"Consider staying?" Lenore repeats, a little bit amused because it makes it sound like he wants her to stay and is worried she might not. That's a charming thought, and it makes her wonder if he's actually far more lonely than she would initially have guessed. "I'd rather stay, if I'm not a nuisance to you. I want safety and freedom, and you've offered me quite a bit of both. Besides, I like our conversations. You make me feel as though my musings are worth hearing."
His point of view on the vampiric influence makes her think. So he does suspect that there's some vampire involvement with the Ottomans. Perhaps that was obvious, now that she thinks about it. There's vampiric influence nearly everywhere, to some degree or another, and the Ottoman empire is only growing. They'd have to be particularly vigilant and effective crusaders to not have vampires within their borders by now, though it can be assumed that most of those vampires have the sense to keep quiet and out of the way of human nonsense, or to involve themselves just enough to redirect the humans out of their own business. If there are vampires actively supporting the expansion--which expansion is abutting the territories of older vampires, and drawing Dracula's attention--then they are likely to be young and foolish, to be so reckless.
Human rabble and reckless young vampires. Even if they come in sufficient numbers to sweep this far, Dracula can simply move his castle, as he said.
She still feels paranoid.
Setting her glass down, she hugs her knees to her chest, staring into the fire as she mulls it over.
"I feel like this is going to sound insane," she said at last, sighing. "But it is the dark secrecy at the core of the Ottoman Empire that unnerves me. Secretive human kingdoms have absolutely existed, but ..." She already feels like she isn't making sense, but she doesn't know how else to try and present this wild theory. "I'm a historian, and history repeats itself. The world has changed, but the world always changes, so I don't think the reasoning that 'the world isn't like that anymore' is adequate defense against history repeating.
"The old vampire empires of Egypt, Babylon, Persia--Egypt and Persia were already on the decline when the human king Alexander swept through. Military genius though he was, he would never have had a chance against either of them at their height. But all the vampiric empires of the world had been weakened after the fall of Nineveh. You know the story? This is ancient history, even for you. The Assyrian vampire-kings of Nineveh were too bloodthirsty, too cruel, too tyrannical. They thought they could control their empire by crushing each rebellion with horrifying viciousness, to teach a lesson to anyone else who thought to oppose them. But this created such immense resentment that when a rebellion finally brought them down, the empire effectively fell overnight. They razed Nineveh to the ground and pulled down its stones. It sent shockwaves through the world. Rebellions echoed in Persia and Egypt, and they lost province after province, leaving them like scattered pearls for Alexander to collect.
"As much as our kind enjoyed the Roman empire, at some points nearly living in the open because the opulence and insanity of the nobility hid our traits as 'eccentricities', the Roman vampires remembered the fall of Egypt and Persia only three centuries before, and the fall of Nineveh only six centuries before. We'd already learned that living quietly was safer for us, and as Christianity rose, we learned to be subtle and secretive.
"Now we're growing bolder. Vampires are openly ruling countries again." Like her own sisterhood and their Queendom. "Greed and ambition are inherent in our nature, just as much or perhaps more than the traits appear in humans. Surely there must be vampires who have begun to dream of empire again. I expect you know more than I about the blood-drinking Aztec empire, across the sea, and I've heard that vampire influence in the Ming dynasty is growing. In both cases, from what I know of both situations, vampires are infiltrating a human empire that already has a significant power base. That's what I'd do. I'd find a human empire with a taste for expansion and a sense of secrecy at the heart. This 'forbidden city' the Mings are building. The inner palace and the harem of the Ottomans. I have no evidence, but if I were a vampire who wanted an empire, I'd pick the Ottomans. I'd plant myself like a seed at their heart, driving their expansion outward, building religious fanaticism at their core, with a divine god-emperor role that I could step into once all else was ready.
"I don't think this needs to be the plan of a young and reckless vampire," Lenore said, sitting forward, tapping her fingertip against the arm of her chair as she spoke, driven by her thoughts. "In fact, it bothers me how this empire is rising so close to the ruins of Nineveh. How it's taking the shape of the ancient Persian empire. If one of the scions of Nineveh survived? They've had two thousand years to learn secrecy, to stew in resentment, to believe that it's their bloodright to reclaim their ancient empire."
Sitting back once the whole of the idea was shaped into words, Lenore ducked her chin again, feeling shy and foolish in the wake of it. "I know it's wild. I know I have not a shred of evidence. But the evidence we do have, it ... it sits poorly with me. Priest-emperors, an expanding empire, and a central palace that's so, so secretive."
just me going off on wild historical tangents
His point of view on the vampiric influence makes her think. So he does suspect that there's some vampire involvement with the Ottomans. Perhaps that was obvious, now that she thinks about it. There's vampiric influence nearly everywhere, to some degree or another, and the Ottoman empire is only growing. They'd have to be particularly vigilant and effective crusaders to not have vampires within their borders by now, though it can be assumed that most of those vampires have the sense to keep quiet and out of the way of human nonsense, or to involve themselves just enough to redirect the humans out of their own business. If there are vampires actively supporting the expansion--which expansion is abutting the territories of older vampires, and drawing Dracula's attention--then they are likely to be young and foolish, to be so reckless.
Human rabble and reckless young vampires. Even if they come in sufficient numbers to sweep this far, Dracula can simply move his castle, as he said.
She still feels paranoid.
Setting her glass down, she hugs her knees to her chest, staring into the fire as she mulls it over.
"I feel like this is going to sound insane," she said at last, sighing. "But it is the dark secrecy at the core of the Ottoman Empire that unnerves me. Secretive human kingdoms have absolutely existed, but ..." She already feels like she isn't making sense, but she doesn't know how else to try and present this wild theory. "I'm a historian, and history repeats itself. The world has changed, but the world always changes, so I don't think the reasoning that 'the world isn't like that anymore' is adequate defense against history repeating.
"The old vampire empires of Egypt, Babylon, Persia--Egypt and Persia were already on the decline when the human king Alexander swept through. Military genius though he was, he would never have had a chance against either of them at their height. But all the vampiric empires of the world had been weakened after the fall of Nineveh. You know the story? This is ancient history, even for you. The Assyrian vampire-kings of Nineveh were too bloodthirsty, too cruel, too tyrannical. They thought they could control their empire by crushing each rebellion with horrifying viciousness, to teach a lesson to anyone else who thought to oppose them. But this created such immense resentment that when a rebellion finally brought them down, the empire effectively fell overnight. They razed Nineveh to the ground and pulled down its stones. It sent shockwaves through the world. Rebellions echoed in Persia and Egypt, and they lost province after province, leaving them like scattered pearls for Alexander to collect.
"As much as our kind enjoyed the Roman empire, at some points nearly living in the open because the opulence and insanity of the nobility hid our traits as 'eccentricities', the Roman vampires remembered the fall of Egypt and Persia only three centuries before, and the fall of Nineveh only six centuries before. We'd already learned that living quietly was safer for us, and as Christianity rose, we learned to be subtle and secretive.
"Now we're growing bolder. Vampires are openly ruling countries again." Like her own sisterhood and their Queendom. "Greed and ambition are inherent in our nature, just as much or perhaps more than the traits appear in humans. Surely there must be vampires who have begun to dream of empire again. I expect you know more than I about the blood-drinking Aztec empire, across the sea, and I've heard that vampire influence in the Ming dynasty is growing. In both cases, from what I know of both situations, vampires are infiltrating a human empire that already has a significant power base. That's what I'd do. I'd find a human empire with a taste for expansion and a sense of secrecy at the heart. This 'forbidden city' the Mings are building. The inner palace and the harem of the Ottomans. I have no evidence, but if I were a vampire who wanted an empire, I'd pick the Ottomans. I'd plant myself like a seed at their heart, driving their expansion outward, building religious fanaticism at their core, with a divine god-emperor role that I could step into once all else was ready.
"I don't think this needs to be the plan of a young and reckless vampire," Lenore said, sitting forward, tapping her fingertip against the arm of her chair as she spoke, driven by her thoughts. "In fact, it bothers me how this empire is rising so close to the ruins of Nineveh. How it's taking the shape of the ancient Persian empire. If one of the scions of Nineveh survived? They've had two thousand years to learn secrecy, to stew in resentment, to believe that it's their bloodright to reclaim their ancient empire."
Sitting back once the whole of the idea was shaped into words, Lenore ducked her chin again, feeling shy and foolish in the wake of it. "I know it's wild. I know I have not a shred of evidence. But the evidence we do have, it ... it sits poorly with me. Priest-emperors, an expanding empire, and a central palace that's so, so secretive."