The Vampire Prince, The War That Started It All. Options

[Lord Veneficus]

Hey you guys. This is my new fan-fic. Comments and critiques would be the most welcome. Oh, and don't tell me this is cliche', as I already know that. Just give me some pointers and advice, please.
------------------------

“Praise be to Lord Vile and the blood patron, Molag,” Acerbus whispered in the darkness as he stood from the obsidian pedestal in the chapel. The glass windows were stained with the color of blood. The moonlight poured through them, casting the crimson rays all across the room, bathing him in the light. He turned and headed for the hidden trap door into his home below the chapel.

Acerbus Occisor was born an Imperial. His hair was as black as the Void itself and it fell to his wide shoulders. His eyes were of the deepest and darkest crimson, seduction and cunning flowed from them. His face was pale and very gaunt due to the lack of blood he drunk. A long, crooked scar ran diagonally down his back. Acerbus wore a tight black leather suit and a dark sapphire blue hooded cape.

He climbed down the ancient oak ladder and into the cave that surrounded him. The walls of the old place had fresh pickaxe cuts into them for more room and walking space. The amount of recruits who had joined the Esoteric Fangs had stretched the cavern to several levels below the chapel. It was an astonishing amount of vampires in one location. Over three thousand had joined the guild over a one hundred year span. But a thousand are there under the chapel, as it is the place where the guild was founded.

The guild of assassins has prospered over the span of one hundred years and now rivals the power and fear of the Dark Brotherhood presence in Cyrodiil. The Fangs have been taking most contracts from the Dark Brotherhood, almost crippling the ancient guild from under its foundations.

Acerbus nodded at the vampiric children roaming about the halls of the expansive cavern. The uppermost level of the cave was the market, with several other sections ranging from fletchers to bladesmiths and general goods to large bottles filled to the brim with human blood, ever so sweet blood. He moved towards the back wall of the top level and to the vendor sandwiched in between two larger stalls.

“Hi, Peter. What do you have with you today?” Acerbus asked with questioning eyes. The vendor, a gray headed Nord taller than his stall, stood there swaying to some music that no one but he could hear.

“I have just come back from High Rock. It seems that they have been performing illegal experiments and doing research there. I was lucky enough to steal a few books from their alchemy labs. Here have a look,” he answered politely. Acerbus could tell from the tone of Peter’s voice that he had just recently fed, as he is usually irritable after a missed feeding. Acerbus grabbed the red leather bound book and began to flip through the pages. The script it was written in was a beautiful one, curvy letters and the perfect slant of them. Acerbus immediately recognized it as a woman’s; no man could write like that.

He finished flipping through the first one and put it down. He picked another up, this one was bound in a blue cotton cover and was embedded with blood red rubies. Acerbus opened it up to the first page.

Porphyric Hemophilia: The Vampires

He began to read it. It told of the many different clans of vampires of Tamriel and their abilities and weaknesses. This was the perfect book to further increase his studies of his kin. He looked up from the book and queried, “I’ll take this one. How does twenty septims sound?”

Peter nodded and Acerbus placed the gold on the table and walked away. He moved downstairs to his room and began to drink a bottle of blood, all the while reading his newly acquired book.

EDIT: Changed seductive to seduction

This post has been edited by Lord Veneficus: Jul 7 2008, 05:57 PM

[Lord Veneficus]

Chapter Eight

“Menyandasil? That is mighty far from here,” Octavian said as he placed several welkynd stones around the cave for light. Acerbus nodded, taking a drink of bloodwine. The cavern they had just recently emptied was full of wolves and rats. Acerbus asked to keep one of the wolves alive, hoping he could tame it to being a guard dog of sorts. It was locked in a makeshift cage made of old crates and vines.

Acerbus stood up, the pain in his leg shooting through his body. He ignored it and moved to the door. The sun was shining brightly through the cracks in the wood, slightly stinging his skin. “We have to go there. I want to speak with them,” Acerbus said, his tongue sliding across his canine teeth.

He turned and went to the wolf’s cage. It began to thrash wildly about, shaking the cage and biting the crooked bars. Acerbus stuck his hand into the cage and started to scratch the wolf between its ears. Its violent movement began to slow and its clamped jaws released the bars. Acerbus muttered a calm spell while scratching its head. “Shh shh. Nothing will hurt you. You want something to eat?” He asked, knowing that the wolf would not answer back.

Acerbus reached over and grabbed a freshly skinned rat, cut a generous amount of flesh from its corpse and handed it to the wolf, which he named Fidelis. It began to rip apart the meat like a knife through scrib jelly. The wolf’s ferocity was extremely beautiful for an odd reason. He stood up and moved toward Jena, who was drawing a plan of movement to Menyandasil on her map.

They had run very far from the guild hall and were near the Imperial City. Acerbus had pointed out that Menyandasil was southeast of Cheydinhal. He put his finger on the city and said, “That will be our first stop. We’ll re-supply and get rested before we head further south.” Jena nodded and placed a small “x” on the city’s mapped gate.

Octavian had finished placing the stones around the cavern’s perimeter and had sat down in the corner of the room. It wasn’t a surprisingly large cavern. It was a small one with four separate hallways leading deeper into the cave. They had barricaded the other doors with old crates and barrels. Near the eastern corridor, a large line of dead rats laid against the wall. The wolf was closest to Jena, which was growling at her, obviously very hungry still.

Jena stood from her hunched position on the floor and gazed into Acerbus’ eyes. Acerbus couldn’t help but feel as though she were looking right through him, taking a glimpse into his soul. He felt a chill run up his spine and a strange feeling in his gut. Acerbus brought his hand up and snapped his fingers, causing Jena to blink. “You were staring at me. It was a bit odd feeling,” He said as he picked up her map and folded it into a tiny square.

“Oh, I’m sorry. We have a few hours until sunset, what are we going to do?” She asked, glancing over at the wolf. “Have you named him yet?”

Acerbus nodded and said, “Yes, I have. His name is Fidelis. We need to rest, so let’s go to bed.” He moved next to the wolf and laid down. Acerbus thought of the look that Jena had given him. He had never felt that feeling before, one of nervousness and a strange fear bubbling up inside of him. He closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.

A man was bound against a bloody stone wall, his breathing short and rapid. Fog could be seen flowing from his mouth and dissipating into the chilly air. His shirt was torn and strips of it hung from his arms, revealing many nasty cuts and bruises which bled profusely.

Then, another man slid into the room. He carried a silver dagger caked in dried blood in one hand and a club that was splintered and cracked. The man on the wall looked up, spitting a small bit of blood from his mouth. “D-don’t do this, p-please. You’re a m-monster. H-how could y-you do th-this t-to me?” The man sputtered, shaking violently.

The man who had entered answered thusly, “Simple, you are too powerful for your own good. And with that, comes your death Altor.” A purple haze shot from the man’s fingers, enveloping the restrained man. The other man glided over, dagger at the ready.

He brought the dagger up and shoved it into Altor’s neck. He screamed loudly, nearly shattering the other man’s ear drums. Then, Altor went limp.

Acerbus awoke abruptly, sweating. Fidelis was barking madly, pounding his body into the cage.

Jena was the first to awaken. “Are you okay?” She asked kindly, touching Acerbus’ shoulder. Acerbus looked at her and nodded.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. J-just a dream is all. G-go back t-to sleep,” He said, taking her hand and placing it down by her side.

“No, I won’t,” She said firmly, but in a more consoling way. “You are going to tell me what happened. I can’t go to sleep knowing that you are troubled by something, so tell me.”

Acerbus nodded and began to speak, “There was a man in a room, lit up only by a small candle in the corner…”