No way. There is no way this was happening. I fought with everything I had, but every kick, every heartbeat only weakened me further. There's no fucking way they'd let a player be turned into a vampire. I’d die normally and respawn back at my last checkpoint: the jail cell.
Right?
The Spear fell from my nerveless hands as a warm, velvety, dizzying darkness crawled in from the edges of my vision. The last thing I saw was Violetta, watching me with haunted, terrified, excited eyes.
Chapter 50
When I came to, I was sitting in the kitchen of my grandparent's condo.
The sun streamed in through the windows, barred light and shadow falling across the linoleum. My grandmother was moving around the kitchen; my grandfather was singing to himself somewhere back in the house. Their cats drowsed on the tall cat tree in the living room, while my school backpack lay next to my bar stool next to me on the floor. Everything seemed to stand out in supernaturally sharp relief: the threads on the placemat in front of me, the mingled smells of steaming rice and cooking meat. There were already banchan laid out on the counter, melamine bowls brimming with vegetables and pickled side-dishes. They smelled sweet and spicy and delicious.
"You're early today, Hector." Grandma bustled over and set down a bowl of my favorite kim-chi, bright green garlic shoots covered in red pepper paste and oil. She laid a set of serving chopsticks and a spoon down on the tray beside it. "I haven't even finished cooking yet."
"Yeah. I'm sorry." I picked some vegetables out of the serving bowl and dropped them into mine. "I just didn't know where else to go."
"You know you're always welcome to visit." She turned her head and smiled. I couldn't see her face properly; the light seemed to blur out her features. "But you can't stay here today. You need to go back to your family."
I paused with a bite of food halfway to my mouth.
"You have a long time to live. Perhaps longer than any human being ever has." Grandma set her spatula down on the edge of the sizzling pan, resting her hands on the counter. "One day, you'll see us again... but for now, you must go back."
"Back?" A cloud passed over the sun outside, and the shadows of the blinds turned chilly as the temperature around me dropped. 'Back'. That wasn't a good word. "But I want to stay here."
"I know." She left the spatula in the pan - something she would never do - and came around the counter to lay her hand on my shoulder. Even this close, I could tell she was smiling, but I couldn't see her face. "Go back out there, and live. We love you... we'll be here rooting for you, okay?"
The mouth-watering smells of the kitchen faded, replaced by nothingness. Cold, dark nothingness… not even a memory.
I opened my eyes and almost gasped in a lungful of sand.
Holy fuck. I was buried alive? There was a brief moment of panic, until I realized that I didn’t have to breathe – yet, anyway. The urge was there, but it was building very slowly. My chest and muscles were dense and cold as wet clay. What had happened to me? Where the hell was I?
And for that matter, who the hell was I?
Clenching my teeth, I focused on getting my hands to move. One finger twitched, then two… and after some effort, I was able to lift my arm and shift around. The sand only covered me up to my face – there was a gap of empty space above, between me and the arched lid of my prison. I leaned up to finally take a breath of dusty air. Ring-shaped notifications were blinking in the corner of my eye. When I thought about them, holographic windows jumped up. That spurred my memory a little. One of the options I had was 'Character Log', so I went and had a look at that to see if I could figure out who I was and what had happened.
[You have died!]
[You have contracted Haemostigma!]
[You are immune to corruption.]
[Rin Lu has died!]
[You are immune to Corruption.]
[You are immune to Corruption.]
[You are immune to Corruption.]
[Rin Lu has died!]
[New Character Template applied: Nasaku Halfblood]
…
“All I wanted to know is if I’m immune to Corruption. Am I or aren’t I?” I choked a small, nervous laugh at my shitty joke. Who the hell was ‘Rin Lu’? And why were they apparently incapable of staying alive for longer than five minutes?
I searched the name and found her listed in my Friend's List. Whoever I was, I was apparently pretty unpopular, because my mysterious and mortally-challenged friend was the only one there. I tried selecting the option to P.M her.
[You are incarcerated. Private messages are currently disabled.]
[We have detected that you may be experiencing some issues with your character data. Would you like to check for problems?]
Archemi. That felt familiar. I jumped a little as the message played, but then found myself nodding. "Uhh... sure."
[Okay! Hold on just a second while I run the troubleshooter.]
Troubleshooter? I lay back in my giant kitty litter box and waited as a diagnostic bar filled. It glowed, but the glow didn't illuminate the darkness.
[I'm sorry, Hector, but it seems I can't find the character information I was looking for. Please save your progress, exit the game, and contact our Help and Support line.]
[We have detected that you may be experiencing difficulties beyond a normal gaming experience. P.Ms have been temporarily re-enabled.]
“Okay… I have a name and a connection. Awesome. Let’s try this again.” I dismissed the notification and tried Rin a second time.
"OH MY GOD! HECTOR! THANK GOODNESS!" No sooner had I connected than a musical voice blared into my ears. "You're alive? Are you okay? Where are you?"
"Woah, that’s loud." I groaned and rubbed my face. The skin was cold, a little rubbery. "Yeah, I'm alive and okay - I think. I don't know where I am. I... uhh... actually don't remember anything, and I'm hoping I don't owe you money or anything because I might need some help."
“Anything? About the Prezyemi Line, or the quest or…?”
“Everything. I just figured out that my name is ‘Hector’.”
"Terminal amnesia?" She gasped. "Oh no. That's not good."
"I'm okay," I repeated stubbornly. "I just need some help."
"Umm, ummm... Let me go find Karalti! She's frantic over you right now and said she walled her mind off from yours because whatever was happening was making her go insane, but now you're awake she can probably find you and teleport to you? Oh, wait, know… you have to have a logged location marker for her to do that. UMMM…"
I had no idea who Karalti was, but nodded - then immediately regretted it when I banged my nose on the inside of my concrete porta-potty. "This uh... Karalti should hold onto her britches instead of jumping in. I'm in a pretty small box right now, and it's definitely not big enough for two people. Besides, I’m not entirely sure who you’re talking about, or even if you’re really my friend. No offense."
There was a pause. "You... really don't remember anything? Not even Karalti? What about Suri?"
The name caused a faint dull throb somewhere inside me, like someone poking a nearly-healed psychic bruise. "It rings a bell, but I couldn't put a face to the name, sorry."
"OMG. This is terrible." Rin somehow managed to say the acronym. "Okay- whatever happens, keep updating me and Karalti on your situation."
"Sure. No hurry." There was a boom and a bang not too far from where I lay. "Okay. Maybe little hurry."
"You said you're in a box? Like a coffin box or a cell box?"
"I'm thinking coffin." There were people walking toward this end of the room. "Room outside sounds big and echoey. By the way, are you okay? You died like... five times in half an hour."
"Me? Oh, I'm alright! I stepped up to help fight at Krivan Pass and got killed a few times. Okay, look: you know what an undead is, right? Zombies, vampires, ghosts. Do you know what those are?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. If you see any walking dead, be really, really careful. You’re probably in
enemy territory. You should check your character sheet to see if that jogs your memory, maybe."
"Sure. Hey, I got a pop-up before saying I should log out and talk to a Mod about this memory loss thing. Do you know how I can do that? Maybe they can help."
"Hector, we… " Rin trailed off. "I.. umm… Let me get Karalti."
She hung up on me. With a sigh, I closed the window and went deeper into the Character Log. There was a Journal with a High Priority alert and one entry: ‘IF YOU DIE AND FORGET YOUR SHIT, READ THIS LIKE A MAN.’
“Okay. At least I know past-me was smart.” I opened it up and let the voice log entry play.
“Greetings, my future amnesiac self. It’s me, Past-Hector,” my own voice said cheerfully. “We’ve at war, where the risk of needing to die and respawn is pretty high, but we’ve had a problem with dying and forgetting shit. This is a brief summary of everything that’s happened in the last month or so. I suggest you pause this here, go look at your character sheet, then come back. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. For you. I mean… me.”
Knowing I’d prepared for this eventuality was a hell of a relief. Feeling steadier, I surfed over to the Character Sheet tab. "Let's see here. Dragozin Hector, Tuun male, Level 21, Dark Dragoon... Nasaku Half-Blood Shadowlord? Dude, I’m edgy as fuck. No wonder I only have one friend."
I scrolled through the rest of the sheet, looking over my abilities and skills. There were a lot of things related to dragons, so that was clearly a big part of my life somehow. Underneath all of that was information on the Nasaku Halfblood part of things.
Vampire Halfblood (Nasaku)
Vampires of all types reproduce by infecting their intended thralls with Hemostigma, a disease which reanimates a corpse with Negative Energy and causes them to rise as new vampires. But every now and then, things do not go as planned - the victim resists the infection and becomes something else - a half-vampire, half-mortal being with some of the hungers, powers and abilities of a Vampiric linage, but also some of the weaknesses. These abilities stack with any other existing mutations you possess. Vampires loathe halfbloods and will hunt any known half-vampires relentlessly, not least because they can inoculate potential victims by sharing their blood with them.
The Nasaku are a vampire lineage exclusive to the living dead realm of Napath. See the Nasaku Bloodline sub-heading for special features.
All Vampire Halfbloods possesses the following features:
Acquired immunity to Hemostigma.
Inoculation: You can inoculate other humanoids against contracting vampirism with your blood.
Vampiric toxicity: Your blood and flesh are toxic to vampires, causing their tissues to rot and slough away. If a vampire attempts to drain your blood, they will take substantial Necrotic damage that cannot be regenerated.
Deathly Facade: You outwardly resemble a vampire of your bloodline, detect as Undead, and may gain advantages or disadvantages to Renown-based checks depending on the faction you are interacting with. You may slow your heart rate and your breathing to inhuman levels, multiplying your ability to hold your breath in airless environments. However, you are not Undead: you are still a living mortal, and while you now age more slowly than a normal human, you must still breathe, eat and drink, keep your vital organs functioning, etc.
Immune to Stranging: You can no longer be Stranged through contact with mana.
Regeneration: like a vampire, you are able to regenerate wounds that would kill a normal human. When injured by normal weapons or obstacles, you regain 2 HP per second. Damage from silver weapons, Fire magic or weapons, or Dark or Light-elemental weapons is not regenerated.
Allergic to Silver: Contact with Silver drains 5HP per second and causes Severe pain. Extended contact may cause scarring.
Nasaku Bloodline Traits
Descended from the undead Priest-Kings of Napath, the Nasaku have some unusual monstrous qualities that other vampires do not possess. Their hard metallic skin and fangs, their mechanism of feeding and resistance to sunlight are a few traits that distinguish these vampires from their pale northern cousins.
Necrolord: The Vampire’s power to command animal Familiars does not apply to Nasaku. Instead, the vampires of Napath can call and command a single type of Undead at will. Nasaku Halfbloods also possess this ability, but their power is far more limited. You are a Shadowlord, able to raise and command wraiths and shadows. See your Magic skills list for details.
Sunwalker: Unlike other vampires, the Nasaku are not damaged by sunlight and will not be killed if exposed to the sun. They are still sensitive to light, however, and you suffer a -10% penalty to all physical and mental skills in bright sunlight. Concealing clothing, shadowed terrain, and elemental Darkness Area of Effect spells can protect you from the sun. Regardless, you are now effectively nocturnal: you gain the Well Rested bonus only when sleeping in the daytime. Sleeping at night only leaves you Rested, no matter your environment or the quality of your bed.
Will Worker: The Nasaku are renowned for their patience and willpower, which is exceptional even in the realm of vampires. You gain Enhanced Dexterity (+5) and Will (+10).
Death Mask: The Nasaku are readily distinguished by their hardened, metallic skin and teeth. Very old vampires of this bloodline appear to be carved from old metal or stone, taking on an eerily sculptural appearance. This is a trait shared by Halfbloods.
Elemental Weakness: All undead usually take extra damage from the Dark and Light elements, while being largely immune to Time magic. Due to their close relationship with the desert, the Nasaku instead take extra damage from Dark and Water elemental effects and are unaffected by Earth magic. Halfbloods share this elemental alignment to a lesser extent, taking +0.5x damage from Dark or Water magic and -0.5x damage from Earth spells and effects.
Sand Form: Instead of a gaseous or animal swarm form, Nasaku vampires have the ability to dissolve into sand and reform at will. As a halfblood, you do not gain this trait. However, you are able to see and track a transformed vampire of your linage when they are in sand form.
Vampiric Hunger: The Nasaku crave both flesh and blood, using their fearsome teeth to tear the former and their hypodermic fingers to drain the latter. You must consume 50 points of Mana from a living, sentient creature at least once per week to sustain yourself. If you do not find a way to feed your hunger, you will become a Revenant: a berserk killing machine with no self-restraint who attacks any living being in their path. After consuming 100 points of mana from one or more living creatures, you will collapse into torpor and rise after 24 hours of rest.
Cradle of Sand: You regenerate your hitpoints and reduce fatigue at double speed if you are buried in sand. You will not regenerate hit points or fatigue while you are immersed in water.
“Great.” I jumped back to the character log and checked the timestamps. This had happened to me recently, it seemed. I fired up the Journal entry again.
“Okay, so I’m going to assume you went to look at the sheet and know who we are,” my past-self said. “Hopefully you haven’t been turned into a vampire or anything, because this is how shit went down…”
Oops. I listened for a good ten minutes, taking it all in while my HP trickled back in. It was strange listening to myself talking, especially when Past-Hector gave an overview of his relationships: Karalti, Suri, Rin, Istvan and Vash, Soma, and others. Despite my cramped quarters, the sand did feel good. I scratched my cheek, frowning as the audio began talking about ‘the Demon’ and his armies. While I listened to that, I went to search for evidence of Suri in my logs, and was browsing them when a lovely, sweet voice broke through my thoughts.
"Hector? It’s me, Karalti. You're alive, but what happened to you? The last thing I saw was you jumping down to fight the creepy lady. Then I felt you… I felt you die over and over again."
“Hey, hey, Karalti… it’s okay.” A dizzying warm flood of draconic anxiety, love, and concern washed over me like warm water. My head spun. “I’m okay, but I'm not in a good position right now
. Don't worry, though - I'll find a way out of this. Rin said you could teleport to my location?"
“I can, but you need to have a location marker on your map.” Karalti’s tone darkened with agitation. “I don’t see one, and Rin said you can’t remember anything. Did you die lots of times or something?”
“Uhh… I think I died once, very thoroughly.”
“Okay. Try and work out where you are, okay?"
"Roger that." The footsteps were getting closer. "I'll be in touch. I've got company."
"Okay." There was a pause, and a swell of emotion so intense that my breath caught. "I love you… even if you can't remember me."
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the sensation strengthen my resolve. “I love you too.”
Karalti cut the link, and suddenly, I was back to my cold, sandy reality. I swallowed, composed myself, and fell still as the heavy stone lid above me began to slide to one side.
The lid tumbled off, and two leathery, well-preserved ghouls reached for me. Sand slid from my body as they lifted me up under the armpits, helping me to sit upright. The first thing I saw was a big, brawny, bronze-skinned man with piercing dark eyes that gleamed with satisfaction.
“Yes. Perfect.” He nodded. “Show me your hands.”
I held them up. My hands and forearms gleamed with a dull, dark iron sheen, as if I had dipped them in filings. The nails were short, thick and pointed. I felt my face. Sharp features... sharp teeth. Teeth that sounded like metal when I tapped my nail against them. My skin was cool to the touch all over. When I felt my neck, there was no pulse - but I felt my heart fluttering in my chest.
Kingdom Come Page 48
