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The Bereny Bugle
‘Blowing our horn for the People of Bereny’

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KING DROPS IN ON

VAMPIRE ‘BARON’

Dateline: 15-10-518

King Dirk has made the controversial decision to accept an invitation from Baron Vladimir Tepes to visit his castle of Castle Dracul in the Spirit Mountains. Further, the Baron and the King granted the Bereny Bugle exclusive access to the event and this reporter was on hand throughout the visit.

The Baron’s castle and its surrounding estate lie outside the borders of the Kingdom of Bereny, in the depths of the Spirit Mountains between Bereny and Derwent. The Baron’s title is therefore an entirely self-declared one - at least until now. However the Baron has insisted on paying taxes to the Berenian Crown and despite his denials that he had any ulterior reason, it was clear that his motive in inviting the King was to seek to have his estate integrated into the Kingdom, partly to receive the protection of the Crown but also to advance the Vampire Council’s political agenda to have vampires recognised as citizens of the Kingdom.

The King received a tour of the surrounding estate, which was conducted in broad daylight under the guidance of the Baron’s non-vampire reeve and was at pains to emphasise the prosperity of the estate’s human population, all of whom spoke highly of the Baron (although this reporter thought they tended to look a bit pale, and the estate was notable for the space given over to graveyards). This was followed by an evening of entertainment and and a banquet in the castle, hosted by the Baron.

In addition to the King and his ever-present bodyguard Meantime the mechanical man, the Baron’s banquet was attended by two of King Dirk’s closest advisers; Duchess Kubala Wildfire, the Duchess of Ghorst and Duke Rave of Poldoon, as well as recently appointed Royal High Mage Lady Fea. Also in attendance was Lady Clarissa Stormpath, leader of the Way of the Five Paths, taking a break from her Guild’s activities against the traitor Uryen d’Agrillac, whose stronghold lies not far from Castle Dracul.

Additionally the banquet was attended by Bereny’s most famous vampire, Count Hellstromm of the Eagles, the only vampire to date to have been granted official Crown protection, and by Walkers on the Edge hero Sharra Goldoak, who has a unique perspective on matters undead after returning from exploring demonic dimensions with the unfortunate side effect of having become a skeletal undead entity herself.

The Dei Vigilare, who had spoken ardently against the King accepting the Baron’s invitation, and to whom the Baron had explicitly extended an invitation to attend to re-assure them that he was not seeking to ensnare the King in some vampiric plot, were represented by priest of the Six Ramon de Cineros, Opticus Dei of the Dei Vigilare and also a member of the Great Library, who radiated profound discomfort throughout the entire event.

Rather bizarrely the Baron’s dinner was gatecrashed by an imposter - a painfully thin, anaemic-looking male elf who presented documents to the effect that he was Governor Llandis of Poldoon and was representing the Raven. When the Raven showed up in person, the ‘governor’ made a hasty exit but somehow managed to escape from the castle despite the Baron’s tight security. The motives for this bizarre deception remain unclear, although Landis did challenge Baron Tepes over reports of ‘conversion meetings’ around Poldoon where citizens have allegedly been invited to become vampires. The Raven later confirmed that such practises have taken place although on a much smaller scale than described by Llandis and that the Poldoon authorities have taken action to crack down on this activity, and Baron Tepes was quick to denounce it on behalf of the Vampire Council, maintaining that they had no involvement in any such organised ‘conversion’.

The climax of the evening came when the King offered Baron Tepes an opportunity to swear an oath of loyalty to him, which the Baron readily did, dropping to one knee before the Royal person and swearing an oath of fealty to “protect The Kingdom of Bereny and its King for as long as the Gods allow”.

The King’s response however may not have been quite what the Baron had hoped for. He accepted the Baron’s oath and proclaimed that the Kingdom of Bereny would recognise Baron Tepes as the owner and Baron of the estate, but pointedly stopped short of accepting him as a subject of Bereny, nor as a Berenian Baron. So Castle Dracul and its estate remain outwith the Kingdom.

The Crown has since gone out of its way to emphasise that the Baron’s oath of fealty was not returned by the King, and that the Tepes

Estate is not therefore under the protection of the Crown, or

part of the Kingdom of Bereny.

So the hopes of the Vampire Council are, for now, disappointed, but a ‘vampire state’ once again exists under the sun of Myriad, as it did in the time of the ‘first vampire’ and in that of Count Kainen. And Bereny recognises it, not as a kingdom of monsters, but as a free state the equal of any other of Bereny’s neighbours.