Monique Kemper DeSalvo
I first met Raven while running Lumahai Beach, where he manifested himself into the form of a raven and then transformed into a vampire. Shortly after this encounter I found myself inspired and began writing Royal Blood right then and there. Night after night I would work on my book, listening to his words, which I used to create Royal Blood. I channeled Raven and together we wrote Royal Blood, based on his life adventures.
My husband Luke DeSalvo, when we first met, read my novel and ended up documenting our experiences further in his book Templar’s Folly. Together we experience folie a deux and see the same visions or hallucinations which help to inspire our storytelling.
He’s so different from us.
Vampire King Raven was once an exiled prince, known as the Dark Prince. He had a bad reputation and was known for gambling, serenading harlots, and doing opium. Ultimately Raven’s downfall as a human was when his village Axelia was sacked and all of his people were killed while he was out having a good time at a gambling house. Upon ascending the throne of Axelgard he set out to defend the innocent and end the Zenian War for good.
Raven needed help and he asked Luke and I to help him create runes to defeat Thaddeus and open a portal. I channel Raven and he begins drawing runes in an old notebook of Luke’s. I was in Luke’s house creating these runes and it’s sapping energy out of me and I was weakening. It was a tiring day but eventually we did help Raven and were able to retire for the evening. We had fought Thaddeus and won, but we knew he would be back to battle us another day. We decided to forget about the problems of tomorrow drink a couple beers.
With my DID disability once known as split personality disorder, I channeled Raven in Princeville. Luke had a conversation with Raven and it was a celebration of shorts, and together they chatted, drank wine, and smoked cigarettes. Before long it took a wrong turn and Raven did not want to end his visit within my mind. Luke forced him to leave and that’s when I returned to consciousness. I had almost no memory of the conversation that just happened between Luke and Raven.
King Raven is a mysterious figure, and he often appears to me during the night because that is when vampires truly become active. Although the vampire is able to walk during the day, as written in my first book, due to a magical potion he drinks every morning, nighttime is prime time for him. I used to see Raven in the passenger seat of my car while I’m on my way to the doctor, or some other random errand. It was not unusual that I would hear commentary in my mind about a book I’ve been reading at random times, due to his ability to read minds. Since then the vampire has fallen silent, but his story remains.
