Elisabeth Ashbury

**Elisabeth Ashbury** was a vampire of the Ekon bloodline. She was a painter, an artist, and a benefactor of those in need.

## History

Elisabeth was born as a human in 1551 CE and named **Elisabeth Samantha Mary Englewood**, and grew up in the village of Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, England. Her parents owned the Bull Inn in the village. In 1578 CE, a plague broke out in the village and claimed the lives of her family members. She sang in mourning for her lost loved ones, but was unafraid of the plague itself. The sound of her voice and the sight of her bravery moved William Marshal, so he offered her immortality as a vampire. She accepted and was subsequently sired.

The two quickly became close, with William acting as something of a father figure for Elisabeth as she learned about her new existence as a vampire. They remained together until 1618 CE, when William Marshal decided to stay in Hoddesdon and Elisabeth decided to explore the world under the guise **Elisabeth Blackwood**. She traveled Europe for decades, In 1666 CE, while she was in the Netherlands, Johannes Vermeer painted her portrait.

It was in that year that a Disaster began spreading plague around London. Though William Marshal was able to defeat the creature by starting the Great Fire of London in 1667 CE, he was nevertheless infected by the Blood of Hate. Sensing his pain, Elisabeth returned to England only for her own sire to attack her -- she became infected as well. Distraught by what he had done, William retreated from the world. Elisabeth, however, wreaked havoc upon it.

By 1712 CE, she had made her own progeny who had taken her name and begun to call himself Jacob Blackwood. Jacob and Elisabeth toured Europe, leaving bloodshed in their wake. Their murderous exploits were infamous, and even William Marshal became aware of them. He began working desperately to find a cure for the blood of hate and restore humanity to Elisabeth. By 1786 CE. he had acquired enough ingredients for a single dose of the cure. Marshal promised to chain himself so that he would not attack Elisabeth and summoned her to him. She came, albeit reluctantly. Marshal offered her the cure, asking only that she care for him and keep him alive as a prisoner.

Elisabeth agreed to take the antidote from him, but did not administer it to herself immediately. In 1788 CE, she and Jacob were seen at Versailles. Only a few years later, in 1793 CE, she and Jacob slaughtered an orphanage. This massacre was enough to bring out even Elisabeth's conscience -- she finally drank the cure. She abandoned the title of Lady Blackwood, and Jacob along with it. In 1794 CE, she returned to Marshal to take care of him.

To that end, she attempted to acquire a castle they could live in. Her first effort was to purchase William Marshal's original castle, but her true identity was uncovered by Kendall Stone, the founder of the Guard of Priwen. Instead, she purchased Ashbury Castle in 1795 CE and thusly adopted the name by which she would be known for over a hundred years. She invited several architects to send her proposals for renovations, but ultimately hired a Mr. McAlistair for the job. Renovations began in September, and were completed by 1807 CE. Then arrangements were made to transport Marshal's coffin from Temple Church to Ashbury Castle.

Once he was settled, she resumed traveling Europe -- this time with an eye for opportunities for charity and to enrich the lives of others, rather than to end them. In 1865 CE, she proposed opening an orphanage to Countess Alexandria Summerset. The orphanage opened in London's West End. She also opened Pembroke Hospital in the East End. In between her various travels, she would visit and care for Marshal -- feeding him her own blood for sustenance.

In 1901 CE, Elisabeth adopted a ten-year old girl named Charlotte from the orphanage and began raising her as her own daughter. Though Charlotte had suspicions, Elisabeth did not confide her true nature to the girl until 1907 CE. Around this time, Elisabeth made the acquaintance of Dr. Edgar Swansea who was working at a sanatorium in Scotland. She invited him to become the administrator of Pembroke Hospital in 1909 CE.

Swansea and Elisabeth worked out an agreeable deal -- she could feed on dying patients, and he would experiment to find ways to cure of her insatiable hunger for blood. Neither was aware that she was still infected with the Blood of Hate, but merely asymptomatic. As such, Swansea could not foresee the consequences when he began using samples of her blood on patients infected with the Spanish flu in the summer of 1918 CE. He transfused her blood into Harriet Jones, who spread the infection to her daughter Doris Fletcher and soon a new epidemic was born.

## Source

Elisabeth Ashbury is derived from *Vampyr*.