"Fair enough." You announce while locking eyes with Greg.
"I respect your choice. I will still consider myself a Spiker if you will have me. I hope that I can find many ways to aid you, and you me."Greg smiles grimly. "Fair enough indeed. I've done plenty of strange things, but never dreamed allying with a vampire would be one of them."
You reach up high to pat the tall man on the shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'm sure we will both be quite happy with the arrangement. Now then, I'll be taking Spot back to my place to be properly turned."
The leader of the Spikers turns to his adoptive daughter and nods before locking eyes with you. "How long will the process take? I'm going to need her help with the tank sooner rather than later."
"It takes a vampire decades, or even centuries, to reach her full potential, but the actual process of being turned and recovering for the ordeal will take something between a few hours and a few days." Your words seem to unerve Spot so you reasureingly ruffle her oily red hair.
"I've received extensive training in the art of writing and executing blood pacts. You will be fine."
The pair of you leave Greg after a tearful goodbye and ask around the Spiker camp until you get directions to Goaltender's place. Firing up your hover-cart you set course for your apartment. As you drive Spot lectures you on how impractical your vehicle is, especially for a vampire.
"What you... er we need is one of those pre-space age container trucks. With the right trailer you could discretely haul minions, bodies, weapons, or whatever else we need."
You shake your head.
"First a tank and now a truck? You sure like retro-tech. Where do you intend to get one aboard a colony ship in the middle of deep space?"Spot offers a wide smile. "Greg actually has an advanced education in vehicular archeology. I pick it up from him. The
Duskbolt is an old ship, and the domed city we are in is even older than the rest of it, having served as part of a research station. This place is a treasure trove for mechanical parts, both ancient and modern."
You enter the convenience store, drawing a knowing glance from the clerk as you board the elevator to your apartment. Once inside you leave Spot in the care of the Handmaidens.
"These nice ladies will teach you the basic ins and outs of being a vampire. I'm going to a meeting, and then I'll be back to write up a blood pact and turn you. If you require mortal food, just take the elevator up to the convenience store."Entering your office you call for the Eunuchs.
"Listen up you nut-less wretches. I'm going to meet somebody, and I think it could be some sort of trap, so I am dragging you lot around for protection. Are you four any good in a fight?"
The largest of the eunuchs speaks up in a high squeaky voice. "I am a veteran of both the War of Ratline Genocide and the recent Blushface-Dredswarm bloodfeuds. I mean no disrespect, but at this point in time I reckon I'm more than a match for you mistress. The others were turned by that spawner you have in hibernation several weeks ago, but I bet they could each take a handful of mortals."
"Good enough." Being protected by ratline dose your pride no favors, but if Goaltender truly is living with a Dredswarm you would need any help you could get. You already feel stronger, more agile, and attuned to your new body than you did while being jumped into the Spikers, however the Dredswarm are a warlike bloodline and even the lowly fourth generation bugs are swift, powerful, and well trained in both natural and material weapons.
The five of you squeeze into your tiny hovercart: The fit is so tight you barely have room to work the controls. After about 3 minutes of piloting you reach the area where Goaltender is said to reside. Knowing only the street on which he lives you and your servants exit the vehicle and begin to search for signs of Dredswarm of Spiker activity. Before long the large Eunuch picks up the scent of Dredswarm and leads you to an abandoned looking small industrial warehouse.
You find the door unlocked, and upon entering, the workfloor mostly empty. In the center of the single massive room sit two figures sitting around a makeshift workbench, assembling what appear to be grenades. One of the two is an average sized unaltered mortal wearing Spiker colors. Next to him is the towering seven foot form of a Dredswarm.
"4th generation." Whispers the Eunuch in you ear as he points to the Dredswarm. "You can't see them, but I smell at least three Locust-Mastiffs around here."
You nod sternly. You could have figured out the bug's generation on your own by virtue of your training in all matters vampire, but the Demonic Mutant Dogs would have taken you by surprise.
At this point the human, who you can only assume to be Goaltender, turns and notices you. "Oh hi again. I figured you might be stopping by. My brother said that if you truly were a vampire progenitor you would not let me just walk away with knowledge of your bloodline weaknesses..."
He apprehensively grabs a grenade from the pile and grips the pin. "I don't think you want to attack me here. One wrong move and we all blow up."
Potential Goals/Tasks:Urgent:
-You are in a tense confrontation with a human who claims to know your weaknesses, his Dredswarm 'brother', and possibly some mutant monster dogs
Semi-Urgent
-The Ratline you drained is not going to recover without a mortal to bleed dry
-If the other factions are building up numbers, you may want to start turning mortals sooner rather than later...
-A progenitor such as yourself requires a meal everyday. It is never to early to line up the next victim.
-You are not sure if that shopkeeper is to be trusted... perhaps you should have him turned or killed...
-You know a Dredswarm lives at a Satellite Spikers camp
Non-Urgent
-You know most of the Blushface that lived on Earth IIV. If you can track down where they are staying on board you can reunite with old friends and potential allies
-If you can find the Railbone, and the means to pay them, you may be able to hire them before somebody else dose
-The Dredswarm are not to be trusted. Tacking them down and keeping an eye on them would not be a bad idea
Inventory:On Hand:
Revealing Spiker's Outfit: x1 (Worn)
Wallet: x1
-Shop Key
-Elevator Key
-Hovercart Starterchip
-Debit Card (
Credits)
Jetblack Hovercart: x1 (Driven)
At Apartment:
Office Terminal: x1 (Fully stocked with office supplies)
Sleeping Bags: x20
Wardrobe: x1 (Stocked with many outfits)
Gallon Jug of Holy Water: x10 (Used to harm Railbone or Ratline Vampires)
Silver Spike: x10 (Used to harm Vampires of your Bloodline, or the Dredswarm)
Snakeskin Whip: x2 (Used to harm Blushface vampires)
Empty Casket: x3 (Used to put Vampires into hibernation)
Laser Defense System: x1 (Disarmed)
Factions/Bloodlines:Unnamed Bloodline:
Leader: Countessa Camilla Von Nekratos (You!)
Holdings: See Other Tabs
Description: This bloodline reproduces via blood pact. Members of this bloodline are supernaturally persuasive towards mortals, and can steal the living form of a corpse. Members of this bloodline can be destroyed in a matter of seconds by burning sanctified oils, and suffer from the all to common Vamperic aversion to silver.
Bloodline Railbone:
Leader: Unknown
Relationship: Tense
Holdings: Unknown
Description: The Railbone are a bloodline of Vampires that originated on a small colony of the New Spartan Empire. The Railbone are deceivingly thin and scrawny looking, but are strong enough to wear power armor and wily enough to cast dark magic. The upper echelons of Railbone society behave like a traditional vampire cult, however the lower ranked and impure of blood are organized like an army. The Railbone are more interested in material wealth than they are in power among vampires, so they often lend themselves out as mercenaries in inter-bloodline conflicts.
Bloodline Dredswarm:
Leader: Unknown
Relationship: Tense
Holdings: Unknown
Description: The Dredswarm are a brutal race of vampires that originated on a highly irradiated doomed human colony. The resemble insects more than they do humans and have great agility and natural weapons. Despite the implications of it's name Dredswarm society is poorly organized, they band together to fight other bloodlines and important leaders may retain a small entourage of guards, but other than that the Dredswarm tend to be loners. The Dredswarm are highly aggressive, and will wage war against any human or vampire faction with little provocation.
Bloodline Blushface:
Leader: Unknown
Relationship: Friendly
Holdings: Unknown
Description: The blushface were originally a human supremacist faction on a multi-racial planet who embraced Vampireism to gain the upper hand in a war of ethnic cleansing. The Blushface are unnaturally adorable, with large round eyes, smooth faces, and braided blonde hair. They have the ability to turn into cute creatures such as puppies, ducklings, and rabbits. Blushface leaders appear as small children, but are more naturally drawn to acts of wickedness than almost any other specimen of vampire. The Blushface prefer subterfuge, sabotage, and propaganda over combat when dealing with their enemies. You were groomed to be a leader of this bloodline, and know alot of it's members.
The Spikers:
Leaders: Greg (Supreme Leader), Spot (Head Mechanic)
Relationship: Allied
Holdings: 1 Ball Court Camp, 1 Tank, About 30ish human members
Description: A human criminal gang, their colors are purple and red. Most of their members are young, in their teens or early twenties. You are accepted as a member of this group.
Locations:Posh Basement Apartment: The ancient and long severing colony ship Duskbolt is generally considered a space-faring slum. Under orders of the Dark God however, the other Bloodlines saw to it that you received one of the few nice pieces of real estate aboard. The apartment contains personal quarters, servant's quarters, a full service kitchen, 3 bathrooms, a heavily shielded panic room, a large meeting room, and an personal direct elevator to a rundown general store on the street level deck. The apartment is located just above the star-ships engine block, so it is well heated and has no windows to let in the pesky light of nearby stars.
Slums of Duskbolt: Mortal colonists and crew bolt through narrow passages and poorly maintained streets. Seedy and outright criminal businesses operate here. The fact that the general population area is covered by a large transparent dome means that should you ever develop a weakness to sunlight the slums could be dangerous should the Duskbolt visit a star-system for a gravity push.
Cosmoball Court: A run down area orignaly intended for sports and recreation. It is now home to the human gang known as the Spikers. It's only defenses are a chain link fence with several guards at the gate. It is capable of housing up to 40 individuals comfortably, and is currently near that limit.
Minions:Ratline Handmaiden: 15% Health
Ratline Handmaiden x3: 100% Health
Ratline Eunuch x4: 100% Health
(Ratline servants are 4 generations separated from their long dead progenitor, and thus incapable of infecting mortals. They are instinctively drawn to tend to the physical, mental, spiritual, and supernatural needs of more power vampires such as yourself. The only wage they ask is the opportunity to die in your service.)
Ratline Spawner: 50% Health (In Hibernation)
(The Ratline were all but destroyed in part because of their vermin like breeding habits, any human a 3rd or lower generation Ratline so much as laid fangs on was quickly turned. 3rd generation breeders such as this one are a rare and finite resource, as all 1st and 2nd generation Ratline were killed. Awaken this wretched creature if you need more humble and expendable slaves created, but be prepared to handle a population explosion should he get out of control)