That's what I'm trying to understand. How much the vampires in your world are - whether they are like my kind. I've heard of a number of versions by now, which is curious in itself. But none of them are my Kindred.
[The capital K is all but audible. He has never felt as close to his fellow vampires as he does now they're all dead.]
... It wasn't Cain. In my story. The first vampire, cursed to wander to world forever? In the version I was told it's Judas. The Chalice is regarded as the Holy Grail for vampires in my world.
That's how the story goes but I couldn't help but notice the parallels in what you mentioned. My version could be incomplete.
It could be. [Beckett doesn't sound convinced, but he also sounds like he's struggling. How much is he willing to stake on the remote possibility? How much does he let himself be drawn in by hope?]
The Chalice is used for - what? Create new vampires? Restore the undead to life?
That doesn't even sound like him. [Beckett says it before he can think of the implications, such as revealing his close familiarity with Dracula. Some Dracula.]
I've heard variations on this boast more times than I can remember. But that was all the mad fringes. We weren't... well.
Dracula? In a manner of speaking, yes. [The manner is sleeping with him but no one is getting told that again.]
He wasn't any kind of plunger-into-darkness. Very few of us were. Some of us had a madness in them, yes, and some just couldn't come with power, or immortality. But most of us were - subtler, at least. No one really profits from the overt destruction or subjugation of humanity. We evaded that mistake, at least.
[It's good that Flynn doesn't know that little tidbit of information because this is suddenly awkward enough.]
Mine was a professor. Smart. Charming. Actually read a lot of his works before I knew who he was. ... Definitely the plunger-into-darkness kind, though.
I wish the two things were mutually exclusive - charm and intelligence, and megalomania. It'd have made my life endlessly more pleasant, if not strictly easier... [He actually manages a chuckle, though it's a very dry one.]
We weren't a a peaceful or loving people, Mr. Carsen. Our entire existence was, in a way, a mistake. A blind clinging to glories and wars as dead as every one of us... but it had grace notes in it. Now and then. Enough that I hope we can be a cautionary tale, rather than something to forget.
Some of the vampires I met were saints. [His voice is soft, reflective, sad. Rayzeel, Aimerin, Serenna the White... Anatole.]
It's a long - no, let me rephrase that. There is more than one tale. I could be writing histories for years... if I live that long. And it'd be good to know there is anywhere that would take them.
Some of that is force of habit. For most of our existence my kind had lived by absolute secrecy, and that's before considering just how much the kind of knowledge I had amassed was a political powder keg. [And now, all gone. Defused.]
But I suppose I also want to be sure that my listeners are... respectful. Whatever the history is, it deserves that much by the very merit of being history.
Well... I'm rather low on writing materials, but I might as well make use of all this wonderful technology we're equipped with. I could start with recording some basics of the timeline. Things I'm sure of. Maybe throw in an outrageous anecdote or two just to keep you curious?
[He has a million of those as well, and somehow it feels sad to waste them.]
[He chuckles at that.] You had me at outrageous anecdotes.
[Actually you had him at timeline because there are very few things in the universe that Flynn Carsen doesn't find interesting. But hey. People call him a nerd enough these days.]
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[That... moves him. It reminds him of Simone and sitting in the sun and watching her fade away and he can feel his heart grow heavy at the memory.]
... They're not. Not in my world. At least I don't think they are.
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[The capital K is all but audible. He has never felt as close to his fellow vampires as he does now they're all dead.]
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Alright. I haven't met too many and I only recently learned of their existence before coming here but alright.
The Judas Chalice... does that mean anything to you?
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[Which doesn't bode well... but he is listening.]
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That's how the story goes but I couldn't help but notice the parallels in what you mentioned. My version could be incomplete.
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The Chalice is used for - what? Create new vampires? Restore the undead to life?
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[There's an uncomfortable pause in which he clears his throat.]
"I will summon my children and they will drink and we will plunge your world into darkness."
[The details weren't all that clear-cut.]
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I've heard variations on this boast more times than I can remember. But that was all the mad fringes. We weren't... well.
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What do you mean, you weren't 'well'?
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He wasn't any kind of plunger-into-darkness. Very few of us were. Some of us had a madness in them, yes, and some just couldn't come with power, or immortality. But most of us were - subtler, at least. No one really profits from the overt destruction or subjugation of humanity. We evaded that mistake, at least.
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Mine was a professor. Smart. Charming. Actually read a lot of his works before I knew who he was. ... Definitely the plunger-into-darkness kind, though.
But other mistakes were made?
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We weren't a a peaceful or loving people, Mr. Carsen. Our entire existence was, in a way, a mistake. A blind clinging to glories and wars as dead as every one of us... but it had grace notes in it. Now and then. Enough that I hope we can be a cautionary tale, rather than something to forget.
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I've seen versions of you. I believe it. [He frowns.] Wouldn't go as far as "mistake", though. Not all the vampires I met were bad people.
[Not by a long shot and his feelings on the subject are... complicated, to say the least.]
... So does that mean you wish to tell me your tale?
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It's a long - no, let me rephrase that. There is more than one tale. I could be writing histories for years... if I live that long. And it'd be good to know there is anywhere that would take them.
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Then he clears his throat, trying to focus on the task at hand.]
I wouldn't mind listening. Are these tales for me then or for the city? Somehow they don't sounds like something you want to be public knowledge.
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But I suppose I also want to be sure that my listeners are... respectful. Whatever the history is, it deserves that much by the very merit of being history.
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I... yeah, sure. I can do that. How, uh, do you wanna do this?
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[He has a million of those as well, and somehow it feels sad to waste them.]
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[Actually you had him at timeline because there are very few things in the universe that Flynn Carsen doesn't find interesting. But hey. People call him a nerd enough these days.]