First meetings
A dark figure appears in response to Elharia's voice, arms bare to the shoulders and chest only partially covered by the leather vest he wears. Her eyes rise to take him in, handsome no doubt but... "Vampire." She hisses the word, her stance becoming defensive as she raises a hand to prepare a spell. "I am, the vampire Jack Townson. Master of this manor, king of Draconia, leader of the Degenerates who call it home." His voice is soft and resonant, fangs flashing as he speaks. "And you are?" She is suddenly aware that she is intruding on his hospitality if this truly is his home. Elharia sighs and drops a half curtsey, her dark eyes never leaving his scarlet ones.
"You may call me..." Another sigh. "My name is Elharia and, I apologise for invading your hospitality, I was seeking some shelter from the rain." She shifts her shoulders, rain streaming once more from her sodden cloak. "I'm newly arrived here, I asked the Trods to bring me somewhere I might make a home."Jack nods slowly, he understands all too well what it's like to be in search of a home, a sanctuary. "And yet you seem to take issue with vampires, there are many of us in Draconia." One taloned finger taps his lips as he seems to come to a decision. "Come in then Elharia. Let me get you something warm to drink and sit by the fire. Tell me about yourself." She can't turn down the invitation, offered as it is with what seems like genuine warmth. Hopefully the law of guest and host applies here, she has accepted his hospitality and only the most careless of hosts would allow harm to come to her now. Careless or treacherous. Minutes later they are ensconced in high backed chairs by the fire, Elharia has a mug of hot cocoa at her elbow and her soaked cloak has been replaced with a soft blanket. She draws a little of the heat from the fire to dry her clothes and hair, the flames dimming briefly. Jack leans forward, fingers steepled together and crimson gaze curious. He wanted information in exchange for his hospitality, of course. Elharia takes a sip of her drink and wraps her hands around the warm cup, a surprisingly human gesture."I was born in Ireland, something over two thousand years ago as mortals currently reckon time. I was human then, a child of warriors and bards. There were legends that our family had the blood of the sidhe in our veins, that ancestors had interbred with them down the years and that we had a special bond." She chuckles, "Every family had a 'special bond' in those days and every family had a connection to the high king, it's just the way it was." "I was a wild child, I loved the heaths and the shore more than the hearth and my duties. But then the Romans came to our shores, and with them they brought vampires. We had never seen such creatures before, darker than the worst of the Sluagh. While the mortals failed to breach our lands, the dead were a different matter, they raided for food, for slaves, for..." She shudders and stares into the fire for a long moment. "One of them desired to take me as leverage against my father, he was the leader of our tribe at that time. He thought to threaten me, perhaps turn me in order to extract a regular source of food from my people. I fought, I was injured, he..." Elharia closes her teeth with a snap and looks up in time to catch Jack wincing in sympathy, whether for her or for his own memories she cannot tell. "I thought she was a Banshee at first, here to howl for my death. She was my kin though, Leannan Sidhe, one who had blessed the poets in my family down the years. We burned bright and fierce and she was the reason. She took me with her, brought me across another veil and into the hollow hills. She couldn't heal me but she could let me steep in the magic of that place until I became something else." She gestures to herself, to the not quite human sides of her appearance. "I...I'm sorry, it is a long tale and one I am not used to telling." She falls silent once more, drinking the cocoa and blinking back the tears that glisten in the corners of her eyes.