Who Are The Vampires?
Blethela and her companion are chilling to encounter. We know that Blethela was mentioned as the Stoneblood who was engaged to the Glasserunes, is she back for revenge? Why do they hate Nira's god and the fey so much? What do they have to do with the fire temple, the cemetery, and everything else suspicious in this town?
Could the male vampire be Gardsvair, the man from a legend similar to the bogeyman?
Onyx has indicated these are his parents. How does that work? What will they do to get him back?
The History of Balvonier
A chapter from an old tome given to Carindrina by Lady Caltain at the Black Poppy. Within this neglected book some very interesting history was revealed.
Stoneblood Manor used to be owned by the Stonebloods, a family with vampiric roots, though they weren’t evil, and not all completely vampiric. Centuries ago, predating the oldest surviving official records of the town (that anyone else knows about), a Glasserune was pledged to be engaged to a Stoneblood. The Glasserunes were a noble family from the North who had been pushing to expand trade further south into Tricreche, which was largely considered a feral area. While they had their own nobility and government, many families had "dark" aspects to their lineage. During the engagement feast, the Glasserune forces entered, and used light channeled from their god, Domsaul (god of the sun) to burn the Stonebloods and kill their vampiric line with holy light.
One escaped, Blethela, the daughter who was pledged to be engaged. She managed to survive by becoming a complete vampire, and her mother poured all of her magic into a curse as she died so that any Glasserune who died would be turned into a vampire.
They first attempted to combat this by performing a blessing ritual with the family sword that had been anointed by Domsaul, however, he was so displeased by their show of violence and trickery, he abandoned the family. Their deceit both to the Stonebloods, and to their deity (for they had said the Stonebloods were evil) left the region cold and withering. Their dead began to turn to vampires and they were at a loss.
The Fey offered to help if they were given control over the forest, and the family sought the help of the old Gods as well. Shinze and Liguaquide worked together to help forge a flaming sword made of the crystal holy waters that would bless the family, but they must continue to worship them faithfully and never betray an ally again. This has been successful most of the time, but if it takes more than 24 hours to perform the ceremony, they risk turning into a vampire. This usually takes about 5 days before they fully turn, but when they do they are faster, stronger, and more deadly than a normal vampire fledgling.
A note from Lady Caltain: This secret has mostly been forgotten by the world and your ancestral Glasserunes worked VERY HARD to keep it that way. This is the only historical record I could find anywhere--and I had to send for it from a secret library in Corazon Island. No one alive remembers the Stonebloods. Even Blitherby is not aware of the origins of the curse and truly doesn’t believe it to be true based on what he has said to some of my informants. That said, I found nothing about missing children listed in any of the books I read. I know you had mentioned the family curse hoping they were connected. I will keep looking. Sorry James. xxLC
A vampire who is new in town, who is he? What does he want?
Is this the Blethela Stoneblood from the History of Balvonier? The original bride of a Glasserune son who was betrayed at her engagement, and her family slaughtered? What is she going to do?
