This is the fourth part of my playthrough of Tim Hutchings’ Thousand Year Old Vampire. To see my overview of the game, click HERE, and to see the cast of characters and the origin of Nathaniel Morrison, vampire, click HERE. Click the tags to see all of the posts pertaining to this game.
THE JOURNAL OF NATHANIEL MORRISON, ADVISOR TO THE ESTATE OF THE LATE DUKE RUTHERFORD
December 11th, 15xx
Curse this damned hunger! When I am alone, in my tower, it broods, low and mean, a beast at the edge of the clearing. But when I am amongst the courtiers in the Fousburry estate proper, it snarls and snaps, threatening to consume my composure.
What’s worse, when I am near Sarah (my beloved Sarah), the hunger grows stronger still. It is as my unrequited feelings for Lady Rutherford serve only to weaken my resolve in the face of this demon inside of me.
A recent example of this newfound threat to my humanity occurred just yesterday. Lady Rutherford, along with several family members and financial advisors whose names I could not be bothered to remember, met to discuss the future of the estate. I was there to advise on Lord Rutherford’s relationships with the other nobles of the court–relationships and agreements that were sealed with handshakes rather than treaties.
When I arrived, I felt prepared. In fact, weakened by the sun’s light, I felt that the beast within me would retreat to the shadows of my mind. I could not have been more wrong.
I will spare you the details of where my thoughts led me. I will say only that ion that room, in the presence of other people, trapped by decorum in a room full of human smells, human flesh, and beneath it all, human blood, I was worthless to the matters at hand. When Lady Rutherford asked me about Duke Fairfax’s pledge to allow us use of a couple of ships for trade, or something along those lines, I found myself unable to speak at all. I opened my mouth, and a growl emerged. I stood up immediately and left the court confused.
Once I composed myself, I briefly returned and told them that I was quite ill and that I was returning immediately to my tower, I informed them I would prepare a report and have it delivered to them in the next couple of days. Then, I fled.
I have found, upon my return to the solitude of my tower, that the hunger has relaxed its hold over me. It still taunts me, but at a distance, allowing me some semblance of rational thought.
So I am unable to walk amongst the upright-walking men. I cannot allow myself to fall into despair. I shall use this time of self-imposed exile to further my understanding of what I have become. I shall scour my library for fragments of the vampire myth that may shed some metaphorical light on this condition. I shall meditate to improve self-control. I shall further experiment to discover what abilities this curse has granted me. If I am less human, and if, for now, I cannot live amongst humans, then I shall learn how to be more of whatever it is that I have become.
Chapter four postmortem.
Mechanical considerations and my updated character sheet appear on the next page.