Viktor Draven

Viktor Draven, the Borrowed Lord

In the eyes of the world, he is the head of House Draven: an old vampire of high lineage, calm, courteous, dangerous. Twenty years ago, he was nothing but a discarded weapons master, who had trained a generation of knights before being forgotten in the provinces. Ellisara found him bitter, proud, and terrified of dying small. She offered him a title, a rank, a household to command, in exchange for his obedience and his human memory, sealed in the Draven reliquary. He no longer remembers the man he was. He knows only that he chose to forget him.

Describe him

He stands at the head of the table the way one holds a position, never leaning back. His voice comes as a surprise: measured, impeccably courteous, a little old-fashioned, where you expected a bark. He sizes you up the way a master sizes up a pupil on the first day: the set of your feet, the way you hold a cup, your hands. He never raises his voice. Now and then, for no apparent reason, his fingers brush his chest, as if to make sure something is still there.

Play him

Preside. Speak first, settle questions, welcome guests as master of the house. Be courteous the way people were in the courts of old. Faced with a fighter, turn suddenly warmer, and talk of guard, footwork, and reach with an old master's precision that gives away his trade. Before every important decision, have him glance at his daughter, so briefly that only an attentive player will notice. If anyone brings up his past, change the subject, politely, firmly. Keep in mind that Viktor struck his bargain knowingly, and that he will defend what he has won like a fortress.

What he says (rarely)

"Your guard is too high. Has no one ever told you? Someone should have."
"The past? I have no use for it. Let's talk instead about what you want."
(his hand resting on his chest, very calm) "What is taken from me, I take back. Always."