Genesis

January in the year of our Lord, 1444

There are so many places to start, perhaps Claudius' Dinner party would be the most proper if this is to be a journal simply of my existance as a being Damned by the Lord, our God. However, I feel it best to start earlier, at the time when I first realized when the creatures that lurk in shadows and the darkest hours of night plague the civilized cities as much as the darkest recesses of the world.

The stage is then set in Venezia, with the more insidious characters still waiting to take the stage, the place of my formal education, though I learned just as much from the streets and taverns of that city as the classroom. I had been sent to Venezia to continue my education because I had displeased my father greatly, he thought I could get into very little trouble within the city, relative to what I had done at home at least. And that was true for the most part, though my good friend Etzio Pitoni brought us our share of adventures, it was nothing compared to the carnage of war I had endangered myself in Denmark.

Despite all that occured in Venezia and who controls it now, I suppose I shall always have a fondness for the city because of my youthful time spent there. But those who have been to Venezia know of what I speak, and to those who have not, describing it's wonders and dangers would prove of little interest, so I will move on to the fateful event that triggered everything else.

The Carnival.... How I wonder what might have occured if Etzio had never met those young women. Even sadder still that I can not remember their names, only their faces, and even that starts to fade from mind. Still, they were lovely enough and impressed by our titles, even if I was foreign born. I think Etzio was still thinking my... innocence, as something to be cured, and to be honest he had cured much of it, though I still saved myself for marriage.

These girls wished us to go to a carnival that was visiting town, and so we did. While I have a somewhat greater understanding and appreciate of Gypsies thanks to my time with Durga Syn and Mireela, the discomfort I felt at there gypsy carnival is still with me when I see their folk. Still, it was enjoyable enough if you were lucky. And we were lucky for a time, until I won an archery contest, my prize being a golden coin that cut my finger and seemed to absorb some of my blood, turning blood red for a moment before turning back to gold. We should have left then... But no one else saw it, and I thought to myself perhaps I had drank to much of the wine. And then one of the girls wished to visit the house of haunts. We went, and it was underwhelming, until when we exited the girl who was my companion.... Diana perhaps? Well, whatever the poor girls name was, she disapeared. And we searched, the haunted house and the carnival and could not find her. Eventually the carnival closed, the gypsies telling us the girl had probably left before us and simply went home. She had not, and so I reported the incident to the constable Julian Marlette. He was a good and honorable man, he believed my concerns and returned with me and some of the guard to the carnival only to discover the gypsies were cultists of some pagan god seeking to rape and sacrifice the missing girl. We stopped them, but the cost was the noble sacrifice of some of the guards in battle, and nearly Julian himself. I did not think of it before, but thinking of it now they seemed to share some symbolism with the monks in Galtry.... Hmm, something to consider later. The girl was saved, and returned home and during his time healing Julian and myself bonded and became friends. I hope he is still alive when I return to Venezia, I could use a friend like him again.

And then, the Courier arrived. A man wearing Giovanni colors, a merchant house of prestige within the Italian City-States. Claudius Giovanni was inviting me to a dinner party at his estate north of Sofia in Bulgaria. I could not refuse, even though a part of me did... Why invite me? How did this strange coin belong to Giovanni, and why did he want it back? But I could not refuse without offending the man and that might have made my stay in Venezia a very short one with a sudden stop.

So, I went. My last journey where I could see the sun.