What was time, to an immortal? Of what importance was an identity to one who'd passed beyond the boundaries of life?
Over the years, he'd called himself Byron or Poe, playing to an intellectual conceit. Sometimes Nemo, in his darker moods. Puck, when the fancy struck him. Names were such fun things to play with. More often than not, though, he answered to the name of Kieran.
Kieran was not a martial artist, or a mage. He couldn't command the elements to do his bidding, or crack stone like eggshell, or do any of a dozen other things most of the residents here had been fully capable of before undeath had claimed them. He was, to all intents and purposes, a normal human being. Then the demons had taken him, and of the hundreds they'd used as experimental subjects, he had been one of the few to survive. It was, perhaps, his only talent in life - surviving near-death experiences. Apparently, the trait carried over to surviving death, as well.
It was hard, being a vampire without any real source of blood. He was constantly starving, perpetually exhausted, weak as a kitten. He could "sip" at their undead energies of some of the others to keep himself conscious, but it wasn't real sustenance. He was still better off than some. And his skills had a use here - the archlich had difficulty translating some of the tomes she used in her research, and she didn't speak some of the tongues that some of the residents did. He could. And maybe, eventually, they'd all get out of here, to somewhere better.
In the meantime, he did what he could. He researched, translated, and recorded. It was what he knew how to do. He wasn't a hero, probably not even decent sidekick material, just an average guy who'd gotten a raw deal and had a yen to help. With all the heroic types around, odds were at least one person like him had to have survived.
He brushed the white hair the indicated his chiang-shi nature out of his eyes. Now, what to do?
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(Posted Sun, 14 Nov 2004 15:57)
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