"Alban, I grow bored with this place. We should travel somewhere more lively." My Sire often talked about leaving Alba, but this time I knew he was serious. "Where would we go, Gunther? To Eire? Or perhaps this land of Gaul you speak so fondly of?" He paced back and forth for a few moments, and then grabbed me by the shoulders and said, "Of course! Gaul it is, my childe! But first we must make preparations. We will need thralls to guard us during the journey. Come, there is much work to be done.
We traveled to the coast of Alba, seeking out a different clan. My Sire called them Vikings, and said they had ships capable of traveling over the biggest river I had ever seen, only Gunther called it the sea. "All we need to do is convince some of them to let us on their boat, and then cover us in furs to keep us safe from the sun. Never forget that, my childe. You can never walk in the sun again, unless you intend to die. It is part of our curse, and I hope you can forgive me from taking sunlight away from you." I reached out to him. "Gunther, you may have taken the sun from me, but you have given me so much more. I always preferred to hunt at night, and now I have no choice but to continue doing so. You have my gratitude, not my ire. Let us find these Vikings, and bind them to our will."
It was not long before we found one of their encampments, and we sauntered over towards them. My Sire called out, "Hail, mighty warriors. Might I have a word?" They jumped to their feet, demanding to know who we were and how we found them. "My brother and I are simple clansfolk from nearby, and we saw your campfire burning, and want to share some meat and Mead with you." The Vikings grumbled amongst themselves for a few moments, trying to reach an agreement about how to deal with their "guests". The leader steps forwards and says, "Aye, we'll take the meat and Mead, lads. The last batch from the clan that lived here was quite displeasing. Same as the ones before them. Even the women weren't pleasing." My Sire was never one to let an opportunity escape him. "Truly? What a pity. I once knew a land where the men were proud and strong warriors, worthy foes to be slain in the name of Odin. And the women, never in my life have I had better. I fear I will never see that land again." At the mention of Odin, the Vikings all focus on Gunther. "How do you know of Odin, being a clansmen of this land?" "I was once a Viking, until one day as me and my brothers were sailing, a great storm took our ship and dashed it upon the rocks. I was favored by Odin, and washed up along the shore, barely alive. I wandered until I thought I was like to die, but my brother here, who was only a child at the time, found me and convinced his father to bring me back to his village. There they fed me and sat me down near their fire, and I thanked Odin for allowing me to live. But now it is time to leave this land, and once more bring Odin's blessings to other places. Will you allow us a place on your ship?" The Vikings once more consulted each other, and reached a decision. "Return tomorrow at dusk, with more meat and Mead. We will see." And so we did. The next night, and the night following, we returned to our Viking friends with meat and Mead, and they agreed to take us with them. "Where is this Gaul, brother? How might we find it?" Gunther smiled at the Viking leader. "Have you ever been to Brittany? It is not far south from that place, across the sea. Before we journey, my brother and I will need a few fur pelts to keep ourselves warm, and we will be staying below decks during the daylight. The sight of the waves reminds me of my brothers who dine in Odin's hall. If I spend too long gazing at the sea, I am like to throw myself overboard to join them. My brother has never been on a ship before, and finds the prospect horrifying. I will spend my time with him, and teach him the way of the Viking. At night we shall make ourselves useful, and will be glad to share drink with you, and net fish or arch birds for your meals." "Very well, we depart immediately." Several nights later, as we made our way to Gaul, I asked my Sire how he managed to sway them to our cause. "Simple, my childe. I told them they would find glory in Gaul, which is true, and the Mead we shared with them before embarking on this voyage I infused with my blood. Humans are very responsive to Vampire Blood, you see. A mere taste is enough to influence them, after drinking it for a number of days, they are mine. I could command them to slaughter one another, and they would do it. That is another lesson, my childe. There is great power in your blood. Do not be afraid to use that power."
Every night we would drink with them, and every night my Sire imbued his blood to the Vikings. True to his word, they did as he asked, and left us alone during our sleepful days, and reveled in our company at night. We arrived in Gaul, on a brisk autumn's eve, and we stole away from our Viking friends after they settled into their sleep, after one last meal. It was a long trip, and we thought they deserved one last reminder of our time together.
"So, young one. What do you think?" The question echoed through my mind as I took in the scene. I slowly scan the village, looking for potential threats, and the best meal. "The men over there, and the group opposite of them look to be the warriors. They will fight to defend their homes, but they are not like us, Sire." The past few months had been very strange, learning to dig a hole to sleep in before dawn came, rising through the dirt after dusk, or coming across a cave nestled deep within a mountain. One never knew what they'd come across in there.
"Please, Alban, call me Gunther. I wouldn't mind testing their mettle, perhaps one of them is fit to be your new brother? Would you like that? How about that wench over there by the fire, she looks delicious." He always said things like that. I would shake my head, and voice my opinion. Gunther was kind in that regard, he would ask me what I thought, but more often than not did what he wanted anyway. Which normally lined up with my ideas, but his methods were so...brazen, as if there wasn't a thing in the world he was afraid of. "Indeed, she would make a fine thrall. This clan is not as strong as mine former, I doubt they would prove worthy of your gift. Best to drain them and move on." Gunter nodded, and then clapped me on the shoulder. "Well then, shall we?"
As my Sire moved to the left side of the village, I moved over to the right. With my Eyes of the Beast, it was all too easy to keep tabs on everything happening nearby. I eagerly waited for my Sire to begin tearing into his group of humans. A cry rang out, and I knew that my first true kills were at hand. I ran into the village, grabbed a human by the throat and tore his esophagus out with my claws. I was accosted by a brute of a man wielding a bastard blade. I dove to my left as the blade came crashing down, and I pounced on top of him and shred his face to pieces. A third man broke and ran off, but I found a Seax on the corpse of the first man and sent it hurling into the craven's spine. He gave a weak moan and collapsed onto the ground. My sire had already dispensed with his dinner, so I slowly walked over to where the broken man was trying to crawl away. "You have brought shame upon yourself and your kin with your cowardice. I, Alban, condemn you to die."
I knelt down, drove my elbow into his mouth, cupped his head in my hand, and sank my teeth into his neck. I could still taste the fear as the last of his vitae flowed out of him and into me. It was...intoxicating.
My name is Ronin. As a human, I was born and raised in the lands of the Ancient Celts, not far from modern day Belfast. I had a strong, beautiful woman who bore me strong children in those days, but their names and faces are lost to me. One night, my clan sent me out for more food, and lumber for our fires. It had been a harsh winter, and our survival was in jeopardy. So I went out into the forest and hills, searching for suitable game. It was then that I saw it, a great beast the like of which I had never seen before. I crouched down behind a massive Oakwood tree and readied my spears. When I slowly crawled forward to get a better view of it, it was gone. I sat still and listened, trying to determine where it had gone. I heard a faint rustling to my right, and I turned to look.
Suddenly, there it was, standing on two legs. "What manner of beast is this, that it stands as if it were a man?" I thought to myself. But then all thoughts fled from my mind as it began to charge! I jumped up and tried to bring my spear into its path, but it bowled into me and flung my spear aside. As I sprawled on my back, trying to wrestle this monstrous creature off of me, it began to...laugh? at me. I thought myself mad, no animal can actually laugh like humans. Then, it spoke. "Yes, that's it, fight me. Do your best, pathetic human." I did as I was commanded, and managed to wrap my hand around the battered spearhead laying near my chest. I drove it into the creature's arm, and was satisfied to hear it howl in pain and surprise. "Whatever you are, I will kill you, monster!"
And then it bit me. Blood poured out my neck, and the creature greedily drank most of it. I knew I was nearly dead. "Finish it, devil. You..have bested me." Then the creature took my spear and opened the wound on his arm further with it. "No. I won't be killing you. Here, have a drink, lad." And he shoved his bleeding arm into my face, smothering me. My mouth opened out of reflex, and his blood began dripping into my mouth. The taste was tenfold sweeter than anything I had ever known, including my clan's best Mead. The more I drank, the stronger I felt. My wounds healed, and I did not as though I was close to death any longer. "What..what did you do to me!?" "I killed you. And then brought you back as one of Us." "You..killed me? Am I some sort of shade now?" "Oh don't be such a fool. You are now a Gangrel. Come, you have much to learn."
And with that, my unlife as a Gangrel began. It was one moon's turn past my 30th name day. My name was Alban.
