As reported by "Moriarty" at Ain't It Cool News .Com.......


Are They Getting Closer To Casting Dr. Doom For FANTASTIC FOUR?!

That’s what this scooper says:
Hey Harry,

Due to friends working at Fox i'm able to visit the studio on occasion... and a few days ago I happened to spy Jason "Lucious Malfoy" Isaacs sitting on a golf cart outside Ralph Winter's office waiting for a meeting. Ralph's Exec. Producer on Fantastic Four, of course, and i'm told there's a sign on his door as we speak saying they're casting for the project.

I dunno, Jason Issacs as Doctor Doom? I can't think of any other major player he'd be up for that fits.

-Giles

For all of you who are already writing off FANTASTIC FOUR, I’d urge you to wait. I know that Marvel takes this particular film very seriously, and it sounds like they’re working overtime to fine-tune their take on it before it goes into production. The script reviews out there right now are for drafts that have already come and gone, and there are major elements that continue to change. The first real indication we’ll have of what to expect will come from the casting, and if Isaacs is the guy they tap to play Dr. Doom, then personally I’d feel like they were at least on the right track. I’m sure we’ll hear more in the weeks ahead as the production heats up...
-----------------------------------------------

Well that's something isn't it? I think this sounds like good casting to me. The man was absolutely despicable as Lucius Malfow in the Harry Potter films, and that ability to channel pure evil should suit him fine in the role of Victor von Doom. I just hope that is indeed the role he was interviewing for, and that the rest of the players are equally well cast.

TMT

There is a new Doctor on call, and he has some very interesting comic book ties.

As reported by the Outpost Gallifrey...

Award-winning comics artist Bryan Hitch, the man behind titles such as The Authority and The Ultimates and winner of last year’s SFX Reader Award for Best Comic Book, is the concept artist for the new series. Says Russell T Davies, "This is entirely thanks to SFX. The Head of Drama at the BBC had talked about getting a concept artist right from the start, so we were already beginning to think about it. Then out of the blue Nick Setchfield at SFX got in touch, saying that Bryan Hitch had heard about the new series of Doctor Who and wanted to help. Now, I’m an old comics fan... and I couldn’t believe this was the Bryan Hitch. I’ve got the Ultimates collection, and that beautiful hardback of The Authority. It’s just brilliant... I showed Julie and Phil [producers Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson] the comics, they went mental, we summoned the Hitch, and here we are... Now Bryan can give us concepts and wild ideas to spark us off in new directions. Thank you SFX, it’s really appreciated!” Hitch will be in charge of the signature look of the new series, working alongside production designer Edward Thomas; the two will develop the TARDIS interior, new aliens and technology for the series. Hitch's previous Doctor Who work was a one-issue comic strip in DWM 139 and the cover for Mad Norwegian's "I, Who 2". More details are in the new SFX, due out June 9. (Thanks to SFX Magazine)


And for more details concerning the new Dr. Who television series, check out http://www.gallifreyone.com

Posted 07/06/2004
Source Newsarama

This month, it starts – the Elite, last seen in Action Comics #775 return in JLA #100. While their last appearance allowed a clear distinction between Superman and “darker” heroes such as The Authority, their return marks something that, at the surface, may seem incongruous – a merger between the darker team and the JLA. Nutty, right? Maybe not. JLA writer Joe Kelly and artist Doug Mahnke are on tap for June’s JLA #100, which sets the stage for July’s debut of Justice League Elite, a 12-issue maxiseries (with an open end if it has the support) starring the result of JLA #100’s merger. This time around, the Elite is led by Vera Black, the sister of Manchester Black, who went to-to-toe with Superman in Action #775. And that’s not the only difference. We caught up with Kelly for more.

Newsarama: Let’s go back to the start of how the series and concept got started. Was this something that [JLA editor] Mike Carlin and DC came to you with, or was this something where you saw the rotating creative teams coming to the JLA, you wanted to stay with the team?
Joe Kelly: There was a combination of a couple of factors. The first was that, shortly after we did Action #775, DC was interested in doing an Elite miniseries or an ongoing, but I didn’t want to do it for various reasons, but mainly because I didn’t think it made any sense to have an Elite ongoing, when you had the Authority and darker books like that out there. So the idea of an Elite series in and of itself kind of died on the vine, but Dan Didio did mention it periodically. Then, when I was working on JLA with Dan Raspler, there had been a mandate to generate more JLA stuff. They liked how things were going, and wanted to expand on the brand a little bit, so I pitched them a darker team – an idea of basically splitting up the JLA into a lighter team and a darker team, and have the “darker” team be a little more aggressive – more of an adult book, but with JLA characters. Specifically, characters that we could manipulate a little more, and not be so tied into other continuity. They were kind of into that idea, but it didn’t particularly go anywhere.

NRAMA: So what got the idea back on the table?
JK: It came when Mike took over JLA, and we started talking about what to do for issue #100. He wanted to get the books all on schedule – so that was why we had that leap between issue #91, my “last” issue before all of this, and issue #100. Then, Mike asked about me doing JLA and the Elite in issue #100. I told him that I didn’t just want to rehash Action #775, but he stopped me, and said he was talking about using the Elite as part of that darker JLA team I had been talking about earlier. That was the genesis of starting that series – the idea of taking the Elite, and moving it forward, and really making it a book about, essentially undercover cops, instead of an evil superhero team was much more appealing. In terms of the rotating teams, they knew that I was getting a little burned on writing bright and shiny superheroes, after a long run with Superman and then JLA. So the timing of trying something darker, and replacing me for a time on JLA with rotating arcs just all clicked together.

NRAMA: So that’s the “production-side” start of things, but what about story-wise? It all starts in JLA #100…what’s the impetus for Vera Black to start this team and go to the JLA, thinking they would be up for something like this?
JK: Vera – whose code name is Sister Superior - is now the leader of the Elite. Basically, she has a tie to the original Elite – Coldcast and Menagerie, although it’s not the same Menagerie are back, too. From a story point of view, she’s been running around the DC Universe doing clandestine operations that no one would ever hear about. A story bubbles up that causes her to contact the JLA – and that’s the story for JLA #100. But as far as the JLA knows when she first shows up, the Elite are back, and they’re being led by this new woman, who, at fist blush, seems to be pretty evil. So, she contacts the JLA, and has a reason to think that a Justice League/Elite union is a good idea. So Vera makes this pitch to them in the context of a world-saving event.

NRAMA: So she pitches that this one event is something they can handle together, and there are other problems that they can handle as well?
JK: Right. As a result of how things work out in JLA #100, she’s able to illustrate her point that the JLA needs to have a type of unit working on the “other” side – somebody working in the muck, acting bad, portraying themselves as the villains to be the JLA’s undercover cops, but on a metahuman scale. Without it, a lot of things can slip by, and the JLA is left doing damage control all the time.

NRAMA: And that’s basically, every JLA story ever, pretty much…
JK: Exactly – page 1 – something bad happens, and the JLA has to respond to it. In Vera’s sales pitch to the JLA, the teaming with the Elite would be there to nip all of that in the bud – get to the problems before the explosion on page 1 that the team then has to respond to, so to speak.

NRAMA: Pulling back and the broader picture – what kind of threats does the JLA Elite go after?
JK: A large part of what they do is gathering intelligence and then acting on it in the way that’s most appropriate, so sometimes that’s going to be a preemptive, SWAT team style strike on bad guys who are making ready to launch an attack; while other times, it’s going to be working directly undercover alongside these villains to find out the depth of an operation. For example, if you know Gorilla Grodd has got something going on, you could grab him and throw him in jail, but it might be better to know the full extent of what he’s doing, how he’s amassed an army, where this army is stationed, and then shut them down. So they do a lot of that, cozying up next to people, living in that world, and walking alongside killers to eventually bring the whole house of cards down. But yeah – their threats are primarily big, meta-human type threats. It’s all JLA types of stories, but hitting them from the inception point of the threat. If the Justice League Elite didn’t exist, speaking in terms of a strict monthly timeline, the threats they go after would explode in front of the JLA in five issues. In five months, what the Elite is investigating now would be a JLA story.

NRAMA: So going back to the Gorilla Grodd example, the JLA story would start with an explosion and Grodd’s army invading, but with the JL Elite it’s…
JK: Monkeys are wigging out at the zoo, and the team figures out messages are being sent by Grodd, and they find a way to tap into his communications, either by figuring out the signal, or cozying up to a monkey, to make a goofy example even goofier.

NRAMA: The approach sounds similar in a way to how Judd Winick describes the Outsiders, in that they’re around to get the bad guys before they can start trouble. Is it fundamentally different from that team’s mandate, or is it a matter of the DCU being a big enough place that it can allow for two groups of this nature operating?
JK: I think there are similarities to the Outsiders in that, tonally, we’re doing similar kinds of books. But I don’t know how much undercover work they’re doing in the Outsiders, or how much they use their lives or careers as criminals to get the job done. The Outsiders are going after people, but the Elite are really setting up sting operations on a JLA level. Also, these guys exist in a non agreed-to agreement with all the secret service organizations around the globe. They’ve basically been told that the Elite exist, but they can never say they exist, and by the way, the Elite may be poking around in your backyard, so don’t get in their way. It’s very aggressive, but the shadowy corner of the world – the CIAs, MI-6s, Mossads and the rest understand that the Elite is a necessary condition for the world that we live in.

NRAMA: On the JLA side of things…are you able to pick and choose who’s needed for what mission, or are their standing JLA members who are now standing JL Elite members as well?
JK: The members that are in the first maxiseries are members who have committed to the Justice League Elite, with really only one exception, who’s working both teams. The characters on the Elite are there mainly because they fit better there – their talents are better utilized in this way, or they already have connections in the underworld scene. Major Disaster, for example, is with the Elite team. On the first page of the first issue, we’ve got him ragging on the JLA to other criminals along the lines of why did he ever think they would trust a former criminal? But that’s part of his cover – the other criminals will instantly sympathize with him because the view of the JLA members he’s giving agrees with what they would think they would say – just keep Disaster around as a lackey, someone who they’d never look at as an equal. He’s tailor-made for this team. If this goes past the maxiseries stage, I would definitely like to see a bit of an exchange program though, and bring on some other characters.

NRAMA: So there are more JLA beyond Flash and Green Arrow who join up, as shown on the cover to #1?
JK: Oh yeah – Manatou is in there, as well as Major Disaster. From the old Elite, we’ve got Menagerie and Coldcast, and also Vera and Kasumi, who are both new; and as I said earlier, this Menagerie is new, too.

NRAMA: You’ve said that Vera makes a pretty strong case that a team-up between the Elite and JLA is a good thing, but you also wrote Action #775. Is Superman going to sit back and let this happen, or is he going to have serious reservations about teaming with a group that he pretty eloquently showed to be the opposite of what he stands for?
JK: Oh, Superman has very serious reservations. All the League does. The guys who choose to go over are adding credence to what Vera is proposing to the Justice League, but Superman and Batman obviously, have a lot of problems with the idea. That’s really the heart of JLA #100 – Superman’s feeling about the Elite, and whether or not what they need ot do can be done because of his personal feelings. Can he trust Vera? What Vera’s basically proposing is that they can create a team of specialists, covert superheroes, who will wallow in the filth of the underworld, but come out clean all the time. Superman just doesn’t believe that’s possible. As much as he has faith in the goodness of human beings, he just doesn’t believe that’s a reality.

NRAMA: And Batman?
JK: Batman actually does approve of what Vera wants to do, but doesn’t know her form Adam…or Eve, I guess, so he has no interest in giving her that much authority. But – that said, enough of the Leaguers show an interest in what she’s proposing, and a willingness to give it a shot that the JLA approves the plan on a trial basis to see what happens.

NRAMA: So, also with the team, you’ve got Naif al Sheik. Who’s he?
JK: He is one of the nastiest counter-intelligence guys on the planet. He’s very noble in his pursuit of bad guys and spies, but has a deep hatred for metahumans. So, Vera’s gone to him for two reasons, one because they’ve worked together and she respects him, and two, because she believes he’ll keep them honest. He’s their last wall of defense in terms of integrity, because, as Vera knows, given his druthers, he’d kill every superhero on the planet.

NRAMA: He’s looking for them to screw up, then?
JK: Right. If there’s anybody that’s going to smack them down for stepping out of line, it’s him. Despite the fact that this is a world of spies, double and triple agents, he is a man of very high morals. He’s also trouble for other reasons. He may have a lot of integrity, but he has many other strong beliefs. He’s Muslim, and doesn’t care for the way the women in the group carry themselves, and is very opinionated. As a character goes, I enjoy writing him quite a bit. With creating him, part of it was to put a character in there that fit a mold that would have traditionally been dredged up to be a 2D bad guy.

NRAMA: Looking again at the larger picture of the team’s missions…you wrote the JLA story that was Superman’s dream – a pretty thinly veiled analogy about the US’ involvement in Iraq. In some folks eyes, by invading, the US was acting preemptively with force to prevent a larger catastrophe. Your story spoke against that. Now, you’ve created and are writing a team that will invade the territory of the “bad guys” and act preemptively with force to prevent a larger catastrophe. How do the two jibe in your head?
JK: The bigger answer to me is that there’s a pretty big difference between sending a nation to war, and sending in undercover cops to bust organized crime. That definition of preemptive is the pretty big distinction between the two. This book is more about that – it’s not the team going in and shutting down countries. Some of that – what makes Justice League Elite good and others not so much is explored in the very first arc – they hook up with a group that calls itself the Blood Brothers, and they have a very political agenda which is a very preemptive agenda, along the lines of going after a country that’s done some bad things. So those issues are addressed – I think they’re underlined in that story, but the heart of what the Elite is, although I understand why the comparisons could be made, it’s the difference between the military and a police force. They’re kind of disparate to me. That all being said, stuff happens in this book pretty early on which begs the question of can any of these kinds of missions be pulled off with any kind of integrity intact? Things happen on their first mission that are not especially good. So to some degree, there’s a stacked deck against these guys, and you’ll see how that plays out as the series goes along.

NRAMA: That said, would you say you’re taking more of a character-based approach here, rather than, “It’ll be cool to put team A versus team B in location C?”
JK: For me, a lot more of the fun of writing is coming from exploring the characters and how they act and respond to this crazy superhero world, and a lot less about what’s a cooler way I can have a mad scientist with a giant robot threaten people. It’s a different sort of take on it. To that degree, a lot of stuff happens in this book that I hope people will be shocked about. It’s not a “superheroes in the real world” kind of take, and show them killing everyone. It’s much more looking at the characters as real people when they’re under these intense, stressful situations and have really strong beliefs – as well as what kind of compromises they’re forced to make. But when you’re one of these characters on one of these missions, is any kind of compromise acceptable?

NRAMA: Teasing out the first storyline – from the solicitation, it really goes with what you said about a mission that the team would handle – an assassination is planned, but waiting for the assassination to happen and then getting the bad guys isn’t an option. So the team goes after the assassins?
JK: Right. The first issue is proving to al Sheik that they can do what they say they can, so it’s about 22 pages of brutal, nasty stuff, and then you see how they pulled it off. That first mission is what swings him around to thinking that what Vera has pitched can actually be done. Once they’ve infiltrated the Blood Brothers, they find out what their missions are, and they start to operate among their split – a tactical branch, and the undercover branch. And it all builds to the real plan of the Blood Brothers –they say one thing, but are actually planning something else – then the Elite plans their trap, and it all rolls forward from there. So the sting boils over the course of a few issues, and culminates in issue #3.

NRAMA: This has the sound of being an “everything and the kitchen sink” style series…
JK: There’s a lot of stuff in there, and that’s part of what makes it so much fun. Not all of the characters are going to survive, there are betrayals galore and not all from within the group – it’s all part of what makes it fun. The title of the first issue is “The Grand Experiment,” and that’s really what this book is for me: I’m trying hard not to follow the prescribed superhero track. There are people who behave really badly in this, and not because they’re bad people, but because they’re heavily flawed. Sometimes those flaws are naiveté, or commitment to a dream above everything else. There are a lot of small character elements that come into play and affect how the group can do its work. I think that’s where people are going to see the most fireworks. And the end will shake things up – but, I hope it goes on. We’re very far ahead – I’m working on issue #8 right now, partly because Doug caught on fire and started drawing extremely fast. So I’m not going to have the entire year finished by the time #1 comes out, but I’ll be close. Hopefully people will respond to it well enough that we can jump into the next arc. It’s going to be a good rollercoaster ride, with surprises every issue, and at the very least, it looks incredible – Doug is doing amazing work. There’s a lot of sick stuff in it, and it’s got a very dark tone – a little more mature style storytelling and themes. It’s a lot of fun for me, and hopefully people will check it out. It’s definitely not the JLA, and it’s not the JLA just done a little dark. It’s its own beast, and hopefully it will be judged on those merits.

More Images:
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The sleepy seaside village on the coast of Italy was quiet this eve, few strangers had come through the village during the day and now as the sun set and light gave into dark slowly, there was naught but two establishments still left open to travelers. A dirty pub near the docks, suitably named ‘The Sailing Ship’; it was full with drunkards, sea scamps and husbands looking to stay away from their home for a few hours longer…generally not the place that would welcome folk that did not fit within those three groups of individuals, for those that felt they wanted an establishment more hospitable there was the inn upon the hill, overlooking the bay near the edge of the village. It was called ‘The Four Winds Inn’, run by a young woman it was most welcoming to travelers and those looking for a warm fire and a quiet place to relax after a long day.

On this night, it was full of patrons; most kept to themselves, some that lived within the town chatted jovially. Most travelers were looking to get out of the rain outside which had begun to come down in sheets, and it seemed the staff could not keep up with the numbers.
“Keep ye’re eyes on the door!” A small woman, who did not even look old enough to be running her own inn hollered over the noise, a man behind the bar nodded briskly at her in response.
“There ye go, two pints of ale for ye.” The woman said in a drawl as she set down two tankards on the table she had been headed to, “And ye’re rooms are ready for ye whenever ye ‘ear sleep callin’.” With a clink of beads she was off again, hurrying around the large common room.

As she moved she kept an eye on faces and people, ever watchful of somebody that could cause trouble amongst the crowd. There was a large man near the fire, she knew he had been part of the Festivals earlier in the week; she also knew that he had not caused trouble in the Inn since he first entered before the rain began. He would be no trouble this eve, moving towards the staircase she said a few words to the man behind the bar and continue on.
“Mila, ‘ow are ye this eve?” the hostess asked one of the Inns boarder’s as she past her on the stairway, “Come down to ‘ave a drink?” The boarder shook her head in decline and moved down to an empty table near the fire. Yalene, the inn owner could not keep her eyes from wandering to a particularly shrouded individual near the bar as she continued to ascend the stairway. He had been sitting there all eve and had had nothing to drink thus far, which was peculiar when in an inn. Three people so far that had caught her young eye, the seamstress Mila, the man from the festival, and the hooded man, never had she been intrigued by so many before, usually there was one she would watch as a night gave way to morning but this night people kept catching her eye, unusual it was. Lastly there was the woman that had just entered the Inn’s front door, her cloak wet and her eyes hidden from view. She was perhaps the most intriguing of all the people Yalene had seen this night.
“Evenin’!” Yalene called in her usual manner from the top of the stairway, little did she know that word would be the beginning of an adventure.

For the people who had caught the youth’s eye would soon become her companions in a wandering quest, for what they did not know, but they left that inn together the next evening, Yalene leaving it in the hands of her dearest friend. Strangers, they were, but they were experienced in travel and knew how to keep to themselves as they traveled up through Italy and into the French countryside, they posed as a traveling troupe and went through towns without much trouble.

It has been two weeks since they set out from the Italian seaside, and they have made their way into a small cluster of villages in the southernmost part of France, where they have decided to camp for at least a fortnight before continuing on. The villagers in this town were particularly friendly to the group, urging them to continue their performances and urging them to stay longer. So it is now evening in their camp just outside the borders of the village, that these travelers have the time relax and learn of eachother.

OOC: Welcome to the game.

-Theore

I've seen him in Oklahoma! and now, he wins the coveted Tony Award!

Good job mate!
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The Universe is a vast canvas, far beyond the perceptions of any mere mortal. It stretches out beyond anything that man has yet to dream of. But as impossibly large as the universe seems, it is but one link in a chain. A chain of interlocking histories and fates known as the multiverse. For all of my life, I have been content to focus my attentions on but one of the infinite links. But like all things throughout existence, this too must pass. I now feel it necessary to view all of the links, and to observe the interaction between them. To watch and record the smallest detail in order to better understand it all. Most beings do not realize how the most trivial of choices affect their worlds. Every second I see the repercussions of those choices, and the infinite possibilities that are created because of them. Most often these alternate realities do not amount to anything more than a slightly skewed version of the original. But what happens when a choice is made by a president? A tyrant? A hero? The choices made by these men and women often propagate very important changes to reality. Sometimes the effects these choices produce are so severe, so jarring to the very core of reality that I feel compelled to act in order to aid the beings I see. But I must not. For I, Uatu of the Watchers, have sworn an oath of absolute non interference in the lives of the lesser beings I observe.
There was a time when I would have sought out my old friend Reed Richards for such things. But there are others that are far better suited for the task this day. For they have already sensed the threads being pulled. They have looked through the veil of time and space and seen the myriad of possibilities that lay before them. It is my oath that I may not alter the coarse of history. I must only watch. But the Sorcerers Supreme of Earth are not bound by any such oath. If I am discreet in my persuasion, perhaps the Sorcerers could act in my stead. But, even though they wield power of unparalleled measure, they could not do this alone. They will need champions. To protect these realities, The Watch must be formed.

This is where you will find the character bios. All character submissions must be sent to myself via private message and approved before they will be posted. Please read the game rules for character submission guidelines.

Welcome one and all! I am now accepting characters for our newest RPG known as The Watch

Please read the game rules (in The Watch Forum) for Character submission information.
You may submit all characters to myself via private messaging.

TMT

Thought we might need one of these soon.

TMT

This is a bit of the extensive history for my Vagabond Knights Character, the gypsy lady Tatyana.
Enjoy.



She had no idea she was being watched, and I rather preferred it that way. Night after night for the past month I had watched her from the treeline as her caravan had made it's way across my lands. Each night, she would sing and dance by the firelight and each dawn, I went away more entranced by her beauty than I had been before.
Tonight, I watched her from the my vantage point in the largest tree nearest the caravan. I watched as she playfully baited her brothers. I knew who they were, I had overheard them talking about her as they were drunk in the woods.
These are my lands, and the gypsies were always welcome and they knew that. But they knew to tread lightly, for I was an unforgiving master.
It took me another month before I finally summoned the courage to walk from the trees and into the warm firelight of the caravan.
They all began to bow to me, my reputation was known far and wide and this band must have heard something intriguing.
"Rise please my friends, I have come to personally welcome you to my homelands." My accent gave away my aristocracy as it were.
As they arose, I was her. Standing mere feet from me. The roaring glow of the fire made her hair seem even more red than it had before. Curls cascaded down her back in a stark contrast to the white peasant blouse she wore. Her skirts were of the deepest blue. They reminded me of the Ravennia river at night. But it was her eyes, when they finally rose to meet my own, that captured me and almost made me gasp for breath. Her eyes were the color of a golden sunset, edge with a hint of woody brown. She immediately lowered her gaze to me, and stepped back into the shadows.
The camp elders came forward to welcome their Lord to their caravan and their humble fireside.
I would have normally laughed but tonight, I was here with a purpose. That purpose was her.
"I have heard of the wonderful dancers your band has, it would honor me to see such a sight tonight." I settled myself on a bench near the fire, for the specific purpose of knowing that it gave my pale skin a warm lively glow.
"You heard Lord Vasili, come girls, dance!" Mariska, the camp wisewoman ordered the young maidens forward and music began to play. Though she was far from a young maiden, she stepped forward as the guitars played and danced with the rest of the girls around the fire.
I could not take my eyes from her, and Mariska noticed.
"Ahh, I see our Tatyana has caught Lord Vasili's interest?" The old crone had no idea. For centuries I had searched for her, only to find her crossing my own lands not a month ago.
"Very much so, Lady Mariska. Tell me, why does she dance with the maidens when she is obviously a woman?" I asked as my eyes went from the crone to the beauty before me.
"No man will have her. Her spirit is too wild. She is beyond the marrying age." was all the woman said before she moved away from me.
The dance ended and I smiled politely to my hosts as I moved to take my leave of them.
"Lord Vasili!" it was her voice...her beautiful angelic voice calling to me. I paused in my walk from the caravan and turned to look at her.


He was quite possibly the most beautiful man Tatyana had ever seen. His eyes were the color of a cloudless afternoon sky and they seemed to sparkle with dark delight. She was breathless as she ran to catch up with him.
"Yes?" He replied to her slowly at the calling of his name.
"I..that is...You left your cloak behind." she curtseyed deeply before handing the cloak to him. Her accent was a thick husky Romanian one, it almost melded perfectly with his own.
"Thank you, My Lady. But tell me, does my beautiful Lady have a name?" he asked her as he reached forward for her hand and pulled her upright.
"Tatyana." she replied as he bent over and kissed her hand.
"Tatyana...." he repeated, almost breathing the name in.
She marveled at how the moonlight gave his long hair an inky blackness to it. She wondered to herself what it would look like in proper light. Catching herself almost daydreaming in front of this handsome man, about him, she blushed slightly.
"My Lady?" he seemed amused, almost as if he could read her thoughts.
"Forgive me Lord Vasili, I was merely wondering if you enjoyed the dance?" She realized he was still holding her hand, and pulled her own hand back a bit for propriety sake.
"I enjoyed your dancing very much, Lady Tatyana. It would honor me greatly if you would accompany me to my home tomorrow evening for dinner. I would like to see you dance again with a partner?" he was bold and forward, and Tatyana liked it.
"I will do as you command, My Lord. We are, after all, guests in your land." She curtseyed again and headed back towards the caravan.
Vasili's eyes followed her and saw the two shadowed outlines of her brothers waiting for her on the edge of the wagon circle and smiled darkly to himself.
"Try all you like whelps, she will be mine."


Months passed and I continued my courtship of the gypsy maiden known as Tatyana. She had become a regular guest at my home, much to the dismay of her brothers.
The snows had begun to fall earlier than expected, making it impossible for the caravan to leave for their wintering grounds. I thanked whatever fates needed be for that slight intervention.
It had taken some time, but she had finally become comfortable around me. Whenever she came for dinner, I feigned the excuse that I had eaten earlier while working in my study. Yet I watched each morsel that passed between her lips. Lips that I longed to have pressed against my own. But time, I had time...I would do this properly.
The seduction began simply enough, I arose from the table one evening and took her hand and asked her to dance with me.
Music began to strain in from unseen musicians as I moved her across the floor. She was relaxed, not only by my company but by the several cups of wine she had drank with her dinner. I could smell it on her breath. Thick sweet Ravennia wine. I inhaled it's scent, mixing with her own and closed my eyes in rapture as I pulled her closer to me. We danced for what seemed to be unending time before I tilted her chin up and gazed into her eyes.
"Tatyana...I..." I began but couldn't finish as she whispered my name.
"Vasili..." it was a husky soft whisper that burned through my mind and body. I could not resist her any longer. My lips came down upon her own in a soft yet passionate kiss.
I broke it off almost instantly though as I felt desire leaping through my body. I had to wait. Just a few more nights....
"Forgive me, I had no right to take your kiss." I bowed my head to her, only to feel her gentle warm touch on my cool skin as she tilted my own chin up to look at her.
"You have every right Vasili, as I give it to you freely." she said breathlessly as she raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed me with a passion I had not expected from her.
As the kiss broke off, I only started at her in wonder and amazement. I had not even had to bend her will. She had done this thing of her own accord. If my heart had been beating, it would have burst out of my chest with my love for my beautiful Tatyana.
It was so hard to take her back to the caravan that night. I wanted nothing more than to take her to my bedchamber and spend eternity in love's embrace with her. But the moon was not full yet, now was not the time.

The full moon sprang forth with a glory the following night as Tatyana stood at her window humming to herself as she brushed her hair before bed. The evening had been full of dancing and merriment. Pasha and Torvi were teasing her endlessly about her "affair" with Lord Vasili.
"If it keeps us in his good graces Pasha, then leave her be!" Mariska shooed the boys away with a broom and she stood on the steps of Tatyana's wagon.
"Get some rest child." was all she said as she closed the door and left Tatyana alone.
She watched the snow fall down slowly dotting the sky with white dancing flakes. She smiled winsomely and spun a slow circle, as if dancing with a partner that wasn't there. Torvi had made sure that the fire in the small grate in Tatyana's wagon was blazing. Almost to the point where it was unbearable hot in the wagon. Opening up the window to let some of the heat out, she curled up on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

Tonight! What glory at last! The moon was full and now was the time! I watched her from the tree near her window. She had no idea I was there as she undressed and made ready for her slumber. I was especially glad she had left the window open. It made it so much easier for me to get into the wagon. I willed myself into a vaporous fog and began to flow through her window before taking on my man form again. She was sleeping soundly. So beautiful in her pristine white nightshift.
"Tatyana..." I called to her. I was weaving a spell around her and I knew she would answer.
She muttered my name longingly in her sleep as she rose and began to sleepwalk towards me.
"Tatyana, come to me..." I held out my hand as she approached, still asleep, she would have no memory of this, only perhaps as a passing dream.
I picked her up in my arms and carried her back over to the bed. I had to make her come to me, to see if her will could be bent to meet my own needs. Laying her gingerly down, I kissed her deeply and let my hands roam her body. She was perfection in all ways. I had to block the heated whimpers and moans coming from her lips from my mind.
"Tatyana, a moment of pain for a lifetime of pleasure." I whispered to her as my lips trailed across her neck...I could almost feel the blood flowing beneath her tender flesh and fought against my nature to sink my fangs into her veins.
"Please..." she whispered, completely under my spell now. I pulled her nightshift away from her bosom and placed a tender kiss against one pale breast before sinking my fangs into her flesh.
A soft cry of pain left her lips before I licked her wounds and watched them heal before my eyes.
"Shh, my darling....just a slight pain..." I could not contain myself any longer, I threw my head back and I knew my fangs were showing, but she could not see them. I used my fingernail and slit a small gash in one finger and placed it acrossed her lips. Only a few drops, that's all it would take.
She kissed my fingertip in her sleep, and I could not deny myself any longer.
The next morning she would have no memories of my seduction of her. No idea how the tiny wounds on her breast appeared. All she would have would be dreams of us together, locked in passions embrace. It would take 2 more moon phases before Tatyana would fully be mine. But in that time, I would spend every evening using all my powers to make her fall in love with me.
But two moon phases I would not have with her. For the following evening I received word through my network of gypsy spies that Tatyana’s caravan had moved on during the day. Trudging through the spring snows and leaving behind a protection symbol carved into the landscape. A ward against evil.

So by now, you must be wondering to yourself “How did this all begin?” I often wonder the same thing myself. The tale of Tatyana and myself began centuries ago. It’s now shrouded by time and faded memories. But my memories of her never fade. She is the reason I walk the nights, she is the one who did this. But how? You ask...and why?
A simple twist of fate and a curse. Now, I spend countless lifetimes seeking her out in each reincarnation, trying to atone for the evil I wrought upon her and trying my best to make her love me. Many lifetimes ago, this simple gypsy maiden caught my eye and stoled my heart. Unfortunately for the both of us, fate had other plans in store. I was a callous cold young man with nothing in my heart but envy and lust. She was only trying to save her people. And in the end, she cursed me, to forever walk the night and never know the warmth of real love.
And I haven’t. I can sense when the time is drawing near for her to be reborn and I search, aimlessly and sometimes in vain to find her. In all these years, I have found her only 2 times. Each time to have her ripped away from me before I can make her mine for all time.

This time, I will not fail. No matter where she goes...I will seek her out. By now, our spirits have intertwined. Her heart and body beckon her to me, yearn for my touch. My spell over her is almost complete and I will find her, no matter how hard they try to hide her from me.