Races

Khavosian Vampire - by T.A. Saunders ©2009 v1.8

Racial Articles The Hand in the Shadows: Ko'rashae Ri

One such Elf was the prominent illusionist Ko'rashae Ri, or simply ‘Ko' to her friends and admirers. Ko was a lovely Elvish woman with lovely white hair that swept the length of her back, full pink lips and striking blue eyes that were expressive with her wants and desires. Ko also loved the finer things in life and had very little in the way of moral difficulty plying subtle manipulation and illusion to get what she desired. When word of this cult spread to her own ears, it was not by temptation of any kind that she heeded the call. In Ko's mind, this cult would be her own way of increasing her power base especially if she could usurp it somehow or at least plumb its secrets of dark magic.

Many things happened to Ko in her ascension through the ranks of Khavos' cult; the culmination of which being her being turned into a vampire by one of the high priests. The exact truth of it all is sketchy like so many things of this time but most believe Ko may have been actually turned against her will upon discovering what this gambit of hers would need in sacrifice. Whatever the means, the shrewd woman given perhaps the very thing she wished on the plate of her proverbial reckoning.

The years to come were marked with wars between not nations, but cultists within nations. There were no borders or truces in this conflict taken to the hearts of the whole of Ishaela, but blood drawn within families, within homes. Brother turned against brother, husband against wife and so on until there was simply no end nor means to contain the bloodshed the Cult of Khavos reaped.

The cult of Khavos had grown incredibly strong and had swept control from within so many cities by having vampires in key positions in politics armies and elsewhere. Because of this, when the final end game came defenses were almost impossible to muster. Where once cities were bastions of wisdom and knowledge, now became rioting pits of anarchy with citizens helplessly fighting their own kin, their friends and their own governments to stay alive.

With Ishaela in so much global conflict, it became an easy matter for the cultists to complete the ultimate task: to open a permanent gate from the Abyss, so that Khavos could enter the plane. With all the infernal creatures all ready wreaking havoc across the moon and the dead now rising by the black rites of Khavos' priests, there were few who could have turned the tide before. Now, with Khavos roaming this world unchecked there was little hope for survival now. Too many people had been turned into vampires, or slain and raised again as ferocious and mindless zombies. Demons of every sort now terrorized homes, the streets and everywhere in between.

The last stronghold of the free peoples of Ishaela became the very place sorcerous and divine knowledge became twisted by wicked men; the School of Sorcery within the Elvish capital city of Am-Shei. A council was convened within those walls and it was here, the fate of those who were to survive this apocalypse would be decided.

The Dwarves, bitter at the Elves and the Humans both, announced they would lock the doors to their great halls and let the filth that magic called up claim them for their misdeeds. The Elves could not dissuade the Dwarvish people's anger and accepted their choice with a saddened knowledge that even in the deep ground, eventually they too would succumb to this evil.

As to the fate of Elves, the choice became a clear one. On the grounds of the school a great World Gate had been constructed. With this sorcerous edifice, they were able to cross into the World of Imarel, that previously the Prince forbade any great contact. Mostly this had been used with reserve for fear that something unwanted may follow explorers back, but with Ishaela in such jeopardy of becoming swallowed by the evil unleashed upon it this seemed the best choice; start again and hope wherever they went would be more hospitable.

The fate of Humans became a topic of debate with the Elvish delegates. The humans that remained indeed were few and of them, most of them had been tribal gypsies and barbarian nomads that had sought the Elves for shelter from the great evils that plagued even the outlaying wilds. These peoples had no part in the evils placed onto the world and merely suffered from it. Others argued that Humans had failed as a race and this would all repeat again if they were allowed to escape with them.

When the votes were cast by the Elvish delegates that remained, it was the vote of Ko'rashae Ri that finally swayed the decision to take what uncorrupted Humans remained across the World Gate. Ko had been clever and knew that these survivors did not know she was a vampire also. Now and with the skies blackened with the burning bodies of the dead and the fires of war, there was not enough sunlight in the skies anymore to detour her from moving around in the daytime.

So it was done. All the remaining peoples of Human and Elf crossed the World Gate to Imarel. Some Elves remained behind to defend the World Gate as the colonists left, knowing that they very well might perish. Every bit of art, lore and relic that could be spared was taken to this new realm called Imarel that day by the wearied hands of Human and Elf alike…oblivious to the fact that amongst them lurked the very thing they had been fleeing.