- Ahhh my head………….- Were the first words of man who is wearing a simple plate cuirass under his black overcoat,plate pauldrons over it, and plate boots on his feet,onviously. His face was hidden under grey plague doctor's mask, top of his head was covered by a cornerless, balck, buccaneer hat. This man's name is Hans, Hans Von Hohencolern, a human of Egjoran descent and a Vampire Hunter, though he did not take up vampire hunting as profesion because he liked the idea of going into damp caves to kill some immortal monster that could tear his throut out with ease,he would rather be a normal doctor helping people with his medical and alchemical knowledge. Well atleast he is still helping people and if they somehow survive a vampire attack he can help them out the way he likes. But now Hans is laying on the ground, why he is laying on the ground? That is becuase he fell out of a portal,that was opened there,head first into the ground.Now you may wonder why he feel out of portal tha has opened in a random alleway? Answer is that, during a fight against a powerfull vampire mage who started terroring a town in Egjora, Hans was accidnelty thorwn into portal by an explsion spell, that his adversary casted at Nicholas, Hans's mentor in ways of vampire hunting who was present during this battle. Thankfully for Master Vampire Hunter, spell missed and struck a wall, that was sadly close to his apprentice. The shokwave was so powerful that it send Hans flying across the room straight into the portal, which was created by Vampire mage as means of escape.
Now good question would be where this portal lead? Since it is now closed and answer is tat it lead to Koschei Isle, and more accuratly to it's main city, Kurayo. City whose population consists mostly of vampires, drow elves and werewolves and outcasts of societies who came here to escape from mobs of humans and other races. Saying that this city is a dangerous place ,for a Vampire hunter to be in, is like saying that shit isn't particularly tasty, it is not a lie but it doesn't convey entire truth either.

Now Hans has woken up with both a terrible headache and questions of "Where in ze Hell am I?" variety, so as all reasonable people during night time, which in Kurayo means most if the day, he tried to find an Inn or a Tavern an to this end he aproached a random person on the street and asked her or him, ine very polite tone:

- I am zorry to bother you but could you perhapz know where iz ze Tavern or Inn around here?

There was no place quite like Kurayo, in every sense of the phrase. Everything here was contrary to the world outside. Night was day, day was night. The hunted were the hunters. The most populous in other cities were the minority, and the minorities were the majority. And for him, the same had been turned on its head. Against the admonishment of his servants, Sylvain had chose to take a walk around the city. Weeks ago he had suffered at the cruel hands of fate, placing him a situation only a fool would be in. And he rightfully deserved it; unknowingly making a bet with a god. He had lost, and was branded. With it, he was bound by blood to the victor. Ever since then he felt something sapping his strength and senses, like a slow leak from a barrel. His vision in the darkness was dimming, his hunger for blood had decreased. Combined with symptoms of illness whenever he consumed blood, he was in a terrible state.

But he had to keep up appearances, especially in a place like this. The weak were preyed upon and the strong thrived. It was then he was stopped by a masked human, with an accent he hadn't heard in decades. Through his rather thick dialect, the lord deduced he was unfamiliar with his current location and wanted to know where he could find temporary lodging. Giving him a courteous smile, careful not to reveal his fangs he greeted the stranger. "Not at all sir. Are you looking for a particular establishment, or are you merely staying the night?" By appearances alone, this masked man was likely in some type of profession that dealt with contagions or chemicals. But what business did an Egjoran have here?

- Just staying ze night, good zir, after zat I will be leaving …… ehm I have a question a little wierd one but how is this City called? I got here by an ehm magical accident that happened during my work and ehm I kind of like ze fish out of ze water - He said In rather nervous sounding voice, for in his head he was trying to still get the things sorted out. While the street of a city during night time isn't best place for puting togheter plans for the future, he still needs to do it since well, Gods know where he is right now, for there is a posibility that this Portal thrown him as far from Duchy as one could get and he just doesn't know about it yet there is even posibility that this city lacks a port or skyport which also hinders his ability to reunite with his mentor. Not to mention the general ambience of the place which started geting to him, he felt unwelcome in this city for some reason and felt like something was watching his every move, just waiting to strike. Of course, while that was a posibility, he tried to chalk it up to the paranoia he might be developing from Vampire Hunting, as all who do it can say that it is rather stressfull and nerve raking job that often leads to this kind of illneses. Yet the unease still mounted upon him even though he only stood in one place and talke to someone who was clearly a man of higher standing…….. well he might have answered his question afterall, he thought.

"A teleportation mishap? In such a case your confusion is understandable." Sylvain murmured, careful with his words. There were others like him who without a doubt would have noticed this stranger by now, and he aimed to keep them away.There were plenty others in the city they could choose from, but this one was his. "You are currently in Kurayo. Do you have any friends here? It isn't often that those from the duchy visit our isle." Had this been a month earlier, Sylvain would have pulled the man aside into the shadows never to be seen again. But his appetite had been lacking, and that was the only think keeping him from bleeding the stranger dry. While he spoke with the Egjoran, he was being as discreet as possible. His neck was covered, and he had no exposed skin. 

Suddenly a sharp pain began to throb on the side of his neck. It began to spread, and it was like his entire throat was burning! No, this couldn't be happening–not now! Severe discomfort was written all over his face as he clutched at his neck and felt his head spin. For this to happen while he was outside, if this continued further it would be the death of him. He had to get inside, away from prying eyes. Whether it was a tavern, hovel, or abandoned shed–he didn't care. In Kurayo everyone fended for themselves, and no one was shy about using the weak as stepping stones. Before the symptoms worsened even more, the lord was trying to leave. It was from that cursed brand that had been placed on him. Ever since that day, this affliction took hold like an invasive vine and began slowly strangling the life out of him.

- Kurayo you zay hmmmm I zink zat I heared zat name before but I cannot quite zay where hmmm and zadly I do not have any friends here, If I did I would be already on my way to zem. But Mr. If I may- then the person with whom he was speaking with grabed their neck and their face twisted with pain and soon after that he satrted walking away from him. This of course suprised Hans to some degree but he quickly got himself togheter and went after him
- Zir, zir please ztop I can help you I am a trained doctor I could help you - He said as he followed him

Though he was clearly struggling, when the man came closer he snapped at him. "Don't touch me!"  As he was in pain, his fangs were visible for but a moment and as he was holding his neck there was a faint glow from a symbol on his neck's side. The symbol's effects doubled and he was coughing, holding himself against a wall away from the main streets. It was spreading, the pain was radiating from that place where the brand was. Sylvain was digging his nails into the brick wall as it became harder and harder to breathe. He wanted to claw that cursed mark off, but he couldn't. It wasn't on him, it had already sank deeper within. A curse that bound him by blood to a god. 

When he had been branded, the deity said that they would take what he valued the most above everything. Trapped in a pact he couldn't refuse, first he lost his freedom. Then he lost his ability to walk the night without hindrance, followed by the sense of bloodlust and desire he experienced whenever he would partake of blood. Soon symptoms of illness came with his lessened bloodlust–nausea, vomiting, vertigo, and a burning in his throat. The burning always began on the side where the mark had been. He was already in a weakened state. If a hunter happened to come by he would assuredly be dead. It would have been better if that god had imply taken his life for his impunity, rather than be subjected to a slow and agonizing torture. He wanted to curse the one who bound him, the one who threw him into misery. But he couldn't even raise a sword against her.

When Hans came closer to the man he suddenly snaped at him and yelled "Don't touch me" and, for a short momment, he showed what he was, a vampire, this sudden revelation starteled masked man, as he not that long ago was chating with someone who could want to drink all of his blood and dump the corpse but well he was not the person to judge people based on their race but on their character and as of this moment he cannot properly say if the man he met wanted to rip his throat out or he was just a normal person. So Hans, while being somewhat freaked out about all of this continued walking towards vampire
- Do not worry zir, I have no ill intentions I just want to help- he said as calmly as he could in this moment, which certinaly wasn't full on panick mode tone of voice, it was still pretty clear that Hans was kind of shiting his pants right now, metaphoricly speaking that is of course. As he came closer to the man, 30 year old doctor started to take of his backpack, so he could get his medical equipment out of it.

Just when he thought he was going to black out, the bout of pain eased. The sudden constriction in his throat released, and he slumped down to his knees as his lungs greedily took in air. The mark on his neck disappeared, leaving no trace. Propping himself against the wall which now had several, long marks where his nails had clawed; he had managed to survive another of these fits. Sylvain's breathing slowed as he recovered from the pain. He hated whenever these bouts took place, and as of late they had been growing more and more frequent. Each time he managed to wait them out, and although they lasted only a few minutes the agony felt as if hours had passed. Out of all the symptoms he suffered, these 'attacks' were the worst of the lot. He could tolerate the nausea, the dulling of his senses. But the searing pain at times was as if he was being burnt alive from the inside.

With difficulty focusing, he wasn't aware that the masked Egjoran was still there. He had assumed the man would've bolted upon realizing something was wrong. Placing a hand around his neck, he found himself slightly shaking. Was it just his nerves, or fear? The fear that he would one day truly expire, and see the Reaper? He was sure this sickness was a curse, and until he found a way to have it broken he could not allow himself to die. The city was bustling, but quiet like usual. The sound of carriages rolling by with the occasional clack of one's heels were heard above the general murmurs of Kurayo. Once he caught his breath, once he was able to stand he would hire a driver to bring him back to his estate.

- Zir? are you ok zir? - Hans asked Sylvian, his voice was filled with fear and distress. He was somewhat suprised, again, when vampire suddenly got better but this was not his concern right now, his concern right now was to get the inforamtion he needs and then leave vampire be. Now that sounds like something that a coward would do but he is still a vampire hunter in training so there is a big chance that he could be killed without even as much of a effort on vampire's part, there was also fact that swinging axe at someone in the middle of a street is a bad idea since he doesn't have a proof( and he is in City that is in part run by vampires but he doesn't know that yet) that the man was a vampire, but most importantly did the man ever did something bad to him? No, he did not so he doesn't even have a reason to hunt him, for all he knows, the person standing right in front of him wants to live a normal life in peace, so attacking him just because he is a vampire wouldn't realy sit well with Hans.
- Zir? do you need help? - he,again, asked vampire that is in front of him. While some might think of him foolish to ask a vampire, if he wants his help, because there is big probability that if vampire accepts his offer he might have to say goodbye to his neck but on the other hand this way he could get some information from him which is esential right now.

Now more or less fully recovered, he picked himself off the ground. Collecting his composure, Sylvain attempted to salvage whatever was left of it. Then there was the man's question. In this situation he would normally refuse, unless he wanted to lure the man away from prying eyes. But the fact this stranger thought he could help was both ridiculous and charming. However, the lord was in need of assistance and perhaps this was the perfect opportunity. "If I answered you with a 'yes', what would you be able to do for me?" He still didn't fully trust the Egjoran, nor did he believe that anyone could be so straightforward with their offer. This was Kurayo, where daggers were concealed behind courtesies.

"And what is with that mask of yours? I don't believe I've seen a need for complete concealment of one's features unless your plans involve something which the law would not abide with." It was almost avian in shape, pointed and beak-like with two spaces for eyes. Also not being able to see the face of whom he was speaking with was a problem, seeing how the last encounter he had with a masked individual had fared. He had no intention of repeating past blunders.