Daniel Barsay

**Daniel Arpad Barsay** (born Daniel Horvath, name later changed) is the Lord Regent of The Sárkány vampiric coven. He is the oldest child of the late lord, although he is a bastard and is currently reigning as the true born lord (his half-brother) is not yet of age. New to Lordship status, Daniel is in quite a difficult position as he attempts to merge his coven with the modernized world.

He is a semi-active character in the current storyline.

His faceclaim is Adam Driver.

## Appearance

Had he grown up in gentler circumstances, Daniel might have been very handsome. There is nothing particularly ugly about the way he looks, but he has clearly been roughed up quite a number of times throughout his life. Small spats and a number of "accidents" have left him with multiple injuries over the years, and having broken his nose quite a few times means it is rather crooked.

Daniel has a long, fox-like narrow face which ends in a pointed chin. His dark brown eyes are rather deep set, with a low brow, which does mean he is rather brooding looking. Some find this intimidating, although his big, goofy smiles do offer some relief from this. Typically, he wears his hair a little on the longer side, though he rarely ever grows it past his shoulders.

His nickname, Half-Fang, does indeed mean exactly what it implies. As he is krusnik, Daniel has a double-set of fang-like canines, although the first top left fang was broken in a fight when he was a teenager. For a long time, he was very self-conscious of this, but he has learned ignore the way some other krusniks tease him for this.

As for his physique, he is around average height, standing at exactly six feet tall. His appreciation of outdoor activities and fondness for exercise have also left him on the more muscular side of athletic.

## Character

Serious and introverted, Daniel is one of those people who seldom ever shares his smile with the world. It isn’t that he doesn’t have a sense of humor, but most light-hearted folk have a difficult time understanding his especially dry, sarcastic nature.

He is notoriously a difficult person to win over, and always has been. Analytical and, sometimes, a little judgemental, his life's motto would probably be "Seeing is believing" or "Actions speak louder than words". Daniel struggles with accepting people and situations based on simple face-value alone, which is most likely attributed to one of his other qualities of being an overthinker. Those who know him best sometimes say he spends too much time in his own head, which is true as Daniel prefers his own company best. Sometimes, he comes across as a anti-social, but really, spending long periods of time around other people exhausts him. After large social gatherings, he will retreat into a period of "recovery", in which he can sometimes go whole days without speaking to a single other person... And be perfectly content in doing so. Loneliness is not an emotion he experiences very often.

Structure and stability are important to Daniel, as well. He loathes surprises and spontaneity disorients him entirely, preferring to plan ahead as much as he possibly can. His anxiety disorder is mostly responsible for this, and on his good days, his tolerance for the unknown is vastly improved. Those who catch him off-guard find he might lose his temper. On the occasion, he has been known to become physically aggressive with those who become confrontational toward him, though he has made great strides in keeping this side of him at bay as of late.

Despite all these qualities, he is a fun-loving individual and an excellent friend. Those he does become close to find he is an impeccable, patient listener and is capable of giving sound advice, when it is asked for. He is also entirely loyal and will never behave maliciously or raise his voice toward those he cares about. His idea of fun is to be physically active - climbing and exploring the mountainous terrain around his coven's territory is what he enjoys doing best.

### Generalized Anxiety Disorder

When he was a teenager, Daniel began experiencing a number of serious, anxiety-related symptoms which lead to this diagnosis. For the most part, his anxiety is under control as of now, but his symptoms do take full control over his life when they flare up. His trait of overthinking and avoiding social interactions are largely to blame because of this mental illness.

## Family

The Barsay family has been in control of The Sárkány vampiric coven for some three-hundred years or so now. Daniel was never meant to become Lord of the Coven, or even serve as a regent, yet circumstances have made it so. He is the oldest son of the late Lord Barsay, but he is also a bastard - his mother was a human whom the Lord took prisoner during the Mortal Mythical War. When he was seven, his father married, but did not bear another legitimate child until very late in this marriage. As a result, his half-brother (the true heir to the Lordship) is now only seven years old cannot assume his birthright until he is at least 20 years of age.

* Father: Lord Rikard Barsay - Deceased.
* Mother: Anett Horvath - Deceased. Killed when he was 2 and a half years old in the War.
* Sibling: Half-Brother, Nikola, aged 7.

Daniel is also in a long-term serious relationship with his childhood best friend, Nazca Vincente-Locke. Their relationship is kept very private given Daniel's status as Lord Regent. Nazca is one of the few people Daniel feels capable of opening up to completely and the two were inseparable as children and teenagers. He does plan to marry her someday, but the two have agreed to wait until Nikola has taken his place as Lord, so the two may leave coven territory to have their own life together.

## History

Daniel does not remember very much about his traumatic early childhood - probably for very good reason. Born during the high point of a mortal prisoner of The Sarkany, Daniel spent the first two years of his life in a dungeon cell. His existence was unknown to his Lord father, and his mother did the best she could to keep him healthy and safe given what very little resources she had available to her. Sadly, Daniel does not remember much at all about his mother other than she was supposedly a very beautiful woman who did love him, despite him being the product of a traumatic sexual assault. When he was two and a half years old, as the Mortal Mythical War was beginning to wind down, his mother was executed after a failed attempt as escaping with Daniel. He would have been executed to, had his father not decided to spare his life as he was a sickly man with no true born children of his own just yet. Just before his third birthday, he was brought into the Barsay household and legally given his father's last name. From that point on, he was raised as if he were a legitimate child, despite many complaints against this from other members of his coven. Still, Daniel and his father became very close throughout his childhood, as the two were similar in their personalities.

At aged 7, Daniel's father finally married - a krusnik called Lucia from the Spanish mythical community Isadora. As his step-mother settled into the Barsay household and coven territory, she brought a number of her close friends along with her. Usually friendless Daniel, who had grown up far too quickly intellectually, quickly befriended the daughter of one of his step-mother's friends, Nazca Vincente-Locke. The two spent their entire childhood adventuring together, despite their differing personalities. It quickly became evident that Nazca was Daniel's best friend, which pleased his family very much.

As the years went on, and Lord Barsay and Daniel's stepmother failed to produce a legitimate heir, tensions began to stir within the coven. Daniel's father was notably a sickly man, who suffered from chronic pain, and there was concern his life would end before an heir was born. The Lord Rikard spoke of having Daniel legitimized, but this was strongly opposed by his step-mother, who wanted to see a child of her own come to power. More time passed and still no child was born though, causing there to be rumors that the Lord might have actually become sterile from illness. Daniel was treated quite well regardless as he grew into adulthood. Although he never expected to take on duties as Lord, some coven counselors began to advise him that he might not have a say in the matter. Although Daniel found a home within his coven, he longed to live outside its sheltered territory and explore the rest of a world he'd never seen before... Something that would never happen if he did assume Lordship.

Fortunately, Daniel's father did eventually produce an heir, a son, Nikola. However, the Lord only lived another three years before succumbing to his illness. With his heir a toddler, Daniel was made to assume the title of Lord Regent until his brother comes of age. Daniel loathes the power and responsibility that comes along with being lord and longs for freedom from the title, though he knows it will not be a permanent situation. For the first year of his rule, he struggled with his duties, but has since become accustomed to them. Currently, he is trying his best to work with what he has - which is a spiteful step-mother, a currently seven year old future successor, a relationship he has to keep secret, and a whole world he knows very little about...