The creature might hunt us down for the effigy if we don't kill it.
A Vampire's Tale (BtVS)
- Thread starter adaira
- Start date
The creature might hunt us down for the effigy if we don't kill it.
Nobody said mercy was easy.
[x] Incapacitate the.. thing, then take the effigy. Interrogate the butcher before deciding whether or not to return the second effigy.
Quality of mercy, quality of mercy... its actually a good question... thingie doesn't look exactly sentient but did attack us, though it was stimulated by the entity. It doesn't LOOK much human and didn't show much sapiency, but we didn't really invite it to take tea with us, did we? I feel bad on immediatly assuming it is "internally hideous".
Quality of mercy, quality of mercy... its actually a good question... thingie doesn't look exactly sentient but did attack us, though it was stimulated by the entity. It doesn't LOOK much human and didn't show much sapiency, but we didn't really invite it to take tea with us, did we? I feel bad on immediatly assuming it is "internally hideous".
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Take the effigy back, kill the creature. Interrogate the butcher before deciding whether or not to return the second effigy.
- Location
- USA
Is our goal to produce an immediately good/merciful vampire? I mean, we're obviously not going for a pure evil one.
It attacked you- admittedly, with some prompting, and admittedly, you are a blood-sucking demon, but it also was wearing a bunch of human organs in its chest like a weird display case, so you figure it would be better for everyone if it died. You drag your bruised body over to it, and try hacking at it's prone form with one of the larger cleavers it had in its arms. Green blood splashes over you, staining your shirt and pants even further. These clothes are completely salvageable.. you need to pick up some new ones later. Still, this thing is insanely resilient- it's not until you accidentally discover an odd white sac hidden in its chest cavity that you make any progress in actually killing it. A good swipe punctures it and the whole monster starts dissolving into a green goop that flows down into the sewer water, tainting it green. Er, greener that it already is.
Feeling thoroughly disgusted, you snatch the effigy from its resting place, ignoring the god encouraging you to murder the butcher, and make your way back to where you entered from. Your wounds are starting to heal- you're still walking with a bit of a limp, but by the time you leave the sewers, you feel well enough to run again. Vampiric constitution- not bad. That will be extremely helpful if you end up getting in more fights like that one.. not that you want to. The more you think about it, the more you don't think your opponent was all that frightening beyond looks. Your fighting skill is still all power and no finesse. If you ever meet someone who can actually fight, you'll probably go down like a chump.
Eventually you make your way back to the butcher's house. He greets you at the back door, keeping safe behind the invisible entryway blocking your path. He looks surprised when he answers the door.
"Well I'll be damned, you went and did it."
"Yes," you say. "I did." You feel a bit irked at him. He didn't tell you anything about what you were going to face down there- and he must've known. Did he send you there to die? "There was a.. creature there. Venerating the same god you do."
"Logvoz demon," he explains. "Steals the organs of humans- lucky that one didn't think to steal some brains. Doubt you'd have been able to manage otherwise."
You hold the anger from your voice, trying to figure out more about what he was thinking. "You didn't think that information was relevant?"
"You didn't ask.." Your hand clenches involuntarily around the effigy in your hands. "Ah hey, careful with the effigy there." He sighs. "Alright, fine, I didn't really care which of you died. One less vampire or demon at the end of the day- pretty good deal for a regular human like me."
So it comes back to being a vampire. Despite the fact that you have done nothing morally objectionable in front of this man, he's automatically decided you must be evil. Is that fair, you wonder? No, of course not. Maybe if you'd met other vampires for reference you'd feel differently, but mostly you just feel angry. "And that has nothing to do with the fact that Ol' Hashie was intending for the Lego demon-"
"Logvoz demon," he corrects.
"-right, Logvoz demon to kill you and take your place?"
He scratches his chin, murmuring softly. "Huh, so you talked to Ol' Hashie.." He pointedly stares at you. "Let me guess, he made you an offer to kill me as well?"
You decide to be honest. "..Yes, he did," you say.
He gives a guttural laugh. "Hah! Well, that doesn't really make me feel any better or worse- I've been assuming you're playing some kind of long game to kill me, anyway."
You frown in consternation, constantly annoyed you have to reiterate this point. "I have no intention of killing you. I just want to understand. Ol' Hashie said you were recently becoming lax in your worship- that that's why he was sending an assassin after you."
"Heh, recently. By recently he means about 18 years ago- that's when I slaughtered and butchered the entire Cult of Hashbet. Right happy about it he was, a veritable orgy of butchery- but I didn't keep it up after that, just animal sacrifices here and there. Ever since then he's been sending people to off me every so often. He doesn't revoke his blessings once given, except for death. I keep him chained and weakened. I bet he sounded dull and slow to you, but he didn't used to be that way," he says seriously.
You feel a bit of your anger ebb. Assuming he's telling the truth, he's actually quite a remarkable man. He's not just a cultist reaping the rewards of his faith- he's under constant vigilance trying to make Sunnydale a safer place in his own way. Your attitude becomes a bit friendlier as you ask, "..So what do you need the effigy for?"
"Me? Nothing, just don't want it in anyone else's hands. I'll destroy it as soon as you hand it over. Someone else will make a new one eventually, I'm sure, but there's no reason to give them a head start. So, about that effigy.."
What to do?
[] Return the effigy.
[] Don't return the effigy.
[] Something else?
Feeling thoroughly disgusted, you snatch the effigy from its resting place, ignoring the god encouraging you to murder the butcher, and make your way back to where you entered from. Your wounds are starting to heal- you're still walking with a bit of a limp, but by the time you leave the sewers, you feel well enough to run again. Vampiric constitution- not bad. That will be extremely helpful if you end up getting in more fights like that one.. not that you want to. The more you think about it, the more you don't think your opponent was all that frightening beyond looks. Your fighting skill is still all power and no finesse. If you ever meet someone who can actually fight, you'll probably go down like a chump.
Eventually you make your way back to the butcher's house. He greets you at the back door, keeping safe behind the invisible entryway blocking your path. He looks surprised when he answers the door.
"Well I'll be damned, you went and did it."
"Yes," you say. "I did." You feel a bit irked at him. He didn't tell you anything about what you were going to face down there- and he must've known. Did he send you there to die? "There was a.. creature there. Venerating the same god you do."
"Logvoz demon," he explains. "Steals the organs of humans- lucky that one didn't think to steal some brains. Doubt you'd have been able to manage otherwise."
You hold the anger from your voice, trying to figure out more about what he was thinking. "You didn't think that information was relevant?"
"You didn't ask.." Your hand clenches involuntarily around the effigy in your hands. "Ah hey, careful with the effigy there." He sighs. "Alright, fine, I didn't really care which of you died. One less vampire or demon at the end of the day- pretty good deal for a regular human like me."
So it comes back to being a vampire. Despite the fact that you have done nothing morally objectionable in front of this man, he's automatically decided you must be evil. Is that fair, you wonder? No, of course not. Maybe if you'd met other vampires for reference you'd feel differently, but mostly you just feel angry. "And that has nothing to do with the fact that Ol' Hashie was intending for the Lego demon-"
"Logvoz demon," he corrects.
"-right, Logvoz demon to kill you and take your place?"
He scratches his chin, murmuring softly. "Huh, so you talked to Ol' Hashie.." He pointedly stares at you. "Let me guess, he made you an offer to kill me as well?"
You decide to be honest. "..Yes, he did," you say.
He gives a guttural laugh. "Hah! Well, that doesn't really make me feel any better or worse- I've been assuming you're playing some kind of long game to kill me, anyway."
You frown in consternation, constantly annoyed you have to reiterate this point. "I have no intention of killing you. I just want to understand. Ol' Hashie said you were recently becoming lax in your worship- that that's why he was sending an assassin after you."
"Heh, recently. By recently he means about 18 years ago- that's when I slaughtered and butchered the entire Cult of Hashbet. Right happy about it he was, a veritable orgy of butchery- but I didn't keep it up after that, just animal sacrifices here and there. Ever since then he's been sending people to off me every so often. He doesn't revoke his blessings once given, except for death. I keep him chained and weakened. I bet he sounded dull and slow to you, but he didn't used to be that way," he says seriously.
You feel a bit of your anger ebb. Assuming he's telling the truth, he's actually quite a remarkable man. He's not just a cultist reaping the rewards of his faith- he's under constant vigilance trying to make Sunnydale a safer place in his own way. Your attitude becomes a bit friendlier as you ask, "..So what do you need the effigy for?"
"Me? Nothing, just don't want it in anyone else's hands. I'll destroy it as soon as you hand it over. Someone else will make a new one eventually, I'm sure, but there's no reason to give them a head start. So, about that effigy.."
What to do?
[] Return the effigy.
[] Don't return the effigy.
[] Something else?
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Return the effigy.
-[X] So about the blood... I really am looking to make a deal here, some kind of trade we can work out long term.
-[X] So about the blood... I really am looking to make a deal here, some kind of trade we can work out long term.
[X] Return the effigy.
-[X] You seem to know more about vampires than I do. Could you throw in some knowledge along with the blood? Really don't know what I'm doing here.
-[X] You seem to know more about vampires than I do. Could you throw in some knowledge along with the blood? Really don't know what I'm doing here.
So I have an in-universe theory about what's going on here.
In a conventional Buffy universe vampire, a corpse is inhabited by an evil spirit that has sort of an evil anti-conscience but no real mind of its own or desires other than a desire for blood. It pulls on the memories of the corpse for its personality and abilities, though guided by a desire for destruction.
But it appears that something has gone wrong, and the usual vampiric spirit has been supplanted by a spirit far stranger that "intercepted" the call and is calling the shots on this new vampire's morality. Or in other words, Congratulations Sufficient Velocity, You Are the Demonic Spirit Inhabiting This Corpse.
Huh, the blood and sunlight seem like physical parts of the vampiric condition, but I wonder if we could be immune to holy symbols just by deciding we're immune to holy symbols.
In a conventional Buffy universe vampire, a corpse is inhabited by an evil spirit that has sort of an evil anti-conscience but no real mind of its own or desires other than a desire for blood. It pulls on the memories of the corpse for its personality and abilities, though guided by a desire for destruction.
But it appears that something has gone wrong, and the usual vampiric spirit has been supplanted by a spirit far stranger that "intercepted" the call and is calling the shots on this new vampire's morality. Or in other words, Congratulations Sufficient Velocity, You Are the Demonic Spirit Inhabiting This Corpse.
Huh, the blood and sunlight seem like physical parts of the vampiric condition, but I wonder if we could be immune to holy symbols just by deciding we're immune to holy symbols.
[X] Return the effigy.
-[X] So about the blood... I really am looking to make a deal here, some kind of trade we can work out long term.
The butcher seems to be trying to indirectly kill Sara, so asking him for important information is just an opportunity for him to misguide her.
Sara woke up in her grave acting and feeling like her human self and seems mostly unaware of anything vampiric. Spike and Holden talk about how powerful they feel after turning, and Sara doesn't seem to feel like that at all. She always seems surprised by her abilities and unsure of just how powerful she is now.
-[X] So about the blood... I really am looking to make a deal here, some kind of trade we can work out long term.
The butcher seems to be trying to indirectly kill Sara, so asking him for important information is just an opportunity for him to misguide her.
Sara woke up in her grave acting and feeling like her human self and seems mostly unaware of anything vampiric. Spike and Holden talk about how powerful they feel after turning, and Sara doesn't seem to feel like that at all. She always seems surprised by her abilities and unsure of just how powerful she is now.
Holden on turning into a vampire in 7.07 Conversations with Dead People said:
Spike on turning into a vampire in 5.07 Fool for Love said:
10
You toss the effigy over to him, and he catches it deftly and starts inspecting it. There's a brief moment where you're nervous he'll tell you to get bent now that he has what he wants- but then, he nods and says to you, "Well, a deal's a deal. Wait here a bit, I'll be right back." He disappears deeper into the house. You can feel the blood drying on your clothes- yep, these are done for. It doesn't take too long before he reappears with a plastic wrapped package of very dark red blood.
He's about to toss it to you when he asks you, "So.. what do you want pig's blood for, anyway?"
You raise an eyebrow at him, a bit surprised he hadn't already figured it out. "Uh, drinking it? Vampire, remember?"
"Really? Never heard of a vampire drinking animal blood before.." he replies, scratching his chin thoughtfully. He really didn't know?
"What did you think I needed it for?"
"There's a lot of uses for this kind of thing, you know. But, hmm.. really. That is a pretty good excuse.. even paints you in a pretty good light. You're a crafty one," he compliments, not really complimenting you at all.
A bit tired of this back and forth being repeated, you still feel the need to defend yourself. "It's not an excuse."
He chuckles. "Crazy as it is, I almost believe you."
You raise your sleeve as a bit of dried viscera flops off onto the pavement below and look at it with a grimace. "..Can I have some clothes, too?"
He shrugs. "Sure, why not? If I don't you'll likely just steal some from some other poor bastard. Not likely to have much in your size, though." Again, he disappears back into the house then reappears with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that you are very sure do not fit you by several sizes.. but, beggars can't be choosers, right? He tosses them over to you, along with the blood.
"Here."
"Thanks- and look, I'm telling the truth." You bite into a corner of the plastic wrap and start greedily sucking in its contents.
It's still a bit gross, but you find yourself getting used to it. After drinking your fill, you feel invigorated. The wounds from your fight with the demon completely disappear, and you feel in top shape.
"Looks like you still have plenty if you want to use it for something else, though," he points out.
You heave a heavy sigh. "..Okay, fine. I can tell that literally nothing I say or do will let you trust me. But we can obviously still work together- you keep getting animal blood for me, and I- well, if you have anything else you need, I'll see what I can do about it. As long as it's nothing shady or impossible. Does that work for you?"
He thinks about it for a moment. "Hmm.. well, alright. How about you come around, let's say.. next Sunday. I can have some more for you by then. Try not to kill anybody before then." Today is.. you have no idea what day it is, but you'll find out later. Presumably it's not that far away.
"I won't. And thanks. By the way, if we're going to be working together, we should know each other's names, right? I'm Sara."
"..Arthur." He hesitates a bit before replying, leaving you to wonder if that's actually his name, before deciding it doesn't really matter.
"See you later, Arthur."
He closes the door without a goodbye, leaving you a bit miffed, but you shake it off. You change into your new over sized clothes barely holding themselves on and think about your next move.
The sun should be rising within the hour, not leaving you a whole lot of time to figure out a place to stay for the night. The first place you think of is the place you rose- as far as you know, it's safe, since you've already spent the night there once. But you know there's another graveyard closer to your current position that you could go to as well. There's also the sewers- very dangerous, but it might be helpful to start memorizing as much of it as you can so that you can travel around Sunnydale during the day more easily. You could also search for an unoccupied building to squat in, but that would depend entirely on your luck. Presumably any building you can actually enter without permission would be a safe-ish building to stay in. There's your old apartment, but you don't know if it's already been moved into by somebody else. You could also visit your parents house.. it wouldn't be hard to get them to invite you in, but would happen after that? You're afraid.
Where to go?
[] Back to the graveyard you rose at.
[] The graveyard closer to where you are.
[] To the sewers.
[] Search for an unoccupied building.
[] To your old apartment.
[] To your parents' house.
[] Something else?
He's about to toss it to you when he asks you, "So.. what do you want pig's blood for, anyway?"
You raise an eyebrow at him, a bit surprised he hadn't already figured it out. "Uh, drinking it? Vampire, remember?"
"Really? Never heard of a vampire drinking animal blood before.." he replies, scratching his chin thoughtfully. He really didn't know?
"What did you think I needed it for?"
"There's a lot of uses for this kind of thing, you know. But, hmm.. really. That is a pretty good excuse.. even paints you in a pretty good light. You're a crafty one," he compliments, not really complimenting you at all.
A bit tired of this back and forth being repeated, you still feel the need to defend yourself. "It's not an excuse."
He chuckles. "Crazy as it is, I almost believe you."
You raise your sleeve as a bit of dried viscera flops off onto the pavement below and look at it with a grimace. "..Can I have some clothes, too?"
He shrugs. "Sure, why not? If I don't you'll likely just steal some from some other poor bastard. Not likely to have much in your size, though." Again, he disappears back into the house then reappears with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that you are very sure do not fit you by several sizes.. but, beggars can't be choosers, right? He tosses them over to you, along with the blood.
"Here."
"Thanks- and look, I'm telling the truth." You bite into a corner of the plastic wrap and start greedily sucking in its contents.
It's still a bit gross, but you find yourself getting used to it. After drinking your fill, you feel invigorated. The wounds from your fight with the demon completely disappear, and you feel in top shape.
"Looks like you still have plenty if you want to use it for something else, though," he points out.
You heave a heavy sigh. "..Okay, fine. I can tell that literally nothing I say or do will let you trust me. But we can obviously still work together- you keep getting animal blood for me, and I- well, if you have anything else you need, I'll see what I can do about it. As long as it's nothing shady or impossible. Does that work for you?"
He thinks about it for a moment. "Hmm.. well, alright. How about you come around, let's say.. next Sunday. I can have some more for you by then. Try not to kill anybody before then." Today is.. you have no idea what day it is, but you'll find out later. Presumably it's not that far away.
"I won't. And thanks. By the way, if we're going to be working together, we should know each other's names, right? I'm Sara."
"..Arthur." He hesitates a bit before replying, leaving you to wonder if that's actually his name, before deciding it doesn't really matter.
"See you later, Arthur."
He closes the door without a goodbye, leaving you a bit miffed, but you shake it off. You change into your new over sized clothes barely holding themselves on and think about your next move.
The sun should be rising within the hour, not leaving you a whole lot of time to figure out a place to stay for the night. The first place you think of is the place you rose- as far as you know, it's safe, since you've already spent the night there once. But you know there's another graveyard closer to your current position that you could go to as well. There's also the sewers- very dangerous, but it might be helpful to start memorizing as much of it as you can so that you can travel around Sunnydale during the day more easily. You could also search for an unoccupied building to squat in, but that would depend entirely on your luck. Presumably any building you can actually enter without permission would be a safe-ish building to stay in. There's your old apartment, but you don't know if it's already been moved into by somebody else. You could also visit your parents house.. it wouldn't be hard to get them to invite you in, but would happen after that? You're afraid.
Where to go?
[] Back to the graveyard you rose at.
[] The graveyard closer to where you are.
[] To the sewers.
[] Search for an unoccupied building.
[] To your old apartment.
[] To your parents' house.
[] Something else?
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] To your old apartment.
We can see if there's any money or clothes left there at least.
We can see if there's any money or clothes left there at least.
[X] To your parents' house.
You know what, fuck it. Maybe our parents know about vampires and will try to stake us. Maybe we'll bring down something horrible on our heads. Maybe our parents are evil and got us vampirized.
Maybe... maybe... maybe.... (insert all the reasons this is a bad idea) But fuck it, sometimes you have to roll the Hard Six.
Let's do it and be legends!
You know what, fuck it. Maybe our parents know about vampires and will try to stake us. Maybe we'll bring down something horrible on our heads. Maybe our parents are evil and got us vampirized.
Maybe... maybe... maybe.... (insert all the reasons this is a bad idea) But fuck it, sometimes you have to roll the Hard Six.
Let's do it and be legends!
- Location
- va
[X] Search for an unoccupied building.