Von Hagen Estates - Kraven's Duties

[Sage]

Kraven drunk in despair, the late afternoon air was full of it. He stood just outside the main gate of his mistress' mansion, watching the last few minutes of his day's separation from the Mother disappear while the people braced themselves to survive a night all around the land. They already had to rely on the restraint of monsters and vampires for their making it through each night, but recently yet another malevolent force had stricken their hearts with a renewed sense of fear. Creatures from another dimension had hardly made their leave and it seemed to have almost no effect on the creatures of the night they already had such a fickle relationship with from the start.

Kraven's nostrils flared, his bright eyes glowing as the last rays of life-giving sun shrunk beneath the horizon, signaling the end of her sleep. Kraven had become proud of his new talent, for he rarely required sleep now, and needed rest only a few times a month, always briefly at night so that he was awake for the duration of each day at maximum strength. He turned gracefully on his heel and begun to return to the mansion, echoes of his armor connecting with stone slowly being silenced by the stirring across the grounds.

[Jen]

"You are as steady a protector as ever, Kraven." Ana's voice echoed from the dark recesses of her "family" estates. Her tone was like silk, soft and cooing to a young man that she favored very much. It as enough that he was alive -- though she doubted anyone would tame his restless spirit for long.

As the very last ray of sunlight died on the horizon, Anabel Lilith VonHagen wandered purposefully from the shadows and smiled like the vicious predator she was. She stretched with a lazy and sensuous grace that could drive even the most sane human male to desire -- it was a way she had with mortal human men, food as they were.

"I'm ready to dine." A throaty whisper passed through full lips as she rested one slender hand on Kraven's shoulder. Her eyes were a feverishly bright shade of jade green -- her long blonde hair starting to turn black for want of nourishment. For want of blood. A delicate groan escaped Anabel as she stood next to Kraven, her mouth watering as only a Vampire's might at the scent of a human on the wind.

[Sage]

Kraven was completely and utterly frozen in place, unable to speak as the Mother first enticed his senses, a graceful vision, an exquisite sound, a sensual touch. Kraven vibrated to his core, and then was filled with the need to bend to Ana's will. For only her own command could pry him from her now, he was out of her reach and atop a high pillar at the gate in seconds, regaining the use of his senses as he scanned the quickly darkening night. As his gaze shifted across a distant treeline, the forest seemed to illuminate at his will. A glimmer caught his eye, and instantly began shooting to one side. Straggler. Kraven pounced like a great cat, touching ground and coiling to explode toward the forest. Though he was basically human himself, he was conditioned enough to outrun any normal mortal, and the meal was quickly in range of his abilities.

Without breaking his stride, his mind already began to work, began draining the light from the mortal's line of sight so that he would be blinded. He spoke words of poison into it's mind, crippling it's ability to think with his weapon of overbearing hopelessness. Soon, as always, Kraven would be upon his mistress' victim, paralyzing it like a snake's venom while it begged for her to grant it death. A few more short strides and Kraven had reached the treeline, where he used his momentum to glide upward into high branches, before continuing his pursuit. He assailed it's every weakness, filling it with fear and destroying it's ability to help itself. Kraven flashed his vicious eyes at the mortal, as it dropped to it's knees before him, beginning to sob uncontrollably. He'd seen this time and time again, and imagined the man's tear-stained face as Ana approached. At Kraven's prodding, his mood would revert to acceptance, and he would smile as the Mother drained him of life.

[Jen]

Ana smiled as she melted through the shadows created by her faithful servant. The quivering ball of human flesh, male by the looks of it, was cowering -- blubbering like a child. To think, even a human child had more resolve than this creature! Ana pressed her hand against the man's shoulder -- seeing his recognition and his smile.

"There is no need to be afraid."

Block receptors and scramble thoughts Kraven might, but nothing could drown out the terrifying scream that ripped from the throat of the man. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, Ana was kneeling on his chest like a practiced dancer with her head bent down -- her face pressed against the man's neck. The snap of ribs would be audible as Ana enjoyed and played with her meal, her pretty blue dress tainted with fresh blood in places.

Soon the man's throat was raw, his screams no louder than the beat of a butterfly's wings. His chest was caved by Ana's knees in places and she smiled down to him and he stared blankly at her, mute with terror and still -- strangely -- that longing desire for the very thing that was giving him so much pain. It was the way of human males -- mate until they died and this one wasn't quite...

Ana reached down and punched a hole through the man's chest, retrieving his heart and smiling at his now very dead expression -- a mask of grotesque pain and agony. She pressed the heart to her lips and drew her tongue over the still beating organ.

"Such a fine fighting man." She smiled as she nibbled playfully, thoughtfully, on the man's aorta. "Thank you, Kraven."

Ana got to her feet and glanced down at her dress, speckled with red splatter in places. She shrugged her shoulders, having an endless supply of clothing to fit her every whim at the mansion.


"Now, to business. I understand we have been having some trouble with the humans." Ana spoke as she walked, sure that Kraven would follow her, not needing to make him aware of her own movement.

[Sage]

Kraven's narrowed eyes relaxed, his eyes becoming unfocused now as he released the man's mind. There was little fight left in him, that was his only concern, to create as little work for Ana as possible, though reaction to pain was still very much a reflex, and nothing Kraven could control. Ana knew that much, as she knew all of Kraven's strengths and weaknesses, for he so openly told them to her taking great care in pointing out his own flaws. Kraven looked to the side, squeezing his eyes tight as he gripped his forehead with one armored hand. Sudden overexertion of his abilities, especially all of them at once, tended to give him an incredible headache, whereas gradually wearing mortals down induced a state of almost euphoria. Kraven struggled to overcome quickly, and he was back at Ana's side.

" I'm afraid so. It seems that....recent events have caused them extra stress and it has increased the rate of sickness and disease, and lowered the rates of productivity and reproduction. " Kraven winced as he spoke the end of his sentence. Another of Kraven's personal missions was to keep the humans happy, as happy humans resulted in healthy humans, and more amounts of them. Though with so many of them, even subtle shifts in their world could cause him to lose control of their emotions, and with the cataclysm that had most recently befallen the entire world... It was Kraven who felt responsible, personally, for this. And, in truth, it was another part of him somewhere in the void that was connected.

Kraven shrugged away slightly from Ana, and his disappointment was evident. " However, the harvest is good this year, and festivities draw near. If I can focus, they should remain content until the winter, but at the moment troubles weigh heavy in their hearts. " Kraven's tone began to soften as he took sole responsibility for the entirety of Kalmarden's mortal population, edged with a sharp sense of shame. " Wh-what are Her Eminence's thoughts? " Eagerness, nervousness.

[Jen]

Ana drained the heart to a dry leathery husk and tossed it aside for the wolves to get later. Her mind was working, with centuries of knowledge to search through, and she smiled at the worried look on Kraven's face.

"Humans are fickle creatures, my darling. Do not fret for I am not angry with you. It would take many of you to control the every whim of childish and annoying creatues such as mortal humans. They are nothing better than cattle and their emotions get in the way far too easily. That man behind us was a good example." Ana pressed a hand against Kraven's worried cheek and smiled as warmly as a Vampire might in the early dark hours of nightfall.

"Make sure their festival is joyful. As for the breeding, are they getting on well? The women are being fed well by their abundant crops and birthing fat children?" Ana spoke as a business woman interested in the fruits of her labor, deposited on her by a wealthy family -- only this particular trade was human flesh, and it wasn't for sale. It was for dinner.

[Sage]

Kraven nodded as a young student might while listening to someone he both respected and desired. It was true he was not nearly capable of controlling them all, but so long as their environment was healthy, he could subtly influence them. Kraven sighed, and decreased his pace by the slightest degree so that he was in Ana's wake rather than at her side. He recalled the figures in his head and spoke them aloud, as mechanically as he could.

" It is having minimal effect on the newborns, there are just slightly less of them since the...event. The disease is minimal and it seems the most profound effect is on the hearts of the working males, as they rebuild. The younger children, of course, are the least effected as they were not around or do not remember though there is some trauma in the adolescents, nothing unmanageable or imperative to their health, however. " Kraven swallowed hard, and stared at the ground as he squeezed his eyes shut again, fighting against another sudden wave of mental pain which passed as suddenly as it came. " Are there any particular measures you would like me to take, or plans for the season? " It was times like these, where Kraven could be useful and was trusted by his mistress that he relished and found the most joy, though he stifled himself at present until she was satisfied with his report.

[Jen]

"See to it that an extra portion of my crop enters into their circulation as a gift for their little celebration. I want no less than forty portions of that crop laced with a sedative and those forty humans brought back to the Mansion once they drift off. See to it that they're put in the communal cell in the dungeons. Our stock on site is running a little low, and they're not always the best or first choice -- but do in a pinch. You can make sure that it is done at random, for variety is always entertaining." Ana spoke, gesturing with her pale hand as she walked, nearing the Mansion. She could smell her children, past victims, lingering within the doorway -- jealous of her attention to Kraven.

"Do make sure that none of the breeding mothers, their infants, children, or adolescents make it into this group. I want only adults to be taken." Ana stopped and glanced back at the dark woods, seeing between the shadowed trunks with her keen raptor's gaze. Her eyes were a dark sweet shade of emerald green as she processed some thought, the human in the woods long forgotten as his blood dried on her dress.

"Once those forty are procured, bring me a child no older than seven years. It is time that my family grew once again, and I tire of the prattle of adults. Make sure it is a pretty child, you can bring two. A boy and a girl. Do make sure they are fair of skin with perhaps light blonde or red hair." It was as if she were picking out a pet, and not some child to torture and make her own. Indeed, it was a pet in many circumstances -- one that would be incredibly dangerous when she was done with it.

[Sage]

Kraven's eyes widened. Though they had little need of the crop aside from attributing to her wealth and keeping up the facade, or feeding the stock, it was still an incredibly generous offer, even considering the fact that forty of it's fortunate recipients would be leaving this world soon. Kraven made mental dividers and notes in his photographic memory, sorting his orders, and already setting aside time and drawing from his sleep to make sure that her whims were carried out efficiently and more importantly: immediately.

Kraven noticed those that would watch them shortly after his mistress. Recently, he had come across a rather useful realization. The much more complicated emotions of vampires were also susceptible to his ability. He'd never dared trying it in the past as the only vampire he had even the slightest interest was Ana. But as he began to sense more solid versions of their emotions in his mind aside from being able to read them in their expressions and actions, he noticed that he could act upon them, or change them just as any other creature. Kraven narrowed his eyes slightly, and filled the minds of the onlookers full of images of the food that was nearby. Though he could influence them, he could not make them act aside from his mistress' wishes any more than he could make himself, and he tended not to misuse his ability by making them feel what he wanted them to feel. The loathing replaced with despair, hate with depression, greed and thirst for his blood with fear and misery, for knowing they could never have it while Ana lived.

Kraven was shocked even further at Ana's second request. A matter which he took to be of great importance. He would take great pride in expending his every bit of energy searching for children for Ana. His mind was already swarmed with the faces and minds of the land's children. With the trip he would be taking the next night to the ports to study any foreign children, and the sense of unhindered joy if he could find something rare and extraordinary to keep his mistress company. He forced out all thoughts of the attention these creatures would pull from him when they were turned, but instead his eyes were alight with excitement for the eventual completion of his task. His mind briefly stopped on two faces he thought might please the Mother, and he broke out of his frenzied cycles of thought with a deep smile as he let his rampant energy flow through his every cell, illuminating his form.

[Jen]

"Oh, and before I forget." Twelve of the higher ranking vampires were filtering out of the mansion now -- their outfits suited more to a party than the feeding they were about to do.

"I have a ball in mind. I would like to invite many people from around this world. It will be rather enticing and enjoyable. I need you to contact a prince for me though." Ana smiled knowingly as she looked at Kraven, then leaned over and kissed him pleasantly on the forehead. "Do give him my regards, won't you? He's always ever been a voracious charmer. He will look forward to joining and planning our little...event."

Ana's eyes only ever sparkled when they refered to one particularly devilish trickster of a prince. Kraven would know who it was immediately, if nothing short of her entire body language spoke volumes of desire for the prince -- even if they would always play a game of cat and mouse.

[Sage]

Kraven's hand absentmindedly flitted to the hilt of a rather vicious looking sword at waist as the vampires exited the mansion. As soon as he realized his misstep he corrected it by allowing both arms to go limp at his sides, his gave fixed upon his mistress' minions as he listened eagerly to her command. He was not surprised to hear about the event, as one usually took place near All Hallow's.

If Kraven were able to protest, it would be what he had on his tongue as he faced Ana at the mention of the word he despised. Prince. He nearly lost control of his balance as Ana planted her lips on his tense skin, and gravitated toward her as she pulled away again to continue speaking.

When his sense came back to him, they would tell of unrestrained jealousy at Ana's desire for any flesh or being but his own, bringing him enormous mental pain as he withheld his thoughts from escaping to his mistress or her servants. Of course he would enact her will hastily and without argument, and he need not speak his compliance for her to know she had it. Kraven fought one final time to tear himself away from her as he made for the gates once more. " I will return with as much haste as this body can bear, Mistress. "