[BlackLynx3]

Lordy it's weird, writing about myself these days, but here I am now. Given I have so many secrets it's not easy to just write this all down in honesty as just myself. Me, Taneal... Who keeps herself to herself and just tries to go through the days one at a time. Yet I find myself connected with so many people, many friends, a few enemies and at least one somewhere in between. Those that do not know me and end up in Cellsvich soon eventually encounter me or we see each other in passing, and those that do...well. That's a story for another day and entry.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I suppose an introduction and where I come from shall do nicely.

My name is Taneal Heerani Greyshoulders, Cellsvich local, blacksmith, legally registered mech repairer, adventurer...and as of this writing, I am the last female descendant of the original Greyshoulders bloodline. My house was that of minor nobility, and ancestrally originated from Karatynn, the magical and technological capital of the world. Because my family had managed to stir up so much trouble and gotten themselves into a lot of hot water, they had decided to immigrate 300 years ago into the Empire, which was just a fledgling nation and a new power in the world at the time. Fast forward to my time, and when I was born, I had an older brother named Vislan, and my three sisters (who were triplets, imagine that) came after about five years later. Before Vislan, I, Seraphim, Vera and Arabella were born, my mother, Hera Greyshoulders had seduced a Lispoolian Priest, Maxmillian Ortizian. Eventually they were married, and she convinced him to leave and set up a power base back in Cellsvich to achieve power and wealth.

All in my family can trace our ancestry to our house sigil, The Red Lady, named Vella Greyshoulders. What remains of the documentation describing her and her achievements in life and in death is difficult to translate at best, given they're written in Polaran, not entirely clear and the fact her lifespan was during a time before most had bothered to write anything down beyond historical records, reciepts, and of course, your usual tomes. She lived in an ancient time, and was the first known Vampire of my family. Yes, you read that right, an honest-to-gods Vampire. Coined by her as the Gift, the reason she became one or how she came to be one isn't known, but it was said she intended to use the Gift to better mankind, so they might prosper with our aid.

Personally, I think it was noble idea, but the cost to your humanity is very high indeed. I am a little biased of course, given how my own loss of humanity went and how that vision over time became corrupted as each generation grew more powerful and wealthy from our efforts...but I digress.

Before she eventually died (permanently), she had made a proposition to her children about passing down the gift in a way that wouldn't cause the line to die out. Eventually, her great-granddaughter made it an official family tradition to pass down the Gift.

Here's how it is usually supposed to work. The Gift is passed down via a standard vampiric ritual after the Lady of the House has already married and had children. We learned very early on not to deviate from this path, as doing otherwise meant threatening the line and causing it to die off and merge with another. Usually, only the lady is supposed to receive the gift, but men of the family did sometimes receive it, usually in times of dire need or difficult periods, usually when war broke out or disasters caused issues. Those who did not, eventually grew their own trees and became other family branches or lines, or ended up dead-ending through their own means. Sometimes, a generation or two would skip receiving the Gift altogether, usually to confuse our enemies, or keep the fertility going if there were troubles spawning the next generation. It's weird to put it like that, but It's hard to describe it in another way.

My grandmother Lucille (who terrified the living daylights out of me, by the way) was the living daughter of the original family who set roots in the Empire when it was new, had grown my mother up to be much like her, Cold, beautiful, and among the most diabolical manipulators of people I have ever been born to witness. Hera was very, very good at getting people to do what she wanted, and was even as a child very used to getting her own way. She raised my brother and triplets to be very much the same, but if she had one fatal flaw, it was not taking everyone seriously, and she was more impatient as a person.

Growing up in our estate in Cellsvich, I don't remember much early in my life. What I do know was that I rarely ever smiled, probably due to the oppressive air of my environment, and though I can't always clearly recall why, most of the time I never really felt happy or safe at home. I didn't accept things my parents told me at face value as often as the others and always asked about why certain things were this way and that. My father was weak-willed but also a busy man, and when mother was not dressing me up from birth to be an aristocratic rich girl, she had little patience with me and was more interested with manipulating people more and making sure any trouble I did get into was swiftly dealt with.

And so life went. I eventually went to school, made little gains in friends due to my noble status, and generally was very miserable growing up. Having no friends and little to look forward to in my mind made me feel that way. It wasn't becoming of me according to my family to seek friends among the 'common rabble' or persue what I thought interested me and to instead focus on wealth and status. Eventually, I turned twelve and Lucille had died shortly prior to that. My outlook on life was very, very low indeed, despite the perceived illusion that I was lucky to be born in such elite company...or at least as elite as you can be as a minor noble house. Then, a couple weeks after I turned twelve, my life had it's first real meaningful turn of events that shaped me to the person I am now.

After every school day, I would go out to the market district of the city, then go home with errands my mother had written on a list for me to gather and check them off. This particular day was a Friday, and there was a horrific gale out. Unfortunately, my mother would not tolerate me coming home empty-handed, and in the midst of the storm, I eventually became lost because it was hard to see and I was cold. I had collapsed on a random outdoor stair, and was just shivering when another young girl approached me.