Under Ichiro's open gaze, no one hesitated in affirming their willingness to take on a Constitution Debuff for the benefit of the mission. With that settled, he turned toward the two vampires and gestured forward,
“We are ready and in your care. We need to see your Queen as quickly as possible and will do whatever we can for those who are infected. After that, we must continue on, perhaps stopping for some specific supplies on the way out.”
“Of course. We will do whatever we must to gain an audience immediately.” Hilbert intoned heavily, rubbing at his forearm where he had cut his oath, before bringing his mount into a canter forward.
The group followed Hilbert as he set off, and Tilly once again marveled at how smoothly the summoned mount responded to his intentions. They covered the rest of the distance to the first gate relatively quickly, and as they approached, Tilly called up to Kindle,
‘Hey girl, we are headed into an unknown here, and I honestly don’t know if it would be safer for you to stay out of the city or ride in with us… So I’m going to let you decide.’
‘I am coming now. I will move with you into the city and make it harder for any to dismiss your words. Only fools would take my presence lightly.’
Till looked up and watched as a blue speck slowly grew larger, falling from the sky, and fanning out her wings at the last second to halt her dive. Her talons touched the top of Tilly’s pack almost gently as she fluffed her feathers, not quite hiding her pleasure at such a smooth landing.
‘Impressive! I can’t believe how fast you have improved.’ Tilly sent, not having to lean into the compliment at all. It was jarring to watch her grow in leaps and bounds like this.
‘It is less improvement and more remembrance. I regain myself as I grow stronger. I do not yet know my full capabilities, but I know they are far greater than what I have discovered so far.’ She sent back preening.
As they drew near the gates, they found a small line of people moving through the taxation process, and a large group of wagons off to the side, waiting to go through the process before entering the city.
Tilly curiously eyed the different cargos as they passed, spotting normal goods, like produce and textiles, but also seeing things that he couldn’t figure out in a glance, even with Identify active.
There was a large chunk of silver crystal roped down on a wagon bed that the system labeled as, Silverite. There was also a train of wagons protected by surly-looking one-eyed guards,
Level 48 Cyclopic Brawlers
On the backs of their wagons were large urns lashed upright by numerous ropes. The urns were covered in a red glowing script, reminiscent of what Tilly had seen on the blood repositories Hilbert and Sir Michael had shown them. But the script looked sloppy as if it had been carelessly scrawled instead of meticulously crafted. Tilly couldn’t help but get a queasy feeling as he stared at them.
Then Hilbert’s voice interrupted Tilly’s gawking,
“Ho the Gate! Good morning Gentlemen, how goes the watch?” He called cheerfully, bypassing the other individuals waiting in line, and moving right to the guards and official running the tax and entry checkpoint.
There was some grumbling as they passed the others on foot and wagon, but everyone quieted once they saw the Nightmares. It would make sense that the mounts typically marked a higher station in the city, and Tilly realized it was probably one of the reasons Hilbert had angled for their whole group to borrow the creatures.
At Hilbert's greeting, all the dhampire guards and the vampire official looked up at the approaching group wearing many shades of the same frown. None seemed interested in matching Hilbert's cheerful tone.
Then from within the shadow of the gate, an elegant-looking knight with dark hair and even darker eyes stepped forward, a sneer evident on his face.
Level 68 Knight of the Sanguine Order
“Ah, the stable boy had returned… Imagine my surprise when I was called from standing vigil over my brothers, to fetch our little lost lamb.”
“Sir Accolon, of course... it's you,” Hilbert replied in surprise at the sudden appearance of the knight, his tone slipping into a higher octave.
At his false cheer, the dark-eyed knight’s sneer turned further downward into a snarl,
“You’ve finally done it, you filthy upstart. She is ready to set you cleaning Dagonet’s cage for the next century. And you!”- He said, turning on Sir Michael- “ You call yourself one of us, but we all know what you are. Some of the others may be fooled, but after abandoning your post, they will see what I do, an imposter.” he finished his accusation by spitting on the ground at the feet of the Nightmare.
Sir Michael didn’t even flinch at the insult, while Hilbert looked… mildly nauseous.
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Ichiro moved his horse slightly forward and attempted to salvage the situation. “Sir, we are here as official emissaries from the new Faction grafted into these lands. We request an audience with-”
“I know what you claim. Cador sent in the report hours ago. We don’t believe in good fortune or miracles around here, and that old buffoon must be getting desperate to make such a misstep.” He said dismissively, barely glancing in Ichiro’s direction.
“Pay the tax and dismiss those mounts you have sullied. You are to come with me, and the Queen will see you at her earliest convenience.” He sighed, his anger turning to exasperation as the sneer settled back into place.
“We have seen it with our own eyes, Accolon-” Hilbert started to explain, but was cut off by a furious hiss from the Knight,
“How dare you refuse me my title!” - He barked his fury blazing back to life in an instant. - “ Do not waste any more of my time on this farce. Remove yourselves from those mounts and pay the tax!” He demanded, eyes glinting dangerously.
Hilbert nodded stiffly in reply and complied. He dismounted his eight-legged Nightmare careful to avoid looking at the creature and Sir Michael mirrored him, seeming completely at ease, even in the face of the tense exchange. The rest of the group followed suit, and Hilbert muttered something under his breath to his mount, causing it to fade away like fog before a noonday sun.
He then moved towards the rest of the mounts, muttering an incantation before each one, and laying a glowing hand on its withers. At the glowing touch of his magic, they each faded away. In less than a minute, all of the Nightmares were gone, and they stood before the uncomfortable-looking official and the contingent of guards who didn't want to be caught in the middle of whatever was playing out between the Knights and the Wizard’s Apprentice.
“Arms please gentlemen.” The official asked the two vampires, who moved with rote compliance, stretching out their right forearms. The official pulled out what looked like a large enchanted monocle, and peered down at the appendages for a moment before waving them through. Whatever the device checked, it seemed unaffected by the armor Sir Michael wore or Hilbert’s colorful robes.
Then the rest of the group moved up and the official droned, “Blood or Standard? Blood tax is currently set at 1.32 pints. Standard is 7 silver, 4 coppers today.”
“We will pay in blood” Ichiro responded cooly, moving to present his arm first.
The official marked something in his ledgers and lifted another object from the table. It was a dull grey metal tube marked with arcane symbols and as he held one end to Ichiro’s arm, the symbols started to glow red.
Blood Extraction Tube Rare {Commerce Guild Certified}
The light of the tube was matched by a large container behind the table that was also covered in the now glowing symbols.
Blood Vessel Epic {Commerce Guild Certified}
‘They must be linked.’ He thought as the red glow died simultaneously on the Vessel and the Extraction Tube. The guard’s position flanking the official to both sides now took on new meaning as Tilly realized that they were probably there as much to guard the Blood Vessel, as the gate.
Ichiro filed past, looking no worse for the experience, and Tilly moved up next, holding up his arm and pulling back his sleeve without a word. The official made another mark in his ledger and placed the end of the tube against his skin, activating its ruby glow-
The device sputtered, flashing red, before going dark, and the official sighed, “Traveler, please deactivate any defensive Abilities, this is not designed to hurt you.”
“Uh, I don’t have any defensive Abilities,” Tilly replied, confused.
“Sir," The Official started with a flat look, "we have been doing this for a long time, you are not the first one to think of such things… but you will not be entering the city without paying, either in blood or coin.”
“I’m telling you. I don’t have anything active at all right now, it's a problem with your stick thing.”
“Excuse me, I believe I may understand the problem.” - Amelia said, stepping up from behind Tilly in line.
“I do not know what the device is rated for in regards to Endurance, but despite his displayed level,” Amelia said gesturing vaguely above Tilly’s head, “he is probably well above the threshold for that device.”
“Preposterous!”- The official sputtered.- “The enchantment is rated through the second tier of Endurance.”
“Wow, really?” Amelia answered looking over at Tilly with a shocked smile.
“You really doubled down on Endurance, huh?” She continued trying unsuccessfully to push down her grin.
“I have very good reasons for my build. I got it approved by Shuji and everything!” Tilly replied in mock offense, while the official looked on aghast.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t be serious. To do such a thing would be to cripple any possibility of balance…” He cut in incredulously. At his statement, Tilly winced, his small smile at Amelia’s teasing disappearing as he turned back to the Official.
“I said, I have my reasons. Now can I pay this tax or not?”
“Ah, yes, of course, my mistake…” The official replied, shuffling around behind the checkpoint, before pulling out a new metal tube, with the same markings. The only difference seemed to be that this one was made up entirely of silver. Tilly held his arm up again and the official pressed the end against it and activated the enchanted object.
Blood Extraction Tube Epic {Commerce Guild Certified}
The symbols roared to life instantly, and Tilly felt a rushing sensation as something was pulled out of his center through his arm and into the devices. He couldn’t understand how Ichiro had endured the feeling so calmly. It felt like he was being sucked dry, and as the device winked out, Tilly struggled to stay on his feet, swaying in place.
The official frowned as he turned and watched the glowing symbols on the Blood Vessel stay lit for another three seconds.
“That can't be correct” He muttered to himself, while a new debuff flashed at the top of Tilly’s HUD and he attempted to steady himself against the surface of the checkpoint.
Blood Loss:
You have lost over 30% of your blood in a short amount of time, -30% to your Constitution for five hours.
“Uh…” Tilly said shakily, “My math may not be perfect, but this thing took way more than 1.2 pints from my body.”