I have some issues that I will address, and I'll be done. First, mortals
are far from innocent. No one walks Sapience without blame or fault. I
force no one to seek me, I force nothing upon the unwilling, and I
certainly do not do so without perhaps more serious forethought than
those that join guilds or cities. As far as a compromise of my freedom,
who here does *not* have some compromise on their freedom? As long as we
are here, we are enslaved to something, if you wish to see it that way.
Just because I am a Vampire makes me no more an enslaver than a Guild or
City with rules and regulations. It is your perception of how those
things work in your favour, and disfavour which defines enslavement.

As far as having 'complete' control over anyone, especially my childer,
I can tell you it isn't true. No one can ever have that much control,
even with a blood bond. If that were the case, how in Sapience were
people embraced outside the 4 Great Houses if their sires had complete
control over them? I'm here to say that that statement is a sweeping
generalisation that just does not hold true. Yes, my Sire can make me do
things I might not wish to otherwise, but aren't mortals the same way.
Are they not 'forced' to do things they might rather not do? My Blood
makes my bond stronger with those who choose to share it, and it is
probably deeper than anything else any other could imagine.

At the end of the day, it boils down to this - I have the free will to
do as I please, and just because I have a Sire does not diminish or
otherwise usurp my will in any way. If it did, I'd be a weak-willed
individual, which I have found, that too, is not the predicament. If
others find that arrangement unacceptable, fine, but don't tell me I
have to change, as I won't tell you to do the same....

Andromeda Ai'zien

Penned by my hand on the 9th of Arios, in the year 133 MA.