A chisel tapped repeatedly, providing a strangled echo in the clouds and mist blanketing the caldera. One gaunt figure hunched over the slab, and after a few more taps, the sound ceased. The figure stood, and gestured to the other three figures in the surrounding half built structure. Each figure lifted a slab, and carried the stone to a spot on the slope. Slabs were placed. In the mist and dust clouds, ethereal figures hovered and shimmered. As each slab was erected one of the ghostly figures would fade into the mist and disappear. After sometime, only one slab remained, with one shimmering apparition floating far down the slope. The slab was placed, and the final ghost started to shimmer away, just as the rest had. But in this final cloud among clouds, a crackling light appeared, and then vanished. The wind stirred, and all was silent.
“Well, that out to take care of the ghosts. Nasty things. We need to keep some of this cattle alive!”
28th HematiteThe vampire named Sarruck turns her attention to finding more food. This of course meant finding a way to keep the humans safe, those fools that came to live in this place. She looked around the piles of refuse and scattered tools, and found a pick. Then she headed down the stiaars in the cattle cabin, and once deep enough in the dirt, she began to dig.
Cattle clatter chatter pounding moving. Aware? Awake. Cold things. Other cold things, were warm things. Presence. Noise. Watching.5th MalachiteSarruck would have been tired, had she still been mortal, but the work was done. She had dug out a tunnel to the edge of hill, near where previous migrants had come and died. Hopefully she had guessed right, and future migrants would come close enough to use the bolt hole into the cabin. She turned his attention to the castle, and looking at the unfinished roof, began looking for something suitable to close the gaps.
Thoughts come together. A long sleep. Woken by others. Spirits in upheaval. Cold ones building. Waiting for warmth. Focusing of mind. Can form return?15th MalachiteSarruck was distracted from her work on the roof by a passing cloud. It seemed to ripple and weave across the land. Fitting that this cursed place would even turn the elements against those who would make a home here. A mumbling came from the cabin. She decided to take a break, and walked down the stairs, across the grass, and down into the basement under the shack. Grim was still fast asleep, or something. But he was clutching a copper sword and making soft sounds in the bed.
Thinking becomes easier with time. Other voices are inside me. Us? We? Many voices are weak. One is strong fighting others. Me is we is not I. Focus on the cold ones. They have holes inside. Space? A place to become? 4th GalenaSarruck was splitting blocks of wood. It was senseless labor, but it took her mind off the thirst. She figured that without some form of shelter for the depot, there would be no hope of keeping the blasted ravens from eating any mortals that came. So she was splitting and placing sections of wall, and eventually a roof to cover the space in front of the bridge.
Her mind was filled with disappointment. Grim still lie sleeping, even after placing an alter beside him and conducting the simple ritual. He hadn’t even shifted in his ghastly slumber.
So long living in the mist. So long without form or voice. We I will fill a hole. The walking cold ones are too solid. But when the hole is new, the window is open. The colds need warmth, but the warm ones bleed warmth to the mist.17th GalenaGecko, Sarruck and Wolf all heard the rumble long before they could see it. A caravan was approaching. They gathered in the courtyard, and all three glanced at each other, and after a moment, nodded. It was risky, but there may be no other way to get the needed cattle.
More warm ones, and a new cold one. The time may be coming. Time to fill the hole, and be once again. We will find a way back. Torn from life, we will return to unlife, join these cold things and once again have form.20th GalenaOst Lotashmuma saw the creatures on the hill, and recognized them as her own. Her trip had been a success, then. The time spent working her way into the human ranks, dealing at counters, whispering in bars, maneuvering to finally head one of the minor trade caravans. But something was off. She smelled the humans and oxen around her, but smelled nothing else living in this place.
Nudge, reach to the edge of veil. Chaos runs amok on the hills. Flying things, low, bellowing things, screams, warm blood, fast cold ones. We float down into the basement. There are warm ones here, scared, huddled, receptive. The dark carving. Urge them to touch it. Urge them to feel the stones, fell the seduction in their palms.13th LimestoneNo one was quite sure what happened. The caravan had been coming up the hill. The resident vampires had recognized Ost as one of their, and started ushering the humans into the half completed courtyard. Then ravens descended, the wagons stalled, and control was lost as the oxen frantically struggled in their harnesses. The vampires lunged into combat, ordering the humans to bring the oxen inside, or kill them, or throw them into the mouth of the volcano. No one succeeded at any of these tasks completely. Some of the oxen fell outside. One oxen was butchered, and the bits of wool and gristle shambled along the fresh tunnels under the cabin. The humans had been barricaded inside the cellar with the sleeping Grim.
A few of the humans, confused and terrified, felt an urge, almost a need to touch the dark statue by the dead man holding a copper sword, lying upon a bed. The gathered close, and reached out to the odd stone carving.
The warm ones struggle, they twist and writhe! Their bond is severed, and the window is open! Focus, concentrate, unify, dominate. Control, devour, subjugate! The window becomes a doorway! Flesh!24th LimestoneWhile the vampires finished dumping the remains, Grim had opened the door with a look of confusion of his face. The four others rushed into the shed, and immediately it was obvious something had happened. Four of the humans who had been trapped in the cabin were no longer mortal. Three looked confused, drunk, or bewildered. The fourth was looking around with eyes wide, and stepped past the mass of stunned vampires into the courtyard.