LILITH’S REBELLION

When Lilith helped Teremun take power, she believed she would be his equal partner and rule the vampires alongside him. It did not take long for her to realize that Teremun meant to rule alone. He frequently made decisions by and when he did involve Lilith or their night siblings their input was minimal.

Lilith designed a grand plan to usurp power from Teremun. She held a secret meeting with her night brothers, Raiden and Kasper, and she convinced them to overthrow Teremun so the three of them could rule as equals. Raiden had always been jealous of Teremun and took very little convincing. Kasper had no desire for power but he did fear that Teremun’s controlling ways would in time become overbearing.

They invited Teremun on a family hunt in a small town near Palermo. Unbeknownst to Teremun, Kasper had already visited the town that night and intoxicated the population with alcohol. By the time the hunting party arrived the townspeople were in the throes of wild revelry. Teremun gorged on the intoxicated blood, and in his drunken state, he failed to notice that his night siblings were barely feeding at all.

When Teremun was so drunk that he could hardly form a sentence, Raiden revealed a beautiful girl. Teremun had ever been a lustful beast, much to Lilith’s annoyance, and did not stop himself from acting on his impulse. He feasted on the girl, and due to his inebriated state, it took him far too long to notice the taste of sickness in her blood. By then it was too late.

Weakened by the sick girl’s blood, and disoriented by alcohol, Teremun was unable to defend against his night siblings. They drained his blood and bound him in heavy silver chains. They buried him in a nearby cemetery where he would remain until they decided to free him.

Teremun’s night children, Miriam, Alexander, Amara, and Barnabas, searched for their night father. In a moment of regret, Lilith revealed the location of Teremun to Alexander — who had been made with her blood as well as Teremun’s. She was mistaken in her belief that Alexander would always choose her over Teremun. She did not account for his burning desire to win his night father’s approval and become his favorite.

Alexander led his night siblings to the cemetery where they exhumed Teremun. They fed him blood and revived their night father whose fury was unparalleled. Teremun traveled to the nearest village and he slaughtered every living person before burning the place to the ground.

Teremun and his night children attacked the Treacherous Trio — as they came to be known — head-on; he refused to employ methods of stealth or subterfuge. Once subdued, the three of them were half-drained and then chained with silver to the outer walls of the castle. For many nights they were left hanging and each day when the sun rose they would scream as it burned their flesh; they were old enough that the sun could not kill them but it burned their bodies so badly that they were unrecognisable.

Teremun intended to wait until their veins ran completely dry and then he was going to bury them in secret locations where they would remain until he decided otherwise. It was Miriam who convinced him to show mercy and she suggested alternative punishments for them.

Raiden would always be a threat to Teremun unless he was given a domain of his own to rule; therefore, Teremun sent him into the East where he would create and govern a new branch of the Nytarch in Teremun’s name. He was expected to fail and learn some humility in the process. Teremun and Miriam were surprised and impressed when Raiden succeeded in creating a powerful eastern branch.

Kasper did not desire power but simply wanted freedom; he was named the Warden of Karanios, the vampire prison. Karanios was Kasper’s domain where he had complete authority. The Nytarch had the power to sentence vampires to Karanios but once there they were under Kasper’s jurisdiction. The punishment was perverse in that it gave Kasper both freedom and imprisonment as well as power that he did not want.

Lilith was allowed to remain by Teremun’s side, however, her rank was stripped of all power and authority and she was reduced to the Grand Master’s consort.

Teremun restructured the Nytarch, giving positions of power to his night children, and ensuring that nobody would ever be able to overthrow him again. The Treacherous Trio were warned that if they ever moved against Teremun again their eternal lives would be ended without hesitation.