Aruziel Vlorain

Appearance:

Slightly shorter than average, he has a sleek, agile frame. His muscles were once toned and conditioned, but are now sinewy and coarded. His pale skin is scarred and contains many open wounds. At any given time, his skin can become slightly more tanned and healthy looking, or his canines may be slightly elongated and his eyes may gleam with a red tint.

He is malnourished and thin, though the hints of past definition of his muscles hint at his strength and prowess. Long, wispy black hair hangs in clumps from his head and into his face. His eyes are a dull blue and are often glassy and glazed over, half shut. He will often shake, wrapping his arms around him, and stare off into space. His breathing is sometimes labored, and comes in unstable gasps.

Background:

Thousands of years ago, a dark hoard spread across the land. Vile creatures of every nature united underneath the vampire lords, and terrorized the peoples of the world. Lord Diavolo, leader of the nosferatu, seemed unstoppable. His hairless head, wrapped in brown-red skin, contained eyes so full of malice and evil that even valiant men whimpered at his feet, and begged for mercy before he tore into them with his dreadful talons of fingers.

One man arose from the masses willing to fight this evil. Aruziel Vlorain was not anything out of the ordinary prior to the slaughters, other than a driven and talented warrior, but the death of his parents, and their resurrection as vampyre, solidified his resolve to rid the world of the grave menace.

He inspired followers, and led a counterattack against the hordes, driving them back to their caves, dens, and finally, the Bloody Keep of Lord Diavolo. Possesed by vengeance and righteousness, Aruziel met the vampire in an epic struggle. The two battled for hours to a stalemate. To rid the world of the enemy, Vlorain commanded his mages to cast a spell upon the vampire and himself, causing both to fall into eternal slumber. Should one ever awaken, then so too shall the other. Aruziel saw this as a way to ensure that, should Diavolo ever return, he would be there to confront him again.

Thousands of years later, an evil cult reanimates the Wretched Lord. As per the dictation of the spell, Aruziel too is awakened. The two meet in combat again, but without the support of his minions, Diavolo is outmatched. With his dying breath, he altered the spell connecting the two, and then he died. Aruziel thought the menace was gone.

Then he began seeing the monster in his dreams. The nightmares grew in frequency until the vampire was visiting him on a nightly basis. Then, one day, Diavolo approached Auziel during his waking hours. The vampire had manipulated the connection spell between the two, and was now continuing to exist in the mind of his nemesis. As he grew in power, the nosferatu was able to appear more and more often, and stay for longer periods of time. Aruziel attempted exorcisims, cures, and even suicide, but the vampire would not allow himself to be purged or his host to end his own life.

Then, after a year of growing in power, Diavolo came to a point the truly frightened Aruziel. The human was arguing with what he thought to be the spectre of the vampire, and drew his knife. He attempted to stab Diavolo, as he could affect the vampire with corporeal items (thought effects were not permanent), but the Lord disappeared before the blade landed. The knife stuck into a table, and Aruziel began to walk away. Then, the knife whizzed past his head and stuck into the door inched from his ear. The vampire had managed to become the corporeal entity for a short time.

Aruziel realized the dire consequences of this achievement, and took immediate action. He took himself to the House of the Abbot, a round, one room observatory on the top of the tallest mountain in the land. There was no way out, and the only way in was through a secret one-way magical portal. Magics in the House provided for meager nourishment and comforts, but Aruziel chained himself to the floor.

Soon, though, the vampire was able to take control and muster the strength to break the chains. After nearly a decade in the House, Aruziel has control most of the time, but can never tell when Diavolo will manage to take over. He intentionally starves himself to keep the body they share weak. Diavolo can now appear at will, and the two will argue and fight literally for days.

What scares Aruziel the most, however, is that with each passing month the vampire seems to be gaining power. The periods where Diavolo seems to control the corporeal and Aruziel become the spectre seem to be occuring more often and for longer periods.

Roleplaying Notes:

Though he would be very hard to reach, and potentially dangerous once he is, Aruziel contains a wealth of knowledge. He could perhaps be the only one who knows information the players need to know about something from centuries upon centuries in the past, which was Aruziel's original time. Or, perhaps the demon hordes are attempting to muster again, and are slowing making progress in reaching the body that contains their Lord. It could even be that the players must seek Aruziel to end his suffering and ensure that Diavolo never returns.

Only Azuriel can see Diavolo, and only he can hear the vampire speak. When the two fight and argue, it looks like he is fighting thin air.