Inactive Let's Play EU3 Mare Apertum - Life and Unlife of Vlad Dracula

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

3) The Cabinet NI also provides the same bonuses to faster coring and Administrative efficiency as Humanist tolerance. Like Bureaucracy, it requires at least a one point of centralization in the sliders to get the bonus to 10% instead of 5%. The reason I did this is that otherwise it would be by and far the weakest NI after Scientific revolution*.

*Because of the cost penalties for researching tech ahead of time, NIs that have tech cost reduction as the primary benefit are mostly worthless.

Tech isn’t everything, I was like 10 land tech levels ahead of Austria and still couldn’t compete 1:1 in land battles, thanks to Austria’s better generals and large amount of land ideas. But in general, a few levels ahead of any major rival is a very nice advantage.

I never played Mare Apertum, but there comes a point around 20-30 land tech where being 3 levels ahead can spell total victory or total defeat, depending on whether you are the ubermensch or the enemy. Scientific revolution could be a good middle-game idea in EU3.
What more did they add to it in MA?

 

[Esterhaze]

I think it's unchanged. Yeah, if you are enough a head in land tech that you often have a different troop type you can really do well. But the high level land tech idea in particular (Elite Regiments) is a really good boost and can neutralize some tech imbalance (as it should be, as rpg fans we must salute the rewarding of specialization )

 

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

If you don't have Espirit De Corps and Military Drill you are gonna get rolled over most of the time, which kinda makes the whole military specialisation shallow. Maybe March of the Eagles will change that.

 

[Esterhaze]

oh I thought you meant changed from Magna Mundi, not vanilla. In that case, the ideas are all much different (much more specialization oriented).

 

[Average Manatee]

As long as you take the high value provinces and don't completely neglect your tech research modifiers it's pretty hard not to be ahead in tech. Basically colonize fucking everything in the caribbean because it's guaranteed 60-80 trade/production value provinces while being selective in stealing colonies/annexation once you get over the initial need for manpower hump. AI is stupid and will average around 5-10 value provinces because it just annexes everything.

 

[Cassidy]

I doubt the results are going to change.

add 2 extra votes for Wallachia, from a flip and from someone who would rather have it if his option was too little voted, and the results are clear.

Remember, I am not grotsnik, so expect less purple and the occasional cheese, but I tried my best.

===============================

Prologue: The Lifeless Doomsayer

"The merciless judge and executioner commits the sentence, moving to an end the life of the convict. The cross impales the shadow of the crescent, and proclaims the announciation of a new aeon in the resonating echoes of blood and terror, trespassing all who stand opposed to his path until they no longer scream, for he only confides in death as a loyal subject to follow him. A new curse is at hand, a new generation more damned, powerful and dreadful than all who ever existed, one which does not embrace or succour the beast, for they and the beast are indivisible. Their forefather is him, who renounced God in the name of his love for his damned wife, and executed his brother, decried as a traitor of his family, race and God. Beware of the son of the Dragon! For his shadow shall erase that of the first! When the last great Roman city falls, the bonfire of his damnation and our final nights shall be lit!"

Some claps echoed through the almost completely dark chamber, a few blatantly forced or ironic, but most either were genuine or properly staged. The speaker indulged himself into a trance, unresponsible to the voices, whispers and scant attempts of a few in the crowd to ask more questions about such prophetic drama, enhanced by the impaled dummies decorating the stage, by request of the mad performer, some grossly filled with animal entrails coming out of their gaps as an augmentation to their presence. Circumstances they could not predict would doom the memory of this spectable to be forgotten in the eternal flames of hell or in the eternal void of oblivion, but for now, its entire length and its final monologue would deeply mark those who witnessed it.

"This is the first time a Malkavian spoke something mildly coherent. Of course, for Adam de la Halle, it could be an invention from his creativity, considering his already great talent and imagination one century ago, but of all his prophetic plays after his embrace, none ever approached the clearness in message behind this one." a low voice commented to whom stood at his left.

"Indeed, but anyone with enough time and study can concoct vague prophecies that appear to be reaching a closure but are not. A shame the eldest have dismissed this exhibition under the expectation it would be nothing than more of the same." the other responded.

"Not at all. They shall certainly hear of this from their vassals, but I doubt they will give much relevance to it only because there are disturbing patterns over it. Besides, with the kine weak and uncertain bloodlines leading to this recent war over the throne of France between the Plantagenets and the House of Valois, there has never been a better time for them to pull strings in the mortal world than now, and I doubt they will care much over prophecies while focused on the possibilities this brings."

"Now what about..."

Suddenly, all conversations were interrupted by a growing fear, for a huge force knocked down the large doors of the chamber. Immediately lit torches began to fly all over the stage and in a chorus of utmost revilement, a mob, from where authoritative voices were highlighted, proclaimed the fate of all who watched the performance:

"THE BLOOD DRINKER DEMONS ARE HERE! SUFFER NOT THE DEMON TO LIVE!" the screams repeated, only to be punctuated by the authoritative voice, "DEUS VULT!" proclaiming such as God's will.

The damned tried, without success, to use their powers, for they were so vastly outnumbered they never stood any chance, and were cast into the flames of hatred, every of their precautions failed, and one doubt was the last thing in their minds, beyond the suffering and despair, before their finals deaths. There was no way, no possibility for the gullible kine to have found them out like that considering all the precautions that were taken. No kine would have realized this event was happening, no kindred would betray his race to the kine for there is no mercy for collaborationists either, and nobody who was aware of the event was captured by the Inquisition.

There were only two who could have known about this and told the zealous kine about it:

God or Satan.

The question that lasted until the mind of a young undead of little renown was turned into cinders was:

"Was this an act of divine mercy to our cursed existences?"

"Or are we sacrifical steps towards Devil's plan?"

The answer to these questions would remain a mystery for the rest of the century, and the prophecy whose herald is now nothing but ashes to the wind, forever forgotten, with nobody alive to vindicate many of the events it predicted, such as the ultimate demise of Constantinople in the year of the Lord 1453, and the rise of one of the most cruel men that ever existed from the humiliation and abuses he suffered as a child held hostage in the court of the degenerate, bestial, sodomite and corrupt sultan Mehmed II, next to his brother Radu the Handsome, which he saw as a traitor to his race, family and God. In a few years, this man would be known as Vlad III Tepes, the Impaler, son of Vlad II Dracul, the Dragon, and what he would do in the name of God would make Caine look like a saint in comparison.

And so, in the next chapter of this dread tale, the history of his life shall be told, from April of 1456 onwards, however, differently from what the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire hoped for, his reign, cruelty, ambitions, ruthlessness and desire for vengeance would not end with his death. Quite the contrary, his reign as a kine was only the beginning.

 

[Gondolin]

<insert ominous music>

 

[Hellraiser]

Meh, no Oirish. Well in that case there is only one thing you can do.

IMPALE CRIMEA/MOLDOVIA/RUSSIA.

 

[Lumpy]

Democracy won't stand in the way of Dracula! Deus Vult!

 

[Storyfag]

I've one request, Cassidy. If you have to rape the lore ( ), at least do so tastefully. Use the fucking Baali instead of Setites to support Vlad. Though, of course, I'd be *really* happy if you decided to stick to his Tzimisce origin - or at least a sense of kinship.

 

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

I've one request, Cassidy. If you have to rape the lore ( ), at least do so tastefully. Use the fucking Baali instead of Setites to support Vlad. Though, of course, I'd be *really* happy if you decided to stick to his Tzimisce origin - or at least a sense of kinship.

The Baali don't exist.
They don't.

Really. I'm serious.

 

[SCO]

what have you done Cassidy... now the larping loremasters are unleashed

 

[Storyfag]

The Baali don't exist.
They don't.

Really. I'm serious.

Nigga, please. Insignificant worms though they may be, they do exist. The Sabbat's most Holy Inquisition exists for a reason.

 

[Hellraiser]

what have you done Cassidy... now the larping loremasters are unleashed

More proof that the Final Nights are upon us.

Impale Crimea!

 

[JagreenLern]

The Baali don't exist.
They don't.

Really. I'm serious.

Nigga, please. Insignificant worms though they may be, they do exist. The Sabbat's most Holy Inquisition exists for a reason.

Yes, yes, going on thinking that...

 

[Lumpy]

Where's my update?! This is an outrage.

 

[Fafnir]

Where's my update?! This is an outrage.

 

[LusciousPear]

IMPALE MONGOLIASLAVS

 

[eklektyk]

Where's my update?! This is an outrage.

 

[Cassidy]

The Road to Damnation

 

[Cassidy]

Spoiler

The Omen - Dracula crossover

If the metaplot is too tl;dr watch only the pictures then.

:patriot:

==========================

The Road to Damnation

Ave Satani

Poenari Castle, long abandoned, left to the cockroaches, rats and vermin, a perfect mirror of Wallachia itself. But, where for now countless roaches, rats and spiders crawled through Poenari, other vermins sucked dry everything good in the land. They shall all be put to their fates, but the rats and the likes will be given merciful deaths, for their acts as vermin are animal and devoid of moral choice, where the bigger vermins won't. All Turk and Saxon invaders shall be impaled together with the race traitors who serve them!

When the boyars heard the order from Vlad III for them to repair and rebuild the Poenari Castle with their own hands, many of them laughed, oblivious to the consequences of such insolence, specially when it comes from such race traitors who are more than willing to bend their knees to the scums from the steppes first. Once the poles trespassed them from inside all the way to their mouths, then Vlad Dracul gazed upon their misery, for many still where alive, and shouted:

"Laugh at me now!"

Better payments, and, in spite of his immense cruelty, fairness, because Vlad III did not care about one's social standing when deciding the sentence for dishonorable scum, were the reasons that drove most of the soldiers of Wallachia to form a core group of men loyal to the Voivode, who was always generous in rewarding men of upstanding honor and loyalty, and although his policies would make him many powerful enemies, it would also lead to a number of allies. Whether or not reports cruelty would be vastly exaggerated by his enemies and those he considered universally as enemies of the Romanian people, like Saxons and Turks, could not be completely certain.

The year of the Lord 1456 was marked by three years of an undecided conflict between the vast, abominable Ottoman Empire, ruled by Mehmed II the Pederast, the Goat Fornicator and the Scum of Scums, as he was known within Wallachia. In the complete failure of the Huns, Vlad III realized Hungary had no means, or the interest, to protect Wallachia against Ottoman aggression, and wisely decided to seek his independence from the steppe scums who should defintively return to their precious mongolia, lest they end too entangled with poles to make their way there.

When the Poenari Castle was finally reformed, Vlad III, now already known as the Impaler, wasted no time to do what was wise. The boyars who didn't die over the exhausting work they thought themselves too high-bred to do, while acting with less decency and honor than gypsy thieves, being the race traitors they are, there was only one fate reserved for them. Vlad knew better than to let these men live and scheme behind his back. He only gave them one mercy: their executions were swift and didn't involve torture and impalement. With these dregs dealt with, Vlad III issued a mandate that revoked the properties those who were the most untrustworthy and dishonorable among those already almost completely untrustworthy and dishonorable, increasing his grip over the rule of Wallachia by centralizing the demesnes under his direct control, at the expense of the boyars.

Among the lowliest, the peasants and burghers, the opinion on Vlad III was quite different than among the high-ranked echelons of society in Wallachia. He was a much less demanding liege, who, in spite of being well aware of how he could, if he wanted, treat those serfs like total slaves and overwork them to short lives, he refused that. Unlike all who ruined Wallachia, the only who never betrayed her were them. Vlad III lowered the taxes, confident such measure would not reduce the income, because it would be compensated by most of the income going directly into the royal treasury, and by most crooks remembering what happens to those who steal from the crown to dare doing it. Thus, Vlad III achieved the Machiavellian feat of being both feared and loved at the same time, but he'd always be at odds with the boyars he hated so much, for they cared more about their selfish interests than about the Romanians or Wallachia's sovereignty.

In the end, most applauded his policies for they only were ruining the lives of an once powerful minority, and this did wonders to the stability of Wallachia.

Wallachia was baptized through flames, withstanding centuries of turmoil since the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire ,and even before. The influence of the Order of the Dragon over their military was not to be ignored either, and although small, their soldiers were motivated and well trained, specially under such a great military leader as Vlad III. Rather than rely on dishonorable boyars, Vlad III recruited among the clergy, burghers and wise elders a cadre of advisors and diplomats tasked to provide direct support to his rule. This cabinet was the first step of Wallachia towards the eventual abolition of feudalism, but there was much work to be done to drive the boyars into irrelevance. For now, the improvement of the army was more urgent, and thus, Vlad III pushed for the creation of highly trained Engineer Corps.

As a plus, such knowledge could be applied to refine the dreadful impalement, to make it last even longer and even more painfully cruel than before. It didn't take long for the Wallachian Engineer Corps to bring in countless of creative and extremely brutal suggestions to Vlad III Tepes make examples of all race traitors, most based on improvements and revival of old and forgotten execution methods, and some new:

The Serbian offer was considered. For one, they were more trustworthy than Hungary, but there was one small detail that caused this alliance to be done with little positive expectation from Vlad III. Serbia also allied with Moldavia over the foolish notion that maintenance of the status quo was the best option in face of an ever-expanding Ottoman Empire under their pederast and bestial Sultan, and this went directly against Vlad III's goal of uniting all Romanians to stand a better chance against the inevitable aggression of the steppes.

A campaign of threats and hostility happened over the course of many years. Vlad III would never declare war on a country that had a positive opinion about him and Wallachia, for he was too honorable for that and thus he truly overdid himself in his insults and threats against the "usurper" in Moldavia, proclaiming himself as the King of all Romanians, not hiding his intents at all while a mass recruitment began over Wallachia, whose army increased more than thrice in size.

However, not all was going as envisioned by the Lord Impaler. One year ago, his first two children died all of a sudden, driving his pregnant wife, Cnaejna Bathory, to a long depression. His children were plagued by a disease unlike any ever registered, which many of the more pious claimed to be not a disease, but witchcraft done against the Dracul family. Vlad III never bothered with such claims, for there was a method in his cruelty. He went far beyond the minimum expected from a man of his position before delivering a sentence, gathering clues and testimonies together before delivering the stake, and unwittingly creating what would in the future become known as forensics, even if in a very crude form of such. The Impaler had better things to do after all than to go into a witchhunt for imagined enemies while there were real enemies all around.

And this was his greatest mistake in life.

One year ago

During a full moon night, in the deep woods between Transylvania and Wallachia, two bloodied hands pulled a still pulsating heart from the chest of a miserable victim, as a deep voice proclaimed:

"Satan, we offer you a new sacrifice. Open the Chthonic gates and come visit your kingdom!"

A great and stereotypical cloud of sulphur emerged from the ground, killing all plants and instantly blackening and dessicating them, as a figure emerged from it. Even the long lost and damned responsible for the ritual demonstrated surprise when they realized how their master has chosen to portray himself to them:

For their master came to this world under the guise of Vlad III The Impaler, and vanished from their sight quickly, without telling or answering anything to his worshipers.

Back to the present

Down with the imposter! Long before Byzantium, long before anything, there was only one way the right to rule was defined: through force. And thus, Dracul challenged the right to rule of the Voivode of Moldovia, putting a cunning plan into action by giving them the illusion he would have only one thousand men with him.

Serbia decided to help neither side and stay uninvolved in this war. Their foolish mistake, as History would soon confirm. They missed their chance to march into the blood and glory-ridden path of Vlad III.

Foolish and arrogant, the smaller army of Moldavia marched against the one thousand under Dracul's command. Upon the roads the Moldavian army marched, the fates of all who betrayed, stole from, murdered without justification and comitted any crime were exposed. The sights of the impaled corpses of common thugs and boyar traitors drove the morale of their army down as they kept pushing towards their attempted siege against the Poenari Castle, oblivious to the Wallachian reinforcements that would soon arrive from Oltenia.

Petru II Aron was given a chance of mercy, were him to back down peacefully. Now it is over. It was late night when his army was completely unprepared and caught by surprise, realizing too late that a larger and more disciplined army was surrounding them at their camp. Dracul led his men from the front lines, and slaughtered a hundredfold of the surrounded soldiers of the imposter.

Vlad III's masterful tactics granted to Wallachia a devastating victory, which literally opened the way for the Dragon to conquer Moldavia, for it didn't take long for them to desperatedly try to retreat from the encirclement. Over the course of this battle, only 36 Wallachian soldiers died in the Battle of Wallachia, while their foes suffered a crippling, humiliating defeat with 1280 of them dead, their lifeless corpses now hanging from poles as a display of what happens to those who defy Dracula. This great victory only forged an even greater sense of loyalty from the military to Vlad III, truly one of the greatest, if not the greatest military leader of his time.

Almost all casualties from this war came from attrition rather than from the battles fought to ensure the complete annihilation of the Moldavian army. As the Wallachians besieged the entire Moldavia, Vlad III wisely impaled some corpses near the besieged castles and made an offer: they would be spared of such fate were them to surrender immediately. Unfortunately, the Moldavian garrisons were unaware that Vlad III's cruelty was only matched by his word, for he never broke any promises, and expected the same from all those dealing with him. And thus a long, drawn out siege began.

Iced Earth: Dracula

By the beginning of 1642, Vlad III received bad and terrible news. The bad is that the zealous bastards of the Livonian Order were putting the Orthodox to the sword. Germanic scum invading other peoples just like the Saxons did against the Romanians, or at least did before they ended transfixed by poles, Dracul would never forget these news, although there was little he could do to avenge the Orthodox Latvians against such scum.

What truly despaired him were the news of the suicide of his beloved wife, a few days after she gave birth to their third child during a visit of his family to the Carpathians, his heir and last son still alive, named Nicolae I, and known as Nicolae Carpathia due to his birthplace. Yet, in his duty to the Romanian people, he suppressed the deep sadness and despair realizing this brought. He had to press on for the conquest of Moldavia. For while his campaign was on the way, news of the rapid Ottoman advance against the heathen Mamluks were spreading. Time was running out. But he couldn't just not witness the funeral of his very wife, and the war was practically won, and thus, he returned to Poenari, where the bearer of the bad news informed that her funeral would happen, except she couldn't be buried in sacred ground, for her soul was burning in hell due to the fact she comitted suicide, a comment that almost made him forget he had standards about never punishing messengers for a while.

And so, he arrived at Poenari to find the corpse of his beloved wife, Cnaejna Bathory, whose soul is damned to an eternity in Hell, forever out of his reach. His broken heart couldn't stand it. Was this his reward for fighting for God? Was this his reward for his dangerous defiance against the Turks? In great fury and feeling injusticed, he renounced God next to the body of his fallen wife, and swore to avenge the damnation of his beloved Cnaejna Bathory, no matter what, even if he had to defy God himself for such:



Before the Orthodox priests who witnessed it could spread all around about what he did, he naturally slaughtered them all. It is no secret parts of the clergy have been sympathizers with the Ottomans, dishonorable and pragmatic traitors. This time, he had to be pragmatic in dealing with them by forging evidences of their treason, for someone even more powerful than the Turks has made a new adversary by creating such arbitrary and unjust laws. The days after his renouncement were days of wisdom and enlightenment next to the despair. For he finally began to study the "morality" of the Christian God under the lenses of logic and fairness, and realized his own cruelty was but a spark next to the cruelty of a god who condemns all unbelievers to eternity of suffering and committed countless atrocities and acts ironically condemned as sins by the same according to his Holy Book. Vlad III's conclusion, now that his soul is damned, now that he renounced the God he worshiped for most of his life, was clear:

"With a God like this, who needs Satan?"

And thus, his futile defiance, and the process of damnation has begun, and it would be turned even worse when Radu the Handsome, traitor of his own brother and of his race, arrived in Wallachia with a handful of treasonous boyars to his side. They entered inside Poenari Castle with the help of a traitor, intent on staging a coup by killing Vlad Dracula, his only son and seizing the throne, while of course, giving Wallachia on a platter to Mehmed II the Sodomite.

When they opened the doors of the church where only Vlad III stood, their shock was rapidly interrupted by rapid slashes separating their heads from their shoulders, when, as if momentarily imbued with a clearly supernatural power, Dracula slaughtered all of the traitors except for Radu the Handsome, who he quickly subdued, glad he no longer needed to concoct an explanation for why the priests were dead.

One day after these events, Vlad III Dracul immediately proceeded to personally execute his own brother for the gravest crime of treason. And there was only one punishment fit for such traitors: death by impalement. Radu agonized for days, as Vlad personally ensured he would last longer alive than most of his victims, even force-feeding him water and food in small quantities, for in his mind, his traitorous half-brother, who looked more like a turk scum than a Romanian for a long time, more than deserved it.

His misery in life would however be short-lasted, for, as he returned to lead one of the sieges, in one fateful day of September, as if driven by hands of fate, an archer belonging to the beleaguered garrison shot his arrow right into Vlad Tepes' black heart, putting his life to an end, for the relief of the boyars, Huns, Saxons, common bandits and Turks.

LONG LIVE NICOLAE I CARPATHIA, SON OF THE DRAGON

Carpathia's Regent was unique in many ways. For one, he was so competent most people didn't even notice there was a Regency Council before Nicolae Carpathia would finally come of age. In some dark corners, quiet whispers came on how the Regent for Nicolae looked like a man "possessed by demons", and such covert rumors would only increase after unfortunate accidents claimed the lives of no less than five of the nannies and caretakers of Nicolae I, until finally a secluse nanny seemingly avoided the fate of her predecessors, but she was a quite odd one. She never showed up during the day, rarely went outside the castle during the night, and there was another unfounded dark rumor that she was giving blood to Nicolae instead of breastfeeding him, that the baptism of Nicolae was staged over unholy water, but most people were afraid of even thinking about rumors such as these.

All of these rumors however were quickly forgotten when the people came to witness the publicly held funeral of Vlad III Dracula, buried next to his wife, after the Church was finally "convinced" her death was not suicide at all, allowing her body to be buried in sacred ground together with his lifeless corpse, a final irony considering the truth. Or so hoped his enemies, who now saw in his tiny Wallachia a juicy target, specially with the Regency at hand.

The night after Dracula's funeral was the darkest night ever remembered in Wallachia. It was very late, when, remembering barely of the arrow to his heart, Vlad III rose from the grave, feeling nothing but ashes, unable to even slightly remember the love for his damned wife, unable to remember any joy, or even feel the more earthly and basic pleasures of life. He rose from the grave cursed to never again know any good, to feel forever nothing but an emptiness that only the desire for blood can momentarily forget, and without anyone saying the reasons, he assumed this terrible curse came straight from the God he renounced, and retired to the darkest dungeons of his castle at Poenari, even more resolute to go through with his oath of vengeance, no matter how folly such defiance could be.

From the shadows, as the monster God turned him into, or perhaps as a perfect external image of his absolute cruelty in life, he would realize he could still guide Wallachia through ways he was unaware of before the curse. And so, in the year of the Lord 1462, the unlife of Vlad III Tepes has begun.

While all of Moldavia has fallen, with their garrisons finally surrender after some starved to death in fear that surrendering would lead to an even worse way of dying, the Regency Council stopped being a council as a series of unfortunate accidents claimed the lives of all but one, the same man dark whispers claimed to be possessed by demons. For the fortune of the garrisons, with Vlad Dracula dead, they were granted mercy, this time. But the Voivode of Moldavia naturally had no mercy awaiting, except he long fled to Transylvania with his family, plotting against Wallachia. Yet, there was much left. The plan was to occupy Moldavia for so long the Romanians there would realize there is no point into not accepting Nicolae Carpathia as the rightful ruler of all Romanians.

While the long occupation of Moldavia procceeded, the Austrians have shown their true colors as being just like the Saxons, and little better than the Turks. Bosniaks were also backing the Habsburgs in this, through a masterful plan, for they were positioned to gain the most of such war of aggression.

By the Christmas of 1463, intentionally to insult his new enemy, and long drained of any glint of humanity he once had in spite of his cruelty, Dracula spreads his curse to a six-years old Austrian child, who was bethroted to his son Nicolae I Carpathia and sent to Poenari for tutoring, oblivious to the horrors of the ominous castle. Now, forever damned to an eternity under the form of a child, devoid of all joys, feelings of childhood and doomed forever. However, considering what Nicolae truly is, something the Lord Impaler didn't take long to realize in his unlife, perhaps this is still not as terrible as what would await this child otherwise.

And so, a new curse was born, one that far overshadowed the curse of all the self-entitled kindred before them, because it was infinitely more terrible than that of all others, for to kill one's brother is one thing, but to kill several priests, renounce God and brutally impale one's own brother while keeping him alive under such horrible torture in the cruelest possible manner, not counting all his other victims, even for the pettiest crimes. What he did makes Caine look like a "nice gentleman" in comparison, even if his "justifications" were better, and thus, the extent of his curse was greater. For the Draculesti alone among the sentient undead feel no pleasure or joy or happiness at all, not even from drinking blood, and share the broken dark heart of their founder for his doomed wife, Cnaejna Bathory. The others, whose existence Dracula still was oblivious about by this time, would rather be what they are rather than the Draculesti, from how more terrible their curse was compared to Caine's, specially for an eternity.

And this curse would be the beginning of the end, as predicted by a living dead madman over a century ago.

To ensure the perpetuation of his dinasty, Dracula continued his bleak nights with no company other than that of a completely broken six-years old girl, as the next bethrotal to Nicolae Carpathia came from Poland. He was well aware of the continuation of his conquest of Moldavia, but he could gather little from the secret passages where he hid his now hideous face. A few days after the arrival of the second Nicolae's bethrotal, after the "death" of the first, in one night, the creepy nanny of Nicolae showed up in Dracula's chamber by surprise, and he rapidly drew his sword, for he couldn't let them know.

The nanny gestured for him to calm down, with the small kid, Anna, right behind him. Vlad sheathed his sword as he realized who he was dealing with, and he began to rapidly think about the events briefly before his damnation while the nanny explained herself:

"I come here as a herald of Satan. Your enemy is his enemy now. I offer you an opportunity to avenge your unjustly damned wife, and to perhaps even unmake Hell itself."

The Impaler didn't pay much attention to the words of the nanny, clearly another undead predating his damnation. Instead, he remembered carefully of the rumors of witchcraft coinciding with the deaths of his two first children, and then, carefully, began to calculate the age of his surviving son, with a much clearer memory now. He then realized, with growing ire, that there was no way Nicolae could have been his son. Rapidly, with his unnaturally quick wit, he drew his sword right next to the nanny's neck faster than she could react, and threateningly spoke:

"You killed all my children, you manipulated my wife to forever damn herself and me, you fornicated with my wife and bred a hellspawn, and now you ask me for an alliance?"

The nanny laughed and then replied, showing no fear from his actions:

"I never expected you to realize it. But why do you think it was you? You were chosen for a reason, and now you are between a rock and a hard place, you have no choice. Refuse his alliance, and Satan will pull some strings to ensure your petty Wallachia is wiped from the map, and all you once held dear is enslaved or slaughtered by the Turks. Kill yourself? If you think Hell is better than your unlife, but trust me: it isn't."

"You came to my home without invitation, you threaten my people with slavery and death, and now you dare say I stand between a rock and a hard place? No hard feelings," his voice, unable to express anything other than hatred, said, "I think I can formalize this alliance well, but I'd rather have something very traditional. Considering he already entered in my family without my consent, an alliance ring would fit quite well, but I don't have any readily available ring to put upon a finger, unless."

"Remember, Vlad Tepes, you are either on God's side, or on Satan's side, there is no other option." the nanny said, and for an undead, there was a visible expression of fear in hear.

"You will be the ring..." he stabbed her right into the heart as if driven by instinct, and forced a smile while the nanny stood paralyzed, her panic froze in her face, as he lifted a pole, " and this pole will be the finger for the ring to be put over. A pity this ring will spoil under sunlight, but I think it is a very clear gesture of my intent over such 'alliance' with such a dishonorable scum. God or Satan? I think there is a third option, and no matter how many eons it takes, I will find and achieve it! Enjoy the sunrise, it will certainly be more pleasant than hell!"

Bosnia gained most of the conflict, while Austria gained nothing, and Serbia stood precariously from it. As for Wallachia. With his country ruled by a bastard child of Satan and the threat the devil would pull strings to drive the Ottomans to war against Wallachia, Vlad eventually realized that mortals drinking his blood could be turned into mindless servants, and finally became the true ruler of Wallachia from behind the shadows, for his blood had a stronger bond than even the demons possessing the Regent, and he prepared for an opportune moment to get rid of the hellspawn Nicolae, and to mount a contrived scheme to get the throne to always pass to one of the mortals under his control. He called them merely as servants, and with his great network of such, he ensured it, while retaining no more individual with his terrible curse other than the little Anna, who already became something no longer human and childlike in behavior and the tone of the conversations with her sire. Perhaps there was still, deep inside his cursed soul, a minuscle glimmer of humanity in driving him to at very least refuse to spread the curse much further. After all, it was the absolute loneliness that drove him to curse Anna, rather than anything else.

The Regent, blood-bonded as a servant of Dracula, continued his policy of cutting off the power of the boyars, except this time, there was no visible presence of the Lord Impaler to drive them into taking it quietly and not opposing such measures, and the open opposition of the usual scum caused instability within Wallachia. Through self-restrained, Vlad refused to push the Regent to start behavion way too like him, as that would definitively draw unwanted suspicions and the masquerade had to hold, for the time being.

There were benefits to the curse, of course these benefits were insignificant next to the horror of such perpetual damnation, but they existed, and among them was a preternatural gift to detect blood bonds, both his and from unknown sources. When Vlad III, from the shadows, realized that the Bosniak messenger offering the alliance was a servant of another vampire, he didn't waste time to order the Regent to politely refuse it. Considering it was the first case of that, he began to suspect there was something greater at hand, but he couldn't discover what exactly it was.

It was in a fateful 31st of May that, with the help of his servants, and a string of preparations in the form of forgeries and briberies to ensure the legitimacy of its successor, something Vlad was not very pleased with but found necessary, that at last, with great willpower, he plunged his sword filled with holy water right into the chest of his bastard son. As the child gave its last breath, he then shouted:

"I renounce Satan as much as I once renounced God! Begone!"

A great darkness emanated over that secret chamber and the demonic spirit that once resided in the now lifeless body screamed horribly as it was dragged down into the Lake of Fire. Anna looked at Vlad with her lifeless and emotionless eyes and asked, still full of innocence, the last remnant of her childhood:

"Uncle Vlad, if you renounced both God and Satan, where will you go if you die?"

"I don't know, and I don't have to because I will not die. I made a promise, I will avenge Cnaejna, and... if I ever find out there is even a tiny chance of it being possible, I will rescue her soul from Hell! Until both God and Satan are dead, I will not rest!" And unfortunately for him, centuries later, only Nietzche would end dead for real.

Grigore I Dracula's heritage was shaky at best, although Dracula's blood certainly flowed in his veins. The plans worked, and Grigore was recognized as the successor of the missing Nicolae Carpathia. He was chosen because of his reputation for being cruel but just, a combination of vice and virtue Vlad naturally admired, and even before drinking his blood, Grigore was a believer in the proto-nationalism that also drove many of Vlad III actions when he was a mortal. Sipping small doses of blood from all but his clear enemies, Dracula still remained hidden from most mortal eyes other than those under his absolute control.

The fall of Serbia was far less brutal than the fall of Wallachia. It was pure opportunism, because at this point it was a matter of time before someone else would do it. This time, the memory of the Impaler was almost forgotten, and the Serbians were honorable, and thus were spared of impalement. It was out of need above all that they did it, as the notice to all towns explicitly indicated, implying ironically they did a favor to the rump state of Serbia and her people:

"Better with Wallachia than with Bosniaks or Turks"

And ultimately, the notice was right.

There was nothing suspicious with their offer, and thus, like with Venice, Wallachia secured a key alliance with Georgia, which, combined with the eventual impalement and memory of Vlad III, should at least buy some time before the turk scum acts inevitably like such and end asking for it, with this it being naturally their impalement.

In 7th of October of 1472, what Vlad III Tepes began in life was finally concluded. The Wallachian rulers fled to exile in Transylvania, and now Moldavia and Wallachia were one. All Romanians not subjugated by foreign rulers were one, united under the wise rule of a vampire....

But wait, better a Romanian vampire who renounced both Heaven and Hell than a foreign ruler, because foreign oppressors suck far more than blood, after all. And technically the people don't even know that, which means the news couldn't be better for most Romanians, who now have a somewhat better chance of remaining sovereign.

It will take a little longer for the Serbians to recognize this was the best thing that could have happened to them at this point, but in about five years, most of Moldavia will wisely realize this was the best case scenario for them, disregarding the fact an inhuman monster rules from the shadows. And so what Vlad III dreamed in life: the unification of all Romanians, was one step closer to being achieved. However, Alba Iulia in Transylvania was in control of a Hungary under personal union with Austria, and even alone, this Hungary would have a numerically superior army to theirs.

Meanwhile, to the east they bordered Poland, Lithuania and Crimea. The two first were naturally far more powerful than Wallachia at this point, while Crimea, were it diplomatically isolated, would be a possibility for the dreams of blood and conquest, but it is protected by the Ottomans, and while they refused to help them when Muscovy attacked Crimea, it must be remembered that Muscovy has a much greater population than Wallachia, and unlike them, Wallachia has all their territories bordered by the Ottomans. There was only one other potential target: Bosnia. But was it worth?

The saga of the damned Vlad III Dracul, whose feats in unlife would far surpass his feats in life, masqueraded as feats of his succeessors and mortal servants, has only begun.

TO BE CONTINUED



PS: At least an Antitheist aethist Dracula is different, right?

 

[LusciousPear]

Atheist nihilist Dracula is pretty pwn.

Remove polant from premesis

 

[Baltika9]

Proceed.

 

[catfood]

Gobble up Bosnia. If you don't do it, someone else will.

 

[Gondolin]

"most of Moldavia will wisely realize this was the best case scenario for them, disregarding the fact an inhuman monster rules from the shadows." - lawl

Defying both God and Devil is