Law Sangrecost

Law Sangrecost is a neo-ressurectionist living in the the Institute of the Grotesquerie. He works under the supervision of the Veiled Senate and aims to discover how to link souls and vessels together in a way that doesn't merely create possession, but rather, *true life.* He is associated with the Godsbane and also lives with Ophelia, his first partially-successful "revival" who acts as his bodyguard.

## History

In his past life, he was a murderer obsessed with gaining vampiric immortality through bloodshed. Though in his next life he succeeded in gaining vampiricism, his reborn soul was banished to the Abyss by the grim reapers for eternal torture until his soul is destroyed
thoroughly enough to rebalance the world after the chaos his past self had left
behind. A miracle comes in the form of Caspar, who is allowed to rescue him from his doomed fate for a second chance.

He is quickly adopted by Laohua and
Elenore (members of the Sangrecost coven of vampires), an Oppenheimer professor and restaurant owner respectively. He took quickly to bloodworking magic but
was often unable to get along with other vampires his age from the symbol of
his past life's wrongdoings permanently etched on his cheek and the bloodworkers'
feud with the necromancers. For most of his younger years, his main friend was
Caspar.

He possessed high ambitions for the
marked son of a rundown clan of vampires, aiming to become a professional
bloodworker by entering the heated, corrupted competition for a spot at the
most prestigious medical institution in the Arcane Compass, one held in a
dangerous location suspended at the heart of the Grey Plague. At age 17, he
manages to somehow be accepted (presumably through not entirely honest means). Here,
he finds a temporary home for a time, surrounded by what seemed to be
like-minded people with similar stigmas attached to them, but ultimately becomes disenchanted with the supposed medical elite, doubting whether or not
becoming a bloodworker would actually help the world. One particular incident
directly catalyzes him leaving the institute: during a routine exam, he
discovers his once natural affinity for healing was being slowly overtaken by a darker, more powerful magic: necromancy.

News from home quickly arrived afterwards: death itself was destabilizing, the necromancer prince (Caspar) had
allegedly committed suicide, and a war between the bloodworkers, the
necromancers, and the spiritualists erupted for control of the city's ultimate
source of magic, the Stroldrum Engine. Law sides with only his supposedly-dead friend, who he believes was murdered, or maybe, not even entirely dead. The fact he's able to use wield a vague form of necromancy now is proof: if Caspar was truly dead, his magic would've been passed down to another vessel, not left to vaguely linger in the bodies of those Caspar had helped revive. Law manages to convince members of the Veiled Senate of this theory, however the only way the Senate will offer protection for Caspar's body is if Law agrees to enlist the partial, transferred necromancy he now wields for the sinister aims of the infamous Institute of the Grotesquerie.

## Personality

Law possesses extreme guilt about his past lives, a fact the other members of his community never failed to point out. He has a vicious cycle of wielding lofty aspirations to make up for his shortcomings but always falling short of the desired result. He finds himself eternally as an impostor, a pale imitation of his goals, his family, and, with the partial transfer of power, even Caspar.

When he was younger, he believed the world he'd been reborn into would be one where anyone could benefit just by obeying rules and being merciful, the kind of mercy he'd been shown despite not having yet done anything to deserve it. He quickly learned that the opposite was true: the only way for someone like him to achieve a goal, no matter how noble, it would require deceit and trickery. He no longer believes in some grand, noble goal of saving the world; idealism doesn't fit his image. Selfishly risking everything to protect the ones he loves most and repaying for any past pain he's caused are the only things that matter, because the only absolutes are those close to him and his debts, not abstract ideals.

He tends to flaunt his ego as often as he can, extreme egotism making an easy facade to cover up his shortcomings and inexperience. He doesn't have Caspar's natural talent and calm charm, or Avaselm's confident manipulation and casual detachment, so asserting his presence into every room he enters can at least give the impression he believes every word that leaves his mouth, and that his entire personality isn't made of stolen, stitched-together parts of the people he's admired.

Law does have a genuine love for ambition, competition, and achievement. Any opportunity for learning he accepts eagerly, thriving off of attention and the thrill of being given empirical proof of being better than others and therefore, empirical proof of his own worth. This evolved most likely as a rejection of his younger self's disillusioned need for acceptance, which he could only ever find with his parents or with the Nostracruxs, both now being torn from him by the endless feud for magic.

He tends to be callous and sometimes outright bad-tempered with strangers (particularly the elite) and receives criticism by sending scathing criticism back. He effectively disrespects authority, taught by Laohua to question everything and everyone and the malleability of rules. His favorite things are medical science, success, esoteric art pieces, food, Caspar, his parents, and being proven right.