Bagoas the Persian

He was born to a noble house in Persia, but, in a feud during his childhood, his family was wiped out and he was captured, eunuched, and sold into slavery. But he was a very pretty boy, which got him sold, eventually, to the household of the emperor, Darius. There he served for several years.

While Bagoas was still young, Darius fell to Alexander. Surprisingly, Alexander was willing to take on his fallen enemy's servants, and Bagoas was soon part of the Macedonian's court, along with several other Persians. He, like many another, fell under the charismatic king's spell. Eventually, he became Alexander's personal valet.

After Alexander's death, he weathered the Succession Wars and served in the house of a third king, Ptolemy I, in Egyptian Alexandria. He expected to grow old and die in Alexandria. He did not, exactly.

His wealthy and honorable old age was ended by an odd "illness" that would have looked like emphysema. In fact, he was being preyed on by an Egyptian vampire that sucked his breath every night. In a few weeks, he was "dead."

He wanted to be buried in the old Zoroastrian way: excarnation. So, his servants put him out on an elevated rack, in the desert, for the vultures and jackals to clean. But the scavengers were put off when he tossed and muttered like a man in a feverish sleep. That night, he woke and slowly realized his condition. He was dismayed; he had expected, prayed, to be over the River of Fire by the Sword Bridge, by now, and back with his beloved Alexander. He spent a month in the desert, not hungry, not thirsty, not hot, not cold, slowly weakening, thinking.

Eventually, he went back to Alexandria, by night. He had worked his way up from the gutter in life; he could do it again in death. Walking the night streets, he smelled the breath of the living and immediately knew what to do about his growing weakness.

He got work at an inn, presenting himself as an elderly Persian refugee, narrowly escaped from a caravan attacked by bandits. The innkeeper got an excellent bargain, for he was quite tireless, preferring to work far into the night.

There were a few stories of beggars and tosspots, in the nearby streets, waking from sleep to find a dark figure leaning over them, face to face, which fled, leaving them with short breath like an asthma attack. Nothing came of them.

The inn prospered and the innkeeper was grateful. Bagoas refined his technique, and found that, at night, his speed, strength, and agility were all marvelously increased. Sometimes, guests complained their rooms were stuffy.

A few years later, he had his own inn, across town. It prospered, and the clientele grew slowly but steadily higher-class. It was an excellent inn. Well, sometimes the rooms were stuffy.

Slowly, carefully, he explored the occult underside of Alexandria. He learned about the djinn, the ghosts, the wizards, the criminals with magical tricks, the alchemists, the nobles with magical tricks, and the other vampires. They learned of him and learned that *some* of them could come to him for help, if they were careful.

He found the vampire than had turned him and killed it. Here's a useful tip: Egyptian breath-vampires are repelled by white feathers, but this applies only to those who are Egyptian pagans, *not* those who are Zoroastrians. The wretch was a desert mummy, mere bones under skin under rags. It thanked him as he broke it to pieces, which was annoying. He burned the pieces, and that was that.

That was that. There was nothing more to do, except "live" a life of genteel prosperity, waiting for the day bad luck got him killed as a monster. He considered suicide many times but could not bring himself to it. He thought of turning others, to give himself permanent companions, but he could not do that either. He endured.

Then Pan died. Every creature in Alexandria that was the least bit magical felt it. Spirits fleeing Greece brought details of the tale. A few years later, occult rumor connected it with the supposed Jewish Messiah, whose cult had outlasted his death on the strength of his tale of resurrection.

He was interested. Zoroastrians knew about saviors and resurrections. In fact, he believed the Jews had got such ideas from their time under Cyrus and his successors. A few years later, he let a young church meet in his inn. He listened. He converted.

He had been hoping to crumble into dust and go to his reward, or maybe stop being a vampire. Neither happened. But a couple of years later, Cassandra and Pythagoras showed up and introduced themselves. He was, they told him, the first Christian vampire, and they had a mission for him to share.

So, he "expanded his business" and established a second inn on Patmos. Over the centuries, he has maintained some kind of presence on Patmos ever since.

Bagoas is an Egyptian-style vampire, taking prana by "sucking the breath" of his prey, which leaves them with an experience similar to an asthma attack, or, if he "pulls his punch" (which he usually does), a feeling of stuffiness and shortness of breath. Bagoas could kill a normal human by preying on them every night for a month. If they had any slight ability to detect or control prana, they would then become a vampire in turn. Over the centuries, he has killed this way four times, under extreme provocation; each time, he made sure the body was cremated, precluding a new vampire.

Bagoas casts shadows and reflections normally but weighs only about thirty pounds and has no way to disguise this fact, other than lead weights in his clothes. Thanks to his religion, he has no supernatural vulnerabilities. He has three times the strength and speed of a normal human and can squeeze through any crack that admits a draft, but only at night.