30 Days of Nisi Prius

Primus Wulfscore, the eldest and wisest of the council members, sighed and rubbed his chin. It had been nearly 200 years since vampires had overthrown the humans and from that day forth it had been the council’s responsibility to safeguard the species. Despite concerns that had led the vampires to spend centuries hiding among them, the overthrow of the human was actually easier than any had imagined. Once defeated they proved to be a tame lot and they live (and die) under the careful watch of their masters… no more a threat than a herd of sheep to the sheppard. But they left behind a virus and that is what has Wulfscore sitting in the darkness of the council chamber worried to… death (?).

He had stridden the earth for 700 years before the vampire takeover. He watched the sickness take hold of the human’s society. He knew firsthand the dangers he now faced. It had started with rumors of litigation in the northern colonies…

He knew that this cancer would have destroyed the humans if the vampires hadn’t come along to put an end to their misery. Fully 55% of the gross national product the year before the revolution was going to feeding this virus and the mortals lived in constant terror of coming in contact with its carriers. “And they called us bloodsuckers!” he mused to himself.

For 200 years the council he led had enforced vampire law and life, however you define it, was good. The council went unchallenged and their new society prospered. Until the virus returned. Now terms like coram nobis and habeas corpus have begun to be whispered in dark places. He would not allow the council to ever need counsel. Not as long as there wasn’t a breath left in his body.

He would have to hunt them down. All of them. As long as one lawyer or even a thrall clerk was left the vampire nation was not safe. He must act swiftly but with complete secrecy lest he give them the opportunity to file motions, petitions, writs and appeals. He had seen the power of this evil before and even he would be paralyzed to fight it.

The sun was down now. He wordlessly slipped from the room and went out into the night. Tonight he would hunt and the future of his kind depended on his success.