Transcript of Serafina (book)
A few years ago I made the long journey to Morytania. The region is mostly sealed off from the rest of the world and as such, it is a place that holds many secrets. Whilst there, I attempted to document all that I could about the region and the various races living there. Of particular interest to me was the story of the vampyres and just how they'd managed to maintain control of Morytania for so long. Although I was at first puzzled by their rule, the truth behind it soon revealed itself to me in the form of a tale, the tale of Serafina.
The tale is that of a young Morytanian girl by the name of Serafina. She lived deep within Meiyerditch with her younger brother, their parents having passed away a few years prior. Like the rest of Morytania's human population, Serafina and her brother were regularly subjected to blood tithes from the ruling vampyres. While Serafina was able to cope with the tithes, her brother was too frail to recover from them, growing weaker with each one. Realising that her brother's time was running out, Serafina vowed to free him from the tyranny of the vampyres.
To take the vampyres head on would be suicide, and escaping them is near impossible. Anyone looking to free themselves from the blood tithes has only one true option. That option is Ver Sinhaza, more commonly known as the Theatre of Blood.
When I heard about the Theatre, I couldn't help but be impressed by the ingenuity of the vampyres. You see, it is the Theatre that holds the secret to their rule. Hope. The way it works is very simple. The vampyres will allow anyone living in Morytania to free both themselves and their families of all future blood tithes. All they must do in return is survive the challenges of the Theatre. Through this, hope is provided to all those living in Morytania, hope that they will one day be free of the vampyres.
This brings us back to Serafina. Like so many before her, Serafina turned to the Theatre, hoping that she could pass the trials contained within. However, unlike any that came before, she survived. She took on every challenge the Theatre had to offer and lived to tell the tale. Now at this point, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the vampyres just killed her anyway. Instead, they did something most unexpected. They kept their word. They freed both Serafina and her brother from the blood tithes and allowed them to leave Meiyerditch. Once again, it was a show of pure genius from the vampyres. By letting Serafina live, the hope of the Morytanian people only grew. And as their hope grew, their desires for rebellion dwindled.
So that is the tale of Serafina, a young girl who freed herself from the reign of the vampyres and in doing so, provided hope to all of Morytania. The only question now is was it true? Did Serafina actually succeed in the Theatre? Did the vampyres let her win? Did she even exist at all? I suppose it's largely irrelevant now. It doesn't matter what really happened. What matters is what people believe.
For as long as people believe that Serafina freed herself, they will hope that they can do the same. And for as long as that hope survives, the vampyres will continue to rule Morytania.