Prologue: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Transylvania. The dark region in Romania that has now become recently populated by aspiring hunters that wanted their first taste of battle. Vampires are sighted all over the place in this reason, making Romania the most dangerous country in the world, currently. The roads were unsafe; towns closed down; the people were very afraid. No one truly knew why all these creatures were showing up and terrorizing them. Was it some missed prophecy? Was this bad karma? There was no way of telling.

In an abandoned town, a man sat in an empty inn, drinking some wine he found on the bar. He had dark, black hair, and a nicely trimmed beard and mustache. He wore formal attire, covered by a longcoat, and a strange looking crossbow was hanging on his back. His fedora shadowed his face and a cigar stuck out of the man's mouth.

His name was Carlos Lombardi. He was a newly appointed sergeant of the group, Dark Symphony, that professed in killing creatures of the night. He was charged with the task of finding new recruits to join his squad so that he could help the cause of ridding the world of evil. So far, he had been out of luck. Most of the hunters he ran into were young kids that would get themselves killed in the first five minutes of combat. What he needs is professionals.

Carlos just sat on a stool, drinking. The whole town was deserted. There were supposed sighting of revenants, or evil spirits. He knew that this news would attract eager hunters to these grounds. He hoped he would find some people good enough to join his squad. He really needed some members.

Carlos put his feet up on a table in the inn and waited for any signs of revenants. He hoped that some hunters would come and investigate the village before he took them all out...

The halls of Valhalla are empty, none have come and none will come. We have been abandoned by those that brought us here.

The Einherjar stood up, his face was completely covered by his helmet. His armor was covered in blood and his axe lay on the ground beside him. Countless bodies scattered the field and the grass ran red with blood, he was alone. Then there was a flash, a company of women clad in armor riding winged horses rode down form the sky.

****

Erik Bloodbeard awoke form his dream, he looked around. Things were the same as they had been when he went to sleep. The last of his company, a Valkyrie named Sigrun sat near the fire. He stood and walked to the fire

''Any news from Valhalla yet?'' he asked

''Nay, I doubt we will hear from them for awhile,'' Sigrun replied ''We must expect the worst.''

They ate and then picked up camp and moved on. Erik and Sigrun were the only survivors from their company of fifty Einherjar and three Valkyrie. They had been sent forth from Vahalla to defend the world from Dracula and his kind, three days ago they encountered a company of Vampires and attempted to slay them. They failed. Now they were in Transylvania hunting any creature of evil they found, a small village nearby was their destination.

Alexander stoped for a second to catch his breath, the wind brought a deep chill to the air. He wished to stay longer but he heard them, and they had found him once more. He took off runing once again as the creatures howled and raced after him.
Alexander had made one mistake and it was that he underestimated his prey.

Alexander was on his way to Transylvania and was almost there for some good hunting and decided to do some along the way as well. It started off as a usual hunt did, he tracked his target and followed it around for awlie, camped out and baited a spot, and waited for the prey to come, but he did not excpect it had friends. Alexander had been hunting werewolves for a few weeks, and most of the time there was no more then two or three to a group, he had seen five though, but this time as he took the shot and killed his prey seven more had appeard just across the opening he was at. Alexander took down at least four before they got two close, but he knew if he stayed he would die. And thats how it started.

Alexander had heard them as he ran though the forest, and they were gaining. He thought about going up a tree but knew they would probily climb it just as easy.
"ahhh" Alexander yelled as he tripped over a stubbed root. He quickly reached for his MP40 as two of the beasts were coming into range and out of the tall grass. He began to fire off rounds down range and took one of them down and the other just as it got a few feet away, but he knew there was another some where. Alexander got up and pulled out his lugar and backed up against a tree, he calmed himself and looked across the sea of tall grass for any movement. He could hear it growl and slowly stalk him and the it jumped from the grass, He took several shots at it and whatched it fall to the ground. He walked up and saw that it lived, so he pulled out the knife and slit its throat. Alexander gatherd his gear an sat down for a rest.

Erik and Sigrun entered the village, it was noon and the sun was hidden behind the clouds. They walked through the empty streets with their weapons drawn, their metal boots clanked against the cobblestones they walked upon. They entered an inn from which they heard a noise, looking around the saw a lone man sitting on a stool and drinking beer

''Who art thow human? Speak and ye may live another day.'' Sigrun's proud voice called

Erik lowered his double-bladed axe and raised his hand in a sign of peace

''Forgive Sigrun, we have had no end to trouble down here and we trust few, but pray tell, who are you and why dost thow sit here alone?'' he with a strong Norse accent

Alexander sat there alone under a tree, he ate some of the dried meat he kept with him then gatherd himself and contiued on his way to Transylvania. He knew he was behind, so he quickend his pace. After an hour or two of pushing his way through the dence forest he finaly came to an open dirt road. although the high grass still surrounded him it made walking quicker and easier, though he did pull out his lugar and kept his eyes open. As he walked a twitch in the grass made him stop, but it was but a small creature so he contiued. As Alexander walked he began to hum an old song and began to let his guard down a little. Then once again he heard somthing, he stoped and listend. It was a low growl that he knew, He smiled and loaded his MP40 "I can hear you" Alexander said in his thick German accent.
He turned to see a figure in the grass, right when he was aiming it lunged. Alexander fired off a few rounds wounding it, It stoped and turned to run down the road "where are you going?" He said already aiming his gewehr 43. He took a slow breath and pulled the triger, The beast let out a loud yelp as it was hit and fell to the ground. Alexander caught up and stood over his kill for a second but only grunted and fired another round off to make sure it was dead.

Carlos grinned and threw his now burnt out cigar on the floor as the two people came into the inn. They looked very strange, as they wore outlandish clothes and wielded weapons of old. Carlos stood up from his chair and took off his hat in respect.

"Welcome to town," Carlos said. "It is strange to see folk like you around here. You both look like you belong in the lands of the North."

Carlos grabbed a glass of whiskey from the counter of the inn and took a sip of it.

"The name's Carlos Lombard," he said to them, seeing as the one with the axe was getting a little impatient for an answer. "I am a professional hunter of various creatures, Vampires in particular. I heard a few ghost stories about this town and was instantly curious. I assume that you two came here for the same reason. What are your names?"

Erik stood back and let Sigrun do the talking

''I am Marshal Sigrun of the Valkyrie, this here is Erik Bloodbeard of the Einherjar Legions,'' Sigrun said ''We have been sent to your world to rid it of the vile Dracula and his ilk, our company was almost wiped out and we're willing to take on allies for this dangerous task that lies ahead, I specialize in Ghosts and other Undead creatures.''

Erik bowed before Carlos

''And I am equipped for any combat against living foes who stand against us,'' he aid ''My axe claimed many lives when I still lived and it shall do so even in death, it will be an honor to fight alongside you who I have heard about.''

Carlos nodded and put his glass of whiskey back onto the counter. He stood up from his chair and looked at the two warriors.

"Well, it looks like this will be your guys' lucky day, then," Carlos said to them. "Revenants dwell in this area. They will come right at midnight, and it is close to that time already. I hope we aren't the only people here to defend this place, or this could be disastrous."

Carlos pulled out his crossbow and hefted it onto his shoulder.

"Well, we might as well wait outside," he said to them. "If those revenants come, I don't want to be cornered like this."

Carlos walked outside of the tavern, hoping those two would follow. He looked all around in the distance for any hopes of others coming to the lonely town.

Suddenly, breaking the silence in the night, the noise of a chainsaw revving sounded. Carlos immediately turned in the direction of the noise, crossbow aimed, ready for anything. Are these damn Vampires trying something new? he thought to himself. There aren't supposed to be many around here. It must be someone else.

The sound appeared to be coming from behind another house. Carlos walked forward silently and sidled against the wall. He jumped around the corner with his crossbow raised to see a man with a strange gun that had a chainsaw attachment. How creative, Carlos thought to himself.

"Who are you?" Carlos asked the man, still aiming his crossbow. "What is your business here?"

Alexander put away his weapon and contiued down the small road, he hoped the yelp did not attract any other creatures who might have followed him aswell.
Off in the distance he saw the figure of some building, mabey a village he though.
As he got closer he saw it was indeed, but it was also abandoned, or was it?
As he got closer he heard a noise, like a machine. So he pulled out hi MP40 and approched, he heard voices off around the corner of a building. He looked around the corner and saw a group of men, and also that they had weapons. Alexander pulled out his gewehr and looke through the scopes. There were two men standing behind a another that was aiming a crossbow at some guy with a chainsaw.
"hmmm" He sighd to himself, he diecided what ever was happening he outa go see.
He pulled out his MP40 again and approched slowly. "hello?" He said loud and simply.

Vlad had his SKS raised just as the man spoke. His finger moved off the trigger to the Lancer, and onto the SKS's. As he looked down his sights, he found that who he could have pulled the trigger on, was not a Vampire, nor a werewolf or some other fell beast, but a normal person... something he hadn't seen for many days now. He started to lower his Lancer and looked to the man. He lowered the black bandanna from his face and gave a small grin to the man.

"Jeez, I thought you were a Vampire... names Vladamir Iranov.." Vlad introduced.

"I get that all the time," Carlos replied with a grin. "I'm Carlos Lombardi. Pleasure meetin' ya. You look like a professional killer with that chainsaw thing ya got there. Interesting weapon. There are supposed to be revenants around this area and I was looking for people to help out so that we stand more of a chance against them. You wanna volunteer and help kill some baddies?"

Suddenly Carlos heard a yell from another person that wasn't too far away from them.

"Looks like we have another visitor," Carlos commented. He put his crossbow back across his back. This is turning out nicely, he thought to himself. All these people coming here look like perfect candidates for the Dark Symphony. I hope I can recruit them after holding off these revenants. Carlos looked in the direction of the man that was yelling at them.

"Hey!" he yelled back in reply at the man. "Get over here! What's your name?"

((OOC: All players, if you haven't posted yet, please do so soon. We will be beginning the first fight soon and I don't want anyone to miss it. However, if you don't have the time to post and/or you haven't registered yet, please don't feel discouraged to do so later.))

Alexander walked closer and put his MP away but was still unsure and made sure to keep an eye on his lugar "I am Alexander von Häfen" He said in a thick German accent. "and who may you be?". It still seemed a little wierd at first all he has seen for awile was the forest or a werewolf. He got closer and looked at everybody and waited to see what was happening.

Hearing Voices in the distance, Vassily turned around, his BCc in hand - whoever had hollered definitely sounded human - something he had yet to see since he ventured into this small town. Walking closer to the source, he looked through his telescope to find what seemed to be the faint figure of men.

He decided to stay silent until he knew if they were friendly or by pure chance wondering bandits about to loot the ghost-town for anything of value; it sounded far fetched, but it could always happen.

Carlos grinned when he heard the man's accent. He was definitely German, he could figure that much out.

"My name's Carlos," he replied. "I see that you are another lonely adventurer like the rest of us. There are supposed to be revenants around this town pretty soon so I think it would be a good idea if we all stuck together temporarily. It's almost guaranteed death if anyone heads out on their own now."

Carlos thought he heard something nearby, maybe a person.

"Is there anyone there?" he asked, playing it safe.

Alexander noded agreeing with Carlos, He still didnt know what everyone was here for but he might as well stick around. Then he heard it, he noticed they did too and whatched as Carlos called out. The only thing Alexander thought of was another werewolf or somthing. He unslung his sniper and turned looking through the scopes
"you cannot hide from a hunter" Alexander said thinking he saw somthing, but his lens would not let him focus "I think somthing there, Werewolfs been following me awile" He said turning to carlos "I can take a shot, no?".

Ivan had crossed the border a day or so ago, travelling swiftly and silently down a small, old and mud-ridden road, so far, without company; Considering the extreme political instability of the area that had been prevalent just prior to some of the first ever reports of attacks from Vampires and Werewolves in that century, he'd been rather surprised to find not a single human soul at or within many kilometers of the border, passing through a number of abandoned towns since that time, not of particular interest nor notable difference from that which he now approached – ahead of him, barely within normal visual range, was yet a small village or town.

Eternally on his guard, Ivan slowed his pace slightly as he approached, both hands at his side, ready to grab either of his weapons in a parsec should the need present itself, listening carefully in all directions and looking directly ahead. As he got closer, he heard several muffled noises – firstly, he heard a distant yelp, one he recognised instantly as that of Werewolf's yelp; secondly, not a moment sooner, he heard a closer and slightly stranger sound, that which sounded like a small motor of some description revving up; thirdly, he heard some voices, too far away to clearly identify their words or tone, coming from the general direction of a particular building up ahead.

Pausing only a moment to determine his next course of action, Ivan quickened his pace, side-stepped off the road and into the snow, swiftly and silently moving towards the source of the noise to investigate, moving in a professional military manner. He quickly arrived at the back of the building where there were no windows or doors, out of sight; Slowly creeping around the edge of the building, he made his way to its corner and peered around – He spotted a man putting away an MP, just in time to catch his last words, spoken with a thick German accent. "and who may you be?"

The German appeared to be looking towards the front of the building, presumably speaking to people inside the building that Ivan were peering around, people that Ivan could neither see nor be seen be. In his line of sight, beyond the German, he spotted another figure through the window of a neighboring building, wielding an SKS with Lancer attachment, presumably the source of the motor revving sound he'd heard earlier.

Seeing as these two clearly neither Werewolf nor Vampire, and appeared to be of similar nature to his own, he felt he should introduce himself; However, he did not know who was inside the building he stood behind, nor of their nature; Besides that, introducing himself from his current position could be potentially awkward. Ivan paused for a moment, thinking about what he should do – Deciding he'd wait for those within the building to introduce themselves before making his own entrance, he turned back behind the building and waited, listening.

Not a moment passed before the expected introductions were conducted. The reply came in an Italian accent. "My name's Carlos. I see that you are another lonely adventurer like the rest of us. There are supposed to be revenants around this town pretty soon so I think it would be a good idea if we all stuck together temporarily. It's almost guaranteed death if anyone heads out on their own now."

Ivan thought about the possibility of the man's words. Revenants?

The words that followed caught him off-guard. "Is there anyone there?"

Ivan couldn't be sure if the man had heard him, or something else, or nothing at all, but, thought it best to not play games at that stage.

Ivan walked out from behind the building, in a casual and friendly manner, hands remaining at his side, ready, if the need should arise. As he walked out, he raised an eye-brow and spoke, in what was clearly a St. Petersburg Russian accent. "Ivan Dimitrov; Pleasure to meet your acquaintance. What's this I hear about Revenants in the area?"