There was a time long ago when peace and prosperity graced the land of Adurna.

The citizens of the land were healthy and happy, the lords were kind and just, there was no war or poverty. Huge pointed, sharp purple mountains capped with ice and snow lay to the west, the rich farms lay to the east. The Deep forest, where many folklore, legends and threats were invented lay South filled with demons and witchery and evil spirits, and in a time where superstitions were rife and acceptable, they guarded the land from the invaders beyond the boundaries of the woods, keeping the less civilised, more blood thirsty rulers from invading the pleasant land. A sparkling lake lay in the middle of great pastures to the north, that the villages accumulated around.

Small towns and hamlets grouped together with a community spirit that had never been seen in any era of the past or, in fact, any of the future. In the winter strong winds came down from the mountains and blew past the lake, stirring great waves up that made children terrified that they would be washed away. However in the summer there were wild flowers and beautiful insects and bright blue skies with white wool stack clouds. Many believed it to be heaven.

Suddenly, the Vampyres came.

Denizens of darkness and despair, said to be spat out from the Deep forest itself, the undead suddenly appeared one night over 300 years before. They kept to the darkness, never straying into the light, they slept in stone caskets that were hidden far into the Deep forest. They had their weaknesses of course, silver and wood, but they had a great strength that put the fear of ages into the citizens of Adurna.

They were strong beyond imagination, there were myths of them tearing ancient, strong solid trees up from the roots with their bare hands, of their skin being granite hard to any weapon that did not contain silver or wood, of them being able to crush boulders in their fists. Then there was their speed. They were said to be so fast they could not be seen, to appear in places in an instant almost. Faster than the wolves that prowled the forests, or the horses that bolted through the paddocks they could outstrip any animal alive, run faster than the wind or the lightening that struck the land, and their heightened hearing and eyesight meant their hunting was more skilled than any mere animal or mortal. Their beauty was unparalleled, they could seduce any soft minded lady to approach them, entice them to follow them... Finally, their were their powers. Their own skills that rivalled those of their enemies, telepathy, precognition, force fields, memory manipulation... Each vampyre had one extra skill to heed their hunting.

Blood. They lived off the life giving substance that came not from animals but from humans. They would stray in from the forest, saunter into the village and capture any wandering human that was outside. Some would even slip into the homes of the people and take them without a second thought. They, their kind and their evil bought a blight upon the beautiful land of Adurna and when the Tribe heard of the demons that terrorized they appeared as unexpected and silently as a morning mist.

Then the Tribe invaded.

Fearless warriors with enhanced physical attributes, their hearing was more dog like than human, their fingers lengthened beyond average, their eyesight unfathomable. They were warriors and assassins of the highest order, so soft footed and agile they could never be caught. They were beyond flexible, able to twist and turn into fantastic ways. They were able to integrate themselves into any part of society, from the farmer to the jester to the land owner. Then of course, there were their stronger skills. Invisibility, astral projection, sleep bringing, some even claimed to be able to converse with the dead.

The Tribe were a secret organisation of spies and assassins that nurture the powers the world used to have. It consisted of five families that existed before the lords and the clans, a time when magic was common. Since the time they came about the Tribe had retained their abilities through dedication and training and were frequently employed by various institutions within the countries that existed outside the land of Adurna, only by those they trusted implicitly to keep their secrets. They were feared by all, their very name sent shivers down many a spine, but they had only one fatal enemy whose appearance led them to invade Adurna...

Then The War Began.

10 Years

Night had fallen and the world as the people of Adurna knew it was silent. All those who lived there were inside, glancing at their partners, children, parents, holding them close. Telling bed time stories, reminiscing, cuddling... Thinking only one thing. Who would be next? Each time they thought it they cradled their loved ones closer, pressing kisses to foreheads and cheeks. No one was outside. No one would risk it, although the streets were probably safer than the homes nowadays.

Times had changes, and so had attitudes. Children could no longer play outside, and women never went anywhere alone. No one hosted parties or get together's any more, many of the drinking houses had shut due to no one visiting at night. The land was no longer peaceful and sound. It was... Cold. And cruel. There was still beauty. The landscape had not changed, it still looked like a haven... However it was nothing short of a hell.

A man with deep red hair stepped through the town quietly, blue eyes shifting over his shoulder. A red coat draped leisurely around his frame and a katara hung loosely from his belt. He strolled through the pitch black streets leisurely, eyes scanning. He wasn't afraid of what the others were. He was the hunter, and he was searching for his prey. His enhanced hearing picked up on footsteps, female, about 25 coming from an alleyway somewhere to his right. He sped up, his own footsteps silent on the ground as he stalked his meal for the evening, unperturbed by morals or conscience as he watched her look around in fear. He was the perfect hunter. She was the sweetest tasting of prey...

Purple hair and reddish eyes, she was short for her age but very pretty. On her hip rested a young baby with blonde hair and blue eyes, about 3 months old and was sleeping soundly. She was hurrying along, stumbling slightly in her haste to get home. It was not safe to be out at any time any more, let alone at this time. She wanted her and her baby home, safe and sound, where none of the 'Jiang Shi' as they had been dubbed could attack them.

As she glanced over her shoulder for what seemed the one hundredth time, she saw her pursuer. The man smirked and sped up as she turned to run, bringing her babe in front of her. But he caught her with ease and slammed her to the floor. She screamed out in pain as she hit her head dropping the baby onto the dirt floor. It woke and started crying loudly, and the man glanced at it.
"Later." He promised the screaming child with a smirk on his face.
"No..." The woman whispered. "Please, not my baby..." She shrieked as the monster grabbed her arm. "NO! No don't do this! Let me go let me go! Please! Oh God please!" The man smirked at her as she sobbed and tried to pull her arm back. One hand reached forward and tended before pushing her back into the wall, incapacitating her.

"Please! Don't do this! Don't do this!" She was screaming, hysterical, as the demon sank its elongated fangs into her wrist and started sucking. She grasped at his arm that held her still, digging her nails in. "Stop! Stop!" She screeched and begged as she shook with tears and sobs. She kicked out with both feet, him able to easily support her wait with one shoulder. He didn't even flinch, drinking heavier making her shriek and holler louder. Her scratches and fighting got weaker and weaker as he drained her blood, her energy and her life force, until he removed his restraining hand. Her legs gave way and she sank to her knees, her arm fully extended to his mouth and she stared in horror still pleading as she watched her blood run down the corner of his mouth dripping down his chin. His eyes began to glow as he fed and she died slowly and painfully.
Once she fell still completely and her face was a deathly pale, the vampyre stepped back and let her lifeless arm fall to the floor and her body keel over, her face contorted with agonised pain hitting the floor facing her child. The baby screamed and wailed, and the demon watched amused as it crawled towards its mother tugging at her face. He stayed there a good 15 minutes, watching as the child tried to rouse her, so she could protect it, crying harder and harder when it wasn't getting the attention it needed. With a sadistic smirk on its face he reached down and picked the child up by one arm. It shrieked and blubbered in pain, but its end was much quicker. The vampyre drank heavily from it and swiftly until it was as cold as its mother, and he also dropped that onto the heap that was its mother. He laughed coldly as he licked his teeth of any remaining nourishment before turning away...

Right into the barrel of a modified pistol sword. His head was thrown back and he let out an agonised, anguished screech as the wooden sword pierced his skin easily, sinking deep inside him. Even with his advanced hearing, he had not heard the black haired, dark eyed man, Kotaro of the Tribe, sneak silently behind him to annihilate him. Kotaro wrenched his weapon up,slicing through the vampyre's skin resting at his heart. The man smirked.
"Burn in hell." His hissed before firing his gun, containing a silver bullet, into the monsters heart. The vampyre screamed, lashing out at the man in a last ditch attempt to kill his attacker. Kotaro was fast... Not fast enough. The denizens super enhanced strike caught his jaw and throat wrenching it clean out. Kotaro fell to the floor, his eyes glazed over, before his blood ran a flithy river into the streets. The vampyre also, bled from its wounds now dead, all the additional blood it had consumed trickling down and joining with that of the Tribe member. The great war between the enemies had claimed four more victims that night.

On the other side of the small village of Otori, a black haired, red eyed beautiful man was backed into a corner, fear evident in his eyes as 5 members of the Tribe advanced on him. He hissed angrily, eyes searching for an exit between the hardened warriors. He crushed himself against the wall behind him as Akio, at the far left end of the line lashed out with a flaming torch, shrieking in anger as Isuma did the same from the other side. It was their job to keep him distracted long enough for...

They ducked as a rock was thrown at them and the three remaining members, Takeo, Kikuta and Kenji leapt forward as the vampyre tried to escape through the wall. He snarled viciously over his shoulder as they grabbed him and slammed him against the floor. He writhed and bucked, trying to dismount them with his super human strength but they wrenched his arms behind him and chained his wrists together up to his elbows in 24 carat silver. He screamed as his skin started to smoke where the silver touched, writhing in pain, the manacles around his wrists the worst filling the air with a burning smell.
Takeo, and Kenji jumped back a victorious grin on their faces. Isuma and Akio leapt forward and did the same to his ankles up to his knees, causing him to scream more and writhe in agony. Kikuta didn't move.
"Kikuta?" Takeo walked over and turned his comrade over to see Kikuta's slack jawed expression, his eyes glazed over. "Kikuta?! Brother! Wake!" He grabbed his best friends and siblings head only to feel thick warm liquid at the back. In the struggled the vampyre had lashed out, knocking Kikuta into the wall with enhanced strength. Killing him. Takeo stared horrified... Before his expression turned sinister. He turned to the restrained vampyre, a murderous look in his eye.
"Takeo..." Kenji whispered. "Do not..."
"Murderer..." Takeo hissed advancing towards the vampyre. Said creature got a look of fear in its eyes.
"I-It was an accident..."
"MUDERER!" He grabbed a stake that his comrade had dropped raising it above his head.

"He attacked me!"
"He was my little brother!" Takeo snarled. "You murdered him! Leech!" The others did nothing to stop him. The end result would be this vampires death anyway, how did not affect them. Besides; Takeo deserved revenge.
"I am truly sorry... It was an accident... I regret -"
"Do not pretend to be civilized. You blood sucking leech!" Takeo hissed dropping to his knees. "What is your name demon?" The vampyre did not speak. "ANSWER ME!" Takeo struck him with the stake causing the vamyre to yell. He panted heavily in pain before looking up with dull red eyes.
"Vincent. Vincent Valentine." Takeo smirked, a plan forming.
"Well, Vincent Valentine." He sneered. "I will give you a fate worse than death." He turned to Isuma. "Get me a coffin." The vampyre froze before struggling.
"NO! NO, DO NOT!" Takeo smirked evilly as Isuma grinned and ran to the cart hidden round the corner with Akio. "Do not do this! It was an accident!"
"You will pay."
"NO!" The vampyre begged and pleaded for mercy, Takeo's grin did not shift. Moments later the others returned with a wooden coffin and 5 stakes.

Kenji got up smirking from where he'd been sitting against the wall.
"This will be fun..." He said before picking Vincent up and throwing him into the coffin. He struggled weakly, the silver still burning into his skin.
"Mercy..." He pleaded weakly with Kenji. "Have mercy..." Kenji backed away as Isuma handed Takeo a hammer.
"Make it hurt." He grinned and Takeo nodded darkly.
"I intend to."
Vincent screamed in torment as Takeo hammered a stake into each shoulder and thigh, then one into his hands that were pinned over his head and the final one, that he had hit the vampyre with, into his feet, pinning him into the coffin. There was too much pain for the vampyre to cry, but still venom fell from his eyes in excruciating pain. He could only shriek as they put the coffin lid on, and Akio parted the earth with his magic so deep down that the vampyre would never escape. Kenji and Isuma lowered the casket into the hole and the earth closed over it.
"Die." Takeo whispered. "Actually, do not. Live for eternity in agony." He took a torch, and set it to the earth making the freshly shifted ground set alight, sealing the ritual. They did not hear the monsters tortured screams from the casket now, as he was sealed away for eternity in pain. So they did not here his curse.

May Ye of Kind Who Imprison Me Here
Live Thou Lives In Pain and Fear
And While Ye Slay and Plunder Mine,
Your Existence Will Be Marred By Time
For Thine Shall Curse Thee, Ours Shall Die
For Yours Shan't Live Without My Kind

The Tribe and the vampyres were both linked indisputably. While the Tribe members slaughtered vampyres, the curse acted upon their own kind. They died also. For now they relied upon each other for their existence. The Tribe could not survive without the vampyres. Their crusade was at an end.