The night was getting old, and everyone was asleep, except for a few guards patrolling the streets. Even they were getting sleepy, wishing they could be in their nice warm beds instead of patrolling the cold dark streets. The sky was perfectly clear, and the moon was full and bright. In the distance, a cat could be heard meowing, most likely looking for a late night snack.

Suddenly, a shadow flitted across the street in front of a guard. He was instantly alert, drawing his sword and creeping towards the alley the shadow had disappeared into. He peered into the alley, trying to see where it was, but saw nothing. He shrugged, shethed his sword, and turned around. It was at that moment the shadow grabbed his head, and twisted it, breaking his neck and instantly killing him. Then the shadow drew back it's hood, revealing the face of a Moon Elf. It was hungry, and so drew the body into the shadows of the alley, and began to feed upon the corpse.

It was quite late into the night now, yet this would be the best time to catch his latest target. The shadows of a building near the gaurd's post unfolded to unveil a tall figure with all features hidden within a hooded purplre robe and an oversized hound at his heels. Rith didn't have to make many steps before hearing a strange cracking noise. It seemed to be bones breaking and it seemed to be nearby. Rith was sure that it wasn't a good sign. Rith walked around the corner of the building an peeked into the alley at his side. He was quite sure he'd found the answer to the question of what the noise was. Rith also quickly noticed that the vampire's prey was indeed the same guard Rith was supposed to be extracting information from. He was dead, and had died before Rith could get a hold of his sould, which meant that he had no good ways of recovering the information from him. Rith was quite annoyed, though there was a way turing the tables. Prehaps this vampire could be of some use.

"My, my, my. That was a rather skillful kill, vampire," Rith said in dark deep voice as he entered the alley and began to work his way into the moon elf's mind. The elf probably wouldn't notice the mental intrusion, few had the ability to notice such things. The large worg, Torment, came around behind Rith and stood once again at Rith's side where Rith had stopped at the alley's entrance. Hopefully Rith could find something the vampire had to offer, and after that there was also the question of incentive that the vampire would need.

The vampire was just finishing feeding when he heard footsteps appproaching. He quickly raised his head up, and saw the robed figure standing before him. He stood, dropping the body, and wiped the blood from his chin. He listened as the figure complimented his kill, then laughed softly. He guessed this person was pretty powerful, as most people were afraid of vampires, and would have been stupid and run off to find the guards, or a bloody vampire hunter. He hated vampire hunters.

"Skillful kill, perhaps. But I was stupid to not hide my feeding from the sight of the street. It happens when you are hungry......So, what would one such as yourself be doing out on a night such as this? Things lurk in the shadows....." He smiled slightly, but made no movements. He did not want to start a fight, not in a city, where guards could easily hear it and come rushing to the source of all the noise. He thought he felt something prick in his mind, but figured it was just a headache, or the aftereffects of feeding.

Either very powerful, or a vampire slayer? The elf was lucky Rith was just the former. But still, Rith was not so powerful that he didn't need to gather the help of others and he recognized that. That was why he assessed every new person he came across to see just how good a pawn they would make. Even though who openly opposed his goals could be made useful in more ways than just stealling their souls.

"Such things tend to happen when you go too long with feeding and simmilar things happen when you let feeding become the only thing important in your existance. As for things that lurk in the shadows?... You could say that I am one of those... things," Rith replied as Torment sat down. The hound was rather annoyed with missing out on the pleasure that would have been derived from the painful interrogation of the guard. The hound's glowing red eyes seemed to show this displeasure in the hateful gaze that centered on the elf.

"Do not worry so much about me, just know that I am the avatar of oppurtunity. Yet, before I begin on how fate has smiled upon you, may I first learn a bit more of you... from your mouth, Dûrion? A vampire after all has to desire more than blood to keep his sanity?"

Drawing forth names, was one of the easiest things he could do, when inside one's mind. Still, Rith was annoyed that he didn't have any information on the elf before meeting him. Things went so much smoother when he knew what he wanted and exactly how to get it. Thankfully his psychic abilities allowed him to find out much of what he needed to know as well as things that couldn't be found out with simple research.

The moment he heard his name said, he realized what the prick in his mind had been. So this person could read minds, could he? He almost started laughing, but decided not to. He had nothing to hide after all, his life was not that secretive. He just liked to be asked first. "Well, it has been a few weeks since I last fed, and I was starting to lose myself. I try not to kill for blood, I usually find corpses. Life is too precious to take needlessly, as I have discovered over the years....." He had stopped killing unless he needed to quite long ago, almost immediately after being bitten, in fact.

He looked at the hound for a moment as it sat down, noticing it's hate, then returned his gaze to it's master. "Sanity is quite a flexible word. After all, do not the insane think themselves perfectly sane? But I assure you, by majority standards, I am quite sane. I feed rarely, only when the desire for the taste of blood is too strong to quell. I find other occupations to entertain me in my wanderings......."

(Just so you know, according to what I see in this topic and others, your character certainly doesn't seem to be an evil one despite being a vampire. He's seems to actually be good, but true neutral is probably what he is. I can explain my observations in pm if you need.)

How annoying! The vampire had used the same information Rith had gather to ask the question, to answer the question. Still there was no rush at all. While the night was not young, there was plenty of time before dawn. Rith found it amusing that the elf thought he had nothing to hide, opposite certainly wasn't true of Rtih. Rith almost lived off of and within secrets. "Is it really? Sanity is one's grip on reality and their own personality. When either is contorted insantiy creeps in. As for Life I must also ask if that is also so precious. Life is a cycle of death. Without death, life would not exist. All creatures kill lesser beings to sustain themselves," Rith replied as he hid his annoyance.

"What's more vampires need not the blood of humaniods, the blood of animals is still enough to sustain them, but apparently you either didn't think of that or you care more for them than people," Rith continued with his voice taking on a sudden icy tone as he turned around. It was always amusing to catch people in contridicting practices.

"I tire of this drab alley. Do you care to join me in a walk, since it seems you are done feeding?" Rith asked with out turning around. The icy tone notably having left his voice.

(I know, I had actually been thinking the same thing, just had not bothered changing his alignment)

He shrugged, and walked into the street, and continued to walk, turning left, not waiting to see if the other person followed him or not, assuming he would.

"Yes, but sanity is also merely a word, a term meant to describe a state of being. We could also call a sane person normal, but what is normal, really? It is merely a state of mind, a word made to make one feel as though they belong, when in fact they do not. For no two people are the same, are they? So therefore no one can truly be normal. And if no one is normal, how can anyone be sane? For they obviously think in different ways, and thought is a key component of sanity." He was smiling as he said this, remembering a conversation he had had with his father once about the differences between people. He had been young, and ignorant, at the time.

"As for life, I do agee with you on that life requires death. But death requires life in the same manner. Except the Divines, and vampires, all people die of natural causes, and most, including vampires, die before their time is up, due to disease, or war, or any number of things. But if their was no life, what would be the role of this world, or any? They would merely be places, empty and barren for all of eternity, without any purpose. And things need purpose, or else they do not really exist. And if no one is alive, who is to say the world even does exist?" He frowned at this, considering some things he had heard earlier in life about the world.

(I am sorry if that made no sense.....)

Rith strode foward as the elf began to exit the alley. Torment did likewise on the other side of Rith and away from the elf. The elf, however, seemed more intent on having Rith join him in a walk rather than the other way around.

"You speak of things you hardly know. Neither you nor your father, whose wisdom you make use of, had or have skill observing the workings of others minds directly. I, on the other hand, and am skilled and experienced in matters of the mind. Despite the multitude of different races and personality, there are common patterns among those that are sane. Those that are insane have varying differences within those patterns." Rith retorted as he inwardly grined. Such insolence to try to tell a trained psychic about minds, though while the elf caught a hint of his psychic prowess he had no idea of the extent of Rith's mental powers.

"And yes, life needs death and death needs life to complete the cycle. But, you miss my point entirely. If you were so concerned about death consuming all life you would be feeding off of mortals that sow destruction and chaos in the world rather than those that protect it such as the guard who you killed so swiftly. It is foolish to think than feeding your self would erase all life. Life itself adapts to overcome challenges. If the world were to become overrun with vampires, then vampire hunters would be more present, wars between vampires would arise for food. Equilibrium would again be found and things would be back to normal, but enough of such prattle. You mentioned that all things need a purpose to truly exist. What purpose do you serve?" Rith hoped that would be enough to turn the conversation to something useful. He was tired of the jesterish babble and pointless circles, after all he wasn’t entirely in the mood for head games, despite the fact that he generally was.

He smiled when the man spoke of his father. He now knew that this person could read his every thought, and made the connection that he most likely could read his memories as well. But he did not care. He was tired of hiding who and what he was, and this person seemed not to care. "And you seem to miss my point as well. For I did not say that my feeding would erase all life. I merely do not like to kill needlessly. And I doubt the world will ever become overrun with vampires, as most are too stupid to hide what they are, or give in to their base instincts and get killed as well. So only a few, smart ones actually survive, keeping the equilibrium."

He laughed when he was asked his purpose. What was anyone's true purpose? "My purpose? My purpose is to survive the hunters. For I am surely hunted, by my family for the most part. My purpose to survive, and to take revenge on them for the pain they have caused me and my sister, wherever she now may be.....But now what is your purpose? You ask questions about me, but you have no need to, you can read my every thought after all."

"You misrepresented your point, then. Saying that Death and life are two parts of a full cycle is not enough to justify life being so precious when it isn't in truth being wasted. And apparently feeding off of corpses alone is not enough for a vampire if it has brought you to kill one working to protect the life you call so precious."

"You are right. I need not ask you questions at all, but from what little of my power I have used you wouldn't know that. Besides finding specific things in one's mind takes time. It's much simpler to ask question and have slightly more than your answer in return. As for my purpose it is far too complicated to tell in one sitting, but I shall tell you my purpose in speaking with you. As I said before, I am the avatar of opportunity. I have a job for your skills, I just need to know the best way to pay you for your services." The vampire had had a lucky guess, as all of the information Rith had glenned so far had been from the vampire's surface, a trick any telepath could pull, and so far from the true extent of what Rith could do to a mind.

"Which brings us back to the vampiric moon elf who seeks to protect himself and his sister, while preserving precious life and retaliatling against those who wrong you and your sister. What would you say if I had a way of restoring you to your former self, albeit temporarily? It would keep you from senseless killings and would help keep vampire hunters who did not know you personally off your back," The offer certainly was one he could follow fairly easily. It wasn't the best Rith could offer, but Rith would not go through all the costly effort of a full blown cure with no garantee of good results. The vampire might see the dependacy that could arise form Rith's temporary fixes, but there was also the possibility that the vampire would be quite pleased with the offer. If, not Rith had a more simpler offer up his sleeves.