The Phantom
Consulting Criminal
The night was black and the hunter was hungry. Revus Sailaron, a Breton whose usually handsome and lean features struck men and women alike, looked like death. His face had sunken in so far his burning, golden eyes seemed to protrude from their sockets and at a first glance one would likely attribute his appearance to being a draugr who had wandered down from the crypts of the ancient Nords. His body too appeared decrepit and skeletal, his armour hanging loosely around him with no sign of muscle on this pathetic creature. However Revus was no mere draugr but another form of undead, a creation of Molag Bal, Daedric Lord of Domination. The Breton was a vampire, and he was starving.
He had crossed the Falkreath border into Skyrim from Hammerfell but an hour earlier and now lay waiting in the dense woods of Falkreath. 'Twas a long and arduous journey that had led to this moment, beginning in Valenwood. He had been hunting and researching the vampire clans there. The only information he could find in literature was that of the journal, "Trap", the chronicle of the first vampire, "Opisculae Lamae Bal" and the most useful book, "Immortal Blood" in which multiple clans were found to be detailed. Since his turning Revus had made it his mission to learn all he could on the nature of vampirism and thus travelled Tamriel, assassinating clans and strays alike after his interrogations of them. He had hoped at first that he would be able to somehow learn or absorb the powers of the other bloodlines but it turned out to be a fool's errand. He had once heard an old phrase that "there is power in blood" and this appeared to be especially true to someone of his disposition. From his studies he had concluded that almost all the vampires afflicted in Skyrim can be traced from what was called the "Volkihar" bloodline. While it seemed impossible at the time to gain new powers, he had found out that he could enhance his current ones. While an aged vampire would naturally grow in power, Revus felt he would rather empower himself sooner than a few hundred years. In Valenwood, he stalked the Bonsamu, Keerilth, Yekef and Telboth clans who each had unique abilities such as revelation only in candlelight, mist form, the power to swallow creatures whole and to kill and replace men and mer alike, respectively. He managed to find at least one of each and torture them until they finally relinquished their rituals to him and were slain.
As a descendant of the Volkihar bloodline, he boasted little to no exceptional powers, however he did have supernatural speed, strength, reflexes and the ability to seduce the minds of the living who had the misfortune to look him in the eyes. Using the rituals he had learned from the other clans and a large amount of blood drained from lowly victims he had managed to enhance these abilities beyond that of a regular vampire, effectively ageing him into a vampire master, granting him strength, speed and reflexes too much for most mortals to cope with. There was however, a caveat to this. He found that during the day he was weaker than the average mortal, and while the sun would not destroy him, it prevented him from recuperating to any extent, leaving him vulnerable to attack. This has led him to disguise his vampirism and keep it secret for fear of attack during the day and thus his official occupation to most who meet him is that of a vampire hunter in order to explain his knowledge of the subject. While well fed, Sailaron was almost indistinguishable from a mortal aside from his sharp canine teeth, though after going more than four days without feeding, he would begin to shrivel into the form with which he stalked the woods of Falkreath.
The one thing that Revus felt separated him from most mortals and immortals was his iron will. It was this, seemingly supernatural power that had allowed him to traverse the sands of Hammerfell with scarcely a sign of blood; it was this power that made it so easy to enthral the minds of mortals and it was this power that enabled him to wait. Revus waited, patiently and quietly, for prey to walk the roads of Falkreath Hold at night. To those passing through, all they could see was three feet in front of their eyes with help from a burning torch, praying that nothing ambushes them. To Revus, it was as if the night were day. In the darkness there was nothing that could escape his vampiric gaze, much as an eagle looking down on the Earth observes even the smallest prey, so too could Revus see a Nord noble-woman and her bodyguard stumble helplessly along the dark path in the distance. Moving slowly from the forest and onto the road, Revus began to stalk his way towards them, seeing their every step in the night as they approached, blissfully unaware of their fate. Within a few seconds he was within audible distance as they heard his footsteps approaching "Who goes there?", rang the words of the bodyguard, only to be met by the deathly silence of the forest and the slow dragging of the vampire's boots on the stone path. Again he called for answers and squinted to see who was approaching and again the darkness of the forest betrayed him as Revus stood perfectly still, awaiting them to come to to him.
"Allow me to introduce myself, gentleman and fair lady. I am Revus Sailaron, I am injured and afraid to make this journey alone anymore" The vampire rasped as loudly as he could project to them
"What came to harm you, man?"
They drew ever closer as Revus exclaimed "A vampire... he tricked me"
"What manner of trickery, traveller? What did it do?"
"Come to me and I shall tell you but stay quiet until you arrive lest our voices lure it back." And with that, Revus waited for his prey to arrive and as the body guard held his torch long in front of his face, he finally glimpsed the macabre figure of Revus who promptly smacked the torch out of his hand and stomped it out, leaving them all in complete darkness. The noble-woman clung to her bodyguard who unsheathed his blade and, trembling, attempted to threaten the predator with naught but his words "Come out and face me like a man, creature of the night! The power of the divines will protect me!", however his voice cracked as his fear in all its honesty made itself apparent to the Breton who circled his prey like a wolf who knows he's already won his prize but just enjoys the thrill of the hunt. Revus then closed in on his victims, positioning himself within a foot of the bodyguard's face. He paused for a moment, revelling in his victory before casting the magelight spell to illuminate things for the mortals, making eye-contact as he always did as both a matter of strange courtesy and assertion "Lament not for the loss of your own life, your blood is far more useful to me than it is for you. Besides, there was nothing you could have done." with that he pulled the man into his embrace and sank his teeth deep into his neck, quickly draining the life, the blood rejuvenating and restoring Revus to his full glory as they seemed to swap appearances until the guard was nothing but a husk.
The immortal let go as the corpse dropped to the floor, exposing the noble-woman. She was very beautiful with long brown hair and a revealing, low cut dress with gold trimmings that was covered by a fur cloak to keep her warm through the night. She was obviously rich, that much was evident and it became clear to Revus that this woman might be more useful to him alive in more than just to keep him company. He closed the distance between them as she stood petrified with fear as he put his finger to her lips and looked her in the eyes intensely, imposing his will on the elegant Nord
"Shh, dear, relax. It's okay, you can trust me."
"I, I, relax. I can trust... I can... I can trust you." She said, resisting more than most but her mind still breaking under the pressure as her mind became a slave to the now handsome vampire before her
"Good, your mind and body are mine now."
"Yours now."
"What is your name, and where are you from, my dear?"
"I am Hellen Andelson of Whiterun though my family are from Markarth."
"Hmm, and your status?"
"Very wealthy and known." Revus smiled to himself, as it dawned on him that this lady was his ticket into two major cities of Skyrim. He cupped her face with his hand and then softly spoke again
"When I tell you to, you will pass out, wake again and forget everything that just happened and that you ever had a bodyguard."
"Yes, forget."
"And instead you will remember me as your lover and protector whom you adore and serve."
"Adore and serve you, my lover."
Revus, still holding her chin, sensually kissed her and told her to sleep as he slowly lowered her to the ground and awaited her awakening. As she awoke, he explained to her that she had fainted after a vampire attacked them but he, in his heroics, had saved her life. For a moment she stood there, dazed and sleepy before finally returning to her senses. She thanked him and told him that she would really love to finish their journey to Whiterun. However, as they observed each other, illuminated only by the magelight, the two gazed at each others bodies for the first time. Both struck by the beauty of the other, they drew closer until Revus couldn't contain his passion anymore and bit her. Hellen unstrapped his armour and dropped her dress with her cloak as the two began to kiss furiously against the trees before they fell to the ground and lost themselves in their passion.
Before too long the pair were finished and while Hellen wanted to stay and take in the stars but Revus could not afford to wait for the sun to return so far from shelter. Despite her protests, she obeyed her master as she robed herself and her vampiric lord too equipped his armour and weapons. The two then began to walk through the woods of Falkreath towards the plains of whiterun around the mountains but just as they were about to cross into Whiterun Hold, another Nord female, this one in farming attire seemed to be walking towards them. Revus tensed, something was wrong, he saw no one with her and seemingly no obvious tells of any cause to be travelling in the area. He paused, unflinching as his mind processed the possibilities. It was a very rare position for Sailaron to be in where he didn't feel aware of everything going on. He sensed blood and there is power in blood he thought to himself, and there was definitely power in the blood approaching him and his newfound thrall. Tentatively, he held an arm out and gestured for Hellen to take a few steps back as he walked forward to confront the woman.
Revus scanned her up and down, as two competing lions would before they attack each other to fight for supremacy, Revus too absorbed every detail from the woman. She was tall, taller than Revus in-fact, with long, muscular legs and broad shoulders and a harsh yet attractive face and blonde hair that, together, made her seem quite appealing. Making eye-contact, Revus planned to diffuse any situation by merely enthralling her, too tempted to give up the opportunity to satisfy the flesh with such a striking woman. Yet when she stopped in front of him, he could tell that something was wrong, her soul was absent from her eyes. They were glassy, but not like the eyes of a broken mind or thrall, these were the eyes of a killer. For a moment they just stared into each other's eyes not as lovers but as rivals. Despite this, something about the dead eyes made it seem as though this woman was not a true killer but was instead not in control of her mind somehow. Attempting to impose his will and avoid conflict, he ordered "You will serve me and kneel." as she then fell to her knees and grabbed her head, seemingly in agony. It became clear to the vampire that this was not an effect of his seduction but of whatever was afflicting her. Approaching closer, he knelt down too and whispered the command in her ear once more but could see that she was violently shaking. Looking up at him, her eyes had changed into that of an animal's and Revus jumped back and drew his blade while she began to scream so dreadfully that even Hirsine would be ashamed. A look of humanity washed onto her face for a moment as she whimpered one sentence
"Run or I will eat you." to which Revus quickly joked
"Hey, at least buy me a drink first." prompting one final, pained laugh from the Nord.
Whatever was left of the woman's mind and soul abandoned her in that moment as the beast took over, twisting her body into a hunch while her limbs and musculature extended considerably. She swung her arms, knocking Sailaron back and over as she finished the transformation. When Revus had returned to his feet, across stood a beast that, despite his travels, he had never encountered before. He was very interested in just how challenging this would be. In his studies of vampirism, Sailaron had stumbled across some accounts of lycanthropy, most notably "Physicalities of Werewolves" in regards to which he was amused by how accurate the descriptions were. The vampire and werewolf both circled each other but before it was time for blade to meet claw Revus cast a flesh armour spell to prepare him more for the brunt of the brute's attacks. Revus attacked first, closing the distance with vampiric speed and attempting to slash at the werewolf's stomach but the beast too had supernatural capabilities and caught Revus with a claw across the chest as he attempted to retreat following his strike, cleaving through his leather chest piece and only just not breaking the skin, the impact still causing him to stumble back. Before he could react further, the lycanthrope charged him, knocking him down and the duel-sided blade out of his hands as he mounted him. The wolf started to rain down claw strikes on him which Revus attempted to defend with his bracers and arms, cutting him severely before Revus reached up and pulled the wolf close to him to remove the space in which the beast needed to strike. Then, reaching into his pocket he grabbed his dagger and plunged it into his adversary's ribs, causing her to emit a deafening howl. Seizing the moment, Revus pulled the dagger out and pushed her off of him, scrambling to his feet and grabbing his signature weapon once more. Waiting for the werewolf's assault to renew, he timed a counterstrike as the wolf leapt at him, rolling underneath the slash and striking upwards with the blade into her jaw before following through across the chest, stunning her. Pressing the attack, he entered the pocket and slashed quickly, eating the lycanthrope's own strikes as he landed his before managing to find a gap in the beast's defence and cut open its neck. It fell to the ground with a thud as its body shut down while Revus too fell to his knees, badly cut all over his body.
Catching his breath, he stared at the blood of the now deceased supernatural being and began to drink. He felt the blood replenish him as his cuts began to heal themselves. The vampire had found the situation somewhat amusing being at a physical disadvantage at night, albeit exhausting and knew the sun was soon to rise and another encounter like that would be the end of him. He saw Hellen trembling not far away and calmed her down before decapitating the werewolf and displaying its head on a tree by the side of the road to warn travellers and any other of its kin to steer clear. With that, he began to finish his journey, eventually arriving at the gates of Whiterun with his thrall on his arm.
He had crossed the Falkreath border into Skyrim from Hammerfell but an hour earlier and now lay waiting in the dense woods of Falkreath. 'Twas a long and arduous journey that had led to this moment, beginning in Valenwood. He had been hunting and researching the vampire clans there. The only information he could find in literature was that of the journal, "Trap", the chronicle of the first vampire, "Opisculae Lamae Bal" and the most useful book, "Immortal Blood" in which multiple clans were found to be detailed. Since his turning Revus had made it his mission to learn all he could on the nature of vampirism and thus travelled Tamriel, assassinating clans and strays alike after his interrogations of them. He had hoped at first that he would be able to somehow learn or absorb the powers of the other bloodlines but it turned out to be a fool's errand. He had once heard an old phrase that "there is power in blood" and this appeared to be especially true to someone of his disposition. From his studies he had concluded that almost all the vampires afflicted in Skyrim can be traced from what was called the "Volkihar" bloodline. While it seemed impossible at the time to gain new powers, he had found out that he could enhance his current ones. While an aged vampire would naturally grow in power, Revus felt he would rather empower himself sooner than a few hundred years. In Valenwood, he stalked the Bonsamu, Keerilth, Yekef and Telboth clans who each had unique abilities such as revelation only in candlelight, mist form, the power to swallow creatures whole and to kill and replace men and mer alike, respectively. He managed to find at least one of each and torture them until they finally relinquished their rituals to him and were slain.
As a descendant of the Volkihar bloodline, he boasted little to no exceptional powers, however he did have supernatural speed, strength, reflexes and the ability to seduce the minds of the living who had the misfortune to look him in the eyes. Using the rituals he had learned from the other clans and a large amount of blood drained from lowly victims he had managed to enhance these abilities beyond that of a regular vampire, effectively ageing him into a vampire master, granting him strength, speed and reflexes too much for most mortals to cope with. There was however, a caveat to this. He found that during the day he was weaker than the average mortal, and while the sun would not destroy him, it prevented him from recuperating to any extent, leaving him vulnerable to attack. This has led him to disguise his vampirism and keep it secret for fear of attack during the day and thus his official occupation to most who meet him is that of a vampire hunter in order to explain his knowledge of the subject. While well fed, Sailaron was almost indistinguishable from a mortal aside from his sharp canine teeth, though after going more than four days without feeding, he would begin to shrivel into the form with which he stalked the woods of Falkreath.
The one thing that Revus felt separated him from most mortals and immortals was his iron will. It was this, seemingly supernatural power that had allowed him to traverse the sands of Hammerfell with scarcely a sign of blood; it was this power that made it so easy to enthral the minds of mortals and it was this power that enabled him to wait. Revus waited, patiently and quietly, for prey to walk the roads of Falkreath Hold at night. To those passing through, all they could see was three feet in front of their eyes with help from a burning torch, praying that nothing ambushes them. To Revus, it was as if the night were day. In the darkness there was nothing that could escape his vampiric gaze, much as an eagle looking down on the Earth observes even the smallest prey, so too could Revus see a Nord noble-woman and her bodyguard stumble helplessly along the dark path in the distance. Moving slowly from the forest and onto the road, Revus began to stalk his way towards them, seeing their every step in the night as they approached, blissfully unaware of their fate. Within a few seconds he was within audible distance as they heard his footsteps approaching "Who goes there?", rang the words of the bodyguard, only to be met by the deathly silence of the forest and the slow dragging of the vampire's boots on the stone path. Again he called for answers and squinted to see who was approaching and again the darkness of the forest betrayed him as Revus stood perfectly still, awaiting them to come to to him.
"Allow me to introduce myself, gentleman and fair lady. I am Revus Sailaron, I am injured and afraid to make this journey alone anymore" The vampire rasped as loudly as he could project to them
"What came to harm you, man?"
They drew ever closer as Revus exclaimed "A vampire... he tricked me"
"What manner of trickery, traveller? What did it do?"
"Come to me and I shall tell you but stay quiet until you arrive lest our voices lure it back." And with that, Revus waited for his prey to arrive and as the body guard held his torch long in front of his face, he finally glimpsed the macabre figure of Revus who promptly smacked the torch out of his hand and stomped it out, leaving them all in complete darkness. The noble-woman clung to her bodyguard who unsheathed his blade and, trembling, attempted to threaten the predator with naught but his words "Come out and face me like a man, creature of the night! The power of the divines will protect me!", however his voice cracked as his fear in all its honesty made itself apparent to the Breton who circled his prey like a wolf who knows he's already won his prize but just enjoys the thrill of the hunt. Revus then closed in on his victims, positioning himself within a foot of the bodyguard's face. He paused for a moment, revelling in his victory before casting the magelight spell to illuminate things for the mortals, making eye-contact as he always did as both a matter of strange courtesy and assertion "Lament not for the loss of your own life, your blood is far more useful to me than it is for you. Besides, there was nothing you could have done." with that he pulled the man into his embrace and sank his teeth deep into his neck, quickly draining the life, the blood rejuvenating and restoring Revus to his full glory as they seemed to swap appearances until the guard was nothing but a husk.
The immortal let go as the corpse dropped to the floor, exposing the noble-woman. She was very beautiful with long brown hair and a revealing, low cut dress with gold trimmings that was covered by a fur cloak to keep her warm through the night. She was obviously rich, that much was evident and it became clear to Revus that this woman might be more useful to him alive in more than just to keep him company. He closed the distance between them as she stood petrified with fear as he put his finger to her lips and looked her in the eyes intensely, imposing his will on the elegant Nord
"Shh, dear, relax. It's okay, you can trust me."
"I, I, relax. I can trust... I can... I can trust you." She said, resisting more than most but her mind still breaking under the pressure as her mind became a slave to the now handsome vampire before her
"Good, your mind and body are mine now."
"Yours now."
"What is your name, and where are you from, my dear?"
"I am Hellen Andelson of Whiterun though my family are from Markarth."
"Hmm, and your status?"
"Very wealthy and known." Revus smiled to himself, as it dawned on him that this lady was his ticket into two major cities of Skyrim. He cupped her face with his hand and then softly spoke again
"When I tell you to, you will pass out, wake again and forget everything that just happened and that you ever had a bodyguard."
"Yes, forget."
"And instead you will remember me as your lover and protector whom you adore and serve."
"Adore and serve you, my lover."
Revus, still holding her chin, sensually kissed her and told her to sleep as he slowly lowered her to the ground and awaited her awakening. As she awoke, he explained to her that she had fainted after a vampire attacked them but he, in his heroics, had saved her life. For a moment she stood there, dazed and sleepy before finally returning to her senses. She thanked him and told him that she would really love to finish their journey to Whiterun. However, as they observed each other, illuminated only by the magelight, the two gazed at each others bodies for the first time. Both struck by the beauty of the other, they drew closer until Revus couldn't contain his passion anymore and bit her. Hellen unstrapped his armour and dropped her dress with her cloak as the two began to kiss furiously against the trees before they fell to the ground and lost themselves in their passion.
Before too long the pair were finished and while Hellen wanted to stay and take in the stars but Revus could not afford to wait for the sun to return so far from shelter. Despite her protests, she obeyed her master as she robed herself and her vampiric lord too equipped his armour and weapons. The two then began to walk through the woods of Falkreath towards the plains of whiterun around the mountains but just as they were about to cross into Whiterun Hold, another Nord female, this one in farming attire seemed to be walking towards them. Revus tensed, something was wrong, he saw no one with her and seemingly no obvious tells of any cause to be travelling in the area. He paused, unflinching as his mind processed the possibilities. It was a very rare position for Sailaron to be in where he didn't feel aware of everything going on. He sensed blood and there is power in blood he thought to himself, and there was definitely power in the blood approaching him and his newfound thrall. Tentatively, he held an arm out and gestured for Hellen to take a few steps back as he walked forward to confront the woman.
Revus scanned her up and down, as two competing lions would before they attack each other to fight for supremacy, Revus too absorbed every detail from the woman. She was tall, taller than Revus in-fact, with long, muscular legs and broad shoulders and a harsh yet attractive face and blonde hair that, together, made her seem quite appealing. Making eye-contact, Revus planned to diffuse any situation by merely enthralling her, too tempted to give up the opportunity to satisfy the flesh with such a striking woman. Yet when she stopped in front of him, he could tell that something was wrong, her soul was absent from her eyes. They were glassy, but not like the eyes of a broken mind or thrall, these were the eyes of a killer. For a moment they just stared into each other's eyes not as lovers but as rivals. Despite this, something about the dead eyes made it seem as though this woman was not a true killer but was instead not in control of her mind somehow. Attempting to impose his will and avoid conflict, he ordered "You will serve me and kneel." as she then fell to her knees and grabbed her head, seemingly in agony. It became clear to the vampire that this was not an effect of his seduction but of whatever was afflicting her. Approaching closer, he knelt down too and whispered the command in her ear once more but could see that she was violently shaking. Looking up at him, her eyes had changed into that of an animal's and Revus jumped back and drew his blade while she began to scream so dreadfully that even Hirsine would be ashamed. A look of humanity washed onto her face for a moment as she whimpered one sentence
"Run or I will eat you." to which Revus quickly joked
"Hey, at least buy me a drink first." prompting one final, pained laugh from the Nord.
Whatever was left of the woman's mind and soul abandoned her in that moment as the beast took over, twisting her body into a hunch while her limbs and musculature extended considerably. She swung her arms, knocking Sailaron back and over as she finished the transformation. When Revus had returned to his feet, across stood a beast that, despite his travels, he had never encountered before. He was very interested in just how challenging this would be. In his studies of vampirism, Sailaron had stumbled across some accounts of lycanthropy, most notably "Physicalities of Werewolves" in regards to which he was amused by how accurate the descriptions were. The vampire and werewolf both circled each other but before it was time for blade to meet claw Revus cast a flesh armour spell to prepare him more for the brunt of the brute's attacks. Revus attacked first, closing the distance with vampiric speed and attempting to slash at the werewolf's stomach but the beast too had supernatural capabilities and caught Revus with a claw across the chest as he attempted to retreat following his strike, cleaving through his leather chest piece and only just not breaking the skin, the impact still causing him to stumble back. Before he could react further, the lycanthrope charged him, knocking him down and the duel-sided blade out of his hands as he mounted him. The wolf started to rain down claw strikes on him which Revus attempted to defend with his bracers and arms, cutting him severely before Revus reached up and pulled the wolf close to him to remove the space in which the beast needed to strike. Then, reaching into his pocket he grabbed his dagger and plunged it into his adversary's ribs, causing her to emit a deafening howl. Seizing the moment, Revus pulled the dagger out and pushed her off of him, scrambling to his feet and grabbing his signature weapon once more. Waiting for the werewolf's assault to renew, he timed a counterstrike as the wolf leapt at him, rolling underneath the slash and striking upwards with the blade into her jaw before following through across the chest, stunning her. Pressing the attack, he entered the pocket and slashed quickly, eating the lycanthrope's own strikes as he landed his before managing to find a gap in the beast's defence and cut open its neck. It fell to the ground with a thud as its body shut down while Revus too fell to his knees, badly cut all over his body.
Catching his breath, he stared at the blood of the now deceased supernatural being and began to drink. He felt the blood replenish him as his cuts began to heal themselves. The vampire had found the situation somewhat amusing being at a physical disadvantage at night, albeit exhausting and knew the sun was soon to rise and another encounter like that would be the end of him. He saw Hellen trembling not far away and calmed her down before decapitating the werewolf and displaying its head on a tree by the side of the road to warn travellers and any other of its kin to steer clear. With that, he began to finish his journey, eventually arriving at the gates of Whiterun with his thrall on his arm.
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