Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

In a town like many others, it's true identity and location impossible to tell from architecture or environment, many guards dressed in armours beaten down from being passed generations upon generations, none of the damage being from actual combat or proper usage of the protective gear, they all looked rather tense, shifting uncomfortably as they surrounded all entrances and exits of the local tavern.

It was early morning still, the entrance had not been locked when the last patrons left late the night before, and the early birds that had come to get themselves drunk first thing first had been greeted with a most sobering sight, leading them to empty their bowels, run away, or do both at the same time, tripping over their own inept feet.

The captain of the guards was inside the tavern, staying a good distance away from the sorry remains of the tavern owner, his entire body appearing like it was deflated, pale as he lay sprawled over the counter, the very spot where he had most certainly met his harrowing ends.

Even with all the vitality from his face gone, the expression of pure terror could not be washed away, murders were already rare enough in this peaceful little town, but something like this was unheard of, the captain had no idea what to do about it, how to gather evidences and such, he was afraid of even approaching the body.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Thankfully for him, his job was going to be made a whole lot simpler, as a hero burst through the door, uncaring for the guards telling her that this was a crime scene, there was nothing they could do to stop her, their weak arms incapable of stopping her thin frame.

Her brown mantle fluttering in the wind as she held onto her hat, her blonde curly hair serving as a stark contrast to her clothes, pink eyes seemingly glowing under the shadows, she smiled at the captain as she walked up to him, boots striking against the wooden floorboards, extending her hand to him.

He agreed to the handshake without thinking, asking his men to calm down.

'What the hell is this iron grip? Is that…'

Putting it together, he realised what he was faced with.

"I am Rummy, you can call me Rum-Rum if you like, you handsome man, I am a death hunter, vampire hunter to be precise, this is not the first victim that was sucked dry in the surrounding areas" leaning closer to the middle-aged captain, she whispered a few more words.

"You could be the next one if you'd like…"

He shivered, like his bare body was submerged entirely in freezing waters, he was feeling a level of uncomfortableness he did not believe to be possible until today.

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"My hunting instincts were right, the exact same modus operandi, it's the fancy way of saying the method of murder, would you look at this, the victim was punctured on both sides of the neck, you need a rather big jaw to do this, he was drained of all his blood in mere moments, no chance to fight back"

"Is it really a vampire then? Aren't there only the ones that burn in the sun and those that don't?" the captain scratched the back of his neck, fairly certain that vampires were just people with some fangs and blood tricks.

"Oh, you ignorant, adorable man, you and your musk from wearing that armour all day long are alluring, but it is no excuse to not have knowledge! There a many more castes of vampires than you think"

"Each with their specificities and habits, let's take a look at the entire tavern grounds" putting her hand up against the captain's chestplate, she brought him alongside her as they stepped back to get a more ample look.

Clicking on her odd glasses, the man could have sworn her pink eyes actually glowed brightly for a second.

"I'd guess that the owner was attacked right as he tried to step outside of his tavern, the vampire probably simply walked him down, the victim absolutely terrified by the sight that beheld him, he was incapable of forming a coherent response to the fright and slowly back away, stumbling against that table over there, knocking that chair down in his fall" she began reciting the way the attack apparently went down.

"See the rips on his collar? The vampire grabbed him and pinned him on the counter, where it sank its teeth into the man's neck, as you can guess, that particular vampire must have had some rather developed claws on top of the aforementioned large maw" rubbing her hands together, she took out a small notebook, in which one needed to write exceptionally small in.

"It could be one of those nosferatus, but I think it is most likely to be a bat-faced one, that's a bit worrying actually, they are super rare, and I have been told that they have the habit of devouring their victims whole, down to their hair, bones and even clothes… Mmh"

Scratching her chin with one finger, she found herself doubting the veracity of her thoughts, a bat-faced vampire had not been spotted in such a long time, Latir-e-se's short encounter with Vwoldtnir was more recent than a trace of those particular bloodsuckers.

'What could make one appear and not bother with the usual devouring? Is something riling them up or something?' being wholly taken up by the thrill of the hunt and search for answers, Rummy forgo her usual teasing of older men, taking off without saying anything else.

Once she got a good distance away from the small town, she grasped onto a small artefact hanging from her neck, her saying that this was yet another similar murder in the area was a bald-faced lie, just meant to put the captain at ease, everything was much less worrying when you weren't the sole victim of it after all.

"Abraham, Échalas, I have a rather curious case on my hands, I am not certain whether a bat is to be blamed or if this is some elaborate hoax, are the night hunters still yelling at empty space about the winged vampires or not?" she spoke into the device, not having to wait long to get an answer.

"The night hunters said they had gotten a lead, none have made a reappearance since, and you know them, they didn't communicate where they were headed, they must have stumbled upon more than they could chew" Échalas responded first, the night hunters referring to those that had gotten obsessed with winged vampires, records of such vampires either didn't exist or we're all destroyed, so they all just looked like a bunch of lunatics.

"Actually, I was going to contact you Échalas, I think I found something of interest, I am having younglings secure the perimeter, but I have discovered an old building of some sort, half-way submerged in waters infested with flesh-eating fishes and overgrown in roots, in that jungle-like danger zone"

"I can feel it, I am getting close!"