Embrace her new self

"My name is Lynexi Von Rosen. However, you may address me as Lady Lyn or Lady Rosen if either of those are better for you. And yes, I am a Vampire."

She had decided to lean into her new life, or at least her given role and body. Or would it be 'old undeath'? She wasn't sure if Lady Rosen had been a Vampire before or after her soul got shoved into the body, or if she was just memories of another world tossed into her mind. But it was highly unlikely, at least for now, that she would be able to return home. Besides it might be better if she went along as this Lady rather than trying to pass herself off as someone else... or worse a crazy vampire with memories of another time and place.

"Now, this might surprise you, but I have lost most of my memories, at the very least the ones leading up to my 'disappearance'. Or my reappearance as... this." She gestured towards herself, "So it might very well be that I am not this Lady Rosen. However, regardless of if that's true or not, I am making the claim now that this is my Keep now. And I do not believe anyone here has the right, or might, to call me on that."

"That said, I believe most of you if not all of you are expecting me to make my decrees known. To tell you my plans, to reveal my evil ways or something like that. In fact some of you might be thinking I'm seconds away of sealing this room with my guards and well...," She grinned to show off her fangs, "You get the picture."

Several people looked at the doors and then the armored guards near them, and were weighing their options before she spoke once more. Others shrank back further from her which was a good sign. But if that was the stick, it was time for the carrot. She didn't want them to be pushed into a corner and possibly lash out.

"Sadly for you I will come out and say it plainly. I have, absolutely no plans in mind for any of you."

That caught a lot of people off guard as they turned their attention back to her. The tilted heads and scrunched faces were the result she expected.

"You see I did not plan to awaken in this manner, and I certainly did not expect to awaken to..., a crowd of humans living in my keep. I could not reasonably have a plan or response to you all in such a short span, short of either wiping you out or kicking you all out, neither of which benefits me at all."

"So, for the short term my plan for you all is; nothing." She made a slight wave of her hand and one of the armors moved to open one of the doors, "You are free to leave at any time should you wish, my guards will not attempt to stop you. I have no reason to keep you here at all anyway. But if you wish to stay here, that is when we have problems."

"Before you all start panicking," she held up a hand, stopping those that started to move to voice something, "I have no problem with you staying here. However, I do have a problem if you wish to drive me out." Another wave and the armors near her put a hand on their weapons, "I am not leaving, nor will I abide anyone threatening to remove me. I am bound not to hurt an 'innocent' victim first, but I will not let you do as you please if it means my life. Understand."

That wasn't a question, that was a command. And the humans got it as several gulps were heard. Lyn took that as a good sign and continued.

"Mira here, who some of you might know," she gestured to the woman next to her, "Has informed me that my guards haven't troubled you as much so long as you are 'working' and so I believe we should keep that arrangement. Granted now that I am awake, I can hear your complaints and take into account what you need so there is some leeway, but that is the deal I propose."

"I can only offer you the protection and the roof over your heads, such as it is." She gestured towards the wall and ceiling, "Shelter for Work; though said work is more for yourselves than my own needs."

"After all there's no food, I can give out to you, and I have no skill in farming or fishing. So, at the very least you would have to work for yourselves to make the food on your tables anyway. All I can do is give you a place to safely do this task, provide for your families and... well, perhaps help me out in keeping this keep from falling apart."

"On that note, I believe I have talked long enough." She gave a curtsy to the audience before her, "I thank you for your time and for... not making any outbursts. Please enjoy your meal. I will take my leave. If you have questions, please visit me later or seek out Mira or Isabel here, " She gestured towards the elderly maid that had already gone to sit down at a table.

"With that, have a pleasant evening." she gave one last curtsy before turning and leaving.

Mira followed her as the 'Knights' seemed to relax just a bit. The Humans slowly started to eat at their meals and talked among themselves. A few grew animated in their talks but there wasn't any beyond a couple gestures or louder voices. Isabel took notice of this as while Lady Von Rosen had asked for a report later, she hadn't asked for her to 'sell' anyone out unless they were plotting outright rebellion.

"The Lady could kill and raise us all I believe." She thought as she took some of the stew into her spoon, "But she's willing to work with us. A rather strange Vampire."

Lyn had decided not to attempt to 'dine' with them this night. She was pretty confident she could 'eat' food as she ended up drinking water just fine. Though she felt they wouldn't be... 'accepting' of her just yet. Listen to her, sure, who wouldn't clear out their ears and listen to the big scary vampire lady in front of them? But it wasn't like she could make them forget their fears automatically. Well... maybe with a spell or something but she would have to go over those abilities later.

"I think that went over well." her shadow started.

"Thank you, Mira. At least one of us did." she answered as the pair walked. She decided to have her own meal in one of the studies. Perhaps she could find some information there as she ate. "Hopefully they won't react too badly to the fact the status quo hasn't changed beyond me being awake. I plan on going over some details later but it's not like I will kick them out if they don't work.

"The threat of 'no food' besides the ones they make or find is probably threat enough." She paused for a moment in the hallway, "How ARE you people doing with food? It's not like you were carrying many supplies when I first walked."

"Not well but it's sustainable for now." Mira answered, "Isa and a few older people that worked here before said your great grandfather founded the keep here due to its defensive properties, and the fact it could somewhat replenish some of its supply. The underground lake I believe is said to connect to a larger underwater system that flows under all of the Olseia Territory. Not to mention there WAS an orchard at the top of the mountain the keep is built into. Perhaps we can get that up and running again. There's a couple beasts in the area we could hunt but the meat is rather tough."

"Olseia..., Not Rosen Territory?"

"Well..., Olseia was the name of one the first explorers to reach this area, and the Empire tended to reward explorers with not only naming it after them at least for awhile, but the possibility to rule it as well. Olseia ruled but... I'm not sure what happened to them. They were long out of the picture by the time your family came to power and well no one changed the name. Or no one cared to change the name." She paused as she watched the Vampire's face start to process this all.

"You..., really don't remember much do you." Mira asked, her voice dropping.

"Bits and pieces, flashes of my life but few things in the way of acquired knowledge." Lyn sigh as she walked, "I'm hoping one of the studies might still have some readable books to help with that. And while my mind struggles to recall, my body still remembers walking these halls. If I remember correctly..."

She was off by one door after Mira realized they overshot the room. Inside the study it was about on par with the rest of the keep. About half the shelves were cracked or damage, and most the books were also gone. The remaining ones damaged from neglect but so long as she was careful, Lyn found they were readable. Perhaps she could get someone to copy the books?

As she picked out a few books, a servant arrived with a rolling serving table. It had signs of repair but was in much better condition than other items. Probably because who would break or steal a serving tray? Two servings were provided but she wasn't that hungry. Lyn was about to tell them to take the other one back when Mira pointed out the other tray was for her. Well, if she wanted to eat here herself, she wasn't going stop her.

The meal that was brought to Lyn was barely touched. Some cut of fish she didn't recognize and a couple eatable roots; was this what the people were reduced to eating? Well at least the fish would help the people, but they were going to need more than that plus whatever they could scrounge up. At the rate it was going, would they be reduced to just eating mushrooms and moss that grew in the caves below?

"Tell me there's not bats or something in the caves Mira." she sighed as she too a small bite of something that looked like a cross between a carrot and a radish, "I would hate to know the people are eating those."

"No there aren't. The only thing down there are a couple storage rooms and the lake. There's a few of your Knights down there too, but if they aren't trying to clear out some rubble, they're just patrolling." She answered Lyn.

Her 'knights', right. They must be some sort of Undead creature, summoned forth by the fact her Keep was now a 'dungeon'. Memories of 'Haunted Armor' came back to her from both her memories. There were all sorts of stories of ghosts and forces possessing armors to move when she was in her previous life. But the knowledge from her current world gave more information about them.

They were ill used to tasks besides defense and combat; study foes but weak to smashing attacks and... well basically all forms of magic. And she couldn't heal them with her current powers either. They were also rather slow and had low dexterity. But they repaired themselves over time and while not experts, could use basically any kind of weapons.

Well, if she could make them at least do the heavy lifting, perhaps they could do something with them. Besides they were only one of the 'base' monsters of the family. Others would be more skilled or useful not to mention the higher tiers later. And right now, all she had to do was hold a position, which the Armors could do well enough for now.

Her focus should be on was getting the place more defensible or taking out the gang of bandits that had started this whole thing. According to Mira they were part of a bigger group. But past them she would have to deal with the Esimatian Empire and the Holy State of Seglia, the two major powers in the region. Hell, her territory was smack dab between them and while the Empire 'owned' the land, neither side was keen at helping such a barren land out.

Which begged the question. Both sides basically just sent their worst, their forgotten, or their unwanted into this territory. That was rude but made a bit of sick sense. But what was out here to have that explorer come all the way out to the sticks in the first place those years ago? And just why her family took over as well instead of trying to establish power elsewhere.

"Father should have had a reason to stay in this place beyond just appointment." she muttered to herself as she put a book away.

Her reading hadn't helped too much. The left behind books were stories, records, or references to other places she didn't know, nor did Mira. Possibly people or groups her father had dealings with, but she hadn't expected to find say '101 ways to handle being a Vampire'. At best she found a map of the local area, but it was a little damaged and was made years ago so it wouldn't be up to date. Still, something useful though.

She did pick up a few things though. Language was... different from what her other world memories told her, but it seemed she could read and with some practice, she started writing in that language too. Math was the same though, so she was able to pick up on that pretty quickly. This way she could at least record her own thoughts in writing, or help keep track of supplies coming in. All the better to make sure someone wasn't trying to rip her off.

"Agh my head hurts." She muttered as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I suppose I shouldn't try to instantly relearn everything at once. Just gonna get overwhelmed."

"Um my Lady? Perhaps some more food would help with that?" Mira offered as she walked around the table to be closer to Lyn.

"No I'm fine.., besides the food isn't that appealing to me." Lyn closed her eyes and rubbed her temple, "Thank you for the...."

"No I mean...," she heard the sound of cloth moving and something being unclaspsed.

She looked up at the standing Mira and well if she was able to get paler she would have. Mira had taken off the upper armor and cloth off, around her neck, and tilted her head to the side. Exposing the tanned skin to the candlelight of the room.

"You... haven't properly fed today my Lady...," Mira blushed as she said this.

Lyn wasn't sure how to respond. Yes she was trying to be more reserved but..., she was feeling hungry and thirsty at the same time now. She licked her lips as her eyes narrowed. She could easily hear the blood moving inside Mira. Was... she going to do this?