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[Drakilian]

The man leads Lucien through the city, to the Church Sophia - a wondrously built church that serves as the center of the city's religious powers.

Opening the door within, Lucien sees a woman wearing simple, draped robes, kneeling deep in prayer. Her black hair is worn curled atop her head.

At the sound of the door opening she turns lifts her head from prayer and turns to face Lucien.

Amalia's pallid face exudes the beauty of a marble statue: cold, austere and implacable; Lucien dares say he could not have done better himself. Her dark eyes, however, seem to be filled with a humanity almost... unbecoming of one of the dead.

Her voice as she addresses him is warm and full of welcome.

"Welcome to Sophia, Prince Lucien. It is a pleasure to welcome you to this city's hallowed halls in lord Kiril's absence."

[Daedalus]

Lucien smiles, a very beautiful sight indeed. He intends to use his sex appeal bonuses to make the womans disposition of him better.

"Amalia of Thrace i presume?" He asks looking straight into her eyes and maintaining his smile.

[Drakilian]

"Indeed, Prince of Shaasburg. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Lucien notes that while her voice is warm, her eyes still manage to send shivers rolling down his long dead spine.

If this is a kind woman, she does not feel kindness towards him.

"I assume you have come here for Prince Kiril's company, yes? I must regretfully inform you that he left to deal with a threat within his territory some few hours ago. Do you intend to catch up with him?"

[Daedalus]

Lucien feigns surprise. After all it most likely is Barabus and Lucien does not wish the woman to know the history there.

"Yes, i intended to visit him. If he left a few hours ago i should be able to catch up to him. So i would say yes, i do intend to."

[Drakilian]

"I can lend you a guide then, someone who knows the path Kiril has followed." She mentions.

"You can find him at the gate from which you came in."

From the finality in her tone it is clear she wishes for him to leave now.

[Daedalus]

"Thank you milady." He nods his head at her then leaves. He immedietly heads for the gate after.

[Drakilian]

Daedalus finds a pale, sweaty-looking older man waiting to guide him to Kiril's current location.

The group sets off, leaving Sofia shortly after their arrival...

1199, March 14th, 2:57 AM
Outskirts of Sofia, at the base of mount Vitosha.
Domain of Kiril, the Anointed

The first thing to strike Lucien about the village is just how horrendous it smells.

The past week or so of travel had been uneventful. Lucien's rapid pace had set him to gain slightly on Kiril, day after day. Darius estimates that they are only about 40 minutes travel behind the Lasombra Prince at this point.

Approaching their destination the wolf had been first to notice it, Darius and the men following soon after. They pulled their shirts over their noses and tried to take only shallow breaths for a while - but the smell has persisted with a terrible relentlessness, only getting worse as the vampire lord's caravan approaches what's left of the mountain village.

The howls of wolves and other scavengers had set the men on edge as they drew closer to Aleko (Ennius told Lucien the name some time ago).

"My lord," Ennius says, riding across from Lucien.

"There are men running from the village. Our own guard appears to be terrified."

[Daedalus]

"Confirm its barabus then ride like the wind to catch up Kiril, tell him the situation here."  He says grimly. "Stop the wagon." He orders. "But before you go, order the men to fight to the death with him. It would be annoying if the demon possesed them."

He then stepped out of his wagon and looked at the village.

[Drakilian]

"Of course sir."

Ennius hails the two guardsmen and they begin to run from him as surely as they ran from the village. He stops them cold with his voice and starts questioning them though.

"A massive monster, with bulging muscles and black veins just ripped us to pieces. Shadows and black ooze are fighting, 4 of us were torn to shreds, Gerald impaled, the captain beaten down, they're all dead, they have to be", one of the men says, panic plainly visible on his face.

Lucien notes with some distaste that the two men have soiled themselves.

[Daedalus]

"I've heard what i needed to hear." Lucien says with a slightly disgusted face. Then he glances at Ennius "order the men to get away from here, this is not a fight they can win. Darius will take temporary control while we battle."

[Drakilian]

"My lord! I must refuse, the captain of this squad can do his part, I must come with you to hunt this mighty beast I have heard so much of!"

The damned fool actually whistles to his wolves and starts charging towards the village, the things follow him with surprising loyalty (perhaps they wish to eat him?)

Ennius grits his teeth.

"We don't have time my lord, the situation appears dire. I suppose we will have to punish the fool at a later date."

Ennius rides forward on his charger, drawing his cavalry sword and maneuvering his horse with his feet as he loosens his shield from his back.

Following quickly after his most loyal knight and his most stupid ghoul, Lucien traverses the ruined village, the smell of death weighing heavily on him. He hears whispers travelling through the air, unable to make out the words but discomforted by them all the same.

It isn't long at all before they arrive at the village square, but the second they do Lucien instantly feels a powerful regret for every single life decision he's ever made that has led him to this particular moment.

Horrifying otherworldly darkness - more than Lucien has ever seen any Lasombra summon - fill the square, enough to drive an inlking of fear down even him. Things move and shift in the darkness, tendrils that whip and lash viciously at unseen monster. The whispers are much louder here, Lucien can start making out some of the words - he doesn't like any of them, of course.

Scanning the scene, he quickly locates Kiril - the Lasombra stands proudly and defiantly with his two servants, Carinus and Sherazhina. Three tendrils move out of his clothes visibly protecting him. Darkness surrounds him and Lucien cannot help but admire the Lord's power.

However, his attention is rapidly drawn away from his old companion and brought with utmost attention the the monster whom he stands in front of so defiantly.

It stares back at him.

Barabus.

Darius has stopped a good 50 feet away from Barabus, along with his three wolves, and he stands with his jaw wide open, frozen, unable to speak.

Ennius has pulled in his charge and partially lowered his weapon, just long enough to mutter the words, heard by Lucien ever so acutely, more a statement than a question - "What the Fark is this."

While his features might resemble the old Barabus - before Lucien ever touched him - this Barabus is massive. Large to an inhuman degree, he towers over Kiril and 7 or so dead or dying, armoured men who lie in almost a circle around him. His body oozes black blood from cuts that he doesn't seem to notice, and he is restrained by tendrils which he doesn't seem to care about. He is completely naked, and this serves to outline the terrible, strained black veins that stand out on his body like tight cords. His lips and teeth, visible in a snarl, are black from bloody drool. As he tenses at Lucien's approach, he sees the man's horrifyingly large and powerful muscles ripple, not an ounce of fat on him.

He might be beautiful if he wasn't so terrifying.

Returning to his senses, Lucien realizes the voices are whispering something - this time clearer and louder and with more enthusiasm than ever before.

KILL THE SHAPER. KILL THE KNIGHT