RP:The Bickering of Beatrix and the Butcher

From HollowWiki

Background

Just another night at the Hanging Corpse.


A bottle or two of bloodwine leads to a little heart-to-heart between creatures rendered mostly heartless by definition.


Chitchat at the Hanging Corpse: perspectives on Vampirism

Valentin was settled at a corner table, a bottle set to one side, and a book placed before him. The vampiric butcher's apron showed smears of a greenish ichor, the fruits of his most recent labour having been hard to remove from the leather. Valentin was examining a book set before him. Nailed to the table, in fact, and struggling against its bonds in futile protest. A hammer and some silver nails sat next to Valentin's bottle, and the burly man was muttering to himself, one hand scratching a shaggy muttonchop "...blimmin' Van Zechter. Bad enough th'banker'd less idea of how t'cut a body than a bloody accountant, but th'sod has t'use a hundred words in place o'ten. Utter blimmin' lunacy. Damn annoyin' that th'sod knew what he was talkin' about in other ways."


Beatrix entered the hanging corpse, feeling safe within its sturdy blackstone walls, knowing that only vampires and allies were within. She walked with silent confidence to the bar and ordered a blood wine, though she hadn't really come here to drink. She had been feeling rather lonely lately, her nomadic existence kept her isolated from even the vampiric race to which she belonged. She collected her drink when it was set down in front of her and walked over to the high backed chairs in the middle of the tavern. They weren't exactly comfortable, but it didn't much matter to her any way. She took a small sip of her wine and looked around her.


Valentin continued flipping through the tome gifted to him by the guildmistress. Seemed every damn 'favour' th'woman did was a twist o'the knife permanently stuck in y'back. At least he'd had th'damn thing long enough to figure out it didn't like silver nails much. Calmed th'damn thing down a right treat. "...blimmin' bint ain't got nothin' in here on th'subject, though. Back t'the blimmin' library, an' its fusty ol' bonebag librarians." Valentin took a swig from his bottle, noticed it was getting light. The butcher called out "Oi, Steadman. Another one, eh?" The one-eyed barman gave Valentin a sour look which clearly said 'Fetch it yourself when you bring your coin, you aren't paying enough for waitressing.'


Beatrix heard a man shout out the to the steadman asking, rather impolitely for another drink. His accent was strange too, she hadn't heard one like it before. She moved her seat an inch or tow in his direction so she could get a better look at him. He was huge, with unkempt mutton chops on the sides of his face. It was his clothes that caught her eye though, he had on an apron smeared with brown dried blood and other stains that she couldn't ascertain the source. She took another sip, her eyes not leaving him. 'Should I go speak to him?' she asked herself in a whisper. She picked her drink up off the stout table and walked slowly towards him. He was even more meatier up close, double her size. She looked like a doll compared to him. this, however, did not put her off. "May I sit here?" She asked, politely, only able to look him in the eye for a second or two. To say she felt intimidated was an understatement.


Valentin glanced across at the petite figure. "Blimey, girl, someone necked you right young, didn't they. Sure, sit wherever y'blimmin' like, luv. I ain't king o'the tavern. His royal 'won't get off his Xalious t'bring me a bottle' Steadman is. An' speakin' o'which, you settle y'self an' I'll grab m'refill." Valentin hauls himself to his feet "Oh, an' don't free th'book. Th'blimmin' thing's got a nasty bite." Valentin tromps over to the bar, puts a few coins down and matches Steadman's glower with one of his own, before returning successfully with a new bottle in tow. The butcher settles himself back down comfortably and eyes Beatrix "Now, this bein' Vailkrin an' all, folks normally only approach if'n they want somethin' from me, or need a special kind o'job done." Valentin pauses, remembers this was where he met Daisy "...an' some folks are just blimmin' weirdly sociable, but them's a minority. So. I'm Valentin, Thanadule o'the Necromancer's guild, an' proprietor o'the finest butcher shop in Cenril. Your turn."


Beatrix pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. She watched him walk to the bar with a glower obviously meant for the steadman serving. He returned and started talking to her. She caught most of it, but some of the things he said she just couldn't understand. She nodded as he spoke. He finished, while she pondered how she would answer as she drank the last of her wine greedily. Ah, yes, that was better. "Well, for one I am often mistaken as a child, which I assume you did also." She laughed, though the sound came out a little strained. "My name is Beatrix I live in caves around Vailkrin mostly, I am probably what you would call a nomad; I find it hard to be around... people" She almost choked on the word. She shook her head, internally admonishing herself for letting her emotions take hold of her. "And I guess I come under the weirdly sociable type in this case" She laughed again, this time it was more hearty and real.


Valentin grunts. The girl flicked from one emotion to another in the blink of an eye, it seemed "Didn't assume nothin', luv. Ain't many children roamin' Vailkrin, an' none'd make it as far as th'Hangin' Corpse without gettin' picked up as snackfood, innit." The butcher points out the obvious: "Y'pick a strange blimmin' place t'come to for one what don't like bein' round folks." Valentin rubbed the stubble on his jaw "A pub's about th'worst kind o'place t'be a blimmin' hermit at. Noisy, reeks o'liquor, an' y'guaranteed the company o'drunken sots. Y'touched in th'head, girl? I've heard some o'the more bent o'them fanged pigeons like a bit o'crazy in th'company they select. Part o'their damn stupid 'creepy chic', or whatever th'ponces want t'think of it as."


Beatrix realised that she might have sounded a little peculiar. After all. she had said that she found it hard to be around people. Well, her situation was strange to be perfectly honest. It was really that she didn't like being around people, it was that she was afraid of people in general. She cleared her throat. "Well, it is a little hard to explain. What I meant was that I find it hard to be around people out of fear not because I choose not to" She xplained, itching for another drink, as her nerves began to envelope her. "But I don't class vampires as people, myself included,and I have no problem being here because I do not fear vampires or our allies, just the creatures that hate our race" She stood, putting her small boney hand up, as if to say 'wait, I'll be back in a moment', though she had no idea if he understood the gesture, she walked to the bar anyway and ordered another drink. She kept glancing over her shoulder at him as she waited, she wished she had decided on someone else to talk to. Because he was a little strange. She took her drink, when it arrived, and walked back to their table thanking Steadmen as she went.


Valentin could only put this 'allies' nonsense down to the peacekeeping claptrap Kasyr had set up since the place got halfwrecked by civil war. When Beatrix returns, the vampiric butcher offers her some old-fashioned wisdom "Piece of advice, luv, on th'house: aint a single damn pair o'fangs as can be trusted. Ain't no such thing as 'allies' amongst vampires. Just arrangements where both parties are clever enough not t'let the other screw 'em over too much, an' vice versa." Valentin gives his struggling book an absent-minded thump to settle it down "Now, I know there's a lot o'political panderin' 'round Vailkrin right now. All very touchy feely 'all undead are undead together' kind of quasi-unionist bollocks. But don't be fooled luv. Our 'race' as y'calls it are a bunch o'self-servin' predators. An' folks what hate vampires have damn good reason to." Valentin drains the existing bottle, and uses a fingernail to pop the seal on the new one "Truth be told, only things y'really got t'worry about are blimmin' werewolves, priests, paladins, and other bloody vampires. Oh, an' dragons, but tha' should go without blimmin' sayin. Everyone has t'worry 'bout blimmin' dragons. Damn lizardy bastards."


Beatrix understood what he said about vampires, she knew better than most. And she also understood why other creatures hated vampires. She hated vampires too. But just because she hated herself, didn't mean she wanted to die and she would, eventually, if she let slip that she was a vampire in public places outside of Vailkrin. She had already had a human attempt to kill her after she told him what she was. However, in spite of the vampiric nature, she knew undoubtedly that vampires didn't attack each other unprovoked. So she felt safer around them than other creatures, and allies of course. It was a loose term she used for creatures that didn't hate vampires. But this seemed a little too deep to explain to a stranger so instead she said, "I know, but I have my reasons for what I do" Her words came out rather defensively, something she hadn't intended to do.


Valentin takes another mouthful of red bevvy before replying "An' what is it exactly that y'actually do? Apart from wanderin' into bars an' strikin' up random conversations w'folks an' then sayin' very little?" The butcher wasn't exactly renowned for bein' a pleasant sod, quite the opposite if one were to ask the Novus Morior of the Necromancer's Guild, and he was certainly doing nothing to lighten his reputation this evening. "Fact is, luv, I'm a busy kind o'bloke. Don't normally spend a lot o'time on idle chitchat. Only reason I'm here is because Steadman would start t'enjoy life if'n I didn't show up every once in a while t'keep the bastard honest." That, and he hadn't had much opportunity for a decent sit-down-and-drink session, even if he did have to mar it with some light research on the side.


Beatrix shrugged. "Well, I'd rather not go into detail, it's a long story" She replied, slightly annoyed at his manner. Definitely a mistake sitting with him! "And if you'd rather I go sit some place else, just ask" She took a loud gulp of wine and tapped her long black nails on the table top.


Valentin grunted, the butcher's dour expression not shifting in the slightest "No business o'mine where y'sit, luv. But if y'can't be bothered sayin' anythin' of substance, y'can let me get back t'me readin'."


Beatrix answered slowly. "Okay, I think I'll stay then" She smiled, an edge of mischief. "Well how about we speak about how we came to be the monstrous beings that we are?" She regretted saying this, remember that although many decades had passed since that day, it still held her in a vice of grief every time she thought of it. But she ahd already said it, she could not take it back. So she waited, anxiously, for his reply.


Valentin glanced at Beatrix. Someone seemed to have fed this one on a diet of poetry an' cheap romance novels. "Monstrous, eh? Y'givin' half them bankers too much damn credit, girl. Limp-wristed milquetoast namby-pamby toffs, half of them. Oh, sure, they get th'perks o'strength an' whatnot, but what do they do with it? Lounge around in blimmin' lacy shirts pullin' their 'mysterious lothario vith ahn akzent' bollocks on any as'll believe 'em. Mind you - there's plenty o'girls out there with heads full o'straw what do, otherwise th'silly gits wouldn't bother." The butcher thumbs his nose "But monstrous? Only a few have the grit t'become that." Valentin took a swig out of the bottle. "Me, I got necked by a fanged toff what noticed me shadow-knack, an' wanted t'see what he could make out o'me. Wanted t'see if he could build a bodyguard from th'ground up. Not exactly sunshine an' rainbow stuff. He fecked off when Vuryal showed. If the git ever ponces up me shopfront again, I'll shove a halberd so far up his Xalious it'll cut off his tongue." Another swig of bevvy "Still, ain't all bad. Don't need anywhere near as much rest as I used to. More hours in th'day t'get stuff done, an' the strength is damn handy for heavy liftin'"


Beatrix smiled in spite of the jealousy she felt at hearing how he was sired. She wished that was how it had been for her. But wish was all she could do. "So, you...enjoy being a vampire?" It seemed absurd that anyone should find 'perks' in this life. He spoke as if vampires were just like anyone else. Killing to survive was a curse that surpassed all the supposed perks. If he had seen what she had seen, he would know that vampires were monsters in the most literal sense of the word. "Well, I was changed by someone I loved...well, someone I thought I loved, he betrayed me in the worst possible way, and left me to wander around in self loathing, if you had experienced my birth as a vampire, you would not be so cavalear" She downed her drink and sighed. Why did she end up telling everyone she met her story? She had just wanted to not be alone for a while. Now she wished that she had simply stayed away.


Valentin managed to resist rolling his eyes "So. You're one o'them girls with her head full o'straw, then. I'd better set y'straight afore y'feed me some o'the usual 'you don't understand my pain, pity me, boohoo' kind o'bollocks." Valentin paused a moment "It's not that I don't understand, luv. It's more that I don't blimmin' give a toss. Until you been thrown in a pit wi'some horror y'sire's hauled out o'the underdark jus' t'see how tough y'really are, don't come cryin' t'me 'bout how difficult y'unlife is." Valentin's tome was flipping its pages again. Valentin picked up the hammer and two nails and, with a couple of rapid bangs, gives the damn thing a lot less mobility. The tome hissed at him as he continued. "If your response to a bit o'domestic strife is to 'wander around in self-loathin', then you are a bloody moron. Absolute waste o'time, those kind o'melodramatics. Me, if someone annoys me enough, I reduce 'em down to chops an' steaks. Problem feckin' solved. Funnily enough, folks don't tend t'annoy me, and everyone stays smilin' all th'damn time." Which was a patent lie. Very few people had witnessed Valentin smile. His students at the Necromancer's Guild had a pool going to try and guess what might change the status quo. "Face facts. Whether y'wanted it or not, you're a blimmin' vampire now. So make do an' quit whinin' like a damn child. Unless y'get torched, you got a lot of blimmin' years ahead o'you, so try an' do somethin' useful with it. Because boo-hooin' all over the place is a waste of everybody's time. Yours an' them unfortunate enough t'have t'hear it. Misery may love company, but company don't blimmin' love misery."


Beatrix smiled without humor. "I am a vampire indeed, but that does not mean I need to accept my life as one; I can change who I become you see. I don't mope as you call it, I hold my memories as a reminder of what I could become should I surrender to my vampiric desires. You may have fought monsters of the underdark, but have you ever fought the images of your parents bloodied decaying bodies in a heap at the feet of someone you had brought into their lives!" Beatrix was fuming now, she stood her body rigid. "Have a nice life sir" She barked before running from the tavern, not looking back.