Erik

Erik is a French Nosferatu who accidentally came to global fame due to his inspiration of the title character in the novel *The Phantom of the Opera* by Gaston Leroux. He currently resides in the warrens of Hollywood, after a century and a half of torpor.

## Mortal Life

Erik was born into modest means, the only child of a woman whose carpenter husband died while she was still pregnant. He was born with significant facial deformities that, in a later age, would probably have been fixable. In his own age, however, his mother rejected him and forced him into a mask. Her neglect caused the young Erik to wander from home, and he became more familiar with the wildlife of Rouen than people. The sleepy village, after all, was no kinder to young Erik than his mother had been. His only comfort was the music from the church every Sunday, which bewitched him into lingering closer to the building.

At a young age, a teenage Erik ran away from home. It wasn't long after his flight that he fell in with what he believed to be a traveling Romani circus. Introducing himself by his chosen name for the first time, he easily slotted into the role of a laborer. It wasn't long until the "ringmaster" sensed promise in him and took him under his wing. The ringmaster was looking for an apprentice, and taught Erik everything he knew of magic. Erik had no idea that everyone in the circus - save himself - was already dead.

## Time in the Circus

The circus crisscrossed Europe as Erik grew to manhood. By the time he was a man grown, the ringmaster revealed that he had landed them all an opportunity - to perform in the court of the Shah of Persia. It would be lucrative - they would all be wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. The journey was arduous - the circus's wagons were old, and could only support the weight of perhaps half the crew at one time while in motion. The requirement that they travel only at night was a strange limitation, particularly when combined with their never eating where Erik could see them. It wasn't long until he found out why.

One night, Erik decided he was going to solve this mystery. He pretended an illness, and headed to bed much earlier than usual. Then, once they were sure Erik was asleep, he followed the circus into town - into a local tavern on the edge of Turkey. What he saw inside was - disturbing. Inside the tavern was a bacchanal of disturbing proportions. Blood flowed like wine from goblets; still-living bodies were lashed to the tables and walls, barely conscious. Men and women in the clothing of aristocrats laughed and toasted his ringmaster, the "king" of the feast.

Erik fled, nauseous with the sight. But his presence was not missed. The following night, Erik was inducted into the circus proper, with the first taste of Kindred blood. By the time they had reached Persia, Erik was bound in service.

## Persia

After his ghouling, Erik soon learned that the "job" was an excuse to reconnect with the vampires that held court in Persia, parallel to the Shah. The Ravnos circus was, in truth, a band of spies sent by the Banu Haqim to keep an eye on the Kindred of Europe. After they had recuperated and prepared for another long journey, the circus would make a pilgrimage back to their home in India.

Erik had no great love for Europe, but the idea of traveling all the way to India wasn't exactly a pleasant one. In fact, Erik had begun to make a name for himself among the Banu Haqim with his great skill at illusions and trickery. And, after all, weren't the Banu Haqim about to be down a spy or two? Maybe circus work wasn't for him, after all.

His pitch to the ringmaster succeeded, and Erik was "sold" to the Banu Haqim. In Persia, Erik refined his skills from magician, to agent, to assassin. He could move where the Banu Haqim could not - in broad daylight - and move as though he were always shrouded in shadow. While under the Banu Haqim, Erik's handler was a vampire named Nadir Khan who would give his instructions and blood, and keep him "on task". This proved to be a difficult job, as Erik was wont to roam around and cause all kinds of chaos for the sheer sadistic thrill of it. Despite the tension that came from being "managed", Erik and Nadir grew closer and closer. Erik had never had anything like a friend before, and Nadir saw a man who could transcend his base impulses to become something better. It was through Nadir that Erik began to study music seriously - albeit in his free time.

Erik was a masterful assassin and worker of the shadows, combining practical magic with a nascent talent in Chimestry that he had learned during his time as a Ravnos ghoul. That talent did not go unnoticed by his employer's enemies. One night, barely an hour after the sun set over Persia, Erik returned home from a job. He never made it back to his dwelling.