 the count saint-germain is a fictional character from a series of novels written by chelsea quinn yarbro. the character was inspired by a historical count saint-germain, a mysterious figure in 18th century france. == history == the fictional saint-germain is a vampire who was born approximately 4,000 years ago in the region that is now transylvania. he was the son of his tribal leader (hence, a prince by blood) and was also dedicated to the tribal god, the older vampire who transformed him. he experienced his first death when his tribe was destroyed by another invading tribe, together with their god, and carries hideous scars on his lower abdomen from being disemboweled. he spent much of his early existence in egypt, initially as a temple slave, but eventually began travelling the world shortly before the start of the christian era. the novels have described periods when saint-germain has resided in the roman empire during reigns of nero and elagabalus, france during the reigns of charlemagne and louis xv, russia during the reigns of ivan the terrible and nicholas ii, germany in the 10th century, germany, spain, and england between the first and second world wars, china during the mongol invasion, peru during the spanish invasion, and the united states in the modern era. saint-germain is not portrayed as a typical vampire. he requires blood to live but only a small amount, which many of his "victims" (usually female) offer voluntarily. his other victims are usually visited in their sleep, and he can take their blood without awakening them, leaving them with an erotic dream. unlike traditional vampires, he is discomforted by direct sunlight and by running water, but is only damaged by them when seriously weakened; keeping a layer of his native earth inside his shoes allows him to navigate these hazards with minimal discomfort, and he always imports his native earth to build the foundations of his many homes. in keeping with the historical count saint-germain's claims, the fictional one possesses the ability transmute base metals into gold, and more significantly to make synthetic diamonds and other gems. the resulting financial resources are used to fund a variety of alchemical (and later scientific and technical) business interests in chemistry, fuels, and aviation, among other businesses. he also often is depicted as a minor character or diplomat on the world stage, particularly as an emissary of nicholas ii attempting to stem the chaos which eventually led to the first world war. during his time in egypt, he learned how to resurrect recently deceased individuals under certain restricted conditio
Fantasy_novel_series Fictional_vampires Vampires_in_written_fiction