The Nightingale Clan, v1

[Roxilicious]

canon historical series written by Hezekiah Falaise, a scribe hired by Count Sarkis Nightingale to write the history of his family from the beginning using any resources that could be found, esp. Nightingales themselves


I am writing this series because a man from the family himself has paid me a sizable amount of gold for this favor, moreso than my usual clients. Of course, what more can be expected from none other than a count himself? Sarkis Nightingale, one of the few true-named Nightingales to live at the time of this publication. He has asked me to start this series with his ancestor, the High King Falkris Nightingale, and to skip certain periods which he has highlighted for me in a personal letter. More specifically, Count Sarkis has asked me to detail on the points of interest surrounding the lycanthropic and vampiric conflicts that have caused struggle within this great clan.

King Falkris was among a generation when surnames were just beginning to take shape. He was born from a father simply called Jöryn the Nightwalker and his wife whose name has been forgotten through ages of spoken history. Falkris was born at a special time, the years of developing the kingdoms and the empire. A great military leader for the leaderless kingdom of Verfall, he was elected to be the first king by his loyal militiamen and fellow citizens of the quiet land. It was at this time he announced he would take on the surname of Nightingale, for he was notorious for using the song of the nightingale as inspiration for much of his hard work. King Falkris took the throne in 124 RE, naming his most loyal generals to serve as his counts. Two years later, he married Hallie, a beautiful woman still without a surname who gladly took his own.

It was not long before Falkris and Hallie had a son. First, Hallie had birthed two daughters, Marexia and Viridiana. She longed to give Falkris the son he was expecting from her, however, and after praying many times to the Hexadus, Erastos was born. Falkris was modest and felt his son deserved a name different from his own.

Upon his father's death, Erastos took the throne of Verfall at age 19. He wed a wealthy noblewoman named Melanie a year later. They had many children, in order from eldest to youngest: Vendel, son; Thorlakr, son; Nenya, daughter; Oleksandr, son; Nathalie, daughter; Arkady, son; Adelaisa, daughter; and Andriy, son. Erastos was so pleased with Melanie's gift of five sons that he never betrayed her or divorced her and grew depressed upon her death seven years after Andriy's birth. Prior to that, however, King Erastos appointed his three eldest sons to be the official counts of Verfall, ensuring the purest Nightingale blood to rule the developing kingdom.

Count Vendel was to govern the Vesperian Badlands. Count Thorlakr, Oriens. Count Oleksandr, usually just called Oleks the Unforgiving (except to his face, when he was addressed formally), oversaw the county of Pertinax.

Now would be an appropriate time to note that I will be skipping a few generations at Count Sarkis Nightingale's request. He felt their history in the Nightingale lineage was not as significant, and he asked me to assure readers that during these generations, ruling was peaceful and without conflict. To quote his words, "These Nightingales ruled easily."

Around the year 353 RE, increasing tension between the four kingdoms of the Empire causes the son of current King Volk Nightingale, Etzel, to flee Verfall and forever unite with his love, heir to the throne of Tenesidus. King Volk did not stop his son, for he knew that Etzel would either be executed by his lover's father, or be allowed to marry her. King Volk knew that she would take his name, and a new Nightingale lineage would be ruling the county of Tenesidus. Etzel was encouraged by his father and even given supplies for his journey, including a dragon.

After the Unity War (ended 382 RE), the Nightingales began to have internal strife and conflict within their expanding clan. This will be covered in the next volume. To recount, I will make note of significant characters who will appear in the next volume and had a profound impact on the Nightingale clan of history and of today. The next volume also marks the beginning of Verfall's notorious history of crime, harboring of fugitives, collaborations of thieves and assassins, and darker tendencies.

King Luther Nightingale – son of Volk, first Nightingale to succumb to lycanthropy.
Count Severin Nightingale – brother to Luther and Etzel, count of Pertinax, second generation of Pertinax Nightingale vampires
Countess Katrya Nightingale – cousin to Luther, Severin, and Etzel, countess of the Vesperian Badlands, very close to Severin, contracted vampirism by will through Severin
Count Torvar Nightingale – another cousin, acquired lycanthropy through Luther
Vericus Nightingale – 3-year-old child of King Luther and Queen Valeria, given lycanthropy at this age before being sent to Tenesidus by an assassin who murdered Etzel's son and replaced him with Vericus

[Roxilicious]

canon historical series written by Hezekiah Falaise, a scribe hired by Count Sarkis Nightingale to write the history of his family from the beginning using any resources that could be found, esp. Nightingales themselves

In the first volume of this series, I explained the origins of the Nightingale family name and the spreading of their power. At the end of the first volume, I vaguely introduced what would result in a bit of a schism in the Nightingale clan, one that King Falkor of Verfall explains would be, "permanently etched into our blood and our brains, creating two new natures within our family that extend inherent feelings of distaste and malice to those of the opposite nature." Afterward, he threw a glance in the way of his sister, whose vampirism is a widely-known fact, suggesting something bestial within himself.

The year in which this volume begins is 387 RE, five years after the end of the famous Unity War. The current King of Verfall is Luther Nightingale. The current Count of Pertinax is Severin Nightingale. The current Countess of the Vesperian Badlands is Katrya Nightingale (unwed, pregnant with a bastard son who will take the Vesperian throne on his thirteenth birthday). The current Count of Oriens is Torvar Nightingale. The current count of Tenesidus is Etzel Nightingale. Luther, Severin, and Etzel are all brothers. Torvar is their cousin. Katrya is also their cousin.

It was this generation of rulers who began a cold civil war within the Nightingale clan. King Luther and and Count Torvar are secret werewolves, the first of their generation. King Luther's wife, Queen Valeria, is also a werewolf, after consenting to drink her husband's blood to contract the disease. The two also gave their son, Vericus, lycanthropy and sent him away to Tenesidus to serve as Etzel's imposter son and spread the Nightingale lycanthropic rule.

Countess Katrya and Count Severin were rather close. Severin was born from the first vampires in the Nightingale family, inheriting vampirism as a prenatal disease in the womb of his mother. He discovered his powers as a young child, levitating his toys and sucking the life energy out of unwary victims who walked the castle halls. At this period in time, both the lycanthropy and vampirism in the Nightingale clan was unknown, but it was rumored that Severin and his parents were vampires. It was also rumored that Severin had infected Katrya, who suddenly stopped greeting her citizens in the marketplace during the day and mostly stayed locked inside the castle.

During a clan meeting for the government of Verfall, it was discovered by both parties that they were what they were. Katrya and Severin were the first to take notice, surprisingly, smelling the awful, wretched dog smell that came about werewolves. It was a scent that was nearly impossible to detect for the normal human nose, but to vampires, it was as strong as concentrated sulfur.

King Luther and Count Torvar didn't notice until the meeting had commenced. Torvar had noticed that his cousins looked drained of color, despite the fact they kept on the shadier side of the room, and when he saw a flash of red and a glimmer from the fangs of Count Severin, he knew, and he exchanged a glance with King Luther that sent the message: vampires.

Now, this is a forgotten bit of history. Werewolves and vampires were not notorious enemies until around 624 RE, when the Vvrykas were formed. The Vvyrkas were a group that started off small with one big thing in common: a hatred for vampires, a belief that they were not meant to walk among the earth, and a disgust with their selfish, parasitic tendencies. They created a privately-funded faction, each member earning the title "Vvryka" or vampire-hunter in Orabelic tongue. The founder was a werewolf who persuaded his followers to join his blood and gain powers like no other, exploiting the benefits as a way to fight off vampires more easily. It worked, and the Vvrykas became a werewolf faction of vampire-hunters.

With that being said, one might question why King Luther and Count Torvar suddenly felt tension between them and Count Severin and Countess Katrya, and vice versa. Each party had a plan, one to make the Nightingales more powerful than ever before, using the socially-rejected acquired diseases of lycanthropy and vampirism, respectively. Each party had a very similar goal: terrify their dissenters or kill them until they got what they wanted, and use their powerful disease to keep their throne and hopefully expand it.

It is rumored among the modern Nightingale family that this meeting, in fact, would be the one in which either party would confess their plan and offer their gift to the others.

With the tension mounting between the vampires and the werewolves of the Nightingales, communication between the counties became sparse. Severin and Luther lived in the same castle, but they rarely spoke to one another anymore. The vampires actually thought their secret was still safe, still donning black hooded robes around their family, but the werewolves knew their secret was out. It was a complicated scenario that wedged itself in between both parties and split the clan in two.

As the crowns and diadems were handed down through the generations (the Nightingales had a destiny to reproduce vigorously to keep their powerful family in power), the gap between the vampires and werewolves grew larger. It was all well and good in the family despite the lack of communication until two years after the founding of the Vvyrkas' faction. That is when things took a turn for the absolute worse. Blood started to be spilled.

Many people who live in the northern territories of Asteria and Resmir trace the blame of Verfall's spiraling descent into vandalism, knavery, murderous tendencies, stealing, and general villainy directly to the Nightingales. It is believed that the lack of communication between the vampires and the werewolves of the Nightingale clan led to a less authoritative government, allowing the people of Verfall to do much of what they desire without much consequence. In addition, a surplus of vampires and werewolves sought refuse in Verfall due to the welcoming acceptance by the leaders. As generations passed and Verfall became darker and more littered with mischief, it is said that the Nightingales evolved with it, becoming darker and more mischievous themselves.