Good. [ He doesn't actually know where to start, and presses his hand to his temple, as he begins to think. ]
According to our holy learning— [ Nash says that in a way that could almost be considered reverent, like a schoolboy reciting a poem for a class. ] the first thing, besides darkness, was the True Runes. There's a rune of fire, a Rune of Punishment, a Sun Rune, and so forth. And all magic in the world comes from the runes, the same way rivers all flow into the ocean. Lycanthropes are tainted by an aspect of the Beast Rune. [ He frowns, it's been a while since this had come up. ] Most of them used to live in the Grasslands, but that area's been torn up by war.
The Rune associated with vampires is the Moon Rune. About a thousand years ago it chose a young woman to be its bearer. But being "chosen" by a rune is like being possessed, and the woman went mad with hunger, and she became the first vampire. In one of her lucid moments she ran into the woods, away from humans, where she— I guess you can't call it living, technically, can you? [ He shakes his head. ] She existed for centuries. But one day someone came to join her. And then another, and another. Lonely souls, the desperate types, probably poets. Maybe knights. So they were a village of vampires, and with the Moon Rune, they didn't need to drink blood. Theologically speaking, that's the paradox of the rune— the curse of hunger and nourishment together. [ And despite the crack about poets and knights, his discussion is academic. Like he's recounting something he read in a book, not something he'd seen first hand. The story isn't done, but he pauses for a moment, watching her reaction carefully. ]
no subject
According to our holy learning— [ Nash says that in a way that could almost be considered reverent, like a schoolboy reciting a poem for a class. ] the first thing, besides darkness, was the True Runes. There's a rune of fire, a Rune of Punishment, a Sun Rune, and so forth. And all magic in the world comes from the runes, the same way rivers all flow into the ocean. Lycanthropes are tainted by an aspect of the Beast Rune. [ He frowns, it's been a while since this had come up. ] Most of them used to live in the Grasslands, but that area's been torn up by war.
The Rune associated with vampires is the Moon Rune. About a thousand years ago it chose a young woman to be its bearer. But being "chosen" by a rune is like being possessed, and the woman went mad with hunger, and she became the first vampire. In one of her lucid moments she ran into the woods, away from humans, where she— I guess you can't call it living, technically, can you? [ He shakes his head. ]
She existed for centuries. But one day someone came to join her. And then another, and another. Lonely souls, the desperate types, probably poets. Maybe knights. So they were a village of vampires, and with the Moon Rune, they didn't need to drink blood. Theologically speaking, that's the paradox of the rune— the curse of hunger and nourishment together. [ And despite the crack about poets and knights, his discussion is academic. Like he's recounting something he read in a book, not something he'd seen first hand. The story isn't done, but he pauses for a moment, watching her reaction carefully. ]