Szgany, in Turgosheim, without being a thinker too! Hence this brush with Wratha the Risen, when the words she overheard were mainly mine but from his mouth ...
But that which was inhuman in him thought: On the other hand, and as he gets older, this honesty and outspoken spontaneity could become a problem. And so, in a year or two - when he has translated all of the remaining histories - it might be in my interest to favour him and replace those brittling bones of his with far more flexible stuff. For with his agile brain, why ... Karz Biteri would make me a crafty flyer!
All this in a moment's thought, while out loud he said: 'Giorge Nanosi, called Fatesayer for obvious reasons? I know him, aye. So - what struck you as strange?'
'First,' Karz continued, 'Giorge examined the tithe-lings and separated out those which he considered inferior. These were taken away for processing. The ... the requirements of Turgosheim; the provisioning; the needs of the manses and spires.'
'Yes, yes,' Maglore waved a hand, dismissing a concept which to Karz was sheerest horror.
Then,' the Historian went on, 'the Fatesayer lined up the rest and began drawing out the sigils from his leather bag, to which I was witness, as is the custom. First in line stood that young man whom Wratha had ... noticed. Giorge had put him there. And lo, the first bone shard he drew from the bag bore Wratha's sigil: a kneeling man with bowed head!'
'Yes, yes,' Maglore growled again. 'I know her blazon well enough.' And then, if not explosively with a deal more animation: 'Corruption, Karz! What? Why, it might have been named after her! Not Wratha the Risen but Wratha the Sunken - into the quag of her own corruption! And you know it, and the Lady knows you know. Wherefore, in future, avoid her at all cost. For I value you.'
'I avoid all of them, Lord,' said Karz, before he could still his tongue.
But Maglore only nodded, and said: 'Corruption, aye. But should I be surprised? No, for all of us - the Wamphyri entire - are corrupt! We are not our own masters but governed by our creatures, even as we govern our thralls. Except where we are merely corrupt, Wratha is corrupt!'
Karz said nothing but merely waited, and Maglore finally went on, 'Did I ever tell you her story?'
Karz nodded. 'Yes, Master. To the point where she killed Radu Cragsthrall.'
Then let me finish it,' the other sank back in his chair and steepled his hands. 'For it's as well that men know this witch and her ways, as long as they steer clear from knowing her too well...'
'Wratha lived with Karl a year in Cragspire. But she was not Mistress of Cragspire, only of Karl ... which we may suppose she found irksome. It may also be supposed that eventually she would get his egg, but eventually can be a long time.
'Now, Cragspire was one of the tallest spires; at sunup the rays of the sun, striking between the high mountain peaks, turned all its upper ramparts to fatal gold. For which reason Karl shielded the windows of his chambers with heavy curtains of good black bat fur. His several small warriors within the aerie, and the sun without, were all the protection he needed in those hours when the Wamphyri prefer their beds.
'Came that season when the sun is hottest and the coarser produce of Sunside - nuts, fruits, grains and wines - never more plentiful, when Wratha made her move. She exhausted Karl with her sex upon his bed (no small feat in itself!), and made him drunk with good wines. Then, when he was sound asleep, she bound him to the bed with chains. It has even been said that she sprayed the forbidden kneblasch oil about the room, more deadly to him than to her, for she was but a vampire while he was Wamphyri! Mind you, I can't swear to the last, but as for the rest: it is exactly as Wratha boasted of it to the other Ladies after the deed was done.
"Vampire World 1 - Blood Brothers"
'She decked the walls with bronze - shields out of the olden times, when the Szgany had used to fight back, removed from the halls of Cragspire and burnished to mirrors - and all directed upon Karl in his stupor. And then ... then she threw wide the curtains!
'In a moment, Karl woke up screaming. But he