A/N: So begins the new version of Respite. For the sake of history, I thought we'd kick it off with three scrolls from Tanis' archives. Be aware, they aren't completely essential to the coming tale, but they're a good source for background information. (Try not to get fingerprints on them...)

Tanis, Andreas. History of the Children of Seule. Budapest: The Archives, 1621.
Call Number SLX81M278091; Year 1621. Cross-reference under Seule, foresight, seekers, twins, legends, censorship, banishment.

Label: From the archives of Andreas Tanis. 1621. Three scrolls of vellum parchment, archival ink. Use gloves when handling.

Part I: The Origins of Foresight

Copied from the Third Chronicle. A secondary treatise on the Children of Seule as written by Andreas Tanis. 1621, October the Twenty-first.

Like the Children of Seule, Marcus and William once held the gift of Foresight.

They were not the first of Corvinus' children, nor the last. Born as one, their blood was separated by an order which pledged its followers to eternal servitude: the Brotherhood of Seekers. Drinkers of blood and sickness. Harbingers of plague. For centuries, even before their birth, it had been so. Human twins chosen for their blood and dedicated in their twelfth year. Tainted by the teeth of bats and the fangs of wolves. A dangerous order, the Seekers…those who sought to strengthen the bonds of their visionaries. Whether Alexander wished it or not, his children could tap through the memories of time; they were bound to each other in ways that could fool the eyes of Reason.

As the coven historian Philius once wrote, "It is rumoured that apart, the twins are as others. Blind in the darkness. Quarrelling over the rights of man. But together, they can see time as clearly as water, tracing its course through the tide of their veins. Able to sense one another. Breathe and taste the world as it was meant to be. The true power of vampires and lycans working in harmony." (First Chronicle, II: 9)

In the sixth century, however, the twins abandoned their caretakers…their darkened past and the father who had discarded them so viciously as the offspring of a mortal blood cult. William returned to the wild, retreating further into his beastly form. Writhing for the taste of blood, and helpless in the face of his own savagery. Throughout the cities, stories emerged of a white monster terrorizing the lands to the east. A fanged shadow robbing entire villages of its people. Their remains missing while the surrounding wolves howled for comfort. Darkened hearth, shattered windows, and the blood of an unseen curse. "For it is said, the undead will come back to haunt the living, draping themselves in the fur of beasts." (First Chronicle, II: 2)

It was in this time that Marcus, still an unknown warrior then, stepped forward from the masses as one who might lead many against the growing threat. Power, he wanted. Strength. The obedience of humanity. Strangers flocked to him, intrigued by his fervour, yet fearful of the mystery surrounding him. Such a powerful man…one who did not eat. One who was never seen during the light of day. In his ignorance, he hailed Lord Viktor, a dying general of an Eastern legion, presuming to barter his blood for the price of soldiers. Within a month, the famed beauty of the Lady Amelia had joined their ranks. A distant cousin of Lord Viktor and a lady of Rome.

The Warrior, the General, and the Lady.

These were the first vampires, it is said, and by the seventh century, these legendary Three held sovereignty over twenty thousand soldiers with Lord Marcus as their liege. One who could not be killed for the sake of blood. He who could not be toppled for the very Foresight which aided him in the presence of his untamed brother, William.

For two hundred years, the legion of Viktor, now immortal, waged war upon the foul beasts…these lycans as they came to be known. From the first, William was not to be touched. He that was dearest to their liege-lord. He that continued to storm unchecked across the countryside, terrorizing the masses. To the anger of many, Marcus still dared to commune with the monstrous beast, blindly pursuing his brother in the wake of destruction. Their darkened moments of foresight and the bonds of their past tainted by the savagery of William's madness. Even with the taint, it was these moments that drove fear into the hearts of the other Elders. For as long as William remained free, Marcus could see through their heady schemes of power by the strength of Foresight.

In the coming days, however, a fresh structure for their jealousy came to bear. It was understood that if one of the Three held claim to a greater power, then so must the other two. In their wisdom, Lord Viktor and Lady Amelia devised a means of achieving Balance without directly disobeying the will of Marcus. They sought out those among them whose purpose it was to create such gifted abominations of Foresight. Those among them who had been banished to the dark shadows of the past. The Brotherhood of Seekers.

And so it was, three hundred years after their dismissal, the Seekers were once more integrated with the blood of immortals by the will of Lord Viktor and Lady Amelia. Many of Corvinus' mortal descendents were murdered as the Seekers searched, turning and killing those who were not applicable to their needs. Twins, they required. Twins who could carry the gift of Foresight…one vampire, the other lycan. Finally, in the latter half of the ninth century, the Seekers found their prey. The Children of Seule, conceived from the bloodline of Janos, the last and only mortal son of Alexander Corvinus.

…end of scroll one…

Part II: The History of the Children

Copied from the Third Chronicle. A secondary treatise on the Children of Seule as written by Andreas Tanis. 1621, October the Twenty-second.

"And so it said, the children shall come from the North. Darkness and light from the border of their eyes. Creatures of that brotherhood which shall not be spoken of. Seekers of Time and Understanding." (Legends of Foresight, IV: 9)

It is said the Children of Seule hailed from the North, the Corvinus strain running so thickly through their blood as to birth two sets of twins gifted with the Foresight. Their father was of no consequence. Whether a warrior of light or a vagabond of darkness, it is not known. It was their mother who carried the mortal strain. Seule, daughter of the Corvinus clan. Seule, whose parentage dated back four centuries to the twelfth son of Janos Corvinus, mortal son of Alexandar Corvinus. Although descended from kings, she was of peasant stock and had fallen into that lowest profession of the female right. The date of her demise is unknown.

The History of Leuric and Aeduin.

Born in 829 A.D., the first pair of twins were brothers slated for the household of Amelia. Snatched from their home, they were branded by the Seekers and brought to serve. By the force of his anger, Leuric was chosen to be gifted with the blood of vampires. Aeduin, the meeker of the two, was given to the wolves. For twelve years, they were instructed in all knowledge of the Seekers, learning the Foresight and calling to answer those questions of the Blood. Though Aeduin was the meeker of the two, by his twentieth year, he had proven himself a powerful warrior and was given the symbol of Wolf in recognition. Leuric, the crueler, held the symbol of the Raven.

The History of Gode and Urith.

In the year 855 A.D., a second pair of twins emerged. Gode and Urith, two sisters intended for the house of Viktor and born of the same lineage as their older brothers. Whether their mother was the original woman Seule or her daughter, the second Seule (mortal sister of Leuric and Aeduin,) it is not known. Gode, slighter of form and quiet in her speech, pleased Lord Viktor with her tranquil demeanour and like Leuric, was chosen for the blood of vampires. Urith, appearing both pallid and weak, immediately earned his disapproval and was chosen for lycan blood. They too were instructed in all knowledge of the Seekers, learning the Foresight and calling to answer those questions of the Blood. According to the histories, Gode was awarded the symbol of the Lark for her strength of will. Urith, grown harsher in the years since her birth, was given the symbol of the Dog. In time, however, it became apparent that Gode, the strongest of the four, would eventually rule over all as the head of the Seekers.

Yet all went to the grave or near enough.

Leuric died by the hand of Sickness.
Gode was murdered by her brother, the Wolf.
Urith was torn apart by the hounds of the Coven.

As for Aeduin the Wolf…

…captured during the reign of Amelia, he was laid to rest for all eternity in a hidden tomb beneath the castle walls. His eyes branded with flame for the crime of murder. An underground prison which forever holds the screams of a Seeker kept alive in the darkness.

In the past, on stormy nights, vampires caught in the eastern wing have said they can still hear a wolf screaming beneath the castle. History has shown this to be a simple product of the imagination. Wherever Aeduin lies, it is not under the stones of the archives. Nonetheless, it has been suggested that perhaps, what is known in history is not necessarily fact. For example, although it is widely known that Aeduin the Wolf was buried on the same night as the Dog and the Lark, there is still another version of the tale. Relegated to the childhood songs of lycan slaves, this is all that remains of the legend…

The Wolf flees the stone.
The Dog loss of bone.
The Raven dead.
The Lark alone.

All are forsaken.

…end of scroll two…

Part III: The Aftermath

Copied from the Third Chronicle. A secondary treatise on the Children of Seule as written by Andreas Tanis. 1621, October the Twenty-third.

With the death of Seule's children, Viktor and Amelia were robbed of their seekers and their Foresight. Marcus continued to rule unchallenged for another three hundred years. In the fourth century of the lycan war, however, his downfall came. The slighted Elders waged their campaign against Marcus' power. For if the Balance could not be had with Foresight, then perhaps it was best to do without. In the winter of 1202 A.D., they attacked the source of their discontent and the key to Marcus' Foresight and power: William. For without his brother, Markus would be as others. Blind in the darkness. Quarrelling over the rights of man.

Within a hundred years, William was laid to rest beneath the castle walls. Viktor took his place as Eldest among the vampires, and the fragile Balance of Three emerged from the ashes. The golden age of the Elders began…

…and fell again by the hand of Lucian.

But that is another tale.

…end of scroll three…