New Ancient- Sun Tzu/Chang Quin

So, I have decided to make the third ancient Sun Tzu, the chinese military leader who wrote "the art of war" As per usual, here's the actual story (according to http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/sun-tzu/index.htm), although I'm not sure how accurate it actually is becuase apparently, not much information is know about him. Sun Tzu originally named Sun Wu and also called Chang Qing (what the other ancients call him), authored The Art of War in the sixth century BC. This military strategy book became one of the most influential books of war and Sun Tzu became well known as not only a military strategist but also a realist in international relations theory. There are no exact records of Sun Tzu's birth or death (he erased them). The only known records of his life were from a biography written in the 2nd century BC by a historian named Sima Qian (he tried to erase that also, but Sima managed to escape while Chang Quin was still a new vampire and weak. By the time Chang Qing found him and killed him the book was already to popular to erase). Sun Tzu is believed to have been born in 544 BC under the name Sun Wu, possibly in the state of Qi in ancient China. His family were members of the shi, an ancient class of landless aristocrats who lost their land during the Spring and Autumn Period of territorial consolidation (actually vampires attacked them, that's when he got turned into a vampire) . During Sun Tzu's time, most shi travelled as academic scholars, but Sun Tzu decided to work as a mercenary (he liked the blood). After working throughout the country, the ruling king, King Helu of Wu, hired Sun Tzu as a general in 512 BC (he used a bit of mind control on him, even though he really didn't need to). Sun Tzu consequently authored The Art of War (in all of the original copies, between all the regular lines, there are more words that can only be seen by vampires, commenting and adding more and better details on everything), which, at the time was named Sun Tzu based on the custom to name a work after its author. Sun Tzu's military strategy soon became legendary and he even proved his knowledge by training battalions of previously untrained female soldiers (a large number of whom were actually vampires). Sun Tzu gave control of each battalion to King Helu's concubines. After they disobeyed orders and laughed at him, Sun Tzu executed two of the concubines, per military law, and finished his training with a powerful team with exceptional leadership skills. At the time of Sun Tzu's generalship, the kingdom of Wu was considered a semi-barbaric state and incapable of military regulation or cultural power . After Sun Tzu took control, however, the military in Wu went on to conquer the state of Chu, the most powerful state in the Spring and Autumn Period in Chinese history (once again, vampires). After the defeat of Chu, Sun Tzu disappeared, wanting a quiet, peaceful life as opposed to one of constant conflict (yeah, with the whole drinking blood in private and everything). His teachings, however, went on to influence not only military strategies, but also martial arts in both armed and unarmed combat (do I even need to say it?). In fact, his teaching known as Bing Fa became the basis for most Asian martial arts. Historians argue that Sun Tzu's work did not advocate war but, instead, told of strategies to employ should conflict arise. In fact, according to historians, Sun Tzu's philosophies were more about how to avoid war while still maintaining control over an enemy in tight situations rather than war itself (they're wrong. It's all about fighting, and fighting vampires). Although there are no confirmations that the two met, Sun Tzu lived during the time of Confucius and may have been influenced by the man's work (or may have influenced him). It's estimated that Sun Tzu died in 496 BC in the state of Wu. (or not...) actually, he just dissapeared. And eventually joined the ancients.

Vampire cats

So as I said, there are no vampire animals, other than cats. When the true ancient was turned and she went back in time (to create romulus, remember?) to Rome, she found a cat. Now, if you've ever been to Rome (or pretty much anywhere in Italy), you will know that there are cats everywhere (mostly strays). The True Ancient found one such cat and was astounded by how smart it was. It feared her, yet boldly came up her (as cats do). Just the way it walked and acted proved how smart it was. She took care of this cat for about a week or so, but one day she got away. Just for about half an hour, but that was enough. When she found the cat again, it was near death; it had been mauled by a wolf (the same one that took care of Romulus and Remus actually; it had smelled the vampire and oversense of death on the cat and had tried to kill it). She then Just in that short week she had learned to love the cat, and managed to turn it into a vampire just before it died. She then gave the vampire cat to Romulus (shortly after turning him) and he made it a tradition from there. Every time any ancient, or even any regular vampire find a cat that they become unusually attached to, if they go to the vampire council (the vampires directly under the ancients, more on this later) and have the cat approved, then they can turn it into a vampire cat (similar with almost any other animal, but it takes a lot more to get it approved, more on this later). The vampire cats wander around the Coliseum and well, act like cats.

How the "true ancient" is different from the other vampires

Okay, so here are the vampiric traits and non-traits of the true ancient (how she is different from other vampires). In white is what it is for normal vampires

• allergic to garlic: (False) false, she loves garlic
• can't enter a house without being invited in: (True)false
• not able to cross water: (False)false
• have to have the dirt of the graveyard they were buried in with them: (False) false, she never died and was never buried in a graveyard
• cannot touch religious objects, wolfsbane, or wild roses: (false, false, true)false, false, false
• Very pale: (true)true
• No soul: (false)false
• Can shape shift: (false)true, she can look however she wants (but her eyes are always the same color)but cannot be an animal
• Psychic powers: (true)true
• A stake to the heart will kill them: (false)true, her heart still beats
• Chopping of the head will kill them: (true)true
• The strength of ten men: (true)false, she has the strength of 1,000 men
• venom that kills instantly: (true)true
• a thirst for blood: (true)false
• beauty: (true)true, all men who see her instantly fall in love, but only if she is in her true form (she is who the Greek called aphrodite)
• a longer life span: (true)true, she lives 10,000 years
• Don't have a reflection: (false)false
• Don't show up in pictures: (false)false
• Burn in sunlight: (false)false
• Burned by crosses/churches: (false)false
• Drink human blood: (true)false, she can but she doesn't need to
• Sleep in a coffin: (false)false, she doesn't need any sleep but she can sleep if she wants to.

so that's the list for the true ancient!

Joan of arc, the true ancients death

She (the true ancient) was 9,981 years old and she new she was going to die soon. She became Joan of Arc. She lived for 19 nineteen years, and was burned at the stake. She died.

One of the stories of Joan of Arc's death was that while she was burning...she was smiling. 

The true ancient, a paradox

The true ancient is, in fact, the female ancient. 

She is the true ancient vampire. Becuase she was turned diffrently she is almst invincible (she doesn't have a lot of the weaknesess that other vampires do). She can also Travel in Time.

She created the ancients, she gave suggestions for the colliseum, and the cats. She is the true ancient, the most powerful, she is the first vampire.

how the true ancient is created

As I said before, the true ancient, the first female vampire, was turned diffrently then then all the other vampires. 

Becuase the male vampire was so traumatized,  in so much agony, he was able to turn her into a vampire in a diffrent was. He basiclly transfered all of his "vampire energy" into her, turning her into a vampire. Also killing him. 

This turned her into a diffrent kind of vampire (more on this later).

quick note about Atli and Quirinus

they, well, hate each other. They are almost total opposites (not to mention the whole huns vs. romans thing) and get along horribly. They would never be able to work together if it weren't for the third ancient.

Attila the Hun the original and new story

I'm doing pretty much the same thing as with the Romulus and Remus thing, story is in red, comments are in white. Enjoy (btw, I got this one from echeat.com/essay.php?t=25)

"Attila the Hun is known as one of the most ferocious leaders of ancient times. He was given the nickname Scourge God becuase of his ferocity. During the twentieth century, Hun was one of the worst names you could call a person (I mean, who wants to be killed a vampire, right?), due to Attila. The Huns were a barbaric and savage group of people, and Atilla, their leader, was no exception. He was the stereotypical sacker of cities and killer of babies (so, he got a little hungry!). The Huns lasted long after their dissapearance in mythology and folklore, as the bad guy. Generally, they were not fun people to be around.

Priscus saw Attila the Hun at a banquet in 448. Priscus described him as being a short, squat man with a large head and deep-set eyes. He also had a flat nose and a thin beard. Historians say that his general personality was irritable (he was hungry, and therefore grumpy....he was hungry a lot), blustering, and truculent. He was said to be a persistent negotiator (he always wanted his way), and not at all pitiless.

While Priscus was at the banquet in 448, he observed a few other details about Atilla. All of Attila's cheif lieutenantswere served dainties on silver platters (quite a few of them were vampires and ate as little as possible of the 'human food' so they could eat properly later), but he was served only meat on wooden plates (as raw as possible). No other qualities of Attila as a general really survived through time (but he did!), but he is thought to ave been an outstanding commander from his accomplishments as a barbarian.

Huns themselves were mysterious and feared people (many were vampires). They first appeared in the Fourth Century around the Roman Empire. They rode their warhorses around and caused the Germanic barbarians and Romans alike to fear them. Yet, it was said that they were very uncivilized. It was said that made no use for fire (vampires don't like fire), and just ate the roots of plants they found in the fields (actually they just ate the animals they found in the fields). They were also said to have eaten the almost raw meat of animals (...speaks for itself). The only reason the meat was almost raw was becuase they were said to have cooked it by placing it beetween their thighs and the backs of their horses to give it warmth (if it's warmer, it seems more like human blood).

The Huns sometimes engaged in regular battle (...what? This is not a typo on my part, this is what is says in the essay...I'm just copying and pasting....) . They would attack in an order of columns, and scream very disorderly and savage cries (that was the men that they were eating that would scream). Most of the time, though, the Huns just fought in a very random way. (early in their history, vampires didn't get along very well)They would scream and run about and then all come together in a large group. They would then, as a group, approach the camp or town of the people they were attacking, and destroy it  (slaughter). Most of the time, the people the Huns attacked never even saw them coming (once again, VAMPIRES).

There were many ways in which the Huns chose to fight. They often started from a distance, and missiled sharpened bones (from humans) and other objects attached to a long stick into the territory of their victims (totally the right word). When they were forced to fight in close combat, they often fought without regard to their own safety (vampire skin is very tough, they are hard to injure). They often fought with swords, and they threw a net over their enemy to entagle his limbs so that he could no longer walk or ride his horse (blood is better the fresher it is). This is how they earned the title of Barbarians.

The Romans initial impression of the Huns was fear (at that time Quirinus did not rule). But after awhile, the Huns settled on the coast of the Danube, the great Hungarian plain, and became allies of the Romans, instead of attacking them as enemies. In return, the Roman Empire paid them a sum of money (and bodies) to not attack the Roman Empire. The Huns agreed with this, and remained mostly neutral toward the Romans for about fifty years.

Things between the Romans and the Huns began to fall apart when Attila was named King of the Huns in 434 (really, he already ruled them, according to my legend, this was just when the former king died...mysteriously). Attila and his brother (not a vampire), Bleda, inherited a large empire. They had been made joint kings of a vast area from the Alps to the Caspian seas, in the east, to the Baltic Sea in the West. Becuase of the Roman treaty with the Huns at Margus, the Romans had to pay the Huns seven thousand pounds of gold (and blood) annually to leave them alone. Attila's actions beetween 435 and 439 are basically unknown, and were not major or overly important. It is said that he amy have subdued barbarians to the north of east (what?) of his domain, but no can be sure.

In 441, Rome had become delinquent on their payments to the Huns, so Attila and Bleda decided to attack to Roman Empire. While the Roman officials were occupied in the Western Front, Attila attacked the Eastern Front on the Danubian Frontier (who's a smart little vampire? Who's a smart little vampire?....sorry I couldn't resist) The Huns managed to attack and raze many of the cities they came upon (at this time, once again, Quirinus was not an emperor, he was disquised as a farmer), and attract the attention of the Roman Empire. The Romans called a truce in 442, but this only satisfied Attila for a short amount of time. In 443, the Huns attack the towns in Danube again, destroying Naissus and Serdica. He proceeded toward Costantinople and took Philipopolis (i don't know about you, but that sounds like a ridiculous name for a city to me). He defeated the main Eatern Roman forces in a succession of battles. Finally, the Romans arranged a peace treaty  that gave the Huns 2,100 pounds of gold each year. This made Attila happy, and the Huns went back to protecting the Romans as their allies.

In 445, Attila decided that he no longer wanted his older brother, Bleda to rule with him. So he killed him (the opposite of Romulus, who's brother was killed by someone else). He planned in 447 to attack Rome again, on an even larger scale that his previous attack. But this idea turned out to be much less that he thought (I'm not sure what that means...). He sent his army to attack the Utus River, and defeated them. But he himself suffered loss and devastation (Romulus had become an 'advisor'). After that, he moved on to the Balkan provinces, and devestated them. Then he traveled down to Greece, but was stopped by Thermpylae (Atli was still a young-ish vampire after all).

Attila spent the next three years working out complicated agreements and negotiations with the Romans. He spent most of his time with the diplomats of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius ||. The result of the agreement was that Attila gained the territory of land to the south of Danube. The Romans also had to pay the Huns even more money to not attack, though the sum of money is not known (it was mostly blood/bodies).

In 450, Attila claimed Honoria, the sister of Valentinian ||| as his wife. The problem with this was that Valentinian ||| was the emperor of the Western Empire. Becuase of this marriage, Attila decided that he deserved half of the Western Empire (pompous like Romulus, but more foolish). In order to get his way, he invaded Gaul in 451. 

Aetius got the Visigothic King, theodoric |, to resist the Huns with him when they invaded Gaul. It is told that Attila almost succeeded in occupying Aurelianum before the Allies came. Aetius and Theodoric forced him to withdraw from the city, which he had already gained foot in.

In 452, the Huns invaded Italy. They sacked many cities, including Aquilieia, Patavium, Verona, Brixia, Berfomum, and Mediolamun. There wasn't much Aetius could do about. Luckily, famine and pestilence caused the Huns to leave before crossing the Apennines (can vampires get sick? hm...).

In 453, Attila planned to attack the Eastern Empire becuase the Empereor wasn't paying the money set in previous treaties (I think they were starting to run out of  homeless to give the Huns). Nothing ever actually came of these plans because, quite suspiciously, Attila died (yeah , 'died') in his bed the night after his marriage (remember the whole killed by his wife thing?).

When Attila was buried, the Huns went through a lot of trouble. They had to kill anyone who was involved with the burial, so that no one would know of the exact place that Attila was buried (huh, that's conveniant. the part of Attila's ranks that he had turned into vampires quickly realied what happened when they heard how he had 'died' and killed everyone who knew where he was buried. They then went and unburied him. Attila rewarded them by...killing them. He is the the least rational, most easily provoked, angriest, grumpiest, thirstiest of the ancients). Attila was succeeded by his sons, between with the empire was divided.

Attila didn't have a huge inpact on history (I think he would disagree), becuase the Romans very well couuld have done without him. He mainly caused trouble for the Romans, and killed a lot of innocent people just to get his way. Attila the Hun was one of the most important kings of the Huns, though, and he definetly has his place in history (and still does to!), as a barbaric, baby-killing, rude leader of a very ruthless group of warriors."

by the way, did you know that you can't copy and paste using blogspot (or at least I can't)? I had to retype THAT WHOLE THING (I did with the Romulus and Remus one to)

The ancients (updated

Just to make sure you (I) remember the facts about the ancients, here are the two so far, what they are called, and what they carry in the vial around their necks

1. Romulus. Called Quirinus. Carries dirt from the first hill of Rome (where it was first created).
2. Sun Tzu. Called Chang Quin. Carries dirt from where he supposedly was burried.
3. Attila the hun. Called Atli. Carries dirt from his grave where he was buried thought to be dead.

Attila the Hun

Attila the Hun is the second ancient. He was (as we all know) a great and bloodthirsy (pun intended) conquerer. But also a great leader. 

There are (according to wikipedia.com) three ways that Attila the Hun could have died:

1. "He suffered a severe nosebleed and choked to death in a stupor."
2. "he succumbed to internal bleeding after heavy drinking or a condition called esophageal varices, where a hemerrhoid in the lower part of the esophagus ruptures leaving the person to choke on his/her own blood"

you will notice that the first two both have to do with blood and the mouth. Curious. 

    3. "Attila, King of the Huns and ravager of the provinces of Europe, was pierced by the hand and blade of his wife."

For my non existent story, I'm going with the third one. 

so here's my version:

After being married to Attila for many years, Gudrun (his wife) realized just what Atilla was. A vampire. She had heard legends of vampires, including the one where if you stab the monster in the heart with wood or silver, it will die. So this is exactly what she did. One night while he was sleeping she took a silver knife and stabbed him in the heart. All this served to do was paralyze him, but becuase he didn't have a hearbeat to begin with anyway, when they checked his pulse, they thought he had died and buried him. He came back. 

Attila the Hun is called Atli by the two other acients and in his vial on his necklace he carries dirt from his grave.

Romulus and Remus the original and the new legend

(according to iol.ie/~coolmine/typ/romans/romans9.html) this is the original story of Romulus and Remus (my additions on how it relates to my vampires and the vampire world are in white):

"According to the Roman legend, Romulus was the founder of Rome and Remus as his twin brother (they were brothers in life, and turned by the same person so still brothers in undeath). Their story begins when their grandfather Numitor, king of the ancient Italian city Alba Longa, was deposed by his brother Amulius. Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, was made a Vestal Virgin by Amulius-this means that she was made a priestess of the godess Vesta and forbidden to marry. Neverheless, Mars, the god of war, fell in love with her and she gave birth to twin sons.

Amulius, fearing that the boys would grow up to overthrow him, had them placed  in a trough and thrown into the River Tiber (who do you think the servant who did this was? Perhaps the one who turned these two babies into vampires?) . At the time the river was in flood, and when the waters fell, the trough, still containing the two boys, came ashore. They were found by a she-wolf who, instead of killing them, looked after them and fed them with her milk (with her blood) . A woodpecker also brought them food, for the woodpecker, like the wolf, was sacred to Mars.

Later the twins were found by Faustulus, the king's sheperd. He took them home to his wife and the two adopted them (they realized rather quickly that they were monsters, and that they were Rhea Silvia's sons, but being friends of their mother,continued to care for them) calling them Romulus and Remus. They grew up as bold strong young men, leading a warlike band of shepherds (with all those animals, it certainly is rather easy to get fresh blood and blame it on a wolf).

One day Remus was captured (he was suspected for murder- aka, the first known account of a vampire drinking human blood) and brought before Numitor for punishment. Numitor noticing how unlike a shepherd's son he was, questioned him and before long realized who he was (he realized that, not only was he Rhea Silvia's daughter, but also that he was some sort of monster, for the word vampire did not exist then). Romulus and Remus then rose against Amulius, killed him and restored the kingdom to their grandfather (aka the second account of a vampire drinking human blood).

Deciding to found a town of their own (once again, rather pompous) , Romulus and Remus chose the place where the she-wolf had nursed them (it was, and remains to be, a sort of sacred place for them) . Romulus began to build walls on the Palatine Hill, but Remus jeered at them because they were so low. He leaped over them to prove this, and Romulus in anger killed him (Romulus did not in fact kill his brother. A man who lived in the woods nearby had gotten curious about the two young he kept seeing near his home. One day he snuck up behind one of them, Remus, and realized that he was sucking the blood out of a bear. He realized this man was a monster and cut his head off before Remus could even realize a man was behind him. He then burned the body. Later, when Romulus went searching for Remus, he found his dead brother's ashes, the drained bear and axe the man had used to kill Remus. He figured out what had happened and revenged his brother). 

Romulus continued the building of the new city, naming it Roma (Rome) after his own name. Its first citizens were outlaws and fugitives (some of the first vampires) , to whom Romulus gave the settlement on the Capitoline Hill. There were however not enough wives for all these men, and so Romulus decided to steal women from the Sabines, an Italian tribe. He then proclaimed a festival and invited many Sabines to it. While the attention of the men was elsewhere Romulus' men rushed in and carried off the women. This was the famous 'Rape (carrying off) of the Sabine women' , which later became a subject for painters.

The Sabine men were furious and, led by their king Titus Tatius, made war on Romulus. When the fighting had reached its peak the Sabine women, who had grown fond of their Roman husbands (and knew they were vampires, and so feared for their Sabine husbands" lives) , rushed beetween the ranks and begged both sides to make peace. So the battle was stopped, Romulus and Titus Tatius ruled together over the two peoples until Titus Tatius was killed in battle (Romulus did not want to share his throne. He later became more mature) .

For the rest of his life Romulus ruled alone, proving himself a great leader in peace and war. He did not die but dissapeared one day in a violent storm (yeah, this one kind of speaks for itself). The Romans believing he had been taken up to heaven worshipped him under the name of Quirinus"

So that is the history of the ancient, Romulus (or, as he is called by the other two ancients, Quirinus).

Why Romulus hid as a centurion

There are a few reasons why Romulus hid as a centurion. On the battlefield no one would notice if he, for instance, sucked the blood out of his enemies, as he killed them. Also, he could create some of the first vampires, choosing them from the most elite of his hundred men. It would also not be too suspicious when he died at the appropriate time for a human to die (he was a soldier after all. A general, but still a human). By being a centurion Romulus had a certain aspect of importance but still had enough freedom not to be suspected of being a bloodsucking fiend.  

Who created Romulus?

The true Ancient. The one who is hidden. The one who is the oldest. The one who is the most wise. The one who is the most powerful. The one who the Ancients revere. The one who not even the Ancients know.

Who is this vampire and are they still alive (undead) and roaming? Or are they dead?