Zelda Universe RPG

Once, many years ago, there was a brave, brilliant and faithful knight and nobleman by the name of Mathias Cronqvist, whose best friend was a fellow knight and nobleman named Baron Leon Belmont and who served both God and the Church. One day as he was returning from the First Crusade he discovered that his beloved had become ill with an affliction. As pious as he was, he prayed for her recovery but to no avail for the illness soon ended her life.

His grief upon losing his beloved was great and he blamed God for not doing anything to save her, despite his faith. Indeed, was he not pious, was he not faithful?

It was during his darkest hour that he stumbled across an occult text about the Crimson and Ebony Stones. The Crimson stone was said to allow one to live for eternity, but at the cost of becoming a Vampire and the Ebony Stone was said to allow it's wielder to gain Death's loyalty and command over the undead, and the demons of Hell.

Under the pretense of being Ill, Mathias did much research into locating the whereabouts of both stones, learning that a Vampire by the name of Walter Bernhard had both stones. He was not discouraged by this information, being as he was knowledgeable in the ancient arts of Alchemy and was a cunning planner besides.

He went to Walter Bernhard's castle deep in the Forest of Eternal Night and made a deal with the Vampire, convincing Walter to kidnap Sara Trantoul, Leon's betrothed and to attack Leon's Domain as a means to attract Leon Belmont to his Castle to duel him, thus ending the Vampire's boredom for a while.

The undead and the Demons from Walter's Castle soon attacked Leon Belmont's domain, all while Leon was still unaware of his friend's duplicity.

Leon Belmont tried to gain permission from the church to lead an assault against the monsters in his domain but his request was denied, Because the Church had not authorized any battles that were not against its political enemies, Leon was helpless to prevent the monsters from attacking his people within his domain.

A few weeks later Sara was kidnapped. Mathias, still under the pretense of illness informed Leon of the kidnapping and revealed that the monsters were minions of Walter Bernhard.

Leon renounced his title as a lord and baron so that he could attempt to rescue his beloved without committing heresy. He would now have to hurry, braving the forest, to arrive at the site of the uninviting castle.

as he was entering the castle, Leon met the Alchemist Rinaldo Gandolfi, who revealed that many prior Vampire Hunters, Knights and Warriors have never came close to defeating Walter Bernhard. Rinaldo then gave Leon the Whip of Alchemy, a powerful whip that might potentially be the only means to slaying the Vampire.

The way to the inner sanctum of Walter's Castle, where Sara was being held, was sealed by five Guardians that Leon had to defeat. Once the seal was broken he entered the inner sanctum and rescued Sara. But alas, a happy ending was not be for the noble Belmont! for as they took a brief reprieve at Rinaldo's Shack, the Alchemist soon discovered that Sara had been bitten by the Vampire and would turn soon unless Walter was slain. But even the Whip of Alchemy at it's strongest was still not strong enough to hurt the Vampire!

Rinaldo, though, had the solution, however crazed it seemed: Sara had inside of her a part of Walter, an evil sample that could be harnessed; the Whip of Alchemy's potential could be fully realized if Leon were to kill Sara by combining his hatred and the power of the whip, thereby collecting her now-conflicting energies into a package of destruction that could be used against Walter.

Sara, who had been listening through the door, realized the inescapably of her predicament. Because she knew that she would soon become a vampire, trapped within an eternal nightmare, she volunteered her life-force for what Rinaldo had proposed. If it would mean that others would live on, she would gladly accept becoming one with the whip. The overwhelmed Leon was not convinced; he was not prepared to let go, to just let her die and be alone in this world. When the emotions built to a boil, spurned by Rinaldo's pleas, Leon knew that there was no other choice--he would have to accept his fate and strike down the woman he loved. And in one sorrow-filled swing of the whip, the act was complete.

And Lo and behold: The Vampire Killer whip was born.

Leon swore that his beloved would be avenged. So once again he entered the Vampire's castle, finally arriving to the stairwell of destiny and then the Castle's Annex, where Walter Bernhard sat on his throne, arrogantly sipping human blood from a wine glass.

The battle between both Man and Vampire soon commenced. It was only a matter of time, then, before the determined Leon finished the job. Though defeated, Walter bragged about an inevitable return; this was only a temporary defeat, he thought. But Walter wasn't prepared for what would happen next: An unimaginable pain that saw his life-force extracted by the until-then camouflaged Death. The Reaper laughed off Walter's cries and turned to offer the devastated vampire's life-force to he whom had recovered the crimson stone for, the latest arrival to the throne room.

To Leon's shock it was his old friend Mathias Cronqvist! He couldn't believe it!

A single question fell from Leon's lips "Why"?

Mathias explained that Elisabetha's death had hit him harder than anyone could realize. His agony was so that he blamed God, whose name in which he had always fought, for her death, and he would thus curse Him forever by procuring eternal life. And he used Leon, Sara, Rinaldo and Walter to do it. "For if limited life is God's decree," he said, "then I shall defy it!"

Mathias truly believed that Elisabetha would have wanted it this way. Leon argued that the Mathias he knew would never marry such a woman. Still, Mathias expected Leon to understand his plight, for he, too, had unfairly lost someone he loved; maybe, he thought, his friend would join him in eternal life to also express a pained hatred. Leon contested that, yes, he struck Walter down with hatred, but he did it with the intention that others might live, which is what Sara wanted; Leon was sure that Elisabetha would have wanted the same. This is not what Mathias wanted to hear, unfortunately, so he would disappointingly have to leave his friend behind. "Death--he's all yours," he ordered, before assuming bat form and flying off into the night.

Death transported both he and Leon to a chaotic realm, where the two would see a final battle. Death, too, was overly confident, but Leon knew better--the Vampire Killer whip had the power to destroy vampires and all related to them, including a divine being such as Death. "Nooooooooooooo!" Death screamed as defeat came calling. The departing Reaper, like Walter before him, also bragged of a return, but Leon had a message for him to deliver to Mathias in the meantime: "You have become a cursed being, and I will never forgive you. This whip and my kinsmen will destroy you someday. The Belmont clan will hunt the night!".  

A few weeks later, in a undisclosed location Mathias (with Death's assistance) finished the final part of his plan to gain immortality by conducting a ritual to bind both the Ebony and Crimson stones to his soul. For now on, even if he was killed he would eventually return to the mortal realm in enough time; the binding of the two stones to him also gave him the ability to command the Undead, the Demons of Hell, the "Children of the Night" (Wild Animals and anything with animalistic traits) and even mythological creatures.

Pleased with the results of the ritual but still worried that Leon was after him (due in part to the message Leon sent to him via Death), He left Romania and wandered Europe for many years. He was not yet ready to test the part of the ritual's magic that would bring him back from the dead.

Many years later he returned to Walter Bernhard's old castle, what was once a proud fortification was now an abandoned and overgrown ruin. He discovered that the locals weren't even aware of the Castle's presence, the reason why they didn't find the Castle was because the Castle was simply responding to his will, making itself undiscoverable to anyone except him.
This last revelation was a pleasant surprise to him because he now had a secure roof over his head, A place that was safe to dwell in. (even if said roof was mostly falling apart at the time and needed serious maintenance).

Without further hesitation he called upon his minions and ordered them to work on restoring the Castle and improving it's defenses.

While his minions were working on the Castle, Mathias decided to pay Wakiruya village a visit, mostly to learn about what had happened in his absence. He came there under the guise of a traveling merchant named "Matthew Tepes". Many in the village didn't have much to say nor were they very bright when questioned about the current going-ons of the realm.
One woman however caught his attention: A bright and beautiful young maiden by the name of Lisa Fahrenheit. Lisa was intelligent and well verse in Herbal lore and medicine, She was also kind, compassionate and surprisingly open-minded.

When they both met, it was love at first sight. Although both of them were too shy to admit it, Mathias due to his nature as a Vampire and how he feared Lisa might react if she found out and Lisa because she felt slightly awkward around him.

It took many weeks for both of them to truly warm up to each other and to come out of their comfort zones.

Lisa, surprising took the fact that Mathias was a Vampire really well. He couldn't hide that from her, what she saw in Mathias was a tormented soul in need of love and redemption. Mathias on the other hand believed that Lisa was the reincarnation of his first love Elisabetha.

Love blossomed, and the two were soon wed in a private ceremony at the new restored Castle. In time she gave birth to unusual but healthy baby boy, a boy she named Adrian after her long deceased father who inspired her to save lives by researching herbal lore and medicine.

It truly seemed as if things were finally looking up for Mathias Cronqvist, the emotional wounds in his soul were beginning to heal and his faith, once neglected was beginning to renew itself. But alas this was not meant to be...

For tragedy struck, and struck HARD. Lisa Fahrenheit, while she was out of the castle healing the sick and the wounded was captured by angry and ignorant villagers. It appeared that there was an inquisitor from the Inquisition in the village and Lisa's refusal to sleep with him had the inquisitor declaring her a witch. The more senior villagers, out of fear of the inquisitor turned against her and went along with it. Some of the younger ones, also being denied by Lisa went along with it willingly and thus Lisa was burnt at the stake.

Needless to say Mathias was stricken first with grief, then immeasurable anger. His emotions was torn asunder, his hatred was rekindled but he knew that rushing in to avenge his beloved would not be wise, especially since his minions were not yet numerous enough to enact the kind of vengeance he desired against God and Humanity. So he begun to build up his armies of demons, the undead, "children of the night" and mythological creatures in secret and to train his son in combat and the dark arts.

In the meantime he decided under his "Matthew Tepes" persona to enter the service of Vlad Dracul the III, his plans depended on it since Vlad was known to be a harsh but just ruler with a perchance for impaling his foes on iron pikes, that and the fact that Romania was currently in the midst of a civil war between the two noble families of the Danastys and the Draculs. He could not give his potenial foes a reason to unite against him, so he bid his time and secretly used his powers to help Vlad Dracul the III to win the civil war. He also sowed the seeds of paranoia and distrust in Vlad, causing him to kill off his relatives even as he was winning the war.

One night, after Vlad finally won the civil war Mathias sneaked into Vlad's room while he was asleep. Mathias violently and furiously impaled Vlad with an iron spike, venting his personal hatred and his overall contempt for mankind into each strike as he stabbed Vlad again and again. Thus ending the life of Vlad Dracul the III, a pawn that Mathias was merely using for his own ends. Mathias's murder of Vlad, while satisfying was still not enough to cool the burning inferno in his heart. He then absorbed Vlad's soul into the crimson stone, solely so he could assume Vlad's form and carry out his campaign of revenge and terror. Such was not without side effects for he no longer thought of himself as Mathias Cronqvist, but instead begun to think of himself and to address himself as Count Vlad Tepes Dracula, Thus the nightmare was truly born.  

Dracula knew that he needed to act quickly to carry out the next part of his plans, so he called forth his minions
and sent them to destroy Wakiruya Village, swiftly and without mercy. No a single soul survived the sheer massacre and destruction. It was during this first attack that Alucard fled from his father's side, seeing it as his chance to do so.

First Romania fell to his destructive rage, then neighboring kingdoms. One by one they fell until only Aragon and the Papal states remained. It seem that all hope was lost as people begun to lose faith. That is, until a Belmont stepped in. It was Dracula's own undoing, for he ignored the descendants of his former friend at his own peril.

He was shocked and enraged as he beheld his various strongholds and his minions falling to the lone Belmont and his companions, a few of which the Belmont liberated from the various curses he had laid upon them. A foolish witch that dared to defy him and a survivor of the Danastys who was raised by Pirates, the most shocking and infuriating thing of all was the fact that his own son, his own flesh and blood was with the Belmont!!

As the Belmont and his companion traversed the countryside and through his castle, Dracula prepared a powerful curse that would activate upon his death, A curse that would hasten his revival by feeding on and tempting the darkness in the hearts of people.

Soon it was time for the inevitable battle.
"So Belmont, we meet at last!" the Count proclaimed as he sat upon his throne and sipped blood from his wine glass "You have broken the curses I have laid upon the Witch and the Pirate, destroyed many of my minions and even convinced my son to join you. Tell me Belmont, what it is that you hope to accomplish by destroying me?"
"To hell with you, You have ruined many innocent lives and have destroyed much of Europe!" Trevor replied angrily "I came to put a stop to this nightmare"
"Really Belmont, Innocent? those souls are hardly innocent at all. It was those same "Innocent" people who condemned my beloved to death" Dracula then turned to his wayward son "and tell me son, why did you decide to join this lowly human and his band of misfits? Did you perhaps seek to surpass me?"
"Father this madness ends now, I will not let you harm another human while I still draw breath!" Alucard replied, thus enraging and shocking his father although the Count was quick to regain his calm and collected facade.
He turned his attention to the Pirate.
"Tell me Danasty, do you really think you stand a chance against me? and do you really think defeating me will give you back everything you lost?" The Count asked, sensing the innermost thoughts of Grant Danasty.
"I don't car' for the latter, All I car' 'bout is offin' ye for only then can me crew finally rest in peace" Grant curtly replied.
The Count found Grant's reply not to be what he has expecting, so he finally turned his attention towards the Witch.
"Sypha Belnades, You have been a thorn in my side for quite a while now. Do you honestly thinking defeating me will cause your Coven to abandon me and redeem themselves? Don't be so foolish! One act of good does not equal redemption! They are far too gone into Darkness!"
"No, but I know the road to redemption starts with one step and I shall take the first step by ridding this world of your evil!" Sypha stated defiantly.
The Count laughed and cast his wine glass aside.
"Very well then, I tire of this pointless banter. LET US FIGHT!"