Ingeras: In the year of our Lord, fourteen forty-two, the Turkish sultan enslaved one thousand Transylvanian boys to fill the ranks of his army. These child slaves were beaten without mercy, trained to kill without conscience, to crave the blood of all who defied the Turks. From among these boys, one grew into a warrior so fierce that entire armies would retreat in terror at the mention of his name. Vlad the Impaler. Son of the Dragon. Sickened by his monstrous acts, Vlad came to bury his past with the dead and returned to Transylvania to rule in peace. His subjects called him Prince. I called him Father. But the world would come to know him as...Dracula.
Master Vampire: House Dracul. Son of the devil.
Vlad: You're mistaken. It means "Son of the dragon." "Protector of the innocent."
Master Vampire: Do your people know how many innocents you have killed? Was it hundreds?
Vlad: Yes.
[The Master Vampire grabs Vlad and pins him to a wall.]
Master Vampire: Lie to me again and I'll open you from your belly to your brain and feed you your intestines.
Vlad: Thousands.
Master Vampire: And when you put them to the stake, what did you feel? Shame? Horror? Power? ANSWER ME!
Vlad: Nothing! I felt nothing. A greater crime than the act itself.
Master Vampire: Your silver offends me. Cloak it from my sight.
Vlad: Men do not fear swords. They fear monsters.
Master Vampire: What is it that you are seeking?
Vlad: I want the power to destroy my enemies and save my family.
Ingeras: My father was a great man, a hero, so they say. But sometimes the world doesn't need another hero - sometimes what it needs is a monster.
Master Vampire: You returned. No one has ever returned.
Vlad: [looks at the ground to see numerous skeletons] It seems no-one has ever had the privilege of leaving, either.
Master Vampire: Neither will you.
Mehmed: The Sultan is preparing for battle, and requires 1,000 boys for his army...including your son.
Answer: It was very common in the Middle Ages for those who ruled over an area to demand various forms of tribute, a very common one being soldiers or children to train as soldiers.
Greg Dwyer