The past fortnight had seen more visitors to Keep Felboge than the previous century. All manner of visitors were coming and going from the Baron's great hall in a flurry of activity that left the servants and chamberlains utterly exhausted. Baron Ulrek Bathory's malign intentions were becoming increasingly apparent. The chief chamberlain of the Keep had done all that he could to notify his liege, Lord Edward Bathory, of the Baron's actions. He hoped that Edward's hawk had made it back to the capital with his brief message intact, and that his master did something to check Ulrek's maneuverings - and fast.
The head chamberlain had opted now to ensure that he could bear witness to as much of Ulrek's treasonous behavior as possible. To this end, he insisted on attending each audience the Baron held with visitors to the keep. If Edward was able to act quickly and mobilize a force to arrest his older brother, the chamberlain hoped that his testimonial of these meetings might one day be used to mete out justice. But he feared now that the time to stop the rogue Baron of Felboge Keep without bloodshed was fast coming to a close.
He stood now in attendance in Baron Ulrek's court, standing vigil over yet another audience with a party summoned to the great hall. A gaggle of foreign alchemists and apothecaries stood before the throne behind a wooden table brought in specifically for this audience. Under the gaze of the Baron, they unpacked an assortment of dried herbs and vegetables from satchels and placed them on the table for display. The chamberlain's interest was piqued when he saw an apothecary produce a braid of garlic cloves from a satchel and lay it upon the table beside a bundle of some dried purple herb that bore similarity to lavender. The sight of garlic elicited visible unease among the dozen guards in attendance; their grip on their crossbows tightened. Garlic, a potent poison to vampires, had been strictly outlawed in the Empire for the entirety of the Empire's existence - excluding the Great Weald as of very recently. Anxious glances at the Baron gave proof that he was not at all perturbed by the garlic cloves, and so the guards allowed the alchemists to continue.
"Baron Ulrek Bathory," one of the alchemists began once the table had been set, "we are honored to attend your court today. As you have requested in your letter, we have procured all readily-available herbs, vegetables, and materials that are known to us to be noxious to your kind. To be absolutely clear, we have brought these materials at your request, and have no intention of causing any harm-"
"Understood," Ulrek cut the alchemist of with a wave of his bony hand. "Show me your goods."
"As you wish, your majesty." The alchemist began at the right side of the table, holding up one a large, dried shelf mushroom.
"Peacock's Tail, a polypore mushroom whose ashes have been reported as effective against vampires when burned. It is rare in these lands and grows only on giant trees in the frost jungles of Faresh, far to the northeast." He continued down the table to a few heaping bundles of dried plants.
"Vervain, this is highly sought after by vampire hunters, and reported to be highly lethal to your kind. And here: Warrior's Balm, a common weed in these lands. Legend purports that vampires are repulsed by this herb, but vampire hunters seldom request it which suggests that it is, in truth, not particularly noxious to your kind. Here we have Wolfsbane another herb purported to be deadly to vampires. It, like Warrior's Balm, has conflicting reports as to its efficacy in repelling vampires."
Baron Ulrek stood from his throne and descended from its dais, making his way over to the sampling of herbs on the table before him. To the surprise of the alchemists, Ulrek simply grabbed a handful of dried Wolfsbane and held it to his nostrils, deeply sniffing the crinkling leaves before laying it back upon the table.
"A slightly unpleasant aroma," Ulrek decided, "but I am hardly repulsed. Perhaps you may wish to inform the vampire slayers that patronize you that this particular plant is useless to them, lest you lose their business to some feral vampire."
"Of course, your majesty. Lastly, we have garlic. The most effective known vampire repellent," the alchemist grabbed a fresh white bulb of garlic and tore it apart, plucking one of the largest cloves from the papery husk. "Its juices are said to be highly toxic; its mere aroma rumored to drive vampires mad."
"Show me," Ulrek demanded.
"As you wish, your majesty," the alchemist acknowledged with eyes wide with anxiety. He laid the garlic clove down upon the table and with a small knife produced from his pocket, made a clean cut across the width of the clove. He held one of the halves up, presenting it to the vampire baron. The clove's sour zest slowly began to permeate the air. The aroma, after some moments, entered Ulrek's nostrils, eliciting an extreme and immediate revulsion. The vampire's normally stoic face coiled into a disgusted grimace as a smell deemed pleasant by most men was perceived by his own nostrils as a putrid odor far worse than that of a festering corpse marinating in pig shit.
"An effective repellent," Ulrek admitted, stepping back some paces to relieve himself of the garlicky aroma. "Very effective, very
good."
((Suggested listening))"One more item to show you, your majesty," the alchemist said as he produced a glass ampule containing a minuscule object only slightly larger than a grain of sand. His fingers trembled as he presented the small vial to the vampire baron. Ulrek took the ampule in his bony fingers and twirled it about before his eyes, watching the infinitesimal object within clink against the glass with a soft, metallic ring.
"Silver," Baron Ulrek recognized.
"Indeed, majesty. Nothing is more lethal to a vampire than silver. Per your request, we have brought to you the smallest nugget we could procure, but I must confess that I am perplexed as to why you wanted it. Surely, over your long lifetime, you have been acquainted with this metal at-"
Stunned silence overtook the great hall as Baron Ulrek uncorked the glass vial. He held one of his pale and bony palms up to the open ampule. He paused for a moment to contemplate and then, to the dismay of all in attendance, emptied the silver nugget into his palm.
For several moments, the Baron was perfectly still as the grain of silver rested in his palm. Without warning, the empty vial fell from the Baron's left hand and shattered upon the floor. A wispy trail of white smoke rose up from the vampire's palm, but still Ulrek was unwavering. The pallid flesh of Ulrek's palm began to smolder with the initial sparks of a yellow flame. Ulrek was wincing now and his face trembling, but even now he did not yield to the agonizing pain induced by this tiny drop of silver.
"Your majesty, release it!" A guard pleaded.
As if in defiance, Ulrek clenched his fist around the silver nugget. Yellow flames leaked out from between his fingers, licking his fingers and knuckles. Even as his hand burned with unholy yellow fire, Ulrek did not release the silver and instead braced his burning, quivering hand with the other, holding it tightly in his palm in spite the innate compulsion to release it. Through bared, gritted fangs, Ulrek watched as the flames built to an agonizing crescendo and then slowly began to subside. Smoke wafted from his clenched fist once more as the yellow flames extinguished. At last, Ulrek opened his fist and allowed the silver nugget to fall to the floor. His hands had been horrifically burned, but the vampire was still alive.
"Take your herbs and plants," Ulrek ordered to the alchemists and apothecaries between heaved pants, "and distill their toxic essences into one single potion. Make as many bottles as you can with the supplies at hand. And when you leave for your homes, go and tell any vampire hunters that might patronize your enterprises that there lives one vampire their poisons and silver will not kill."
