When the last of the soldiers had fallen, she finally broke. She screamed, fear coursing through as Vinny held the knife closer to her throat. “Okay, okay!” She yelled, finally trying to back away from the carnage. “Everyone stop! I’ll— please, Vinny!”

He seemed tired. The carnage hadn’t gotten to him, he’s seen worse. But as Lorelai pushed herself closer to him as the violence ended, he just sighed. “I warned you, Lor.” He whispered in his ear, before gently letting her go, letting her fall to her feet. He backed off and stared at Sylvi. At this point it was up to the justiciar what happened to Lorelai.


All anyone in the silent night could hear Lorelai begging for her life, and all they would see is Sylvi, covered in blood and gore, Lorelai begging on her knees, and Vince looking away as he tried to decide what to do. He almost wanted to beg Sylvi to spare her as well, but she knew full well she didn’t deserve it. But would he, if he let it happen?

He sighed, and stepped in front of Lorelai. “What are you gonna do, Sylvari?” He questioned, catching eye contact and trying his best to maintain it. Mostly so he didn’t have to look at all the bloodshed around them.

The Sylvari that stood before Vinny and Lorelai now was a far cry from the one who had intervened for Vinny earlier at the tavern. Her long platinum hair that was normally immaculately maintained was frizzy, tousled, and run through with scarlet streaks. Her posture, which before exuded confidence, empathy, and strength was now nefarious as she stalked toward them, practically prowling as she went. Worst of all were her eyes. Sylvari found her eyes unsettling at the best of times; it was the reason she usually wore her half-veil: to spare herself and others the discomfort of dealing with them. But whereas before there had glimmers of genuine warmth within, even as her humanity twirled in a deadly dance with the beast she harbored, now there was no trace of benevolent intentions. There was only one thing reflected as one looked to her gaze: hunger.

Quietly, far too quietly for all the armor she wore, Sylvari made her way to Vinny and Lorelai until she towered over the latter. Though she retracted the claws she formed over her hands as she made her way over, she roughly shoved Vinny out of the way, hells-bent on closing with her quarry. Sylvari got within inches of the terrified dwarf's face, prominently displaying her fangs, before speaking, a hard, cold tone evident in their words.

"Their deaths are on your soul, wretch." Sylvari growled, throwing a rough finger back in the direction of the corpses and groaning bodies. "Yet more lives you have to answer for. I would be well within my rights as a justiciar to end your miserable life right here in recompense for the suffering you've caused." An evil smile spread across Sylvari's face as she stared down the cowering woman. "But I'm not so kind as that. Any filth can die for what they've done, and those who were victimized gain nothing but a sense of closure. It will not be so here. No, you will live to make up for the mistakes you've made, the people you've exploited. And if you step one toe out of line, I will be there to make you beg for the death you seek to avoid."

After leaving Lorelai a quivering mess, Sylvari straightened to her full height and looked over to Vinny, forcibly softening her gaze. "Sorry, my dear. I trust you weren't hurt too badly in the scuffle?"

Shaking like a leaf, Lorelai would reach out towards Vinny, grabbing his hand as she trembled in fear. “Please, I promise…” she wailed, hiding behind Vinny. He wanted to push her away, and ignore her, but he just simply couldn’t, and he hated it. Instead, he scowled, but held her hand. In response to Sylvari, who he was still sort of shying away from, he nods. “Barely even touched,” he responds. “But unsure what happens now?” He didn’t want to look around, fully avoiding the cold dead gazes of those lying on the ground.


It’s not like he wanted to be in charge. Lorelai was still curled up and crying next to him, and she had lost all of the respect of those around him. But he could feel the eyes of those hiding in the shadows.

"Now, you decide the kind of person you want to be." Sylvari gave Vinny a sad smile as she looked at him, heaving a sigh beyond her years. "The damage to this place has been done, people need help to get back to normalcy, and you yourself identified that if no one steps up, another syndicate will rise to fill the void and the exploitation will begin anew. I will do all in my power to help, but the truth is, this isn't my city. I can't know the myriad needs of the people, all the little ways they were wronged and cheated out of flourishing. I can deter those who would prey upon the weak, but as soon as I leave, nothing will stop another tragedy from occurring. Only a force dedicated to helping people can counteract the evil that has been wrought."

Implicit in Sylvari's words was an invitation, a calling for Vinny to answer, but not a command. She knew that it was a difficult job, by no means an enviable position, and that an unwilling person could be worse than useless. She recognized it as harder than what she did: killing monsters and slaying tyrants could not compare to the million tiny atrocities that needed to be dealt with daily. Her calling was set, however, and should Vinny refuse, the town would likely devolve to such base extortion again when she was needed elsewhere.

Vinny hesitated again, meeting Sylvari’s eyes once again. Despite his vehement distrust of people outside of his own, he couldn’t help but trust the woman. “Would you like to help clean up your mess?” He answered softly. “I can’t really have bodies lying around in my streets, now can I?” He added, teasing a little as he gestured over the carnage she had left behind. He didn’t like the sight of it. Hated it, actually. But what was he to do about it now?



As he mentioned it, a few people started coming out of the woodworks, hesitantly as they appeared in front of the vampiress. Vinny looked around for a moment. “Well don’t just stand there, fellas. Let’s start cleaning up.” He adds, as he pulled Lorelai up by her arm. She winced a little, as she resisted being pulled up, still staring at Sylvari, but sobbing a little less. “Why don’t you go help them, Lor.” He adds, meeting her eyes coldly.



They stared at eachother for a few minutes before sighing, and walking off, going to help those who were going checking to see if anyone was still alive.



Vinny turned back towards Sylvi. “So, what happens if we *do* need you again? You’re always traveling, yeah? Not like I could get hold of you very easily. How did you even hear about them in the first place?”

Sylvari gave a light laugh in response to Vinny's questions, despite the gravity of the situation. She quickly sobered, however, and met his eye with a steady, kind smile. "I'm not going anywhere so soon. It's clear that more good can be done here, and so, here I shall remain. My duty is to the greater lands of Charon, however, so you make a valid point."

Sylvari crossed the narrow space between them and rested a light hand on Vinny's shoulder. "The reason I asked for you to take over is because I cannot stay here forever. My own... affliction makes the temptation to stay in one place too likely to jeopardize my mission of combatting evil wherever it may be. You have a good heart and a quick mind: heroes have been made from less. I know you have the strength to lead them." Sylvari gave an impish smile then. "But I'll be around every once in a while. Take care of them for me 'til then?"

The vampiress turned to begin helping out with the carnage, particularly doling out her own medicinal supplies to tend to the wounded. The only reason she carried them was for others, after all, and this place had seen enough bloodshed tonight.