The night air is bristling and buzzing with excitement as you approach the Prince's manor. Vampires from all over are gathering here tonight for a fortnight of revelry and celebration - and for the higher ups, there are of course also matters of business to discuss. You've been looking forward to this event since the last one, but as you get closer you can't help but feel even more hyped for what awaits you beyond those doors.
You can see your friends arriving too, but everyone must walk at a steady pace until they get to the gates, as tradition dictates. The most you can afford is a small wave and a discreet smile while you're still walking.
And then finally, the giant, looming gates are there before you, being opened by small, smartly dressed Nocturnes, swishing and shuffling around like bats. The grounds of the manor are exactly as you remember them - lush purple forests, beautiful inky lakes, the blackened stone of the manor itself gleaming from the light of the phosphorescent mushrooms decorating the numerous hanging baskets. The tall hanging baskets themselves function as breathtakingly beautiful street lamps, the glow bright enough to send a soft sheen over the grounds, but not bright enough to agitate your sensitive vampire eyes.
The grounds are so idyllic that you walk the path to the manor in a daze, barely noticing it until you're already inside. The tense, heated atmosphere inside immediately snaps you out of your trance, however. Someone who you recognise as an agent of the Shadowbinder is shouting at the Prince...
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T CHECK ANYONE!? YOU'VE LET THEM ALL IN!"
"It could hardly be avoided, this event is held to celebrate all of our kind. I'm not about to turn my friends away just because of some unconfirmed information-"
"YOU CAN'T GET MORE CONFIRMED THAN THIS! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TEST THEIR BLOOD-"
"Of course not! What sane vampire would willingly consent to having their blood extracted?! You're being absolutely absurd."
The agent shakes with rage, glaring at the prince, before declaring darkly "You are an ignorant fool, and your indifference will be the death of us all." And with that, they turn away with a swish of their cape and leave the room.
Everyone is quiet after the exchange, but eventually conversation picks up. When your friends arrive, you tell them about what happened and share theories - is there some sort of disease going round? If it affects vampires, then it must be pretty dangerous. Or maybe - it shouldn't be possible, but - maybe a non-vampire got in?
You're distracted from your train of though by the prince making his opening speech. It starts off normal at first. An introduction to the event for newcomers, and a brief summary of the activities and meetings that will be taking place for anyone interested. And then right at the end he mentions how lighting agents have infiltrated the event and are probably trying to kill us all, at which point the crowd erupts in uproar, but once the prince has everyone settled down he calmly says that they have the situation under control, and nobody is to leave until the agents have been found and exterminated.
Whelp. So it looks like you might die here...? Or get captured and experimented on, which is actually probably far worse. Lightning is the main reason why the vampires have been hiding their existence for so long. But now that the secret is out... Things are certainly looking grim. But, you've made friends here. Your life, though not what it once was, is happy. You're not ready to give up just yet - you're going to fight for your right to live freely!
