All Roses Have Thorns

All Roses Have Thorns (ARHT) is a story following the lives, interactions, and sometimes the aquaintences of two vampires, Faylin and Collamair. Collamair is a a Master Vampire of average strength for his age who finds a human (Faylin) he believes holds curious potential. However, after capturing, torturing, and turning Faylin, his plans go awry when Faylin fails to lose his soul entirely and in the process of attempting to rid him of it, Collamair is almost killed by the overwhelming power that resides within Faylin.

After his brush with death, Collamair must concede what is left of Faylin's soul to him in order to protect himself. What follows is the transformation of the characters. Faylin must heal from his traumatic experiences at his death and rebirth, as well as his unique position as the only known vampire with a small bit of soul. Collamair must deal with the consequences of being connected, in a small way, to a soul after hundreds of years of separation, as well as with new and confusing emotions he'd thought long behind him.

ARHT is set in medieval Ireland with a plan to continue through contemporary times and into the future.

Plot

At Lord Edwardson's...

The first seven parts (chapters) of ARHT detail the beginning of Faylin's life as a vampire, his introduction to the rest of the vampire hierarchy, and his introduction to a love interest, Isleen. All this takes place at castle and town that belong to a man named Lord Edwardson. Collamair does not live permanently at this residence, but simply made an arbitrary visit to this castle. During this time we see Faylin's arrival cause an upheaval with both Collamair's attitude and Eanwulf's displeasure.

Returning to Collamair's Castle

After failing at separating Faylin's attention from Isleen, Collamair makes the decision to travel from Edwardson's back to his own home. Almost immediately, Collamair is visited by his own master, Bhruic, as well as a small troupe of Bhruic's vampires. Bhruic seems to like making a sport out of demeaning Collamair, and professes to know the secret of Faylin's mysterious power, though he will not explain any further. The next several parts deal with Faylin trying to resolve his unfinished relationship with Isleen, his unfortunate relationship with Eanwulf, and begin to reveal some of Collamair's own past.

Setting Out

Parts 12 through 16 begin to tell the story of Faylin trying to rebuild his own life/escape Eanwulf by setting out on his own away from Collamair. His journeys force him to become a somewhat better vampire by discovering some abilities (burying oneself in the dirt), but he resists his vampire nature as much as possible causing him to be starved much of the time. This starvation starts to bring to the surface another presence living inside Faylin which takes control of him at opportune moments to keep him alive. After several years of sporadic traveling, Farrell, a Fae he met at Edwardson's reappears in his life and offers to go traveling with him. They set out together for 19 years until Farrell finds his own love and Faylin's Other, upon smelling Farrell's Fae blood, attacks and nearly kills him.

A Time of Understanding

Parts 17 to 20 describe a shift in Faylin and Collamair's relationship. With Faylin's uncontrolled attack on Farrell, he returns back to Collamair's, and after a length of debating actually sits down and has an in-depth and honest conversation with him about what happened. The lingering shock of it causes Faylin to have an emotional break down giving Collamair an opportunity to comfort Faylin. After this small act of kindness, Faylin seems to have relaxed his animosity, giving Collamair hope for them, but also increasing a problematic trance state that has been creeping upon him. This trance has been affecting not only him, but also the other vampires connected to him. In an act of near desperation, Auron suggests Collamair make a new vampire. In a way that seems to mimic Faylin's actions, Collamair sets out on his own to do just that. However, Collamair's new choice in a vampire fails miserably, he kills her and then almost dies himself. Things are at least going well with Faylin until he decides to take him out to see some faeries, and then gets the overwhelming urge to apologize, then lie to Faylin, which then makes Faylin angry. Their understanding is at an end.

Ghosts and Faeries

Part 21 through the current one introduce a new layer of existence to a few vampires. Struan discovers the existence of ghosts and subsequently faeries, and Collamair and Faylin learn of the existence of one ghost, Farrell, who is not quite like the rest of them. Struan and Collamair are appropriately freaked out, Struan so much as to start to change his devious vampire ways enough so that he is no longer welcome in his Master's home, and he leaves with a faerie. Collamair just sends Faylin out with the ghost in his castle, but then immediately regrets Faylin's absence.

Vampire Abilities and Weaknesses

General Abilities

All vampires, except for maybe Faylin, have some basic abilities: enhanced senses including superhuman strength and speed, the ability to see cleary in the dark (even pitch black), incredibly sensitive sense of smell; unnatural silence; fast healing; human hypnosis; mind reading/memory delving capabilities; and the ability to wield their energy in a physical manner (causing blows or making shields or whatnot). Within any of these, some vampires may excel at things more than others.

Vampire specific Abilities

Occasionally vampires will have an ability restricted to only a few people. Collamair can absorb and use another vampire's energy or their specific talent. Eadoin, his son, has the ability to disappear completely in shadow. The twins have the ability to assess and control a person's physical responses; they mainly use this to exalt themselves as sex gods.

Reproduction

These vampires cannot reproduce sexually. They can do it through the sharing of blood, or else, as Collamair does, by infusing the body with vampiric energy. Vampiric energy is most easily transferred through biting as the taking of blood (and life) from a victim temporarily unites the two very closely. Raising a vampire through biting is not always a willing process. Sometimes, depending on the body and vampire, a single bite resulting in death gives the victim enough energy to rise as a vampire. Admittedly, the vampires that come from this unplanned way are not always mentally stable or completely physically functional being more like zombies or beasts than anything and are known in this world as leeches. This was the unfortunate fate of Lord Edwardson. To raise a true and whole vampire through feeding, most people will need to be bitten three times. The process of turning into a vampire is spiritually traumatic. If a person is dead long enough for their soul to depart, it will survive, but if they are raised before that can happen, their soul will be destroyed. Even if it survives, however, being tainted with vampire energy will render it unable to pass on.

Weaknesses and Rules

Vampires are weak against the sun, against garlic, silver, and all holy objects, although the effectiveness of the holy object directly depends on the number of followers and believers in that sacred item, and the person who is doing the warding's own beliefs. A forgotten Egyptian god's statue, for instance, would make a young vampire wary because of the past energy put into it, but powerful vampires would take no notice. While a holy object will weaken and contain a vampire, it will not kill them. They can, however, die from the sunlight, beheading, being staked in the heart, or shot in the heart with silver bullets. This can be subject to a vampire's age and power. It's theoretically possible to get to a point where there might be nothing that could kill them. Because of their healing abilities, wounds to other parts of the body, even dismemberment, are not life threatening. No matter the trauma they suffer, a vampire's body will return to the state it was upon death, unless it is scarred using a holy object or an extended application of silver. These are the only ways a vampire can change.

All newly risen vampires wake and sleep with the setting and rising of the sun, usually a little before the actual event. As they grow older, they get more powerful and so can wake up before the sunset, or remain awake after it's risen. Vampires sleep in coffins for comfort and convenience, but they could be just as safe in any place where light does not penetrate.

They cannot enter homes or private buildings unless they have been invited. Such an invitation can be verbal, it could be a physical motion directed at them, or it could even be written; they are especially fond of the welcome mats that say "come in" on them.

Unlike traditional vampire lore, ARHT vampires can see their own reflection in mirrors or windows or water or whatnot. Generally they avoid mirrors because of their silver content, but it does not harm their ability to have a reflection. They are also able to cross moving water.

Timeline

This timeline encompasses events that may have occurred prior to the start of the comic as events revealed through flashbacks.

• 1106 - Part 11 flashback
  • Collamair has an ongoing affair with his brother's fiance.
• 1107 - Part 11 flashback
  • Collamair's brother sells him and their younger brother Innis to Bhruic.
  • Collamair becomes a vampire, and kills Innis to spare him.
• 1124 - Part 11 flashback
  • Eadoin seeks out Collamair.
  • Bhruic makes Eadoin a vampire.
• 1331 - Part 19 flashback
  • Collamair propositions Auron to be his vampire
• 1555 - Part 1 - 6
  • Collamair goes hunting and finds Faylin killing half of his family and giving the rest to Eanwulf.
  • Faylin becomes a vampire and is enraged at Collamair nearly killing him. Collamair leaves him with part of his soul intact blocking off Faylin's anger so it will not be further destroyed
  • Collamair tries to get some use out of Faylin and rapes him; Faylin is suitably traumatized.
  • Faylin hates feeding.
  • Faylin starts learning to read and write from some of the nice vampires, then gets dragged unwillingly into a ball, so starts to learn some dances as well.
  • The vampires attend Lord Edwardson's Ball and meet Isleen. Collamair forbids Faylin to see Isleen
• 1556 - Part 7 - 9
  • Isleen fails at convincing Collamair to let her see Faylin.
  • Isleen writes Faylin in secret using a Farrell, a faerie she is acquainted with, as a messanger.
  • Collamair discovers their letter writing and is greatly displeased.
  • Collamair sarcastically gives Isleen a way to see Faylin, if only to mock her because it will never happen. And then it happens. He gives grudging consent to them to be together, then takes Faylin back home suddenly.
  • Bhruic welcomes Collamair home with his own entourage in a surprise visit introducing Eadoin as Collamair's son, some vampire siblings/friends of Collamair's, the sex-obsessed twins, and a newer member of his group, Struan. Struan likes to stick pointy metal things in people.
  • Struan and Bhruic capture Faylin and use him for their grotesque "entertainment" before Collamair comes to the rescue and takes his place. Faylin is not impressed.
• 1557 - flashback from part 10
  • Lord Edwardson becomes a leach, is excommunicated, and dies.
  • Isleen is married to her father's Lord's son.
• 1561 - Part 9 - 10
  • Faylin agrees to spend a night with Colly in exchange for the possibility of seeing Isleen one final time, but she utterly rejects him as a devil and monster.
  • Faylin and Collamair both reunite with Farrell and meet his friend Cadfael at Edwardson's
  • After taking Fayli's self-inflicted silver wound unto himself, and learning of Isleen's rejection, Collamair lets Faylin off of his end of the deal.
  • Isleen dies from illness sometime after Faylin departs (from chapter 12).
• 1564 - Part 11
  • Eanwulf visits Faylin for nefarious purposes: he intimates that this has occurred before, and was using Isleen's continued well-being against Faylin as a means of keeping his silence.
• 1565 - Part 11 - 12
  • Faylin gains permission to come and go from Collamair's castle freely.
  • He returns to his old town to see that those who were victims of the "demon" plague were considered unholy. His house has been burned and marked with a cross, and his family buried outside the cemetery.
  • While traveling, Faylin finds himself blanking out to feed, at which time another seemingly alternate personality takes over and gets the job done.
• 1566 - Part 12
  • Faylin returns to Collamair's castle in a highly emaciated state which Collamair quickly rectifies.
  • While away, we learn that Faylin has experienced some changes whilst living amongst humans, the most striking being that his hair grew a small amount. A physical change, for a vampire, is unheard of.
  • Collamair experiences Faylin's alternate personality first-hand when it speaks briefly telling him to leave Faylin's soul in place.
  • Faylin continues coming and going as he pleases.
• 1572 - flashback from Part 14
  • Farrell and Cadfael, who had been traveling together for some years, part ways after Cadfael falls in love with a seamstress.
• 1575 - Part 12 - 13
  • Farrell begins his search for Faylin outside the graveyard where Isleen is buried.
• 1576 - Part 13
  • Eanwulf comes to Collamair's castle ALSO searching for Faylin, but is thwarted by his absence.
  • Farrell tracks Faylin by stories of his attacks.
  • Faylin's absences from home seem to be causing Collamair to drift into a trance-like state.
• 1577 - Part 13 - 16
  • Auron confronts Faylin about his leaving, insisting that by going out and changing he will drive them all to their end. Faylin does not agree to stop leaving, however.
  • Farrell finally arrives at Collamair's.
  • In an attempt to keep Farrell from leaving with Faylin, Auron seduces Farrell in order to have a chance at hypnotizing him. But even after biting him, she cannot control his mind and he and Faylin leave the next night. She notices that his blood is strange, energizing, and has the strange effect of temporarily making her color-blind.
  • Farrell talks a bit about his lineage and the Sidhe, revealing that he is descended not only from a king and queen, but from Death (Ankou) as well, and also mentions that Faeries do not think very much of vampires.
  • After only two weeks of traveling with Farrell, Faylin is fed up with Farrell's behavior and threatens to leave. (but they work things out)
  • Farrell reveals that his source of income is from beating up rich people and stealing their money. He counters Faylin's moral dilemma with this by mentioning all the attacks and killings Faylin has committed.
  • Faylin runs off in an angsty wind, forcing Farrell to follow so they can work things out again.
  • Farrell attempts to teach Faylin to hypnotize people so that he will not have to hurt them while feeding. When that fails he just teaches him the proper methods of knocking people out.
  • Collamair decides he needs to do something in order to keep his mind off of Faylin's absence and starts plastering the castle walls.
• 1580 - Part 16
  • Farrell has cracked out dreams of being a celtic warrior and a sexually confused gender transforming girl. Faylin shares his own dream experiences about his daughter.
• 1592 - (mentioned in Part 18)
  • Collamair finishes plastering the castle
• 1596 - Part 16 - 18
  • Fleeing the rain, Farrell and Faylin take shelter in a barn where Farrell is discovered by Breen, the farmer's daughter. After attempting to run from him and being knocked out, they get to be on friendly terms and eventually fall in love. Breen tries to make Farrell give up his thieving ways.
  • In a purely random happening, Farrell trips over a stool and cuts himself. The smell of his blood awakens Faylin's alternate personality which attacks Farrell and nearly kills him.
  • Faylin flees Breen's farm in horror over his actions and returns to Collamair's castle.
  • A brief altercation with Collamair nearly drives Faylin out again, but still reeling from the uncertainty of his attack on Farrell, he decides to stay and goes to Collamair with his questions.
  • Collamair and Faylin discuss his alernate personality/power, and Collamair develops "rules" for Faylin, to try and keep it under control: don't starve, stay away from faeries, and don't get angry.
• 1599 - Part 1888
  • Faylin nearly tells Collamair about Eanwulf's threats to him and actions against him, but chickens out and just leaves instead.
• 1604 - Part 18-20
  • Collamair is completely distracted by Faylin's absences and even by his time home. He is thrown into trance-like states. Auron suggests making a new vampire to keep his mind on things.
  • Collamair goes out on his own to find a vampire. Auron is angry and punches a hole in the outer castle wall.
  • Collamair finds and almost makes Terry a vampire, but seeing that he enjoys his life, he leaves him alone and looks for someone who doesn't. Her name is Catherine, the unhappy wife of a tanner.
  • Auron threatens Faylin's life and pushes him down the stairs.
  • She also protects him from Eanwulf when he tries to take advantage of Collamair's absence.
  • Collamair's new vampire, Catherine, turns out to be a total bitch and tries to kill him. So he kills her instead. This sends him into an immediate coma for several days, and all his vampires into a momentary one.
  • Auron finds Collamair using their link, and brings him home safely.
• 1650 - Part 20
  • Faylin ends up at a whore house when he's looking for an inn. Maili, a vampire who happens to be working there takes him in for the day.
  • After getting on friendly terms with him the next evening, she manages to break down his hesitant barriers and seduce him.
• 1653 - Part 20-22
  • Collamair offers Faylin some bilingual books after learning of his interest developed during his time with Farrell. When in his room looking for them, Faylin talks about other interests, like little faeries. Collamair promptly whisks him away to a faerie tree he knows of.
  • While watching the faeries, they talk about their pasts. Collamair APOLOGIZES. Faylin gets uppity, and Collamair brings him back home.
  • Questioning Collamair's omission of some of his family, Collamair lies to dodge the fact that he gave the kids to Eanwulf. Faylin is angered and breaks the front door with Collamair before leaving.
  • Auron gives Collamair some vampire surgery to remove ribs shards which were embedded in his lungs after Faylin smashed them in.
  • Faylin runs to Maili, who is slightly unsympathetic to his whinings, but sleeps with him anyway.
  • Meanwhile, Bhruic is conspiring with Eanwulf to have Faylin monitored. He rewards Eanwulf with Struan time.
  • While at Eanwulf's castle, Struan meets Neala, a child vampire, and learns to see ghosts.
  • Upon his return home he set upon by ghosts of his victims and is driven to hide in Eadoin's closet.
  • Struan is soon forced to entertain his master, but rather than torture and rape her, he decides to kill her immediately, hoping to avoid being haunted. Upon his release from Bhruic's punishment, the woman he just killed confronts him as a ghost, and agrees not to haunt him if he will walk with her to her destination.
  • Struan soon meets Connlaoth Ferdomnach (CF), the son of Ankou, a soul bringer in his own right. He takes a chunk of Struan's hair for use in blackmailing him later on.
• 1654 - Part 23
  • Struan receives a letter from CF giving him a place for them to meet.
  • CF seems to have innocent intentions, at first wanting company at his soul collecting task, and then just company and some examples of human songs from Struan.
  • During their outing, some of Struan's ghosts make an appearance. CF is only able to revitalize one of them, who decides to leave. He tells Struan he is responsible for his own ghosts, and to make some of them leave, he will have to learn remorse for his actions.
• 1660 - Part 22-23
  • Faylin returns home for the first time since Collamair's apology. Collamair only runs into him once, and leaves him alone, seemingly ashamed. This drives Faylin to seek out Auron on Maili's advie.
  • Auron verifies Faylin's ideas: that Collamair does indeed have outside influences on his personality causing his seemingly extreme personality/mood swings. She hypothesizes the driving force behind his cruelty is Eanwulf.
  • Faylin runs back to Maili again, who encourages him to get along on amiable terms with his master.
  • Collamair discovers one of his human servants absconding with one of his library books. Since she only borrows them, he decides not to punish her.
  • The book thief encourages Collamair to write down his confused thoughts and feelings about Faylin, and when he does, reads them and offers her advice.
  • Furious, Collamair locks her away with orders that no one is to speak to or release her.
  • Her husband repeatedly tries though, and in trying he is turned into a leech who goes on a killing rampage taking out most of the servants.
• 1701 - Part 23
  • Collamair attempts to teach Faylin how to hypnotize people, so he's not giving them head trauma, but he fails miserably
  • Both Eanwulf and Mysterious Hooded Figure are watching. MHF even sees and confronts Eanwulf briefly.
• 1730 - Part 23-24
  • Collamair now regularly checks his servants for signs of turning leech and destroys any in the early stages.
  • He begins to doubt his methods of "ruling," but Auron beats some sense into him. She and he share a lovely flute/harp duet.
• 1733 - Part 24
  • Eanwulf shares his Vidrik meeting with Bhruic who brushes it off.
  • Whilst Struan is supposed to be submitting to Eanwulf on this visit, he stabs him in the eye instead, is crippled by an angry master, and taken home for punishment.
  • A month later, a curious Connlaoth Ferdomnach searches him out after Struan does not answer his letter's call. After some begging, CF makes off with Struan much to the chagrin of Bhruic
• 1775 - Part 25
  • Faylin visits Collamair's room to contemplate a painting after seeing a mother and child in the halls. He realizes that his memories of his happy, human times are fading away. Collamair confirms that this happens to most vampires, and Faylin makes an insensitive comment which is deflected back onto him by Collamair's guilt defense.
• 1813 - Part 25
  • Collamair's castle is haunted by the ghost of Farrell. He makes himself known in the early stages by mischief and pushing. He's searching for Faylin but is lazy. Collamair retrieves him on Ghost Farrell's behalf.
  • Farrell and Faylin start traveling again. Farrell reveals he is cursed to reincarnation, and his soul is originally from a celtic warrior named Liam who lived centuries ago.
• 1823 - Part 25
  • With Faylin's prolongued absences, Collamair had started to go into his trances again.
• 1833 - Part 26
  • Faylin receives a memorable going away present from Maili, who is about to disappear from her job for a decade or two. Faylin is devastated, even more so when he realizes that Farrell has seen him enjoying Maili's gift.
• 1839 - Part 26-27
  • Bhruic visits Collamair to try and find out his own information about Faylin. He makes him sleep with the twins, and then leaves them there in a subtle act of subterfuge. In the end he learns Faylin is probably going off unaccounted for because Collamair likes him.
  • Collamair tries sorting out Bhruic's conversations and the things he learned from the twins. He thinks Faylin might be in danger from Bhruic or an outside source
  • Meanwhile, Struan and CF have been traveling around as soul-bringers to the Gates. Struan is markedly more fae looking in appearance, but he still cannot see the mystical doors to the afterlife. CF leaves him on the shore when he goes to deliver his souls.
  • The Gatekeepers have been thrown into shock with a massive die off that is coming.
• 1844 - Part 27
  • The blight hits the first potato crops in Ireland. Famine and political dissent is imminent.
• 1848 - Part 27
  • The Famine is in full swing and Faylin comes home distressed from all the death he's seen and caused, even if they were asked-for mercy killings. Collamair tries and fails to tell him that he will stay home and stop wandering out of fear for his safety. He proclaims he will tell him "later."
• 1849 - Part 27
  • A servant arrives in Collamair's room to announce that an Anglo-Irish middleman has appeared and brought the constabulary. Collamair gathers all of his servants and vampires and goes to confront him.

• updates ongoing

Tidbits

• Of all the vampires, Faylin was the first to be created as a character.
  • When Faylin was first created, he was actually a decent vampire. Then he evolved into a whimpy one.
  • Faylin's yellow eyes were originally just for cool effect, but when all the other vampires had human eyes colors, I had to make up a reason for the yellow.
• At first, Faylin's master was going to be a woman.
  • Collamair's eyes are actually darker than what is portrayed in the comic, but if they were any darker, visually they start to look black instead of blue.
  • The original plan was going to have Collamair be a jerk for most of the past, right up until contemporary times.
• I get most of my names from the Kabalarians name website. Though I don't pay much attention to the meanings.
• If I ever have a question about a character's reaction or a plot element, Cait will answer with the final say.
• Bhruic's name was originally Baillidh, but when I found out the pronounciation to that was "Bailey" I had to go in and change all the references to him because I have another character already named that.
• ARHT was going to be entirely in b&w, but one scene is reliant on eye colors, so I colored them in, and the first time blood was portrayed, I wasn't confident enough in my own skills, so I made it red just so people would KNOW it was really blood. That's where the color came from.
• The title All Roses Have Thorns came from the "rose speech" Collamair gives to Faylin in an early chapter. This speech has nothing to do with the song lyric, "Every rose has its thorn," but more to do with the movie "Bed of Roses" which I saw when I was 12 or 13.
• At one point I was going to do a second vampire comic called Velvet and Vinyl detailing the twins' story (trailing off into Ignatius' alone), but I decided, if I were going to spend years doing another comic, I'd like it to be at least a little different from the one I was already doing.

Links

Comic Link: http://allroses.comicgen.com

TV Tropes Link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllRosesHaveThorns