Sylas Maggard

*"Magick can't be good or bad on it's own, it's the use you make of it that matters."*

## Biography

Background

On the land without laws, a sound of pain would echo along the town of Murthorne. Amongst the mist that usually covered the crooked streets of the town, the long-lived members of the Maggard family slithered their way to the Central Manor. What initially seemed like a cry of a baby, quickly took place to a high-pitched scream, one of agony and sorrow. In the central room of the manor, were the relatives of the newborns, arranged in a way to form a circle around the one drawn on the floor. The strange characters inscribed in fresh blood connected in the center of the circle, where a women layed naked. Her black hair, now dyed crimson, over her apathetic face… dead. Another figure stood in the center, holding two babies - one in each arm - and at his feet an obsidian dagger tainted red.

“Sacrifice the mother, so that the child can live. Sacrifice the mother for the child to last. And the mother’s blood will be the conduit to the one who will protect them”. This was the tradition of the Maggard family, who had settled in the Untamed Lands hundreds of years ago, founding the village called Murthorne. When a direct heir of Sebastian, the Maggard’s father, was born, the mother’s sacrifice served as an opportunity to summon a demon who, in an unilateral contract with the baby, would protect him and give him power equal to the one whose soul he would feast upon. However, this time, something unprecedented happened. Not just a new Maggard had been born, but twins; a white-haired boy like Sebastian, the father, and a dark-haired girl like her mother, Victoria – a human witch who, out of passion or stupidity, ended up falling in love with a vampyr. Because of this, the terms of the contract were unclear and the demon supposed to protect them throughout their life, would choose the girl to pact with, maybe for the resemblance with the soul he had just taken.

In Murthorne, the Maggard were the greatest figures of authority and reverence, with the exception of Zom, to whom the family and all citizens who didn't want to lose their heads bowed to. Even after losing their heads, these would still have their usefulness, since in the village the use of necromancy was exalted for the shortage of manpower. Thus, it was customary to see corpses dragging themselves through the city, building houses for the most favored and serving them as the vampiric nobility required.

   Although the tradition dictated that the high nobility of house Maggard should endeavor in the dark arts of the pacts with beings of the shadow, Sylas was educated on the Necromancy path, along with Earth and Fire magicks, the first needed for searching and acquiring corpses and the second to discard them. Along with the magick training, he had to learn Anatomy of almost all of the beings, from insects to Anthropological species, to properly conduct the rituals and modify the corpses as he saw fit.

After studying for years and dealing with dead bodies daily, there was one moment when he could no longer bear that slaughtering system. The moment when a corpse of a child was dropped in front of him, by the orders of his father, who would try anything to bring another demon for his son, his heir. The moment when he was ordered to drink an innocent’s blood in order to acquire the power his father envisioned for him.

Although it was easy to escape the manor, for he was a proficient enough necromancer to take on his father and the large volume of corpses left around made the task easier, escaping the village wouldn’t come without sacrifice. The Maggards slithered around the misty streets, joined by the overly armed corpses that did their bidding, with one objective only, capturing the young man. Restless, anxious and with nowhere to go, he would’ve been seized, if it wasn’t for his sister, Amelia, who would help him. The blood suckers surrounding them, she called upon the name of her protector and cast a spell so powerful, almost all of them were burnt in seconds. Still, an arrow would fly and hit her head, all of this happening so quickly that Sylas couldn’t react. Shocked and in angst, he let out a cry, echoing through Murthrone as it had happened 21 years prior. He then used his necromancy to seal Amelia’s soul within an object and took her with him, finally escaping that town of death.

A year later he would arrive at the Island, the one place where his father wouldn’t find him. Knowing full well that his dark arts wouldn’t be appreciated by the common folk, he promised to himself he’d use them for good and clear the prejudice that taints them. And what better place to start than the Empire? \*nervous chuckles\*

Joining the Imperial Shadows

A freshly new cadet hiding the secret of his past, Sylas would join the Empire. Not in terms of hiding what he was, per se, but what he could do, the magick that went against all of what the Empire stood for. After training with Captain Chelsea, where he used his abilities to their full potential and being warned by said person not to ever use it again, the dhampir would hide it the best he could, using necromancy as a last resort (and when the higher ranks weren’t watching) and focusing on fire spells to fight.

He'd then later join the Imperial Intelligence Operations (I-Ops) branch of the 5th Legion, under guidance of Agent Verlane and Executor Dorian, who guided him through the stealthy missions of gathering intelligence of the Empire. In a battle with an ice wyvern he almost got killed, leaving a big deep scar through his belly. His magick had started faltering, the thoughts running through his mind as he wondered if it was from his recent belief in Helma, opposed to the dark force of Zom he once used to worship. His curses didn't seem to be effective anymore. In a dispute against the Rat Lord's machinists, the dhampir would get his right side of the body burnt badly.

Sylas would accomplish the rescue of Dr. Tamago from the hands of the Rat Lord, alongside his superior, Father Dorian and participate in a plethora of events within the Alliance, mainly against the Rat Lord and in search for the keys within the tower.

A New Companion

After the aether disturbance in the Nexus and the faith he now had in Helma, Sylas would see himself incapable of fully tapping into the realm of the dead anymore, his sister's soul being freed from his side, much to his sadness. The demon who had once pacted with her, now chose Sylas as her true master. The creature, whose name only the dhampir could know, promised reverence to him, in a such a way that a formal pact was unnecessary for Sylas to use its powers, being the magical stones a mean for this energy trade. Even though it was a demon in nature, the dhampir sensed her more like a motherly figure than an evil one, who looked over his sister throughout her life (and death) and now, that she had moved on, felt the need to protect the other twin.

The Bloody Blood Moon

As the Blood Moon rose on the night sky, Sylas began having severe headaches and migraines for some days. As the month went through, a blood red sigil would appear on his forehead, a vertical third eye gradually forming from inside it as his skin started to turn purplish. His hair and nails had also grown longer through this process, as did the fangs, now showing on top of his lips.

He'd get his full vampiric transformation on a blood moon night, dark claws growing from his fingers and the third red eye now completely open. Minutes after this, a winged cloak would fly out of nowhere and land on his shoulder, sticking to him and forming a bond like it was of his own flesh. The dhampir recognized the cloak as being a family heirloom relic his vampire father once used. As Sylas was now a full vampire, the cloak would've come from his mainland to acknowledge him as the true successor of the vampire lineage and heir to his father

His right arm and leg, once burnt, and the scar over his belly were healed thanks to the regenerative powers of becoming a full vampire.

The Lost Arm

After the Blood Moon had passed, Sylas was feeling well enough to return to his duty at the Empire. In one of the meetings, the unlucky dhampir would lose an arm to a \*handshake\* with an orc, ripping clean from his flesh. Trying to find a way to get a new one, he'd meet with the Tinkerer's Guild Archtinker and ask for one, being offered Dr. Tamago's own machina arm. While doing that, he got interested in machina and discovered a new aptitude, building a perfect rifle only from watching and reading a blueprint. He'd then join the Tinkerer's Guild, hoping to unravel more about the Human's story and getting even more in tune with his Human half, the one that part that made him feel truly alive.