Clan Belmont: Vampire Hunters of Lore

The Belmont Clan are the world's leading authority on all things vampiric, supernatural and paranormal, both in terms of academic studies and combative field experience. While vampire hunters and monster slayers exist in every corner of the world, there are none as esteemed, or feared as the Belmonts.

## Clan Origins

The Belmont clan came into existence with its found Leon, a knight living in 11th century Romania who took the surname as his own, having come from a background as an orphan to an unnamed peasant family.

A revered figure within the clan and by any with knowledge of the existence of vampires, Leon was the first to wield the clan's legendary weapon the Vampire Killer, as well as the first to combat Dracula, who in reality was his former trusted friend, Mathias Cronqvist. While he fought off the vampire lord, he did not vanquish him, and swore that he and his descendants would live their lives rooting out and putting an end to him and all evil wherever it lay.

## **Notable Clan Members**

### **Leon Belmont (Circa 1096)**

The originator of the Belmont Clan. The first to wield the Vampire Killer and to combat Dracula. Once a Romanian knight in the service of his feudal lord, he abandoned his post and titles when his fiancée was kidnapped by the then vampire lord, Walter Bernhard.

### **Trevor Belmont (Circa 1476)**

The first Belmont to truly defeat Dracula. While Leon is given reverence as the clan's founder, it is Trevor who the Belmont's truly honor, for defeating not only the vampire lord, but Death itself. It was also Trevor's marriage to Sypha Belnades and their lineage that introduced magical ability into the Belmont bloodline.

### **Christopher Belmont (Circa 1591)**

Christopher was the Belmont heir during a period when cultists ran a dark ritual to bring Dracula back into the world. While Christopher succeeded in preventing Dracula's physical body from returning, the vampire lord's spirit lingered in secret and waited for 15 years, whereby it possessed Christopher's teenage son, Soleil. Christopher fought through hordes of Night Creatures and monsters and finally faced his son, ridding him of Dracula's spirit.

### **Soleil Belmont (Circa 1605)**

Once the vessel of Dracula himself, Soleil returned to the duty of the Belmont's soon after the breaking of Dracula's possession. Taking up the Vampire Killer and the training from his father, he scoured the known world for further threats, finding comfort from his dark past in the arms of a girl in France. While dedicated to his craft, his haunting by the possession of Dracula would forever mark him, stifling his true potential as the next in the Belmont bloodline.

## **Clan Treasures**

### **The Vampire Killer**

Without a doubt, the Belmont Clan's most recognised and prized possession. Originally a simple leather whip, the weapon was given to Leon Belmont is his quest to rescue his fiancée by Rinaldo Gandolfi, who had woven his alchemy into the whip. As Leon defeated more guardians of the castle, the whip was further infused with their souls, and eventually that or Sara's, allowing Leon to defeat the vampire lord Walter Bernhard. It has served the family for generations, having been used to fell all manner of threats, from Night Creatures to Dracula and Death itself. While Leon was excommunicated from the church for abandoning his duties as a knight, the Belmont clan was later reinstated, and the whip consecrated.

### **The Morning Star**

The Morning Star is a combination of a whip and a flail, first forged by one of Leon's descendants in the early medieval period. As with the Vampire Killer, it has been used to defeat countless evil creatures, and like the clan's signature whip, is also consecrated, making it fatal to all unholy creatures. Much heavier than the Vampire Killer however, it takes both strength and masterful skill to wield.

### **Leon's Longsword**

While not possessing any magical features or blessed by the church, Leon Belmont's longsword is a well preserved and iconic weapon in the Belmont's possession, currently stored within the old Belmont Hold.

### **Rajaputra**

A fascinating weapon, gifted to the Bellmont's from vampire hunters in India, the Rajaputra is a four-bladed circular weapon, able to be wielded as a slashing or throwing instrument, but as with any in the Belmont arsenal, must be wielded with the utmost skill to prevent harm to the user and those around them.

## **Clan Allies**

### **Alucard**

The oldest and most steadfast ally of the Belmont clan. The half-vampire son of Dracula and Lisa Tepes, he was one one of the trio alongside Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades who defeated his father and vanquished him from the world. One of the founders of Belmont village, he served as Trevor and Sypha's friend and advisor until their passing, and continues to look over the Belmont clan to this day. Though rarely in one place and like the Belmonts, committed to rooting out evil wherever he may find it, he can always be counted on to aid the clan when darkness falls upon them.

### **Belmont Village**

Located in Romania and founded by Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades and Alucard, the village of Belmont is built around the remains of Castlevania and the Belmont Hold, and has been home to several generations of Belmonts and their friends and family for centuries. Even by Belmonts not born within the village, it is considered somewhat of a pilgrimage to make, to return especially to their family's ancestral hold and the source of all their gained knowledge.

## **Clan Enemies**

### **Dracula and Vampirekind**

Though they a sworn to hunt all things evil, the Belmont clan specialise in the hunting and eradication of vampires. As such, vampirekind consider the Belmonts their greatest threat and enemy, and many vampires over the centuries have gone to great lengths to end the bloodline and protect their species in turn. While Dracula, the vampire lord, was defeated and destroyed in the late 15th century, the vampire menace remains prevalent and plentiful to this day, with a constant struggle between the species to replace Dracula as vampire lord.

### **The Church**

Although one would think the church and the Belmonts would be aligned in their joint aim to eradicate evil, the famed vampire hunting clan holds a rocky history with the preachers of God. When Leon Belmont abandoned his duties as a knight, he was excommunicated by the church and stripped of his titles and lands. The clan was later reinstated on grounds of aiding the clergy with their divine mission, however in the late 14th century, the Belmonts were used as a necessary scapegoat and accused of practicing dark magic and bringing misfortune upon the people, and excommunicated once more, with their reinstatement having never since been issued. With the rise of Protestantism across Europe, the views against the Belmonts have softened, yet the Catholic church remain clinging to their damnation of the clan.

## **Branch Clans**

### **Lecarde Clan**

The Lecarde clan were originally a family of magistrates from Spain, who were distantly related to the Belmont's. In the late 14th century, Alucard entrusted them with his spear, a legendary weapon made to compliment the Belmont's Vampire Killer, which the family have wielded ever since, serving as fellow hunters of vampires and supernatural beings.

#### **Eric Lecarde**

The first known wielder of the Alucard spear from the Lecarde clan. While his deeds did not carry as much weight as those of his relations, he neverthless served as a fierce vampire hunter.

### **Helsing Clan**

The Helsing clan are related to the Belmont's through marriage, with Trevor Belmont's eldest daughter Anna having married Leo Helsing, scion of a fellow vampire hunting clan.

#### **Leo Helsing**

Husband of Anna Belmont, Leo was a prominent hunter of vampires, trained by both his own father and Trevor, making him a deadly warrior and threat to all creatures of the night.