I am in pain. The water around me causes me pain. Moving water, the prison of the damned. I can barely stand the pain is so acute. The movement of water coupled with my sealing within this accursed tower is definitely not one of the things I had on my to do list for the day. There are few laws a vampire cannot break, and I just broke two of them. One, no vampire may cross running water, nor may a vampire enter a sanctuary whose entrance is made of steel without explicit permission. I am trapped in this damned tower, powerless and weak. A pitiful end to the being that killed three of the thirteen dukes of Bretonnia in a single hour. Not only am I trapped, but that irritating excuse for a monarch is free from the influence of our blood oath for as long as I am surrounded by moving water, which looks to be for the rest of eternity. Or until I can find a large amount of oil and a fire. Between us, I prefer suicide to an eternity without anything to do. I've seen what Necrarchs look like and believe me, they don't get out much. With a half hearted snarl I put my fist through a very old painting hanging from a wall. To my surprise, a very annoyed voice calls out too me from the hole in the painting.

"Hey! That one cost me over ten thousand nekhariti you son of a bitch. What did you go putting your hand through it for?"

I nearly jump out of my skin. Peering through the hole in the painting, I see a large room, lit by hundreds of candles. A hunched figure sits at a desk in the center of stacks of tomes, its long pallid hands slowly turning pages as he glares through the hole at me.

"Well come in boy, I don't like people just standing around my home." I tear the painting away, and enter the thing's room. An overpowering wave of dark magic is emanating from this creature. Vampire. Necrarch most likely.

"Yes boy. Necrarch, W'soran to be specific."

I blink in wonder. W'soran, the first of the Necrarchs, believed to have been sent to the bottom of the ocean by a hurricane.

"Never understood how that myth got started honestly, we can walk around underwater after all."

Damn. Always hated the read your thoughts routine Necrarchs have.

"Makes us amazing at chess at least."

"Will you not do that! It's really creepy. Anyway, if you really are W'soran, what in the name of Morr's arse are you doing here? Why wouldn't you just return to the Black City?"

"Simple you stupid boy, running water! We can't cross remember? Besides, it's rather nice here. I have all the books I need, test subjects when I want them, and we're sitting on a magical leyline almost as strong as the Valley of the Damned."

"Guess I can see your logi... wait, how are you getting test subjects if you can't leave?"

"Are you actually mentally deficient! Or did you get a concussion bashing your head into my front door? Just because I can't leave doesn't mean I can't create minions to do my work. There are untold corpses under this forest. Why do you think it grows so quickly? The soil is probably the most fertile in the world."

"And? I can't work magic here. The water prevents it."

"Morr's cock! How many people drown in rivers boy? How many people die out at sea? The dead are in the water! You don't need to cast across the water, just cast into it. For a vampire, you really are a total imbecile."

I snarl in annoyance. If he was anyone else, my fangs would be at his throat, but this senile old bastard has to be over a five millenia old.

"Ten millenia to be exact. By the way boy, if you call me senile again, I'll tear your pretty face off and set your throat on fire."

"Aren't you just a fountain of good cheer."

"Be quiet. If you want you can read some of my books, no doubt you will find something useful here. Now, leave me alone. I'm almost about to make a breakthrough."