While I work on finishing the first draft of Hunter, Legend of the Silver Hunter book three, other evil and nefarious plot bunnies are bouncing around in my brain. One of those is the short story, The Curse: Origin of the Vampires, which will detail the back story of where vampires in the world of the Silver Hunter come from, the on and off battles with shifters, the origin of vampire and shifter hunters, and the basis for the hierarchy among the vampire courts. I do want to give you a little bit of a sneak peek into the main vampire court of the up coming novels Lord Hunter and Lord Slayer. This is the court of the Lord of all Vampires, Cain, father of all vampires, and his successor Richard St. Martin, former hunter of both shifters and vampires.
Cain’s vampire court started off very tightly controlled under the first vampire. He ruled with an iron fist and powerful Ebony magic. His three children ruled with him when he chose to exercise power over mortals by founding the great city-state of El-Abel in the delta of the Phrat and Hidékel Rivers (Euphrates and Tigres Rivers). Eventually he left rule of the mortals to his children and allowed each of them to create three children of their own. From these nine grandchildren of Cain come the basis of the rule for each of the vampire courts. Cain’s three children were destroyed in a mage war that sparked a civilization destroying flood. After Cain found all of his grandchildren, he gave them each permission to create two children of their own but to spread themselves across the world. He also ordered them not to openly exercise their rule over mortals in their chosen territories. The nine each claimed a territory far from their original homeland and founded a clan. Every one hundred years they would gather to meet with each other and occasionally their grandfather Cain. Gradually as the members of the nine grew more ancient they took to sleeping away the centuries leaving their affairs in the hands of their children. As time passed, the fourth generation of vampires began to chafe under the rules of their sires and the now mythical Cain. They began to create children and armies of their own. They ruled as princes in the names of their creators, some openly among mortals and others in secret.
After the development of mortal vampire hunters the great courts dissolved and smaller courts became the norm. A Grand Duke, as the leaders of the courts became known as, might rule a single city, a county, a state or province, rarely will a single vampire control an entire country.
The court of Richard St. Martin is very different, a loose structure where Grand Dukes come to play out games of political power under the watchful eyes of those who directly serve the Lord of all Vampires. Very little escapes the watchful eyes of Database of the Barghest clan, spymaster of the court and those who seek to undermine the power of Richard’s court find themselves opposed by his vizier, Armand of the Bel-Kino clan. Of course even the most powerful of Grand Dukes must make their way past the most influential of Richard’s advisors, Adam FitzCaine the owner of Dante’s Inferno, the neutral ground nightclub where all may meet.
Watch for The Curse: Origin of the Vampires coming in 2016.
Kethric Wilcox - Author 