A New Discovery

Seeming to have a knack for making the fellow uncomfortable, a gust of wind chose this moment to whip in, blowing Tilon's hood completely off of his head and to its resting position on his back. Spluttering as the rain poured down from the heavens....all of it seeming to land directly on him, he finally managed to get his hand up to run through hair the color of snow and pull it out of his eyes. As Tilon passed the gate out of town, he offered a friendly nod to the gate-guards in their nice, dry shack beside the gates, who managed to return an amiable wave before bursting out in laughter at the soaked vampire.

Sighing, Tilon continued on through the gates of town and onto the road that twisted its way through the plains of Gorud. Well, at least everyone else finds it amusing, thought the traveling vampire.

Allowing a rueful chuckle at the irony of his own situation, he quietly walked along the road until he finally arrived at the fork for Erinswood. Nodding to himself, as if finally deciding something, he stepped off the road and onto a path that led deep into Erinswood, a path that only elves tread.

Lost in his thoughts, he finally managed to shake off the irritation that the rain had been stirring in him and flat out ignore the rain as if it didn't exist. Taking in a deep breath, he turned off the beaten path, and seemed to walk right into a wall of brush, but apparently it was only an illusion. Finally, he reached the end of this overgrown and well-hidden trail, stopping at the edge of a very large clearing, a group of large and obviously old trees encircled the clearing, formed in such a precise circle that magic must have been used.

Standing in the exact center of the clearing was an immense tree, quite possibly one of the oldest in the world. The tree reached far above the other trees in the clearing, though for some reason its height was not noticeable from outside the clearing. It was towards this tree that Tilon walked to. After reaching the tree, he moved to sit on the ground before it, calmly he shoved his hands towards the ground, burying them deeply in the soil. Tilon had not tried to communicate with Nature since he had become a vampire, but she had called him and he had come.

Slowly closing his eyes, he opened his mind to Nature in the grove where she was strongest. Suddenly, he felt the immense revulsion Nature had for unnatural creatures such as he, but he suffered through it resisting the urge to break the contact. Slowly the revulsion faded to be replaced with shocked surprise that he could still remain a druid in heart, though he was a vampire in body. Finally, he felt a gentle probing of his mind, a search for intent.

Suddenly, the probing awareness withdrew, pulling his own awareness out of his body and into a dream-like realm, though it appeared to be the same location, if a bit hazy and indistinct.

Before him appeared an entity, a shapeless swirl, a spirit. "You see much, vampire. Though you may have once been a Druid in service to me, you are now a vampire. And, while I applaud the tenacity it must have taken to maintain your humanity after becoming a vampire, you are still just that...a vampire."

A snarl leapt from Tilon's throat in answer. "Be that as it may, you put me on this place as a normal mortal. You even gave me a family. Now, if your intent had been to make me an emotionless servant for you, the flaw was in your own design, not made by me. And, you know as well as I, possibly better, that I had no choice in coming back as a vampire, if I were to come back at all. And as much as the other human emotions I have, I also have a survival instinct, and that comes from both you and my humanity."

The swirling of the entity seemed to pause for a minute at the vehemence in his words. "Indeed, maybe the flaw was in my design. Though I am actually quite proud of how you turned out. You serve me far better than most, and are one of my greatest protectors."

Tilon blinked, a quickly masked expression of shock flashing across his features. "So, it was your plan after all"

"Aye, it was indeed my plan. I couldn't have had a Druid with your power running around as an "emotionless servant", to quote you. You needed a moral compass, and an idea of the world that only a mortal life could provide."

"I see it begins to make sense. Hmm...is the request I made of you even possible? I am no longer a creature of life, after all....but instead a creature of death."

The swirling of the form stopped yet again, this time in apparent thought. "I believe that it may be possible, but you might lose something of yourself in the process. You are, after all, a mortal turned undead; to change you back into a mortal would be a new and uncharted step. However, if we let just enough power flow through you, for just long enough..."

"Yes, it should...Think, though. This could have disastrous results, you would be the only mortal to come back from death-I'm not even sure if you would be mortal."

"I know this...but I believe it should be attempted. The balance is drastically destabilized, as it stands. Far too much good is going around, everyone serves life, and even the other servants of yours seem to forget that life is just as critical as death."

"As you wish, then. I shall attempt this feat, though I know not if it shall even succeed, or what its affects shall be, or even how long it shall take." With those last words, Tilon felt his awareness hurled back into his body, and into the realm of unconsciousness.

Eventually, Tilon felt the soft stir of a light breeze upon his features and his eyes slowly opened; now as deeply green as the darkest depths of the forest. Slowly, he moved to stand, his form moving easily, so he assumed nothing had gone wrong. Narrowing his eyes, he looked down to study himself, noticing his pale skin was now a deep bronze, as if he'd been in the sun all his life. Shockingly, he also noted that he no longer wore armor, but instead wore black robes. Curious to see if he was truly mortal, he moved his hand down to pick up a sharp, slender stick, his hand carefully stabbing his arm with it.

A smile crossed his features as he felt the sensation of pain; carefully he pulled the stick out of his arm-happy to see blood flowing from the wound for once. But, surprisingly the wound healed nearly instantly, sealing itself closed.

He blinked, his voice echoing around the clearing as he spoke in his surprise, "Something other than mortal, indeed...." Frowning, he closed his eyes beginning to meditate, trying to discover the new him.

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