Originally Posted by Sini
Astarion looks down at his son particularly lordly, while his hand rests on his head. “If we go visit your new cat friend, then I won't have any time to punish Sceleritas. What do you think I should do?" Astarion asks him. "Oh Dad, that's just Sceleritas. You'll only get dirty if you bury him in the garden, then Sceleritas will be also dirty and then he won't fit in with the decor again. We should punish him differently. If you buy me new candies, then we'll buy one of those sugary disgusting bugs for Sceleritas... he totally hates them, Dad." Astarion strokes his son on the head and is proud, even if this attempt at manipulation probably wouldn't have convinced anyone. Still lordly he looks down, only this time with a slight smile. "You're right, Sceleritas isn't worth all the trouble. We'll still leave him in the garden and you can punish him later with the sugared beetle." "Thanks, Dad," says the little one, relieved and smiling happily. "Then fly forward and introduce me to your new cat friend."

They fly down from the palace to the harbor, which is shrouded in fog. You can hear the waves rhythmically hitting the quay wall and the smell of fish is unmistakable. They land on a jetty, many boxes are piled up here. "I can always meet her here Dad." .... kitty

"Bur-r-r... Oo-u-u-u-u-.... Me-a-a-a-a-.... H-s-s-s-s..." It sounded so menacing and ominous that Astarion immediately decided to drink a potion of talking to animals to understand this majestic tirade. A scene appeared right before the vampires eyes - a huge fluffed up black cat, arching its back, was slowly stepping on a small pack of dogs jostling near the boxes. “Daddy, give me a potion too!” Whispered Astarion Jr. “Nah, you're too young to hear such things...” Astarion whistled, obviously impressed with the meaning of the expression, “Me-a-u-rgh-ma-a.” The dogs were also impressed, the leader shrieked, and the pack ran off, tails tucked, in the direction of the market. The boy deftly reached into his father's pocket and pulled out a potion for himself, Astarion grinned, pretending not to notice it, while the cat had stopped swearing and sat proudly on the ground, raising his hind leg and thinking about the need for hygiene.

"Meow! Who else has trespassed on my property? Ah, familiar scent..." The cat turned his head and looked at the guests with big yellow eyes. "The big Vampire Lord from the castle? Hmmm, to what do I owe this visit?" The cat lowered his hind paw and sat down with dignity. "If you're wondering who marked your dining room curtains, I'll tell you right off - your Sceleritas did it. Don Catleone doesn't do such nonsense. Doesn't..." The cat looked nervously at the pile of boxes. “He didn't do it today... Wait a minute, gentlemen, wait a minute, or they're walking around here like they're at home, illiterate dogs, they can't smell what's written... Mine... Everything here is mine...” The cat elegantly approached the boxes, raised his tail and thoroughly marked all the corners.

Astarion smiled. “First time I've ever seen such a huge cat...” He squatted down and held out his hand, the cat came up to sniff it. "Don't pet me. I'm not some sort of tame pussycat..." - Catleone warned, but Astarion's fingers were already scratching behind his ear. “Purr-r... All right, all right, all right... Scratch - no petting, scratch - purr-r-r...” “Aha, that's where the cat's weakness lies!” The little guy exclaimed and laughingly started scratching the cat behind the other ear. "Purrr... Purrr.... Stop... Okay... You're manipulating me... Purr... Stop... No, keep going..."

Originally Posted by Sini
Instead of locking the door, Sceleritas calls Astarion to appear in person. Sceleritas himself has probably whispered stories about vampires and the undead to the townspeople, that up in the palace lives the most powerful vampire the world has ever seen... He leaves no stone unturned to get rid of Astarion. smile

Wow! Interesting that Sceleritas' own appearance doesn't confuse anyone... grin Just like that, all the incognito will be gone, and the city should be taken over, setting up a Sun King finale! astarionhappy Would Sceleritas be okay with that outcome? Astarion would be very angry if he knew whose fault it was:

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Originally Posted by Sini
Yes, Astarion is probably choosing the outfit in which he goes into battle. He will probably first summon a pack of particularly large wolves. smile

Yes, wolves, bats, you can also summon ghouls and raise the undead from the local graveyard... But first, yes, he needs to choose a spectacular outfit! Or armor worthy of the Lord, so that the portrait of the winner will look especially beautiful in the throne room:

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Painting by the wonderful artist Marina Tsareva.

Originally Posted by Sini
Don't post so many Astarion images at once, otherwise I'll be even more confused than usual and won't be able to write correctly anymore. Celesti then just has another attack of weakness and we lose a few people to fainting. biggrin crazy Always well dosed. Maybe spoiler tags after spoiler tags just to be safe. hahaha

"Celesti, darling, how are you feeling? What can I do for you?" © Astarion

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

“Maybe this...”

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

One life, one love - until the world falls down.