Clemency

• im not sure where clemency is from but she old af
• not sure how old tho lol
• i dont know a lot about her backstory honestly
• maybe scandinavian? if so, original name is arnbjørg--"help, salvation"

she chooses not to kill people she drinks from, finding that there is no need to kill. in less religious areas, humans who she has saved offer their blood to her as thanks

middle ages -- bennet
eventually, her quest to overturn oppression leads her to bennet. she found herself in a territory smaller than a country but larger than a citystate, ruled over by a man who fancied himself a king--the villagers were of roman descent, though the province seemed to no longer have ties with the empire, perhaps also due to the king's fancy. arnbjorg settled here to see what could be done about the state of things, and quickly learned much about how hated and feared the king was. there were stories of his past of debauchery, and there was evidence of his cruelty to the people. he was a king who did not want an heir, a king who wanted to reign all-powerful, and arnbjorg didn't want to see the people suffer any longer. through investigation, she learned of an old affair the king had had with a peasant woman, one that former staff of the king knew of. the rebels that she had stirred believed the son born of this affair could become the new king, and a fairer one yet. arnbjorg rallied them towards this idea; any sign of hope would increase their desire to fight back. 

as more people began to join their small rebellion, so did the ears of the king hear about their plan to usurp him with his only rightful heir. the king hired an assassin to kill the woman he had slept with, as well as any of her children--and the assassin did as best as he could, murdering the woman before her son had managed to kill him in an attempt to protect or avenge his mother, though not without suffering a fatal wound himself. arnbjorg found the family only shortly after--the assassin, dead, the mother, dead, but the son, still clinging to life, bleeding out slowly, but alive. though she had so far done her best to turn no humans to vampires, arnbjorg knew that the rebellion would fall apart without the boy, and she could see the desperation in his eyes to live, pitying him. with no time to deliberate, she followed her instincts. the blood exchange was performed, with arnbjorg drinking some of his already spilling blood, as well as forcing him to drink some of hers. as close to death as he was, his transformation was slow--but in the end, he was alive, and arnbjorg cared all the more for him after watching him struggle and cling to survival.

his name was bennet, and he'd lived alone with his mother all his life, completely unaware of the royal blood in his veins. he had been content to be a peasant, having known no other life, but he knew well of the injustices the king had committed on his people--and the desire to avenge his mother was a fire that arnbjorg could hone with ease. the rebels taught him to fight, and arnbjorg taught him chess; strategy. as quickly as they could, they tried to hone bennet's abilities, wanting him to be the king their current one could never be.

again, word seemed to reach the king before the rebels were ready--fighting broke out far sooner than anyone was prepared for, and the territory fell to a civil war between the king's men and those fighting for their freedom. under the circumstances, the consequences were immeasurable. the war didn't last long; though many fell to battles themselves, a fire spread through the village, completely wiping out any still standing. woman, children, as well as able-bodied men and the king himself were all killed. only a few survived--far too few to survive in a settlement burned to ash. rebels and kingsmen put their weapons away to find a new shelter, leaving only arnbjorg and bennet to deal with the wreckage. arnbjorg mourned the lives lost, and the hope snuffed out. bennet mourned the lack of payoff, feeling like everything had been leading up to his time in the sun. he had all the power in the country, yet there was no one to rule, and the man he had wanted to kill with his own hand the most, his vile father, perished in a fire. arnbjorg did the best she could to comfort him, and for the first time, one traveler became two. with no people for her to save, and no kingdom for him to rule, the two had no choice but to continue their travels.

---

• bennet and arnbjorg continue on traveling together, helping civilizations but acting with more caution and care than bennet's kingdom had received
• at some point, arnbjorg is titled as a mistress of clemency. she takes clemency as her name after this. (probably wasnt using the name arnbjorg at this point anyway but i dont know what she would have been using instead)
• clemency and bennet grow closer, and develop a mother-son relationship 
• clemency and bennet begin to disagree about methods and about humans; bennet struggles to see the good in people as a whole, and believes only a handful are worth saving. clemency believes they must do their best to save as many lives as possible. bennet concedes to her repeatedly, until they hit a breaking point, and bennet decides to part ways with her. though understanding, clemency is deeply hurt by his loss
• slowly, clemency begins to see things from bennet's perspective. her opinion of humans warps slowly, having always seen them as a equals to her until now. she sees their desire for conflict and war; she can save a village and help them become strong, only to have them use their newfound strength to conquer neighboring villages, oftentimes only for the joy of conquest. she grows bitter.
• clemency and bennet meet again at a meeting, and rekindle their friendship. things are not the same as they were in the past, and despite her shift in values, the pair don't stay together--but they are on good terms again, with clemency once more regarding bennet as her son.

exhausted by mankind's evil ways, clemency strives for a land free of their darkness. with her own hands, she builds a white city slowly--brick by brick, and with a tall, white hall protecting them. (think gondor lol) in her own sanctuary away from darkness, clemency succumbs further to her own madness, until her solitude eats away at her. she invites bennet to her home, but he declines, not wanting to waste away in such a lonely place. 

despite wanting to spend her time in her safe sanctuary, clemency must still journey into human territories to eat. on one particular trip, clemency witnesses an act of kindness among two humans--kindness for the sake of being kind, not with the ulterior motive of obtaining something. the act reminds her that there is some good in humanity, restoring her faith in humans minutely.

but only minutely--despite being certain still that man is an evil, war-hungry race, clemency believes there are still good, pure humans out there. as before, she travels to places of oppression:  war-wrecked villages and impoverished cities, collecting a group of humans who want peace. she promises them an eternal freedom from war, from famine, and from suffering--she promises salvation. desperate, the humans follow her.

clemency returns with the humans to her city--now dubbed salvation. she fills it with humans who she believes are still kind, and with them, she digs fields, builds houses, and creates a community. there is no trade, but the little kingdom has the bare necessities. and they have peace. no one is allowed to leave, but no one is allowed to enter either--and that means that the taint of the cruel mankind cannot reach their city of purity and safety. clemency rules over them as sovereign, but it is not a reign of cruelty.

salvation spans on for decades (i dont know how it hasnt been discovered ill figure it out), and the humans she has saved marry, have families, pass on and the cycle continues through generations. the humans within the walls have forgotten the world outside; the humans born inside have no interest in learning what is outside salvation's walls. clemency becomes an eternal goddess to them; they are happy to give her their blood if it means she can rule over them forever, keep them safe forever.

she promises she always will. 

https://www.pinterest.com/poetryscribbles/precious-burns-clemency/