RavenBlack City exists in a realm side by side with our own – adjacent, but not quite separate. There are few things certain except that RavenBlack himself is the creator, foundation, and namesake for the whole realm which exists as a powerful force indebted to him. Everything else is storytelling and speculation widely contested among citizens.

Neither the origins of RavenBlack or the city are known to anyone but them, though we know for certain that RavenBlack came first and birthed the small universe somehow. Early on, RavenBlack and the realm began a deeply symbiotic relationship. The realm provided for the blood-drinking deity by making itself into an alluring trap hidden in plain sight. Gateways began to appear throughout the earth in the form of small and unassuming lures, attracting life to enter. There, waiting inside the jaws of his domain, RavenBlack would feed so both he and his province could grow in strength. It was the perfect place for the master vampire to live, but few who were lured agreed, leaving quickly once spooked. Forced to continually lure in new prey, which was a tiring endeavor, the creator began to sire others and send them out to do his work for him. Having chosen the most ambitious, fearless, persuasive, and beautiful as his children, they made short work of filling his city.

For his part, RavenBlack worked to weave matter within the city to resemble the world outside, making it more appealing as a home for prey. The city had a bit of this town and a bit of that place, the rolling plains of this land and the deserts and high mountains of that. Nothing was consistent except for its charm, which even extended to the crumbing and run down parts that often stayed empty.

Before long, the small universe was filling with creatures from far and wide. Its pull extended beyond just humans and vampires; all were drawn to the magnetic pull of an impressive magical force. They gathered in the wild frontier, building it into the city as we now know it. The whole of it was a guise meant to harbor and develop mortal prey, while the supernatural creatures that roamed hunted and entertained themselves in their playground unchecked. It was a paradise of sorts and even as houses squabbled over territory, collective prosperity always brought about a peace. It seemed as though it would go on like this for all of time. It was a lie. The curse of the city was that there could never be peace, only an insatiable hunger capable of swallowing bonds and oaths and whatever got in its way.

Hunger has plagued RavenBlack City from its first moments, and just as hunger raised the city from the ground, so too will hunger reduce it to dust. Greedy and depraved, it is always overreaching for just a little bit more. While once thriving, the city now faces an old crisis: expending more than it is taking in. As lofty vampire houses concerned with little more than holding onto their own power strangle growth, they are blind to the noose they place around their own necks. There are some though that can feel it; their power source is draining, resources are becoming more scarce, and the very make-up of the city is crumbling back into dark matter.

Great was the ruse for so long that even the vampires had forgotten what would happen should the city not lure in enough fresh power to sustain it. Slowly as the city dies the mask falls away revealing a rotting and barren wasteland further driving its citizens away. If the vampires of RavenBlack City cannot remember their purpose, then there all will be lost, and worse than lost – forgotten. RavenBlack City’s denizens must feed. RavenBlack City must feed.

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Down the Rabbit Hole

Fragrant pine and rich earth floated on a breeze under her nose causing an instinctual inhale before a violent sneeze. Once dangling lazily, her arms and legs clung desperately to the tree branch she laid upon to stop the sudden jerk from pushing her off. It was a great effort for her not to squeeze the heart in her hands and waste the blood that was still inside. Hearts always had such a satisfying squish, like a delicious stressball, but once pressed they were spent.

When the breeze settled the vampiress relaxed her body, stretching across the thick length of pine lazily once again. Dressed in white linen shorts and matching bralette the pale skinned, pale haired vampiress looked like a heap of snow against the evergreen. It was long past the time for snow though and even as her green eyes blended with the foliage she stood out like a sore thumb. What she lacked in camouflage and quiet she made up for with speed and prowess when it came to hunting however. Evidence proven by the meal she was near to triumphantly enjoying.

As her knees pressed against the wood to hold her in place one arm moved to act as a pillow for her head while the other delicately held onto the dripping heart like an apple. With her eyes closed she focused her attention on the feeling of it in her hand for a moment. Blood dripped along her fingers slowly coagulating and giving a slimy feeling to the rubbery shell of muscle that once pumped it. Bringing it to her nose she inhaled the familiar metallic odor she loved and brought her teeth around it for a bite. Most of the warmth had left the heart, but it was still fresh enough that it hadn't lost its flavor.

All blood had a similar taste to her, but the small unique notes that were there to be discovered kept each bite interesting. This evening's heart had come from large deer and had those gamey notes that are often indicative of wild animals. Animals had the kind of diet a human could never be satisfied with that made up the earthy notes to its blood. Animals, she found, had better tasting blood than most humans these days for a number of reasons. Especially because humans often filled themselves with so much poison and disease it was hard to find any blood that wasn't tainted with something off putting. Not animals though, the sick are easy to spot and the healthy are filled with little more than joy, fear and raging hormones.

When the last bites of the heart were finished the vampiress licked her fingers whole and, since no one was around, also licked her palms and wrist and wiped mouth clean with it like a cat. An owl that lived in the tree where she sat came to perch next to her just as she was sitting up. Deep in the woods as they were the pines blotted out most of the moon and star's light. It was just her and the owl with any sort of clear sight. Perhaps some other critters too, but who cared about snakes and bugs? Perching on a limb side by side the two of them watched the creatures moving below together. Details were hidden by darkness and reduced everything to shadows even with their enhanced night vision. She thought of Archon who often saw things this way and started to miss him.

A flash of movement struck downward from beside her and as she turned to look the owl was already back perching beside her with a mouse halfway to it's death in its mouth. Smiling supportively over his victory her head bowed a slight nod at her feathered companion. It was a good night for the both of them. Times like these required a toast or ten. Rooting her freshly licked cleaned fingers between her breast's cleavage, from within it's well hidden spot a silver flask was produced. Shaped like a small tube with a twist cap the little metal thing held only a few shots of white tequila, but it was nice to have handy.

"May we never know hunger in this grand forest forever overflowing with prey! What would we do without it? TO THE FOREST!"

Tequila meet her lips, which were more than happy to receive it, but before she could finish her drink a great rumbling vibrated all about her. As the flask fell out of her hand Jauk too fell and unable to find a graspable branch on the way down she fell the ten stories she'd climbed and hit the ground hard. "Earthquake", she stated to herself and looked around for a safe place to stand while it passed. No place near seemed to be better than where she stood even as large 'widow maker' branches fell around her and trees split at the truck, tumbling into other trees. With her two feet spread and bracing, her arms moved between covering her head to balancing herself. The noise was deafening, like a massive roar of wind and the great crunching of trees crumbling to the ground.

Blood poured from her sensitive ears and from the head wounds she'd sustained, which always bled more heavily than other wounds. Bits of debris matted to her stickied skin and covered her eyes for a moment as she moved away from a domino of falling trees beside her. Before she could have a chance to wipe them clear a branch the size of a telephone pole fell onto her back and brought her low, teeth biting into dirt. Unable to see or move more than swing her arms and wiggle her legs the vampiress thought to start digging in the hopes of being able to free herself. Even with all the strength of all her power it took what seemed like an eternity to dig herself out from under the massive weight. All the while she felt a fear she'd not known in a hundreds of years, any of these trees could easily crush her to her true and eternal death and they just kept falling.

Rising again took tremendous effort, it was clear her ribs where shattered and even as her spine was healing it felt ready to give again with the slightest wrong move. Carefully as she surveyed her surroundings she finally saw it. Nothing about it made any sense and yet it was coming at her all the same daring her to stay standing there questioning it. A mouth of darkness was the only way she could comprehend it, but with no lips or teeth or even a form, just a black hole pulling the land and sky into itself. Amazing and terrifying to behold with her eyes everything it came near it reduced to nothing but dark matter and as it neared to just a few yards from her she could feel it too. Anger, desperation, but most of all hunger and it wasn't just coming for her, it was calling to her. From somewhere deep within herself Jauk felt it's pull in every cell and fiber like a magnet. Though staring straight into it and knowing what it would do she could not turn away. Instead her arms reached out and even her hair pulled loose from it's ponytail and stretched towards it. The ground gave way before her and fell into the jaws of this beast, disappearing into an abyss she couldn't see the bottom of and then she was too. Falling towards it felt like the greatest satisfaction she'd ever known and a shiver shook her whole form as her eyes rolled into her head. No instincts of survival came to her, no desire to save herself, only the want to surrender and be consumed. When her toes began to burn up was when the dream like pleasure turned to sudden torment. Wild eyed with panic she looked down as the dark began to swallow her like through a thousand grinding gears she couldn't see and then just as suddenly she was pulled away.