Even while his body was separated, strewn across a distance in a swarm of bats, Kain was far from blind. His awareness was stretched thin and he could see the land below through the eyes of every single wing creature at his command. Long and hard he flew, wasting no time as he left the Citadel of Tears to flew west in uncharted country.
By the time he flew over the first mountainous reaches of the western peninsula he was in need of feeding to replace the energies he had spent.
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“This rocky, near inhospitable region of Nosgoth I had largely ignored when I had risen to power. It had been devoid of any human habitations and far too remote to be of any strategic value. Turel’s children wandered its shores after the decadence had corrupted my empire and had even seized the lighthouse on its south peek but for the most part it was a land scarcely noted.”
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With hardly any room to plant crops and the only source of timber being forests of pine that ran up the sides of steep hills and valleys, this land seemed to suffer from a distinct lack of resources. This seemed to contribute to the lack of technological progression of these isolated western tribes as opposed to the eastern dwelling humans and perhaps their eventual extinction.
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 “In this day and age however, it teemed with the many Cliffside towns and villages of Vampire worshipers, the ancient servants of my ancestors who in times to come would become Feral. Their society was primitive, relying on the bounty of the sea brought in by fisherman in rickety looking longboats.”
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These settlements were not very large but they were numerous, many smaller closely huddled buildings held up by thick pilings of wood and stone driven into the rock. Many of these communities were connected together by suspended rope bridges that swayed dangerously in the savage winds that tore down through the jagged valleys and canyons.
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 “I began to perceive why the Serioli would build their fortress here, amongst these humans instead of with their kin further east. In times to come, the Serioli would be known as the finest weapon forgers in Nosgoth. Those smiths must have inherited those skills from these originals and they had built their place of refuge here as an easy place to recruit and train new members, human and fledgling like.”
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The bats dived down together through one of these ravines, flying around a startled human on one of the bridges. Souring down, Kain past by stone blocks carved into the sides of the cliffs themselves, a succession of columns that rock up towards the peak of a large overhanging outcrop of rock.  Circling the columns up, flying in arching circles until he came up over the edge of an abrupt precise and beyond was the undeniable evidence of Ancient Vampire construction, a massive archway of stone carved into the cliff side.
The bats flew around the monumental fortress, studying it from above before they came down directly before the bridge that crossed deep chasm to the front doorway. This fort was not as big as the Citadel of Tears but it rivalled the Hylden’s Forgotten Fort in size and dwarfed the Sarafan Stronghold. There was no entrance on ground level but rather a small balcony suspended higher up stood out in front of an arched doorway.
There the bats reformed and coalesced together as Kain emerged, stretching his body to undo some of the knots out of his muscles.
When he was finished he turned to cast his sceptical glance up over the impressively large fortress. The doorway before him was made of stone and carved into it was the same symbol for Balance that resided on Ba’al’s amulet and the Pillar itself.
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 “Before me, carved into the mountain was a massive façade of stone. No doubt this was the entrance to the Serioli Fortress Ba’al had directed me to.”
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As he reached for the door, a jolt of energy shot from the handle and caused him to recoil backwards a step. Taking a moment to recover, he examined the door from a distance. Then he picked up a small stone and threw it forward. The rock fizzled when it struck the door’s surface, smoking before dropping down to the ground as char.
Kain watched it break apart into black dust grimly.
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 “T’would seem that the Serioli did not wish to be disturbed for the door was bared, sealed and protected by a shield of energy that I could not penetrate.”
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This seemed to be the only way inside. Kain had seen no other entrances from the air and he did not like the idea of trying to translocate his way inside. Such barriers could be enchanted to prevent such circumvention and he did not want to risk it.
Slowly he looked down, turning to gaze down away from the fortress and down into the ravines and gulley’s surrounding it. From this high vantage point, he could make out the Cliffside swelling of the Feral Humans, impotent and petite in the comparing shadow of the Serioli’s own home.
There were a few rocky trails leading down to the villages through thick clumps of patchy pine forest, barely trodden paths and over grown thickly with weeds.
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 “This let me, with no other apparent way inside, little option than to explore the valleys surrounding the mountain. I had seen a few sheltered human settlements that surely supplied the Fortress. Perhaps amongst their squalid homes I might find a way inside to speak with this ‘Ajatar Cadere’.”
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His body shifted, morphing and growing slender as he assumed the strong and agile form of the wolf. Once the transformation was complete he leapt down from the precipice of the fortress and bounded to the hard rock below. Landing with acrobatic ease he lopped forward into the line of trees.
His form as a blur as he moved amongst them, swiftly racing through undergrowth alongside the near vertical drop to the churning waters at the bottom of the cliff.  The commerce creams of the gulls above were broken only by the crash and boom of the surf far below.
Kain lopped on out of the tree line, running right alongside the edge of the cliff towards a wooden house that was supported only the wooden pilings that also held up the large rope bridge that stretched across to the far side.
Not slowing down, Kain charged directly at the house and burst in through the small window and tackled the human inside to the ground.
His claws sank directly into his prey’s soft flesh, tearing and shredding even before they had struck the floor.
He didn’t bother changing back to his normal form as he fed; mouth wide open and the blood wrenched up of the dying body to restore his strength.
He left the body of the fur and leather clad human on the ground and left the rustic shack the way he can come, climbing back out through the shattered wall and turning to face the rope bridge.
Despite being such a primitive construction it looked quite substantial and he made his way across it, tentatively at first but then when it did not collapse underneath him, with more confidence.
When he was half way across he burst into a gallop, moving swiftly and then erupted into the settlement on the far side so fast that the humans did not have time to react to his presence. Some of them reached for their knives and spears, aware that something was coming at them. But by the time they had staggered to their feet, Kain had already rushed past.
The settlement were a collection of buildings built one atop the other, with walkways and rope ladders leading all the way down to the water where boats small and large bobbed around dangerously amongst the rocks.
Banners, each one showering various symbols that Kain surmised might belong to various ancient factions or houses of the Ancients they might serve.
Not all of the houses were made of wood. Quite a few of them were framed by wooden walls but their main structures were built into the rock itself, making the settlement a lot larger than it appeared from the outside.
Bounding up into one of these stone houses, Kain climbed in through a window and once inside his body shifted back into its regular form.
It was still quite early morning so in the room he had just entered there were several humans asleep, lying in stone cots filled with straw.
Kain would had dispatched them at once, but at the last second he thought better of it. While he held humanity generally in contempt, there was no need to slaughter those who had not wronged them while they slept.
He paused them, remembering that such sentiment had not stopped from doing just that when he had been a fledgling. Maturity it seemed also mellowed ones own instincts for violence.
So instead he crept over towards the sleeping three, a man and two women and pushed out with his own mind into their own.
While they slept, their thoughts were unguarded and random and with only their remotely aware subconscious to deal with Kain pushed into their memories… seeking information that might lead him to an alternative means of entry into the Serioli fortress.
Fleeting images floated past him as he browsed; memories of winged ancients in the skies and of their interactions with the more local humans.
On the whole relations between the humans and the Vampires here were quite cordial as evidentially the original vampire Serioli had at their disposal some alternative means of feeding themselves, although Kain could divine what that was.
But in their more recent memories there was something more substantive and more informative overall.
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 “Curious. It would appear from the thoughts of this human that before the sun rose this morning, several of the winged Ancients from the fortress flew northward into the bordering mountain ranges that form the spine of Nosgoth. If this remote wandering group of Vampire’s we’re of the Serioli, perhaps they could tell me how to enter their fortress.”
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He saw it quite clearly, winged ancient’s flying away directly over their village. One of them was obviously a vampire of some importance, if judging by their less than average armour across the shoulders and calves but whoever it was flying too high overheard in the vision to be made out clearly.
And even if they had been close Kain doubted he would recognise them.
Slowly, he withdrew his intrusion and left the humans slumbering as if he had never been there.
Exploring the mountains for lost vampires did not entirely appeal to him but it seemed to be the only way he could think of at short notice of ever gaining admittance into that fortress. It could very well be that the Tablets of Dark Fable lay within those walls, just beyond his grasp and that thought was infuriating.
Still there was no use brooding over what could not be changed. Setting his mind to the task he made to leave, heading out through the side door and down a long stone corridor.
As he did however, he stopped, feeling an odd sensation. It was like a faint tingling at the back of his head and it seemed to grow stronger as he carried on down the corridor.
At the far end he found a large room, its purpose strangely undecipherable. There were plenty of bundles packed for storage but also a stone alter with outlines of brass for religion practises. Banners hung from the walls making the chamber look more compact than it actual was.
It was the object lying on the alter however that drew Kain’s attention.
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 “This strange artefact resonated somehow within the vaults of my own mind, as if calling to me.”
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Kain suspected it was of Serioli construction and clearly made to fit a Vampire, with three finger slots at the end. It was made of overlapping bronze metal and tight around the elbow with a short spike jutted out.
He picked it up, examining it and in his hands the tingling sensation in his mind amplified and he felt waves of telekinetic force flow away from him unbidden.
Decisively he slide his own right arm into the device and it locked satisfyingly around him, attaching perfectly to his own leather straps and fastening tight.
When it attached itself to him he felt those waves of force surge and then amply within his own mind and he understood.
Holding out the altered arm he let a small wave of telekinetic force come forth. The gauntlet amplified the effect, forming a visible barrier of twisting air before him. Anything in front of that barrier was sent flying into the far wall where it broke into shattered pieces.
Kain recalled the force and everything returned to normal, the dust settling.
With a satisfied smirk on his face he studied the gauntlet.
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 “The gauntlet I discovered was a channelling device, built to galvanise and direct telekinetic force into a protective surging aegis in front of its owner. This item had other uses as well I sensed and if used correctly it would serve me well.”