Dracula

## Description:

Vlad "Dracula" Tepes III, now known simply as Master/Lord/Prince/King Dracula or "Lord Impaler," is a Vampire King and Archmage of worldwide infamy, known for his godlike powers, title of the King of Vampires in Eastern Europe, and for his sadistic cruelty. Dracula is the Prince of Wallachia and a master of all things Magic, serving as a massive reservoir of information for occultists, mages, and Vampires alike.

Vlad Tepes III stands a head and shoulders above most mortal men, being approximately six (6) feet eight (8) inches tall and weighing almost two hundred and fifty (250) pounds. Like all Vampires, Dracula has deathly pale skin and red eyes which occasionally glow in the dark or when angry. He has shoulder length black hair and a black, perfectly kept goatee, and is estimated to be six hundred and seventy two (672) years of age as of the time of writing, making him one of the oldest active non-Adamic Vampires to exist.

Prior to his conversion to Vampirism, Vlad III was renowned for his seriousness and for his intellect which, when properly encouraged, proved a match for everyone who attempted to best him in matters of politics and military strategy; his social skills lacked, however, and it was for this reason that he fell out of favor with the nobility of his time. To compensate, Vlad III leveraged his intelligence and later his Vampiric immortality, eventually making him into the being he is today. In the modern Age of Many, Vlad III is a polymath, a person with an encyclopedic knowledge of multiple subjects; Dracula is an expert in linguistics, culture, theology, philosophy, history, Alchemy, Magic and the supernatural, Vampirism and Demonology, Lycanthropy, the anomalous and unnatural, and engineering. Dracula's experiments with steam power and electricity were centuries ahead of their time, and were responsible for much of the knowledge that would later be repeated by other great thinkers. Dracula's immense age and intense study has also brought him much wisdom, to such a degree that lesser Vampires will seek out the hermit Lord Impaler for advice or guidance. Dracula is accredited with much of the early modern philosophical writings which were adopted by the Cult of Sanguinity in the Sixteenth (16th) through Eighteenth (18th) Centuries, adding to Dracula's impressive additions to Vampire-kind and solidifying his legacy.

As stated previously, Dracula is responsible for many of the technological advancements which would thrust Europe in the Industrial Revolution, although his discoveries were made centuries before they were accepted by mankind. Dracula's encyclopedic knowledge, renowned library collection, and irreverence for religion allowed him to succeed where many small-minded humans failed. As such, Dracula continues to make use of the world's cutting edge of technology and hands in new patents and creates new inventions as one of his favorite pastimes. While Dracula himself prefers to use Magic to the "simple" ways of mankind, he recognizes technology's power and simply chooses not to use it where he does not have to; while his castle is lit with electricity, for instance, he does not have a need for firearms or personal computers.

Even more than his understanding of human technology is Dracula's comprehension of Magic. Rumors abound of Dracula's origins and the manner in which he received his early lessons in the arcane arts, although many stories involve either a deal with Satan, some other Demon, or his education with the [REDACTED] of the Ottoman Empire. Regardless, Dracula has accrued the combined Magical knowledge of a dozen Magic Colleges, either through personal attendance or by force, and has used his political influence to attract and learn from the world's greatest mystical minds since the mid-Sixteenth (16th) Century; this also makes Dracula one of the most reliable vessels of arcane knowledge over time, one of the few beings alive that has the privilege of seeing Magic evolve over the course of history. As an Archmage, Dracula is a master of all the Schools of Magic; in particular, however, Dracula received his name, the "son of the dragon" or "son of the devil," from both his father, and later for his absolute skill in Pyromancy. Despite being an Undead himself, Dracula is said to harbor a dislike of Necromancy and Hemomancy, with a preference for Evocation, Illusion, Transmutation, and Enchantment Magic. Innately, Dracula's existence as a Vampire King provides him a multitude of personal supernatural abilities which do not stem from his learned skills; he possesses potent shapeshifting powers, a natural authority over lesser Vampires and mortals alike, a connection to and control over wolves, bats, and some other creatures, etc.

Vlad III was the son of Vlad II, who also served as Prince of Wallachia multiple times throughout his life. Vlad III had a brother, name Radu "the handsome," who would go one to oppose Vlad III and take the throne of Wallachia from him during [REDACTED] on orders of the Ottoman Empire. Vlad III would marry two (2) women, the first of whom is unknown while the second was the cousin of a King of Hungary; Vlad III would then have three (3) children, all boys, the second of whom would die early in life. These children were born as Dhampyrs, according to JPCU records, as all were born after Vlad III became a Vampire.

### Personality:

During his mortal life, Vlad III wanted only to rule Wallachia with an iron fist; then, he wanted to get revenge on the Hungarians and Ottomans for their destruction of his small nation and their wars with each other; once he became involved in [REDACTED] and the [REDACTED] of the Ottoman Empire, Vlad III gave up his more ambitious political goals to follow in his father's footsteps within the Order of the Dragon and fight the supernatural, the [REDACTED] and the Ottomans. This would culminate in Vlad III choosing to sacrifice his humanity in order to continue his war, ultimately becoming Dracula Tepes early in his adult years. Once a Vampire King, Dracula's goals would shift over time until, eventually, he outlived most of his age-old enemies and the Ottoman Empire, resigning himself to continue his war on the supernatural and on God by maintaining his Vampire House; he sought to keep Vampires under control by imposing an order upon them, to prevent them from conquering humanity outright. In the modern age, Dracula's goals remain the same: accrue knowledge, rule over the Vampires of Eastern Europe, and continue to fight against the worse creatures which stalk the night.

Even in life, Vlad III was infamous for his unpredictable and sadistically cruel temperament, a trait which led to the deaths of thousands of people over the course of his mortal life and which resulted in the deaths of millions during his Undead one. However, as Vlad III would perpetuate his cruelty for two (2) reasons: maintaining his hold on power, and fighting against the supernatural. Even as Dracula, Vlad III would use his massacres and excessive punishments to hide the truth behind some of his acts of violence; for example, he used a claim of arrogance and irreverence to kill corrupt priests of the Catholic Church, and used financial scams to conceal the illegal Anomaly-selling activities of a group of local merchants. He gained his reputation for a reason, however; while his violence often focused on combatting forces worse than himself, he needed to act as evilly as he did in order to create a reputation worthy of being used as a cover. Unlike most Vampires, however, Dracula always had a method to his brutal madness; additionally, Dracula always had a disdain for liars and the dishonest, and tended to punish liars with even more sadistic joy than normal. Dracula's ego was inflated as a mortal, a fact which only worsened tenfold when he became a Vampire King; imbued with unholy power, Dracula would see himself as untouchable, a perspective which would slowly erode his once unwavering morals and corrupt his mind.

While a man to delight in the suffering of others who would drink the draining blood of his impaled victims, Dracula is and never was a hedonistic man. Even as a noble, he always cared for higher causes beyond himself, even after becoming a Vampire. His strong convictions prevented him from indulging in more depraved pleasures; while he lived/lives a life of luxury, Dracula has never seen pleasure as something to chase. Dracula's intelligence and worldliness has always led him to see hedonists as animals, an attitude which further harms his feelings towards other Vampires, most of whom lose their minds amidst their cravings for blood and slaughter.