- A Bloody Note-

Ser Nesterin,

He wasn't 'talked down' he did what was necessary to get to April, then she used a special flower that was only recently discovered that gave him mental clarity for a small amount of time. That was how we got his consent. And Gran's. He was crushing her hand, almost breaking it as he was losing control again and the restraints were starting to fail.

So she used her own steak. And Anwir used Master Lorelai's.

To everyone else,

The decision wasn't made lightly or quickly. And was talked about for months with other people.

I'm crossing out what I said before. Do not go to April about this. Let her grieve.

I may not know much but I do know her.

I hope none of you ever have to go through what she did and then be yelled at for reacting the way someone would in that situation.

-Maisy Coulton

(I mean it. Leave my fiancé alone.)

A man is dead, and his family grieving, and all the lot of you can do is argue. And here I am, about to waste another page to do the same. We should all be ashamed.

Gods above, I hope someone realizes that you're all at each other's throats over something that had no right answer. The man was sick, not in control of himself, and his death was a tragedy. But the other option was him continuing the atrocities he was committing because of his currently incurable disease. Countless turned into ferals and sent to be slaughtered as troops for a war they didn't know they were fighting. Every last one of us in danger of death or worse. His family at risk of having an eternal unlife forced upon them.

Those arguing he should've been kept alive and contained- how did you intend to do so? He was allowing us to wail on him mercilessly and pretending to be injured, just so his daughter would get close to him so he could have a word. Tell me what your plan was to keep him from killing every last one of us.

Those agreeing with his death- I only hope it is because you understood the gravity of the situation, fully, and not just because of what he was. This fear and anger coming from those crying outrage didn't just appear from nowhere after this one instance. Despite my feelings that this wasn't a decision that belonged to any of us, if this were a completely separate argument, I'd probably find myself siding with them.

But I'll reiterate that point- this wasn't our decision to make. Are we simply going to ignore Anwir, the man's brother, whose already said what happened? A sick and scared man gave his family permission to decide his fate. And they made a choice that no one should ever have to make. They were choosing between losing a loved one, and risking death or worse, as he would've continued to pursue them endlessly, and hurt so many others in the process. And here you all are, acting high and mighty by either defending or condemning them for it.

Try to remember that neither side of this argument gets to play the role of victim. This whole time, all Travance has done is try to make all of these decisions for this poor family, after they came to us for help. They finally got to make one themselves, and we're all about to start another godsdamn civil war over it. Some heroes we are.

I don't care which side of this pointless argument any of you stand on. Leave these people be to mourn. Go kill each other someplace else.

-Damien Kalaheart Reign

I'd never wish ill will with someone I'd do business with or battle alongside. I don't have anything poetic to say, nor do I have all of the information I wish I had to say something better. Whatever Travancians questioned you being a person are frankly despicable. - Saint Piloff of the House of Hatchet.

With how adamant everyone was on saving Lucien from this horrifically unfortunate circumstance he had befallen, I'm quite disappointed in how easily they gave up. He was talked down from his frenzy and was given one attempt at redemption. A shame, really.

- Nesterin

Am I to understand that only one attempt at a cure was made to save Lucien?

-Nesterin

I just want to understand the precedent we're setting here. Would you be comfortable with this choice if it was you or someone you care about? Because the idea that we only try once to cure someone from a disease that they had no control over and then chose to kill them when that attempt fails disgusts me. In my years in Travance, I have cured many of you from various illnesses, diseases, and mind controls that took away your autonomy; most of those times took several attempts. Even this feast, those who become thralls took time for us to discover how to cure them. But we didn't kill them when it failed.

Please advise if this is how you would like me to administer your medical care in the future. It would honestly lighten my workload.

Dr. Selby Wainright

Narcissus, I am not sure if we have met but any chance I could have a chat with you at some point? -Djinn

I will put this plainly, since it seems to have been lost. It is about more than just Lucien and April. Precedents were set, opinions voiced to my face, about my status as a 'person' in this town. I was questioned when I had been attacked by other townspeople, while defending you all from the vampires we argue about currently. If you threaten myself or my family with your jobs, your hunts, your glory seeking: I will kill you. If you get in my way of offering respite to dhampir or vampires who wish the time to decide: I will kill you. If you are the one who is excited about the slope that will put you at my front door, and your excitement at killing us 'monsters' thrills you. I will not save you on a battlefield. You are no longer my ally, so do me the favor of informing me now instead of finding out when you inevitably betray me and we will all get along better. Narcissus Malagan

To answer honestly and upfront, Lorelai gave me the recipe, I crafted it. I also worked on another cure for Lucien's particular strain that became the paralyzing serum that bound him while we crafted. To my understanding Lucien after the pleas of his daughter accepted the attempt to be cured. To that end I endeavoured to bring the full might of my knowledge of alchemy to the matter. Though I have failed, the work will continue so that others who make the choice may have the release that they wish for. To my understanding though, when the cure failed Lucien asked for it to end, and it was his family who gave him that end. I will do what I can to help alleviate the suffering this tragedy has caused, but I stand by my work.

Signed,

Professor Dunn Ironwill

To anyone who thinks we celebrated on Saturday night, we did not. Not a single moment of that was enjoyable.

From the moment we knew of the maybe cure, we knew it was a chance-a long shot. There was never a one hundred percent chance of it working.

For months April has been tormented by this knowledge. The fact that at the end of the day, if this didn't work, the man she thought was dead her entire life would be gone.

Lucien Bennet at the end of his life did not care what happened as long as April was by his side. And there she stayed as his body turned to dust, as it stuck to her tears and hair as she shook with despair. You didn't see his eyes, the opening and closing of the pupil, till nothing was left but the raging man who was starting to rip the bonds he was in.

Lucien's brother who spent twenty five years trying to prevent this outcome, to keep his brother lucid and from hurting others, who himself was almost turned as the disease spread too far for him to help with anymore and the brother he knew was lost. And the daughter Lucien never knew he had, who he desperately wanted a relationship with but on his terms, to control her and who she interacted with. They are the ones who, together, put two stakes into his chest.

Others who spoke to us that night put it best. If he was cured, how long could he live with his actions? In his moments of lucidity before he caged Anwir, he was horrified with himself.

Anyone who thinks we wanted this outcome in any way can come talk to myself or April.

Until then there is one more person we can still hopefully save, someone who has not been turned for as long who does not nor did the ever want to be . April's Grandmother is currently being held at the Witch Hunters Academy. Who, while she still was lucid, gave us her consent to have her where she is. They made it as comfortable as possible for her and she was visited as much as possible and treated with respect (and still is) before slipping back into a frenzied state.

-Maisy Coulton

I mourn the life Lucien could have had with his family, if not for a nest of vampires, taking advantage of a smuggler to safely travel by box. I mourn the life April should have had with her father, but instead only had a few, all too brief moments of clarity with.

I can not speak for all of the hunters, but I can speak for myself. I'm not happy that it came to this, but I respect the decision of the family to end his existence as an undead, rather than let him revert to the maddened, and corrupted version of himself, as is the nature of the disease. However, if you had actually interacted with April, or anyone surrounding her in the aftermath, no one was happy about what had to be done. There was no celebration.

I do not know if the cure failed because he, at some level, was unwilling to give up the power, or if too much time had passed from his turning, or if something was missing from the recipe, but we are close to finding a real, and repeatable cure, that does not involve the assumption that a person can successfully pass through the veils. If we can achieve that, we might be able to start returning the unwillingly turned, from the existence they are currently trapped in.

Your friend,

Robert Morgan

A void creature whose natural way

Is to kill and consume all it sees

A diseased man who struggles

With his own senses from the illness

And a people who choose to

Free the first and kill the second

Of these three

Which is the real monster?

Twice in short time you show you care

Nothing for my people.

The Argenti will suffer at your decision

And the dhampir know now

They are less than animals to you.

There are consequences for your choices

And you deserve every bit of suffering

For what you've done.

Nikola Maximilian Malagan