A Closer Look
-
"None of us really changes over time; we only become more fully what we are."
― Anne Rice, The Queen of the Damned
VICTOR
Masculine | victor, conqueror | Late Roman
ARMATI
Surname | armed, armoured, equipped | Italian -
B a s i c s
◖BIRTH NAME◗
Victor Armati, though he goes by Armitage now. It fits better.
◖NICKNAME◗
He has had his fair share of aliases, but Victor is the same name he was given by his parents centuries ago.
◖BIRTH DATE◗
He has chosen September 13th as his birthday, being one of the first dates he actually remembers.
◖AGE◗
Around 950, that's his best guess.
◖ZODIAC◗
His chosen zodiac is Virgo.
◖NATIONALITY◗
Roman.
◖OCCUPATION◗
He's a traveller, putting on a persona every new place, though it's quite often the rich mystery man. He was once a soldier and a crusader, but that's from a forgotten past.
◖RESIDENCE◗
He has a few residences around the globe and he often acquires new places, some for good, some to stay in briefly and sell quickly.
◖RACE◗
Vampire.
◖HEIGHT◗
1,88 m.
◖BODY TYPE◗
Muscular, physically fit, athletic.
◖EYES◗
Beautifully blue. This is his original eye colour, sustained by his diet, though it does change because of exactly the same reason.
◖HAIR◗
His original hair colour is blonde and it's curly by nature, but he has a habit of colouring it from time to time.
◖COMPLEXION◗
Pale.
◖TATTOOS◗
None.
◖SCARS◗
Plenty from his human life, mainly from blades, while the two marks on his neck is the most recent, even if they're ancient too.
◖HANDEDNESS◗
Ambidextrous.
◖SEXUALITY◗
It's rather fluid, he takes what he wants, though he has a slight preference for men.
◖RELATIONSHIP STATUS◗
He sleeps around.
◖STRENGTHS◗
Fighting and physical labour, sword fighting in particular, horseback riding, staying hidden, logistics and secrecy, adapting, languages, seeing through people, his physical strength is in general one of his fortes, using his body, dancing, hunting, weapons.
◖WEAKNESSES◗
Emotions, his own humanity, Feyre, wounded animals, though he normally just puts them out of their misery, his lost past.
◖LIKES◗
His sword, walks and horseback riding, the ocean, olive groves and nature in general, travelling, a fresh summer breeze, nice clothes and expensive surroundings, churches, mosaic windows, Feyre.
◖DISLIKES◗
Most strong, crass scents, large crowds, because they're often loud and obnoxious, modern technology, surveillance, nosy people, religion.
◖FACECLAIM◗
Tom Hiddleston.
-
B a c k g r o u n d
"I am the monster that breathing men would kill."
― Bram Stoker
THE CRUSADER
WHO LOST HIS HUMANITY
________________
Victor Armati was, probably, born towards the late part of the 11th century somewhere in Italy. How things came to be, he is not completely aware of, but he knows that he took part in the first crusades as a young man, believing so strongly in the cause, in God, that he sought to take back the Holy Land from the muslims. He might not remember much from this life, neither where he was born, who his parents were, or whether he was married or not, but he remembers the feeling; the feeling of such a belief in something greater than himself that he was willing to sacrifice himself, even to the point of taking the life of others. He believe that he was a soldier before, that he was well-trained, strong, even if he was probably just a normal soldier, part of the mass, when he was killed. His death, too, he remembers very little of, but still to this day he has a long scar along his inner thigh, which had probably been exposed due to a malfunction of his armour, though he will never know. He knows not what happened in the moments after the wound, but he knows that someone took him. This person he would later know to be Afan, the man who transformed him. He asked him multiple times why, even how he died, how he came across his body to make sense of the thoughts that came through his mind when he laid his eyes on a dying enemy, himself being an immortal. Victor remembers little of his turning period, only that it took a while for his body to get used to suddenly being alive yet again, yet also undead: An abomination, not only to man, but to God. He should have died and yet he woke up gasping in the dark, covered in blood, but not his own.
Victor would stay with Afan for quite some time before he had to move on. He was lucky enough to having his turner actually care for his recovery and adaption into his new life as a vampire, but their paths were bound to separate. He ended up travelling, wandering aimlessly, because what else could he do? He had not come to terms with his humanity being stolen in the time spent with Afan, even if he had answered everything as well as he could, but his faith had also been taken away. He wanted to believe in God, but he couldn't because of the creature he had become. It simply felt wrong, him being ungodly. No one should be able to rise again except Jesus himself and he was no longer a son of god, having to kill and consume blood to stay alive. He had taken lives together with Afan and also did so on his own when needed to, but he sustained himself mainly by animals. In general, he did all he could to maintain the little humanity he felt he had left, such as keeping his diet quite human, but also not turning of his emotions, something he was told about and briefly tried, but as soon as he came back to himself, he determined that he would never do so: These stronger emotions flowing through him was the least punishment he could put on himself eternally. He spent time learning as much as he could, even earning well on the skills he had and acquired along the way. He struggled, still, hating his very being, but it helped when he in a fatal moment chose to enter a church, believing in the lore stating that vampires cannot enter a church without combusting, only to find out that he indeed could enter it without as much as feeling a burning sensation, not even an itch. It was both devastating and liberating; he could find comfort in the church again, but he also had to acknowledge that either God accepted him as an undead, or else there was no such thing as God, and unfortunately he leaned towards the latter. It was comforting almost, sitting in a church again and looking up towards the altar, quietly, knowing that no god was listening and never had. His former life was pointless, but so was eternity, it was all meaningless and yet he lived.
After wandering for a long time, Victor found Feyre in Paris, a young, dying girl. It was fateful, finding such a partner on a coincidence, platonic, but for life. Solitude had been pleasant, another accurate punishment for his crimes against the order of life, but he saw something in Feyre. He had never wanted to turn someone else, never wanted to put anyone through what he was going through, but he did not regret brining her along anyway. It somehow made eternity more bearable, having someone so much younger and definitely more accepting of her fate close to you. He was forced into situations he would never have entered himself if she had not been there, and while some of them he could have been without, there was little regret in him. Even his past became less unbearable with her, feeling a parental protection towards her which somehow made him feel slightly more human. During the centuries, he did help others briefly, never turning another, but simply extending his power and knowledge to those weaker than him, which most undoubtedly were, never meeting anyone else older, and therefore stronger, than him. He knew they existed, such as Afan, but he cared little about such details. With time, he has come slightly to terms with his life, or lack thereof, not caring too much about the existence of others, instead focusing more on sustaining himself and Feyre, keeping them hidden and safe, away from harm. He wanders, but no longer alone, and he finds that to be sufficient enough.
-
C o r e t r a i t s
"Let the flesh instruct the mind."
― Anne Rice
○ B E N U M B E D
adj. | be·numb·ed
Lacking in sensation or feeling. Victor might not turn off his emotions, but centuries of these strong feelings have made him somewhat numbed. He might feel everything to a more intense degree than humans, even to most vampires, especially those who turn off their humanity, but the overwhelming sensation has made him used to it. It is part of the eternal punishment he has given himself, even if there truly is no godly figures, and he has no intention of making this numbness that of an unnatural one by turning them off. He feels tired, though, from all of it, and sometimes the numbness reaches so far within him that he just stays in, but he has the time to do nothing at all for long periods of time; and as soon as he's done taking it all in, he's back. He might be severely self-punishing, but he still maintains a will to live, even a life as an undead.○ C A U T I O U S
adj. | cau·tious
Having or showing a close attentiveness to avoiding danger or trouble. Victor has learnt to become incredibly cautious. He watches out for himself and those he cares about by watching his surroundings and taking on skills that will keep them hidden. This means that he has to stay on top of modern society, at least enough to be able to follow along and avoid risks such as surveillance, police, and technology in general: They should leave as few steps as possible and he is pretty good at making sure of that. He has never been caught in all of the time he has been alive, and even if they have been close, he has always been far enough ahead. He's a good judge of character and sees easily through schemes, so the odds of him disappearing with Feyre long before anyone catches their scent is quite high. He is much calmer living like this, especially since he has to be cautious for two as Feyre cannot be described as the most cautious of all.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔○ C A R I N G
adj. | car·ing
Having or showing concern for the well-being of others. Both a benefit and a hinderance of his humanity, Victor cares a lot. It's not a care that's extended to everyone. He doesn't usually care that much for humans, just enough to not wanting to hunt them for food. He cares about those who are important to him, but even if those are few, he would go great lengths to help them. He has had a bad habit with helping the wounded, even if it's by putting them out of their misery, but he does not want others to suffer. Feyre is the only one he has taken in completely, but there have been other lost souls where he has helped out, not necessarily to show them their path in life ― how could he do so when he knows not his own ― but to give them a bit of stability. Feyre is the only one he truly cares about, but he cannot help but briefly care about a lost one or two as well along the way.○ T O U G H E N E D
adj. | tough·en·ed
Able to withstand hardship, strain, or exposure. The numbness has also led Victor to become rather tough, physically and mentally. He was strong as a human, at least he'd like to think that he was physically quite capable especially since he is rather strong as a vampire, not only because of his age; but he is definitely a strong vampire. He can take a lot on in many different senses without breaking, being used to both mental and physical anguish. Because of this, he might seem like someone incapable of getting close to; he allowed Feyre to get past all of it, but he has no intention of letting anyone else do so, but he's not completely incapable, he just doesn't want it. He finds his company of Feyre sufficient and others he keeps at an arm's length, even those who might think that they're getting close. It takes a lot to break him in any sense. -
A b i l i t i e s
V A M P I R E
"If there's one thing real vampires seem to have in common, it is their reluctance to tell the world about who, and what, they are."
― Kim Wall
Vampires are magically reanimated human corpses which are inhabited by the spirits of the deceased person and who closely resemble the living human they were before their transformation. Vampires feed and survive on the blood of the living, typically on that of humans, and they can also transform other humans into more of their kind by sharing their own blood with them. The supernatural forces that sustain vampires also endow them with superhuman physical abilities as well as powers of mind control. Their physical abilities such as strength, speed, agility, durability, healing and senses all grow stronger with age and experience.
|Super strength, speed, agility & durability|
Vampires are noticeably much stronger than immortals and humans and slowly grow stronger as they grow older. Even new vampires who are still in transition can toss an average-size, fully-grown human across a room with great speed and force. Their other feats include single-handedly lifting grown men high off the ground by the throat and snapping their necks, cutting off a person's head with their bare hands, and ripping out internal organs such as hearts with little to no effort. Their strength is also more powerful than that of werewolves in their human form and, depending on the age of the vampire, can be equal to that of Evolved werewolves. Their strength allows them to jump higher and further than any natural creature. Vampires who feed on humans are stronger than those who feed on animal blood.
Vampires are much faster than various other human and supernatural beings such as supernatural hunters, immortals, and werewolves in human form. Vampires can accelerate their movements to cover short distances in an instant, usually faster than the human eye can see. When running across long distances, they appear as vibrating blurs of motion allowing them to appear or vanish quickly and quietly. Their reflexes and dexterity are similarly heightened, allowing them to catch certain projectiles such as arrows and thrown stakes in the air with ease.
Vampires possess super-human agility, such that they can react quickly, jump very high, climb, and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion.
Vampires can take a great amount of physical damage without being slowed down. Even vampires who have been shot with wooden bullets, which have a weakening effect on vampires, have been seen to continue fighting so long as they were not shot in the heart or the head. Vampires still react to physical force in a human manner, particularly young vampires, who will occasionally be affected even by human-strength-level force. Vampires can also still be stunned and dazed by strikes and trauma, though their tolerance for it will increase as they get older.
|Super senses|
Vampires have extremely keen senses of hearing, sight, smell, and taste that far exceed those of humans and werewolves. They can hear whispered conversations, even ones in far of buildings and on phones, though most vampires typically learn how to tune out most ambient noises when it's not necessary to hear them—which explains why they can occasionally miss auditory warnings, such as the footsteps of approaching enemies, when they're paying attention to other things. Vampires can also smell blood from several meters away, and see in total darkness. Their senses of taste are also enhanced as well, allowing them to detect the presence of drugs, alcohol, or vervain in someone's blood.
|Immortality & healing|
A vampire stops aging once turned. Upon their transformation, vampires become immune to all conventional illness, diseases, viruses and infections. Vampires recover tissue from any form of physical damage to their bodies within seconds to minutes, though they still feel the pain of a wound before it heals. Vampires can snap their bones back into place after they have been broken and have been seen to fully recover from gunshots, stab wounds, and torso impalement very quickly, so long as they had consumed a regular diet of human blood prior to the injury. Those vampires who feed on animals will still heal much faster than a human, but their injuries, especially severe ones, will take much longer to heal than a vampire who feeds on human blood. The only injury a vampire can sustain that cannot be healed on its own or by consuming more blood is a werewolf bite. Also, a vampire's enhanced healing is limited to physical damage to their bodies—many forms of magical damage and psychological damage are beyond its capability. Vampires cannot grow back body parts, though they can reattach the severed limb with some effort.
-
S i g n a t u r e
