The start of many months to rise to power. Many foes will stand in my path, but I will end up conquering and drinking their blood. Absorbing their knowledge as I move forward, like the shadows of a faint moon that are slowly getting brighter.

I awaken in a wooden coffin in some unknown cave far from society. My blood is quite weekend. I hungered for a thousand years, unable to quench my thirst. I am now free to do so.

I seem to be in some kind of underground tomb. There are other wooden covens around me. I don’t sense other vampires in them. I’m barely able to walk forward because of being so weak. Along the way, I find a rather frail creature. Its life force did very little to quench my thirst. If anything, I leave from the encounter thirstier than when I started.

As I move around in the dark further, I find some supplies. It’s as you would expect in an underground tomb of sorts. In one spot, I find a pile of bones. I pick up some roaming rats and put them in my rather tattered pockets. For some reason, I had a feeling the rats would be needed for later. I, however, would not be shocked if they escaped through a hole in my pocket.

After being in darkness for an unknown amount of time, I see a little moonlight off in the distance. It’s the way to the surface, and thankfully, it’s still nighttime outside. I crawl through a small hole and feel the taste of freedom at least. Rather, I found a rather weak rogue in an unsuspecting hovel nearby.

After gathering some stones to rebuild my lost kingdom, I get hit with a ray of sunshine. It’s as a feared daylight and nowhere to hide. I dart into the nearby forest and take some shelter under some trees. Moving around slightly as the sun rotates and the shadows I hide in move like a bat's wings.

Once in a while, I dared to leap forward between the gaps in the trees where the light would strike my face just barely. I did not expose myself long enough to the sun's rays, but I could tell it wanted to burn me to a crisp if given the opportunity.

I noticed a small rock formation creating a hill off in the distance. I suspect I could find ground to build a future castle on at some point. At the very least, I don’t expect humans to just wander around and find themselves up on the hill.

I put down some basic wooden walls that do more to block the sunlight out during the day than any wolves that might wander in these parts. Along with a coffin to rest in, and the heart of any castle. The heart of a vampire's castle is fueled by the blood essence of slain creatures. I don’t have much, but it should shield my activity for a short while till I get some more. The last thing I'd want is the locals catching wind that I'm coming back to power once again.

While I hate to recover the cover, the trees are providing me with. My future castle and my current needs require some cleared space. I start to chop down trees, smash rocks, and even fight off a wolf that found its way into my encampment.

With some basic resources, I started to get a bit of a production chain up and running. A sawmill will come in quite handy. Providing me with some cut lumber to further build from.

I, however, refuse to spend any more time than I need in a coffin after how long I was trapped sleeping in one. I put down a device that feeds off bones and will create some mist. While its area of protection is quite limited. This will allow me to get some work done during the day while not being burned alive.

The area I picked has some shortfalls. At one of the entrances of the hill where I now reside. Lies in hiding, a mantrap. I did not realize it was there till one failed adventure to check out the other side of the hill. I suppose in the long run it will keep some things out. For now, that also includes me. I’ll be stuck to only using the south entrance into my new realm for the time being.

Over the course of several days, I go about gathering as much wood and rocks as I can. I, however, can’t be greedy and just deforest an area. I still need protection from the rays of sunlight during the day when I take such risks to keep farming.

I also craft myself some rather basic gear. While it provides very little protection. At this stage, I'm more of a beggar than a vampire king. I must accept the rags with dreams of nothing but the finest threads one day covering my body once again.

After a while, my pulse weakens yet again. I must find something and drink its blood. As luck would have it, there ended up being a small encampment nearby. I was yet again disappointed by the quality of the blood. It will, however, do for now in keeping me alive.

I ended up finding some further supplies in the encampment. I can’t do anything with copper ore, cloth, and clay just yet. I refuse to return to my kingdom without taking my fill of the land. I have no idea what I'll be needing any time soon. For now, I just take everything, even if it becomes covered in blood.

I end up finding a couple of smaller places to loot as well. The villagers who once resided in them were quite poor. While they left behind very little to this cruel world. I shall use it to enclave far more powerful beings one day.

On my way back from one of what felt like an endless gathering trips. I end up getting ambushed by a bloodthirsty bear. I’ll admit drinking a non-human's blood felt like a sin. I, however, could not turn down the creature's purity of blood. I would not be seeing anything this powerful for quite some time.

Final Thoughts

While I slowly learn the area I now find myself in. I spend the majority of my days up on my hill. There is still much to clear and an endless task of crafting. I ended up expanding some wooden walls to keep out anything unwanted. At some point, I'll have to get a more formal building up. For now, just some fortifications make me rest easier. You never know who or what might attempt to make its way into my home, if you could even call it that.

Information

Screenshots were taken, and content was written by @Enjar about V Rising (Tracking link that takes you to the game's Steam page. I receive no commissions on sales. It’s simply a request to be used by the game publisher).

Disclosure: A review copy of the game was received for free.