Isaiah Blackbourne
Name: Isaiah Blackbourne
Age: 28
Race: Dhampir (born of a human mother and a vampire father)
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ft. 2 in.
Weight: 190 lbs.
Hair color: Predominantly black in the back, predominantly white in the front
Eye color: Dark brown, bordering on black
Occupation: Mercenary vampire hunter
Isaiah is an employee (under-the-table, of course) of the Church of England as a member of the small but elite hunter cell, Divina Malleus (“Divine Hammer”), and is one of three “special-operations” hunters under the direction of Bishop Nigel Mallory. The cell is stationed out of Arundel Castle, southwest of London, which the Archbishop of Canterbury personally appropriated for the group’s use.
Languages Spoken: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Latin
Tools of the Trade:
Acerbus (Bitter Dark or Bitter Gloom)
This obsidian sword is Isaiah’s favorite weapon in extended combat. The blade itself is crafted primarily of black obsidian, which creates an edge sharper than traditional blades. Subtle veins of silver snake through the weapon, as well. The sword diverges from the traditional straight-edge shape but is symmetrical on either side of the blade in its irregularities. The crosstree is an intricate twisting of crimson-colored metal divided into three main sections, all of which slope downward to some degree and abandon the usual perpendicular shape. The hilt of Acerbus shifts from first more obsidian to a silver and platinum alloy. Typically, Isaiah keeps the sword strapped to his back with the myriad strands of sporadic prayer beads he wears. He can manipulate these strands using his rudimentary psychic/telekinetic abilities inherited from his father, so Acerbus is easily retrievable if Isaiah has need of it.
Lunaris Nex (Moon Death or Moon Murder)
This Desert Eagle sits holstered on his left hip (as he is left-handed). Isaiah ensures that it is always fully loaded with seven .50 Action Express silver bullets. He carries both safety rounds (for their larger area of effect) and expanding rounds (for their increased damage), and he always has six extra magazines on him for a total of 49 bullets altogether.
Silver Daggers
These are an indispensable line of defense for Isaiah. He keeps a total of four small daggers hidden on his person. Two are in sheaths on the black belt around his waist, and the other two are in sheaths hanging from the matching belt that runs diagonally over his chest, one at his shoulder and one at his hip. Made of silver, they are already a natural weapon against vampires and other supernatural evil, but these daggers have also been blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury himself, granting them added strength against the undead.
Prayer Beads
While not a direct weapon against evil, these black and white prayer beads help amplify Isaiah’s faith, which in turn strengthens the power of the holy objects he uses to ward off his supernatural enemies.
Hawthorn and Blackthorn Stakes
These wooden stakes also have been specially blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Isaiah keeps a supply of seven within the inner pockets of his grey-and-white overcoat.
Crucifixes
Inside his leather gauntlets are little sheaths for two bladed crucifixes made entirely of silver. Isaiah can use these as projectiles or as close-range weapons. These, too, possess the Archbishop’s blessing.
Holy Water
Drawn directly from the basins of
St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, the holy water Isaiah carries with him is contained in three separate vials, one for each member of the Holy Trinity. These small vials are strapped securely at his hip opposite the bottom of his shoulder belt. Because of the limited amount Isaiah possesses, holy water is not his method of choice for dispatching his enemies. He uses it to inflict pain rather than outright annihilation.
Incense
To protect against the diseases spread through some vampires’ stenches, Isaiah carries several sticks of incense with him at all times. Additionally, he also carries a cigarette lighter for the sole purpose of igniting this incense when in the presence of a pathological vampire. When necessary, he can prevent a slain vampire from rising again by stuffing sticks of incense into the corpse’s nose and ears.
Salt
Another pocket of his coat holds a small bag of salt drawn specially from the English Channel. Isaiah can use this as a means of protecting innocent bystanders, since a line of salt acts as a deterrent to most common vampires. He uses salt along with incense to prevent a vampire from rising again by sprinkling it around a vampire’s grave.
Armor: None
Skills/Magic:
Vampiric Gifts: Isaiah inherited a few abilities from his vampire father. These are not as developed or as varied as the abilities of full vampires, but they are still incredibly useful on the hunt.
Heightened Senses: His senses of sight, hearing, and smell are all amplified beyond that of a normal human. While his vision in the dark is not quite as good as his vision in the daylight, he can still see many times better than other humans. It is possible for him to hear conversations from a good distance away as though he were right there listening to them, but this takes most of his concentration and may leave him open to surprise attacks.
Heightened Speed of Movement: Isaiah’s reflexes are vastly superior to his human counterparts, and he is capable of moving with both swiftness and agility. However, he is not capable of achieving the speeds of full vampires which make them appear to “teleport.” Also, he has the ability to jump higher and farther than normal humans.
Telekinesis: Because Isaiah possesses elementary telekinetic abilities, he believes that his vampire father must have been one of the psychic varieties. The ability is nowhere near fully-developed, and Isaiah mostly uses it to manipulate his strands of prayer beads. He cannot move anything large or heavy, nor can he manipulate large numbers of objects, no matter what their size.
Spiritual Keenness: Isaiah has the ability to see and recognize supernatural creatures, even if they attempt to disguise themselves. While it may not always be clear to him if he is dealing with a werewolf or a demon, he never fails to recognize vampires.
Holy Temperance: Though Isaiah unfortunately acquired his father’s bloodlust, while he was still a small baby, he was brought before the Archbishop for consecration to his new life. Because of the blessing bestowed upon him, Isaiah can go without feeding far longer than a vampire usually can. Additionally, his blood cravings themselves are much milder.
Strengths:
Isaiah’s vampire abilities greatly increase his effectiveness as a hunter of the supernatural. His years of training have honed these skills and made him formidable in combat. With a variety of weapons at his disposal, he can usually find some way out of any tight situation in which he happens to find himself. He is cunning, resourceful, and determined. His faith is generally strong and boosts the holy-based methods he uses in the hunt. Because he is a dhampir, he does not possess any of the traditional weaknesses associated with vampires (i.e. garlic, sunlight, holy things, silver, etc.)
Weaknesses:
His lighter build is all about speed and agility, since speed is the best way to deal with vampires who possess just as much or more speed. Therefore, his physical strength is only slightly above average because he did not inherit any kind of superhuman strength from his vampire father. He can be somewhat stubborn at times and tends to think that his way of doing something is the best way, which means he occasionally butts heads with the authority figures in his life. Because he does need to feed in order to stay alive, he may sometimes be put in anywhere from inconvenient to downright perilous situations.
Appearance:
Isaiah’s face is angular in shape and appears harsh most of the time, since he hardly ever smiles, though his chiseled face serves more as a mask for his feelings rather than a display of the lack of them. His eyes are somewhat large and very striking. He has thin, well-groomed eyebrows that are an ethereal white in color, contrasting with his dark eyes. Two-toned, his hair is wild and unevenly cut. The front half is frosted silver-white, while the back and the bottommost layer is a natural black. While the majority of it is short, a couple thin sections on either side of his head are quite long and trail almost down to his waist. These, too, are both black and silver-white.
He is tall with a lean, not thin, frame. Rather than emphasize brute strength, he prefers speed and agility, since mere human strength is not enough to combat the undead.
While on the hunt, Isaiah usually wears a simple black, long-sleeved shirt and black pants. He also wears black socks underneath comfortable black shoes with excellent traction. He has one black belt around his waist, one running diagonally over his left shoulder to his right hip, and a third looped twice around his neck. This third belt acts as a deterrent to vampire bites, since the buckle is made entirely of silver and each of the holes in the belt is rimmed with silver. The same holds true for the other two belts. He has matching crimson gauntlets on each arm. These are trimmed in wide strips of white at each end and encircled with black leather bands.
His most striking article of clothing is his grey overcoat, also trimmed in white along both side of its opening. It is loosely held together by several of his strands of beads woven through holes in the ends of three black leather bands that are attached to the back of his coat, as well as a pair of holes cut directly into the coat right below the bands. White patterns strewn haphazardly over both sides vaguely resemble the white feathers of the heavenly angels, perhaps. The sleeves are long and wide, allowing him ample freedom of movement, and these are both attached to the rest of the coat by more thick string. The coat, overall, is tattered in appearance, but being well-dressed is not the sort of thing Isaiah thinks vampire hunters should worry about.
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Personality:
When Isaiah is working, he is extremely focused and unbending. If he is given an assignment, he will not break out of this single-mindedness until he has completed his task, which usually means whatever he is currently hunting must be dead. Even among the other members of Divina Malleus, he is somewhat aloof, refusing to wear his heart on his sleeve. As a result, he does not easily trust anyone, which is understandable in his line of work.
The fact that the Church does not openly trust him because of what he is does not deter him from exercising a faith in a higher being. It is such a faith, after all, which enables him to continue fighting against the supernaturally evil. For him, the dichotomy between good and evil in terms of his work is strong, and evil is most clearly incarnate in the form of vampires and other creatures of the night. It is in the area of human corruption where the lines he draws are not so concrete.
While he realizes that vampire blood does run in his veins, he does not think of himself on the same level of evil as the vampire who sired him and those like him. However, as per his beliefs, he does hold that no one is perfectly good, and all must realize this and repent of their sins. The undead, though, are unable to repent and have no hope in the face of God’s judgment, meted out by himself as the servant of the Lord. It is only through such service to God that Isaiah believes he and his mixed blood (and the bloodlust that accompanies that) can be justified.
Because of his closed-off nature, Isaiah does not have anyone he would call a friend. He feels it is better for him not to have anyone close to him. Otherwise, those he loves might be put in danger by some creature seeking revenge against him. While he is very well aware of his physical appeal, he does not arbitrarily sleep around. This is primarily because he views intercourse as something not just physical but also spiritual, in which a sacred bond is forged between the two partners. Since he does not wish to form such bonds, he avoids it. His devotion to maintaining good moral standards is only a secondary reason for this. Though, remaining in good moral standing is more related to being able to utilize his holy artifacts against evil rather than some high notion of striving for divine perfection.
Bio:
Told from the perspective of Charles Blackbourne, Isaiah’s grandfather
_____________________________
This is a truer hell than I have ever experienced.
I’ve tried my best to escape my past, and still, it has caught me. It caught me with its fangs bared and my guard down. I should have foreseen this happening. My Evelyn...my poor Evelyn, I’m so sorry...
The baby—her child, my grandson—is wailing in my shaking arms. Since I took him to my chest, I haven’t moved. The bedroom—her bedroom—is in shambles. An unfortunate side-effect of battling a vampire in such close quarters. ...Two vampires. Blood. Blood is everywhere. And the stench of that monster...
Why did you have to come live with me, my dear Evelyn? Why didn’t you realize what danger you would put yourself in, knowing that I once hunted the most horrific demons of hell? It was that faithless man you married, wasn’t it, Evelyn? He found out he was going to become a father and ran. I should hunt him down for running off and leaving you alone...
What good would that do you now? I have your son here, your son that monster forced you to deliver. Why did he come for you instead of me? I will never know that now...
Little Isaiah, that’s what your mother wanted to name you. Isaiah with two fathers. One, a coward. And the other, now dead. You will never know your real father, Isaiah. Your real father is dead. Do not be a coward and do not die like your fathers...
And your mother...my poor Evelyn. That monster turned her and induced labor. You were human and now...
I call a servant into the room, and she timidly enters. I hand her the crying child and tell her to go to Father Lowden. She should tell him that Charles needs his grandson taken under the care of the Church and trained. Also, he should know that...Isaiah is not fully human.
She nods, understanding, and leaves immediately with the child. I am alone with my ghosts. I try to remember Evelyn as the sweet child she was and not as the crazed monster she became. Swallowing, I retrieve my pistol from the floor. If I counted correctly—and I always do—there should be one shot left. That’s all I need.
I put the barrel of the pistol to my temple and offer up one final, feeble prayer full of shame and guilt.
Evelyn, forgive me.
God, forgive me for killing my daughter.