Legal Name: Albert Luther
Nickname(s): Saul Beorhtnoth, Saul the Bloodthirsty, Dyne Argosax, Dyne the Merciless, Lord William, Elder One, Old One, Doctor Michaelangelo Luther, The Shadow.
Power/Skills/Training:
Vampirism, albeit one of the older strains where the victim retains the age they were at upon infection.
Master Swordsman, capable of wielding any blade with skill.
Master Marksman in all aspects, capable of using bows, crossbows, firearms and so on with precise and deadly accuracy.
Fluency in numerous languages.
Limited ability to 'resist' hormones induced by the thirst, unlike younger vampires. This doesn't mean he can stop drinking blood, it just means he can ignore the bloodlust and hormones induced by the need to feed for a little longer since he's older.
Can play the piano, lute and guitar with notable skill. He can also play other instruments with lesser degrees of success.
Equipment:
A variety of antique blades and firearms that have been kept in mint condition.
Vast wealth and resources at his disposal as CEO of Xerith Industries.
Owns a pair of portal gates that are linked between the New York and London Headquarters. (This is debatable, it's up to you on whether this is alright or not.
Personal VTOL craft.
Appearance:
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Hazel
Height: 5'11
Build: Average
Clothes:
Date of Birth:
990 AD
Race/Gender:
Human - Male
History:
Born into Nobility in Anglo-Saxon Britain as Saul Beorhtnoth, Luther went on to become a Knight and had prepared to fight for the Danes at Assandun. However, on the night before the battle Luther entered a tent being used for the interrogation of a captured enemy scout, and then proceeded to steal and don the captured scout's armour as a disguise, then slipped out of the camp with the scout's stolen horse, travelling several miles to the West before eventually discovering the location of the enemy camp. Approaching the camp, he was able to decieve the soldiers standing guard at the entrance by claiming that he had been taken prisoner by the Danes but had managed to escape in addition to gaining information on their camp. Believing his story, the guards allowed him to enter the camp, where he again used the same story to gain access the Commanders' Tent, where he fed the Commanders false information on the Danes, claiming their camp was a mile from it's actual position and that their soldiers were 'untrained, undisciplined peasants' who's numbers were rather underwhelming. He believed that this would lead to the enemy becoming overconfident and unprepared in addition to travelling in the wrong direction, allowing the Danes to catch them off-guard by flanking them. Luther slipped into the General's personal field tent as he slept, then proceeded to slit the General's throat with a dagger, leaving behind evidence which implicated several of the General's Knights in his murder, including the bloody dagger which he left beside one of the Knights as they slept.
Quickly departing from the camp, he rode back to the camp of the Danes where he informed his Commanders of his actions and where the enemy would be headed, earning him significant praise and the title of 'Man of the Hour' the following morning before the battle. When they rode forth, the Danes were able to flank the enemy, who were also in low morale due to the 'treachery' behind the General's murder and unprepared for such a powerful force. Luther fought well in the battle, and killed a good number of enemies before he found himself surrounded. Then, he managed to fight off a group of five lance wielding soldiers despite beginning to suffer from the effects of exhaustion, killing four of them before the final one lanced him in the abdomen, only to be viciously beheaded with a heavy strike from the mortally wounded Luther's blade, and the battle was soon won.
As he lay dying in a field tent following the battle, he was approached by 'Xerith', a mysterious individual posing as a surgeon. Xerith, impressed by Luther's actions after secretley following the noblemen the previous night, then hearing of his exploits in battle despite odds being unfavourable, offered to save Luther's life by turning him into a vampire, and Luther was quick to accept the offer. Almost imediately, Xerith leaned over the dying Noble and bit into his neck, feeding on him before walking away, leaving Luther to fall into unconsciousness. During the night, Luther awoke from his unconsciousness, his wounds healed and a strange thirst for blood upon him. Quickly exiting his tent, he soon began to slip into the other tents across the camp and brutally slaughtered the soldiers within them, viciously satiating his thirst by tearing into their necks and feeding on their blood. It was only after most of the camp's inhabitants were completely drained of blood that he was approached by Xerith, who was rather impressed at how the 'newborn' Luther had managed to wipe out most of the camp in order to satiate the thirst and the bloodlust he'd experienced due to the circumstances of the change.
Luther and Xerith formed a close bond, the former becoming the student whilst the latter was the teacher. Luther soon learned that Xerith was one of the Old Ones, Vampires who had lived for very long periods of time. He claimed to have been alive since the time of the Roman Empire and have laid eyes upon notable figures such as Jesus Christ, Galen, Muhammad and Saint Patrick. Travelling across Europe over the next century, Luther and Xerith began a spree of killings in which entire families would be slaughtered in order to satiate their thirst, gaining them significant notoriety amongst the vampire community. Xerith soon voiced his intent to amass a large sum of wealth and form an empire for vampires, with Luther at his side, as he had selected him to be his protégé as most of the Old Ones had.
This would not last however, as Xerith, whilst one of the Old Ones, was not exempt from death, and found himself ambushed and outnumbered by a large group of well prepared vampire hunters whilst Luther had been gathering up the valuables belonging to a wealthy household who's inhabitants the two had only recently fed upon. When Luther returned for his mentor, he found only a decapitated body with several crossbow bolts embedded within it, whilst the hunters had departed with their grisly trophy. Furious and yet grieving over Xerith's murder, he swore to exact retribution upon the hunters, succeeding after spending two decades tracking each and every last man down, severing the head of each of the hunters and leaving it outside their homes as a warning to those who dared to incur his wrath. Yet Xerith's head was lost. Alone, Luther mourned the loss of his closest friend and returned to Britain, where he assumed the name of 'Dyne Argosax' and quickly made his way through the ranks of the nobility until he attained the rank of 'Lord', gaining his own household and a number of servants whilst the people under his rule grew to respect yet fear him. Often when he rode out on horseback and peasants that looked upon him with anything but respect were brutally flayed, anchoring his common nickname 'Dyne the Merciless'. A few decades later and he moved on, changing personas several times so as not to cause suspicion and reveal himself as a vampire. Several times he was a Knight, a Merchant and on one occasion became a Baron, eventually leaving Britain once again to embark upon the Crusades and visit the Middle East, hoping to bring back valuable treasures and 'recruit' some new vampires in order to help spread the disease across the region.
Early on in the 15th Century, Luther found himself trapped within a French Monastery by a group of Monks, who proceeded to subject him to a variety of tortures in order to 'cleanse' him of his 'sins', his regeneration only prolonging his suffering. Eventually after several months, one of the monks approached him and asked if he would repent his sins, only for Luther to tear out his throat and use the body as a shield against the crossbow wielding Knights who guarded the exit. This left him with a general fear of the cross, as it often reminded him of the tortorous ordeal. Over the next two centuries, he began to amass more wealth and also infected numerous people with his 'old' strain of the disease and stated that he would call upon them when the time came, intent on forming his own 'empire' of sorts to continue Xerith's original plans. Asia was a place where he spent a considerable amount of time, and he also visited Japan in secret so that he could spread the disease to the isolated counry and on a lesser note, he also took interest in the Samurai, who he respected and admired.
Then, in the later half of the 17th century he decided to travel to the New World, intend on cementing his place there whilst the opportunity existed. Departing on a ship with many others, he remained within the lower decks
alongside a few of his 'recruits' he deemed to have proven themselves worthy enough to join him. Having arrived at the Province of New York, he soon had a manor constructed using his vast wealth and funds and assumed the identity of 'Lord William Luther', the first name inspired by William Shakespeare who's plays Luther had enjoyed watching. Whilst retaining the surname of Luther, he would change his first name every few decades or so in order to avoid being outed as a vampire, though he continued to spread the disease by having his 'agents' infect others. Fortunately his manor survived the Revolutionary War and he retained most of his estate by 'defecting' to the Revolutionaries as the British lost control over New York. Soon, he started up a shipping business which eventually developed into an international company known as 'Xerith Industries'.
By the twentieth century, Luther had begun to take an even more active role in the 'politics' of the vampire underworld, using his position on the council as a method of keeping the younger vampires in line out of both respect and fear. His view on humanity had also begun to change as he lived through the entirety of two World Wars and the many lives lost in both, finding himself to be disgusted with yet pitiful of humanity to the point that he'd sent in a few of his agents into concentration and prisoner of war camps to try and free the prisoners or put them out of their misery through a quick, painless death. And as vampires gained more attention in the public's eye in the wake of both World Wars, he did what he could to cover up any incidents which would result in damaging the reputation of the vampire species, often planting evidence at crime scenes, bribing or 'replacing' coroners with his own agents and submitting false reports to the media which would divert the blame towards other individuals and groups.
And by the beginning of the 21st Century, Luther had become convinced that if allowed to continue, Humans would bring about their own destruction and with it, the rest of the species upon the planet. He believed that whilst Humans didn't need or deserve to be destroyed, they needed to be controlled and kept in line for their own good, to protect them from themselves and others. As per usual, he changed his first name to 'Albert' in 2001 in order to keep up the facade of being human, and since then he's been maintaining the same identity.
Legal Status:
CEO of Xerith Industries.
No criminal record.
U.S Born Citizen.
U.K Citizenship.
Possesses three vehicular licenses: Driving, Boating and Piloting.