Damn." I curse silently. I looked up, my blackened gaze questioning. "I'm Zion Alexander Koslov." Pulling out my first name. My German accent, though fading in most of my speech rolled easily with my name.
Soon, and with less effort than what a human might have needed, I reached her perch. "Are you new here?" I questioned, a brow quirking over my eyebrows.
Re: The Simplest Serenities « Reply #4 on Jun 13, 2008, 11:55pm »
Something that troubled me most of vampirism was how strong every animal urge was. I knew for a fact that if I just let go and stopped thinking, then my human, logical side would disappear like sand in the wind. And that I could be driven, 100% by pure inhuman instinct. That scared the human in me, what was left of it. Of course I had to awknowledge that it also saved my immortal life. If not for the reflexes and extra senses, I could have given myself away in a split second. Or crossed a path far too wrong. I assured myself the fear was only immaturity in this dark eternal stage.
Speaking of paths, I had no specific chance to think twice at crossing this new vamp's. It had just kind of...happened, before I could really think. It caught me at a disadvantage, really. Had he been one of the most malicious, he could have killed me in a human heartbeat. For whatever reason he hadn't though. I owed him that.
Although that by no means indicated he was benign. Already, from the way his masculine face curved into disaproval, I could tell he wasn't real eager to ally. In fact, his expression bordered on disgust. I debated on whether or not repair was needed. Vampire customs were still a strange practice to me, I'd admit..
His first little retort let humor spark somewhere deep. So, he had a little attitude himself, did he? I arched a brow and tried to hide the slight smirk that tugged at the corners of my pale, curving lips. "Oh? Whatever happened to chivalry?" I personally didn't buy the whole 'chivalry was dead' deal that human society preached. Two hundred years ago it existed, modern people were just too proud.
He began to climb the tree, and my silver eyes followed his every move, searching for something violent, something indicating I was in danger. The instinct was overpowering. He didn't though.. he looked beautiful, as we all do, climbing effortlessly upwards. The image of vampirism is something metaphorical.
Demanding my name, I stared back into the cold wall of hate that faced me. Why he was so opposed to me on instant was a mystery to me. I have learned though that we all have a history. And they do very well to create who we became. Though I felt no need to justify my identity to him, I resolved that for the sake of civilty it was appropriate. I had not been raised in pride, a virtue I would keep as long as I could fathom it. "My name is Kassady Patricks."Not that anyone knows it anymore.. The introduction was forcefully neutral.
The branch made me tense for a moment in natural reaction. Though it was innocent, the acquired strength of our kind. I could indeed count a million times I had misjudged my own force. He seemed to be at much better ease with his limits though, despite his slight miscalculation. Zion... His accent was lovely. It reminded me instantly of my late aunt, who had lived in Germany for some time. She learned the language and had written me letters. I had struggled with the characters, but thought it to be a charming dialogue. "Pleasure Zion Koslov." I replied, daring the slightest hint of smile. I could feel the peaks of my canines revealed with the gesture.
Again, the fluid beautiful movement, and he was on the same branch as I. I didn't let my gaze drop from him, although I felt cornered for an instant, as if he were inspecting me. I calmed the feeling.
His next question was platonic as the others, but still more interaction than I had in decades. I tucked a sleek lock of hair over my ear without thinking of it, my eyes only dropping for a minute to catch the subtle light. "I am." The brevity of the statement made me rephrase. "I dont intend to stay for long. This place just sort of..appealed to me I suppose." I felt a little foolish at my lack of verbal grace. But I had been out of practice. Words associated with my reply danced around in a taunt to me now. I was a roamer. I had no home. I had nowhere to go, nowhere to feel sanctuary. I would probably roam until my body disenagrated, which would be one hell of a long time. I made myself ignore every sting.
"You live here I assume Zion?" It intrigued me, if my assumption was true of course, that the appeal could be more than just my own. If he and I had already crossed paths, perhaps I had stumbled upon a common ground? I waited in calm silence however, my steel gray eyes trained.
Nestled into the Umpqua Forest, Eugene, Oregon is a very busy college town that bustles about 24/7. A very rainy urban oasis in the middle of dense green forest. Within this town, among the unsuspecting human race, live vampires, just like anywhere else in the world. Currently staying on the Northern outskirts are a coven of governing vampires dedicated to the keeping of the Code. The Code is the vampire law that all vampires must abide. Of course, there are delinquents.
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