Star Iron - A Vampire Epic

Balfor

Brown robes soaked red and trailing through the halls caught the eyes of anyone lurking in the shadows of the vast pillars. Low-burning candles lit the hall every few spaces while the others held hanging white roses, petrified to remain as statues. Three men dragged them by their tied wrists, each of them wore chest plates, gauntlets, and greaves as dark as the woods on a cloudy night. Another led the group, his extravagant suit with fur lining and gold-embroidered stitchwork. He pressed open the door at the end of the hall.

Several red eyes in the room befell the group as they dragged the bodies into the chamber. The spectators' shadows danced behind them from the various candles bending and twisting from the icy draft which carried throughout the ancient manor. When the captives were placed in the center, one of them shook violently and his teeth clattered beneath the sack concealing his face.

"What do we have here?" said a pale figure in a black robe adorned with silver jewelry and a silver circlet atop his snowy white hair. "It best be important to interrupt such an important gathering."

Though the men wore sacks over their heads, their white clothes with gold embroidery of stars gave their identity. "Master Goldmoon, these men were found searching the area near the Mushroom Glades." One of the guards said.

Goldmoon looked at the men's apparel closer, the guards had done a good job to remove any Star Iron which was usually spun into their garments or used as armor plating. He pulled a sack from one of the man's heads. It was a young man, no older than his fifteenth age. Fear swam through the boy's eyes as he stared back into those of an aged vampire.

"A Knight of Salar?" Sil Goldmoon asked. "Is that correct?"

"Y-yes," the boy shuddered. They'd slowed but his teeth still clacked together. "The Knights of Salar are coming to smite you."

As Goldmoon roared with laughter the chamber filled with an orchestra of those who laughed alongside him. "You don't look like you're doing much smiting." He pulled the sack back over the boy's head and turned to one of the guards. "It seems a feast is in order for later. Take them down to the pens."

The guards scrambled to get the captives out of the chamber. Blood trails streaked along the floor which sent a euphoric scent throughout the room making it hard for many of the attendees to bring their attention back to the heads of households.

"Their braving further journeys north," one of them hissed from his seat near a vast window overlooking the Goldmoon Manor. "We should be sending more patrols."

"Another crusade it seems," Goldmoon said as he returned to his seat. On either side of him sat his brother, Thane, and his eldest son, Maul. Both wearing the same black robes but without the lavished silver. "We'll send out more patrols and get more guards stationed at older towers."

"Sil, you still haven't answered about the issues with the farms or the building supplies." Another voice chimed in causing Goldmoon's expression to sour. "I'm too far north to be worrying about such matters as crusaders from the islands, but I need those supplies."

"Yes, madam," Sil said while raising an eyebrow at his brother. "Thane, you were instructed to see to these issues."

Thane rose from his chair so that he could walk around the chamber, stretching and looking at those who stood or sat in the circle. "We've had less labor sent out that way, which is why I suggest we send our new prisoners there, rather than dining them." He stopped when he came to Balfor, Goldmoon's youngest son. "As for the farms, the deer suffered from a plague which we burnt before it caused further issues with any of the other animals. Many of the available hands there have turned to capture more to begin the process again, it will take some time."