The Court Chamber of the Grand Abattoir of Atlanta was decorated in the style of an Old-World throne room. No one could ever say that the Community in Atlanta didn’t have pretensions to greatness. There was seating for a couple hundred around the room, with an empty area on the floor. The marble floors were quite exquisite, with gold inlays depicting many scenes from various mythologies, which were mirrored on the ceiling. More magical flames kept the place lit, though the color had changed from red to adding in some greens and blues as well.

At the far end of the room was a raised dais, where the local rulers of the Community were sitting. On the left was Clay Branch, a Werewolf, and leader of the main Pack in the area. On the right was Kieran Howard, the leader of the local mages. In the center, however, was Khalida Noctis, leader of the Noctis clan, the oldest and strongest Vampire clan in the city (also, the leader of the ‘Masquerade’ faction).

The rest of the Misfits and my thralls split off as we entered the Chamber, so they could get good seats to watch the show. I was glad they were there, but the whole business was pissing me off. I looked forward to finding who the idiot clan was that thought they could claim me, and putting my foot so far up their butt I knocked out their fangs. Something of my temperament must have showed, because the Werewolf, Branch, started smiling, probably anticipating a fight.

After a few moments, as the court filled up, Khalida began speaking, the weight of her age and power causing most of the supernaturals to sit down and quiet up. Perhaps it was because I was both vampire and mutant, or perhaps it was because I had spent time with the Vampire King and Acheron just recently, or maybe my anger at the whole situation was shielding me from the effects, but I didn’t have the same reaction as the rest. I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes to listen to the woman speak.

“The Court of the Grand Abattoir is now in session. Shuri of Clan Fullripper, you are called—”

I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing, in the middle of the court, along with my friends. This outburst really didn’t impress Khalida, but I didn’t much care at the moment. Suddenly it became very clear just who had orchestrated this little farce, and I was VERY much looking forward to the part of the night where I started beating the shit out of people, because that had just moved from ‘very likely’ to ‘damn certainty’.

Khalida, on the other hand, bristled with rage at my disrespect. “Insolent child, do you not know why you are here?”

I managed to stop laughing, and said, “I’m here because some idiot had the gall to try and claim me, against my will and without my consent or knowledge, and you idiots went along with it. The proof of this is that you just called me by the fake name I used on a pretentious douchebag who could only think with his dick, as tiny as it was.”

Another voice spoke out now, as Vaughn joined me on the floor. “You see, Mistress Noctis! This newcomer mocks our traditions and our laws! She must be taken in hand before she causes any more harm to our Community.”

Khalida narrowed her eyes at Vaughn, and said, “You will have your turn to speak, Lord Fullripper.” She turned to look at me again, and said, “If you are not Shuri, then what is your name?”

I scoffed, openly mocking her. “You must have been living under a rock if you don’t know it. I am Vampyra, and that is the only name you’ll get from me. I am Clanless, and have been from the start. No Clan may claim me, and I make claim to no Clan and no bloodline save those I have myself created.”

Khalida eyes glared at me, as though trying to bore holes in my head. Perhaps she was trying to work her way inside my head to see the truth, but that wasn’t going to happen. My suspicion turned out to be correct when she spoke again. “You are remarkably skilled at shielding your mind for one so young. But to claim no clan, the ties of blood must be broken. You were made into a vampire, and so your Sire would have made you a part of his Clan. Lord Fullripper, what have you to say?”

Ignacio Vaughn strode to center stage, puffed up like a peacock, and said, “The Fullripper Clan, as you know, is one of many different Vampire lines, bound by blood rites. One of our number, Chad Gilmore, known as the Impaler for his activities in England during the War, came to us from his old clan, as he had tired of life in the Northeast, and had sought a climate that more suited his tastes. He performed the Blood Rites and bound himself into the bloodline of Clan Fullripper.”

“Several months ago, Chad informed me, as the Clan head, that he had taken a Childe, and was waiting for her to awake from the Turning. We never heard from Chad again after that night, and feared that he had been caught by the zealots of Southern Pride or the Church and shown into the Sun, but we had no word of what had happened to the Childe. Not, that is, until the heroine known as Vampyra appeared on television and gave an interview where she described her Turning for the world to see.”

Turning to look at me like the smug bastard he was, Vaughn finished up, saying, “As the Childe of Chad the Impaler, this Vampyra is clearly a member of Clan Fullripper, and should be bound until she can learn the proper respect owed to her Clan, and this Court.”

Khalida nodded slowly, and said, “The ties of blood are clear, as Vampyra has admitted to the public her lineage. This, combined with other breaches of the rules which have kept our Community safe for centuries, forces me to accept—”

“No.”

“YOU DARE INTERRUPT AGAIN? INSOLENT CHILDE! GUARDS, SEIZE HER SO SHE MAY BE BOUND UNTIL SHE LEARNS RESPECT!”

Khalida Noctis, Mistress of Clan Noctis, was most definitely not pleased when I rejected her words in the middle of Court. Especially since I was a Vampire for all of a few months, and she had the weight of years behind her. But honestly, I was not going to let this farce continue all night. I had better things to do.

I waited until the guards had taken a step forward, so I could identify them all, and then summoned my trump card to my hand. And in that instant, everyone in the room knew that the game had changed. Even those outside the room, if they possessed the ability to detect magic, felt the pulse as my hand was suddenly filled with the handle of a whip that appeared to be made of woven sunlight and holy power. And yet it did not burn me, because I had bonded with it properly, with the blessing of a Priest.

Vampire Bane (Device 3)

*Feats: Summonable, Arcane Flame, Only Usable by You (2)

*Flaws: Easy to Lose, Arcane Signature

Total: 10 PP (15 PP for powers)

This legendary whip was once wielded by the most famous vampire hunter in Europe. For over a century it was passed down through his clan, until his line failed in the 19th century. The whip was thought lost to time, but had in fact been taken and hidden by a powerful vampire lord in a secret crypt so that it might not see the light of day again. It was recovered by a Vampire named Isoke Sandoval, and has been bound to her so that none may wield it while she exists.

>Flash of Light (Flash Step) – Action: Move, Range: Personal, Duration: Instant

>>Total: 2 PP

Designed so that a human might keep up with a vampire’s speed in combat, the wielder of Vampire Bane can teleport up to 100 feet in an instant, leaving a trail of light in their wake. They may even teleport act, and return to where they were formerly standing if the total movement is less than their teleport range.

>Holy Sun (Environmental Control 6) – Action: Full, Range: Touch, Duration: Sustained

>>Extras: Selective Attack

>>Flaws: Action (Full), Distracting, Range (Touch), Side-Effect 2 (Penetrating Holy Damage 6)

>>Drawbacks: Attack Name

>>Total: 1 PP

As the bane of Vampires and other undead, the wielder of Vampire Bane can summon their greatest weaknesses to his side, even in the darkest pit. This creates Bright Light 2 and Holy Ground environmental effects, as a miniature sun glistening with holy power forms above the wielder’s head, affecting an area with a 250’ radius. And yet the light and holy power is selective, so the hunter might avoid giving even accidental aid to his quarry’s mortal thralls when hunting in the darkness.

>Lash of Light (Damage 8) – Action: Standard, Range: Touch, Duration: Instant, Save: Toughness

>>Feats: Mighty, Accurate 3, Extended Reach 1

>>Extras: Penetrating

>>Flaws: Limited (Only works against Undead)

>>Drawbacks: Lethal only

>>Total: 12 PP

The woven braids of light and holy power that make up Vampire Bane make it a formidable weapon against all manner of undead creatures, but the whip’s creator, in their mercy, made it so that only the Undead would be harmed by this weapon as a precaution should it ever fall into the wrong hands.

It would have been even more impressive if I could have gone into my ‘Battle Form’ that I’d created while fighting the Tree of Life, but the admins had ruled that the (obviously cheesy) form was too powerful, and refunded me the points I’d spent on it. Oh well, I now had a truly bad-ass weapon for fighting the undead with. And there were a whole bunch of undead here that just offered themselves up for an object lesson.

Light trailed behind me as I instantly appeared next to Ignacio Vaughn, and showed beyond all doubt that this was the one, true Vampire Bane, the lash slashing through the Vampire’s body with holy power. He screamed in pain as he burst into flames, the weakling destroyed by the holy powers before he could even get his douchey last words out. But before he had even begun screaming, I was back in the place I’d been, in the center of the Court chamber, watching as the Vampire guards faltered in their charge, realizing just what had happened.

On her throne, Khalida looked as though someone had physically struck her, her eyes wide in shock at the sight of the whip that was said to be the bane of all undead, being held in the hands of a Vampire. “How is this possible? This cannot be!”

To answer her, I held up the whip, and yelled, loud enough for all to hear even if they did not have enhanced hearing, “BY THE GRACE OF ALL THE HEAVENS, BESTOW THE SUN’S HOLY LIGHT TO THIS PLACE!” The invocation caused a miniature sun to flare up above my head, blanketing the room and turning it into holy ground, with the light of the noonday sun brought down beneath the ground here. I bit my lip as I felt the light ravage my body as payment for this gift, worse because it was holy damage, but otherwise I was fine, as I used the selective nature of the power to leave those I had no quarrel with immune to the effects.

The vampire guards on the floor with me screamed as the light and holy power burned them. Those in the stands, even though I had left them out of the effects, howled in terror at their greatest weakness, and sought cover behind cloaks and any other shield against the light that they could find. But on the center throne, Khalida screamed as the light ravaged her. She was powerless against the might of the Vampire Bane, and she knew it, but the light and holy power robbed her of her strength, and her flesh burst into flame in the light wherever it was exposed to the miniature sun’s rays.

And then I let it go, looking at the charred, but still unliving, wreck of Khalida Noctis as the sun faded into nothingness. To the chamber as a whole, I declared, “I AM VAMPYRA, CLANLESS SINCE THE DAY I DESTROYED MY SIRE WITH MY OWN HANDS! NO CLAN MAY CLAIM ME WITHOUT MY CONSENT! WITH THE AGREEMENT OF THE VAMPIRE KING, VIKTOR VAN HELSING, I DECLARE A NEW CLAN THIS DAY, CLAN SANGUINE MILES, THE BLOOD KNIGHTS! THOSE WHO STAND IN THE SHADOW AND FIGHT TO KEEP THE WORLD SAFE FROM THE TERRORS OF THE NIGHT! I CALL ON ANY WHO WOULD CHALLENGE MY CLAIM TO STEP FORWARD AND FACE ME, IF YOU ARE NOT A BASE COWARD WHO IS SCARED OF A LITTLE VAMPIRE GIRL WITH A WHIP!”