York - 1480s

The constant hum of noises from the outside world drifted through the church’s tinted windows, echoing and reverberating around the cathedral. Several priests and nuns scurried around the church, either praying at the main altar or chanting whilst dispersing incense. Despite the cloudy weather outside, faint beams of sunlight illuminated the pews dutifully arranged throughout the halls of the church. Elaborate tapestries and paintings adorned the walls, retelling biblical tales and noble acts.

From his small office, Simon reviewed various messages he had received from the various minor churches that were scattered across the land. While some scrolls contained righteous demands or innocent gossip, others were filled with accounts of the heretical beasts that roamed the countryside. He let out a drawn-out sigh as he parted the assorted scrolls which lay on his desk. He had already heard the news that a caravan had just arrived from the southern lands and was likely to bear more ill-fated news.

Simon carefully opened a small cabinet on his office wall containing a wooden plaque which listed all his night hunters that had died in the line of duty. At times the weight of his role got to him; constantly second guessing his decisions and those made by the church. He lit a prayer candle in front of the board of names, before praying for the souls who had sacrificed their lives in order to protect humanity. They were in heaven now, watching over their current and future comrades.

At first, Simon did not hear the large church doors swing open, but the commotion from the various clergymen certainly garnered his attention. One of his old apprentices William had returned to the church and was accompanied by a rather rugged looking mercenary. The pair were carried a rather large box between them and were gently rebuffing the various onlookers' curiosity. After carefully setting it down on a nearby bench, William uncharacteristically sent his companion away with promises to catch up later at a local inn. Something had changed since he had seen his former apprentice, who normally lacked the desire for social visits, instead preferring to rest while waiting for his next mission.

William waved over his commander, ignoring the persistent staffers who were continuing to pester him about the contents of his box. “Simon, can you help me with this box to the basement? It would be best if only a limited number of people saw the contents.” The box itself was heavy, but not unmanageable. As they started to carry it down the stairs, Simon was sure he heard the contents shift within the box. William noticed his superior’s hesitation and simply asked Simon to trust in him, before instructing the other clergy to allow only other night hunters downstairs until further notice.

The pair spent several minutes lighting various torches to illuminate the basement, revealing the various items stored beneath the church. The torchlight revealed: crates of old books, large casks of communion wine and the assorted tithes lined the various walls. As they finished illuminating the basement, William grabbed several chairs from about the room and placed them around the box. Once the room had been prepared, William opened the crate to reveal a young girl, eyes shining a bright crimson red in the torchlight.

Simon could only watch as William carefully helped a fledgling vampire out of the box. The vampire was dressed in comfortable clothes with no obvious signs of injury aside from her heavily bandaged arm; her pale white skin seemed to glow slightly in the dim torchlight. What madness had consumed William’s mind? Bringing a vampire into the church alive and unrestrained was reckless. Despite his initial horror at the situation, he trusted William’s judgment and there was sufficient evidence that he had not had his humanity stripped away from him. “This, Simon, is Victoria.” William then exposed his wrist and enough of his vampire’s wrist to show the matching holy seals indicating a binding pact.

The vampire did not protest or put up any resistance to William, she quietly allowed him to speak on her behalf. “I would like you to hear my entire report before making any judgment as to what happens to Victoria. For transparency could you please bring out Rose?” Simon had never seen a vampiric familiar before in all of his years working in the order, yet here was one emerging from her master’s shadow. The familiar gave a simple bow as she returned to her master’s side. Both stood courteously and silently; the pair knew their place to some degree and did not wish to break their understanding of protocol.

William then resealed the box in which the vampire had travelled and proceeded to spread out a collection of blood-caked teeth around a blasphemous idol on the box’s surface. Simon could manage to stammer “What in the world...” as he stared in disbelieve at the various trophies on display before him. Not only had William brought with him the vampire he was tasked with subduing, but he had also defeated a pack of werewolves. As Simon examined the assorted werewolf fangs his mind processed William’s unprecedented accomplishment. “What you have achieved on this mission is... far beyond what I, no... we expected. I do not know what deal you made with this vampire, but given the exceptional results I believe that there may be merit in hearing your report.”

William had begun to detail his journey, reporting his captive’s surrender and her subsequent actions, when the basement door flung open as four newcomers barged into their heavy debriefing. The group consisted of three men and a woman, mostly dressed in the same standard issue leather armor that William wore, with the exception of the largest man, who wore simple monk’s robes. One of the more vocal members of the group loudly interrupted William’s explanation, demanding information. “What is with all of the secrecy?” The man in question got a rough smack on the back of his head from his commander, “Quiet Warin, learn to read the room.” The monk gave an apologetic bow to Simon, before closing the basement door. The leader of the group turned his attention to William, “Hello, William what have you found tha...” the group leader’s voice trailed off when the extent of Victoria’s existence was realised.

With practiced efficiency the quartet surrounded their foe, weapons drawn on their target who sat unrestrained upon her chair. “Enough!” Simon shouted, breaking their concentration. “Norman, Warin, Elias and Katherine! Stand down!” All the assembled warriors hesitantly lowered their weapons, nervously eying the vampire who had calmly remained seated during the entire ordeal. Unlike her mistress, the familiar had lost her composure and was now clinging onto her master out of fear. Warin leaned over the vampire, condescendingly assessing her. “Why is this runt of a vampire in the basement of your church?” Simon sighed, “I was just getting an explanation as to that, before you barged in here.” The woman of the group leaned over to examine the little girl, initially out of concern although her latent curiosity had taken over. “Is this a familiar? I don’t think I have heard of one outside of old books.” The last remaining figure, a large and muscular man dressed in monks’ robes approached the girl roughly grabbing her chin to examine her face. The familiar’s face turned pale in fear before her form entirely collapsed into the shadows. Victoria gave a small bow from her chair and apologised. “I am sorry. She recently had a bad experience with a group of men and your colleague triggered some memories of that encounter. Bringing her out again would not be a good idea.” Then Elias blinked several times in surprise, and muttered an unexpected apology which was seemingly accepted by the vampire.

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The new arrivals eventually complied with their superior’s orders and stood down, either sitting on available chairs or leaning against whatever they could find. They all were fixated on the creature before them, their hands resting on their respective weapons. William started his report over from the beginning, from Victoria's initial capture to the incident with the witch. Despite the seemingly outlandish details contained within his retelling, the recovered items from the werewolves and the lingering pact with Victoria confirmed many of the details in his report. Aside from one or two points of clarification from Simon, the assorted night hunters remained silent. Elias and Norman did examine the idol taken from the wolf’s shrine before placing it back down, disgusted by the feral statue.

Simon called for a short pause in their discussion; his subordinate’s results had revealed a lot of implications and possibilities which required further thought. Elias used the interval to move the idols and werewolf teeth upstairs to be both purified and disposed of. Katherine, curious of the vampire, spent her break prodding her with various intrusive questions. To her credit, while Victoria declined to answer certain questions, the vampire did indulge the curiosity of the young night hunter. The remaining holy men stood around dissecting William’s rather unique experience fighting werewolves, trying to improve their own techniques and strategies. Simon on the other hand remained in his seat, arms crossed mulling over the situation.

Unlike some of his more devoutly rigid subordinates, Simon saw an opportunity before him. Victoria was at least open to some level of negotiation and, in his opinion, keeping her alive would be more beneficial for the church. While it would take some convincing of the higher ups, if she was willing to train newer night hunters, they could save potentially thousands of lives. Although, based on William’s assessment, she would require training in order to provide the necessary resistance to do her job properly. That withstanding, her supportive capabilities probably were on par with several of the order who were in this very basement.

The return of Elias brought everyone back to the topic at hand, although only Katherine and William seemed comfortable around Victoria. Simon reopened the meeting, trying to hide his true thoughts “We have all had some time to think about this situation. As the night hunter who captured this vampire, what do you think we should do with her?” William paused for a second before answering, “I do not trust Victoria as a whole, as she does wish to retain certain secrets about her past and various dealings. However, I would trust her with my life without any seal or agreement. I would like to recruit her as my partner, with some training she could serve as a powerful force for humanity.” Warin shot up, “What madness has possessed you? The fact that she has lived this long should be seen as a black mark against your honor.” Norman placed a hand on his shoulder, “You are correct. However, a he has shown, she can be safely restrained with minimal effort.” Simon, now feeling the full weight of the conversation, added, “Let me be clear: I am not comfortable with a vampire joining our order, especially unsupervised. But I agree that we should at least consider other options before killing her. We can use her in various other ways without killing her.”

Warin, dissatisfied with their permissive response, forcefully marched over to the captive. With hot-blooded zealotry, he grabbed the vampire by her hair, pressing his knife against her neck. “This is your doing, isn’t it? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t end you right now!?” Everyone in the room was now silent, mutely watching the outburst. The vampire, unfazed by her predicament, responded: “Would killing me quickly here and now really quench your rage?” Warin could only stammer, “W...w...what?” The vampire now looking at him from the corner of her eyes, continued “You clearly have seen many people die at the hands of my kin or other supernatural entities. Would a quick death really satisfy your desire for vengeance? You have as many opportunities as you can dream of to punish me, yet you wish to ignore them out of thoughts of wrath.”

Ignoring the hatred emanating from his subordinate, Simon decided to press her at this point: “Do you believe in those words?” The vampire was now bleeding from a small cut on her neck, but still retained her composure. “What I believe about my situation is irrelevant. I am not being judged for either my actions or my thoughts, I am being judged on my vampirism. I do not like it, but I don’t have any means to oppose the church’s will at this time.” Warin faltered, his mind trying to justify his beliefs and allowing William to gently pry Warin off Victoria.

With Victoria now free from immediate danger, it was William’s time to honor his agreement. “While I cannot provide all the details of our agreement, one of the terms was that I would try to ensure a painless death. Simon, given what we have discussed, can I hold us to that term?” Simon looking at William, “What can you tell me about this agreement?” William shifted as his word would undoubtedly conflict with his orders, “As you know, for her part she agreed to provide me assistance with the werewolf hunt, which she fulfilled. In return I promised three things, if I were to speak of the first two, I would break my vow. However, I would swear on God’s name that they are not applicable to this trial. The third was to try to provide a clean death if she was to be tortured and executed.” Simon, paused before relenting. “If we decide that she is to be executed, you are to execute her immediately and without complaint. So...” his attention turning to the vampire, “What is it that you want? You clearly have ulterior motives in doing this.”

The vampire remained as she was, shifting her attention as was required. “I want to survive. My best chance of a long life is to peacefully live alongside humanity. I know it would be hard to convince anyone of my intentions, given your experiences fighting other vampires. Once I had been discovered, I would be hunted indefinitely. I have already changed our dynamic once, there is still a chance that I can work alongside the church. With that said, may I make a bold request?” Simon nodded, “You can make your request, but don’t expect us to grant it, just because you have been cooperative.” “That is fine,” the vampire eyes seemed to shine with a new-found light as she made her request “Instead of judging me on the fallible word of man, can I request to be judged by your god or their angels?”

Not even William was prepared for this answer, the notion of being judged not by man but the god they answered to was far from what any of them had expected. Elias, who had been mostly silent, spoke up “I am certain we could try to call a divine being to judge you, but why would you suggest that?” Victoria, unfazed by the sudden atmosphere of incredulity, simply replied “That I will leave to your imagination.” Simon massaged his temple, whatever decision they would have made today could be overturned by any number of higher-ups. Whether or not it was her intention, her request for divine judgment would circumvent the church’s authority or will. William had definitely found someone incredible; this sort of bold suggestion was far beyond any expectation he held. “Fine, let’s do it your way. Everyone, go upstairs and prepare the church. Close most of the shutters so our prisoner can speak, but leave some open on the altar. Get all the normal clergy to stand watch outside and prevent distractions. I will bring Victoria up shortly.” The assembled night hunters responded “Yes, sir!” slamming their closed fist into their chests.