Merith Karse smiles, ruefully. "I'm afraid not. It seems that time has erased my name from this world as well as my original body. There was a time when... Ah, but that matters little.
"I grew up on the streets of Bacarte, where theft and murder are not so much crimes as simple facts of life. This was before those who call themselves the Merchants ruled with a golden fist, and things were... less orderly. My closest friend since early childhood was a bugbear called Bagger. Each of us saved the life of the other on too many occasions to count, and we were closer than brothers. Bagger and I were interested more in comfort and living a good life than in obscene wealth or power, and so we avoided the petty street squabbles over territory or, worse, reputation. We gathered a small band of like-minded individuals, carefully selected, and put our talents toward the acquisition of modest fortunes, comfortable safehouses, and so forth. We were quite successful. Almost too successful; at the end, a considerable portion of our efforts were going toward concealing our success, lest other, less cautious gangs take it into their heads to challenge us for it. But I digress. The important thing is that my name was well known, in those days.
"I was in the habit of attending parties of the rich and powerful in Daunton, particularly the Founding Families. It was mostly business; it let me keep an eye on the greatest concentration of those with more money than sense. It wasn't hard to get invited; there was always a younger son here who needed a quick loan to cover gambling debts, or a cousin there who I could 'rescue' from a band of cutthroats -- my own men, usually. I amassed quite a number of favors owed me, and spent some of them to get into these exclusive parties. I developed a taste for them. Music, fine clothes, drinking the finest wines on someone else's tab, bored housewives whose husbands could not hold their drink... There's more than one rich youngster in these isles who needs cosmetic magics to hide green skin and an underbite, if you take my meaning. Those were good times. And then...
"It was at one of those parties that I met Aleana L'irkash. You would think someone like me would know better. I did know better, but she was so beautiful, so dark and wild, so... Well. We fell in love. We wanted to run away together, but she insisted that if we simply left, her family would track her down. The L'irkash have since fallen on hard times, but in those days they were among the most powerful of the Daunton Families, and their wrath was something to be avoided. I allowed her to convince me to listen to her tutor, an alchemist cleric named Father Serevas, who served Mireva. Or claimed to; I have since come to doubt this.
"Serevas provided Aleana a potion, a poison, really, that would make her seem dead, but would not actually kill her for three days. She would take the poison, and her family would bury her within two days, as is their custom. I would steal into her tomb, administer the antidote, and leave behind another corpse in her place. We would be free to start a new life together.
"It was a stupid plan, and I will forever regret going along with it. As I'm sure you've guessed, something went wrong. When I came to the tomb with the antidote, I was ambushed. Bacarte's Bloodhammers were there, adventurers, and good ones. I fought, but they took me. I spent days in a cell, not knowing my fate or Aleana's, before Bagger and my crew were able to kill the Bloodhammers and rescue me. I dashed to the tomb, but I was too late. Aleana had died in truth.
"I took her to Father Serevas. He said she could not be raised, that it had been too long and the body was no longer a suitable vessel for a living soul. My threats eventually compelled him to elaborate, and he explained that if we could not be together in life, there was a chance that we could, in unlife. That if he performed the ritual to transform me into a vampire, I might be able to bring her back myself, like me.
"I was crazed enough to try it. When all was ready, we began the ritual. It had succeeded, or nearly so, when the door broke open and more adventurers came in. This time it was the Five. They came bursting in through the windows, tearing aside the shades, and letting in the terrible sunlight. When I was killed, my soul was not fully anchored yet to my undead body, and I was able to... discorporate, I suppose you would call it. I know not how. It took all my strength to maintain my grasp on unlife, and instinctively, I fled. I sought a place underground, away from the sun.
"I wandered the sewers and streets of Daunton for some time, incorporeal, before coming across the goblin, Kraschek. He took me for a powerful spirit of some kind, and was crazed enough to worship me. I would have killed him, but it turned out that he had an innate necromantic talent. With his help, I was able to incorporate myself into a succession of dead bodies over the years. None of them worked, though. I could take over the body, and animate it for a time, but I could not manage to convince the body that it was mine. My soul did not match the mold of the body's original owner, and so the body would quickly decay. I despaired of becoming corporeal again, let alone... Well.
"Then, Kraschek brought me this body. I do not know how, but incorporating myself herein was easy. It was as if this body had been created, not born, for the specific purpose of holding an alien soul, or part of one. A marvellous feat, and most interesting to me personally. For if one such body can be made, a container for a lost soul, why not another? Perhaps my Aleana and I can be together again, after all.
"To that end, once night falls, we will go to see the wizard Doddoddod. I will make him mine, and learn if this thing can be done.
"What is your part in all of this, you may be asking, and of course you will wish to know what is in it for you.
"First, I will want to locate and recover Aleana's body. I do not know what became of her remains after... the Five came. It is possible that she was cremated. That will complicate things. More likely, she was returned to her family crypt, or buried elsewhere in secret. At any rate, her tomb is almost certain to be warded against undead.
"Second, I would like to know what really happened, on those nights. It stretches the bounds of credibility too far to suggest that adventurers just happened across in time to thwart my plans not once, but twice. It is possible that I was betrayed, and if so, I will want revenge.
"As for rewards... I still know where many of my crew's old stashes were, and if even a few of them remain intact, you will be wealthy. Also, I intend to keep Doddoddod, and I have never heard of an adventurer who did not wish for a magical trinket now and then, yes? And of course, I can be a powerful friend to you, if you support me. I know where many bodies are buried in this town, often quite literally. The things I know could open many doors, or purses, to you.
"Finally, of course, while I would rather be a friend to you, I would become a powerful and implacable enemy, if you betray me or attempt to impede my goals. You have had a taste of that already.
"You will have questions, I am sure. We have until sundown before we can leave for Doddoddod's tower, so I will attempt to answer what I can."
