Sigil: The City of Doors

/fade to deep thoughts with Jack Ha... Thaddeus and Cyprian.

"That's..." he was about to say something but stopped. Something about this feeling of contentment. It spoke to him in a profound way. "... this is nice." He smiled. Chiefly the sounds of company weren't accompanied by the smell of blood. There was nothing to drive his craving. On top of that he felt the faces of friends lost or on another plane, merriment and love, kinship. This is what he'd been looking for, he just hadn't realized it. His mind went blank as he melted into the atmosphere.

/fade to meditation?

Feel human... what is it to feel human? Thad didn't know, he was a satyr.

If it was merely the absence of hunger Cyprian was searching for, then any of the experiences brought on by the tanks should mitigate his friend's woes... aside from those involving feeding like the ones Thad had just guided them through. Or perhaps it was the nature of the feeding, the craving on either side.

Tranquillity took over the tank. A sense of routine that brought peace after a hectic day. The scent of roasted pheasant, carrots, potatoes, and fresh baked bread floating through the air. A faint murmur of conversation teased their ears and then the sounds of knives and forks clattering against dishes. Finally, a bite of food. The taste is mundane but pleasant. There is no gluttony or need accompanying this experience. A simple meal, prepared by and eaten in the company of loved ones.

Instead of euphoria there is fulfillment.

"No, no," He sighed as the pleasure at last fades. "Blood is addiction to me, not necessity like it would be for my father. I can abstain, but it pulls at me. It's an addiction unlike vice. There's hunger without need, primal desire, and the smell of it assaults my nostrils when I'm near people." He thinks of how to explain it better but gives up. "It's okay. I just thought I might explain it and perhaps you might know a way to let me feel... human."

Hearing the longing in his words, Thaddeus allows the memory to play out. The feeding slows to a stop and ecstasy is replaced with affection and satisfaction.

"I didn't realize it tormented you so. While it's not generally associated with our policies or practices to deny such things, it also does not go against our tenets. Once you have lived through an experience and been well-lanned on it, then there is no need to linger. In fact, we frequently must force ourselves to move on so as not to become fixated. Our perspectives stuck on one narrow, pleasurable sensation depriving us of all the rest the multiverse has to offer. Most of the time these are addictions and vices. Sometimes pain and trauma that are hard to let go. But something as fundamental as hunger. Not gluttony but necessary, life sustaining hunger.

I have no solution ready for you, but we can seek the council of other, more experienced members of the Society if you would like."

"Well-" Another tremor of pleasure, "that's the thing I was trying to hint at. You-" He tries to focus but has a hard time doing so. After a few minutes of enjoying the sensation he forces the pleasure down below his mind with great effort. "You hit the nail on the head didn't you? Shoe on the other foot, grass being greener. What I wish, what I truly wish, is to no longer feel a desire for blood. To no longer thirst. What you can't understand-" He tried keeping it down but it came back in waves. "It..." he whimpers, "... is soo good."

"There is more to the tanks than just indulging in your desires. These are a tool to explore what these singular experiences and sensations mean to you, what wealth and knowledge they bring into your life, what pains and hardships you escape day by day.

For now, I want you to focus on the pleasures you are experiencing. With the shoe on the other hoof, delve into what will make your bottle come back to beg for more."

Dating Mysti gave Cyprian this perspective as well. And now of course there's...

He found himself enraptured. "Ahk..." He managed after an indeterminate amount of time passed, "But... until you've- ahh... known the ceaseless vampiric hunger for vitae." He wanted to cry out but stifled it back, "Hmmm, you'll never understand it's allure." He found himself envisioning the sensation of being fed upon. It was enthralling. Thaddeus could take his time switching up sensations.

Thaddeus heard, but had a journey and a destination in mind. There was no blood, not yet, just the expectation. He held them there a moment longer, which felt as though hours. Then release, the fangs break through, but in the moment that should've been the first taste, the flood of vitae into their eager mouths, Thaddeus deftly changes their perspective. Now, they are no longer the hunter, but the prey.

Obviously, from a recording of a different instance. This one a survivor who came to share their experience with the Society, one who gave their blood willingly. A flood of emotions and sensations washes over them. Waves of ecstasy with a backdrop of fear, excitement, and awe.

His fangs came out and his vision narrowed. "I'm... disappointed." He managed in the throes of something different - bloodlust. "This is also a feeling I know well. At the very least you may come to know the taste this way. That first time tasting blood is- "he grunted, "-I don't like this. Blood paralyzed with fear is cold. The bottle will become more like a-" He felt the slackening in memory. "Like drinking from a waterskin that becomes empty. It almost crumples. I almost wish it would. Without hate this taste becomes primal. I don't like it but I can't stop drinking."