Dante Lambarde || Appears 30, but is 793 || Vampire || FC: Rick Cosnett
(+)Ā Charming, Wise, Moral
(-)Ā Embittered, Self-Loathing, Harsh
Dante Lambarde is the definition of a gentleman. Raised in the time of knights, lords and ladies, where chivalry was a way of life, Dante has kept these old fashioned traditions alive for the last 700 some years. He tries to treat everyone he comes into contact with, with the utmost respect and civility. Thatās not to say heās always kind to every one, after all no oneās perfect, but Dante does a wonderful job of masking his dislike for a person with a magnificently quick wit and laced sarcasm that is often very difficult to perceive. He has a hunger to learn, to know everything he possibly can about life, people, and the world. His curiosity has gotten him into more incidents than he would care to admit, but his cleverness has never failed to get him out of whatever scrapes heās fallen into.
All that being said, Dante does have a darker side to him thatās only brought out by his brother. Eric Lambarde took everything away from Dante and when he did, he lit a fire inside of Dante that will never be put out, despite Danteās best efforts, until his brother is dead.
Dante was the second born to John and Elizabeth Lambarde. But if you asked either of his parents, it was pretty clear to see that they wished he had been born first. Born during the early 1200ās, Eric, Danteās elder brother, had a lot of expectations placed on him from a very young age. But when the boy proved to loathe everything that a normal boy should enjoy, such as sparring, rough housing, and most physical activity in general, his parents began to worry about the future of their family name. When Dante was born and grew to be everything Eric was not, well to say there was definitely a sibling rivalry would be an understatement. At least, from Ericās side there was. The eldest Lambarde son grew to hate his brother for being better than him in just about anything athletic, for getting his parents approval when Eric so miserably failed at doing so, for being the son John and Elizabeth wished would carry on the family name. Dante did his best to try not to outshine his older brother too much, but as he grew older, his physical prowess grew and it became near impossible not to show up his older brother by simply standing next to him. Well built, and every inch of him covered in muscle, Dante was the exact opposite of his older brother.
But it wasnāt simply in physical attributes that the Lambarde brothers differed. Dante grew to be a kind hearted, jovial young man. He got along with most anyone he came into contact with and could put the most nervous of people at ease with his charming and quick-witted personality. As he entered his twenties, Dante had established quite the reputation as a very chivalrous, gentleman. His parents adored him, and more often than not, acted as if he was their eldest son, trying forget Eric was born first. But with the mistreatment from his parents, the outshining from his younger brother, and his lack of the ability to conform to societyās expectations of a man his age, Eric Lambarde grew to be a very cynical, bad-tempered, cruel young man. He preferred reading his books and performing his alchemy to the company of anyone and spent hours, days even, locked away without any social interaction whatsoever. John and Elizabeth attempted to cover up their fears that he was becoming involved in dark magic by refusing to even talk about him when heād locked himself away like that. When he was younger, Dante always tried to reach out to his brother, but by the time the two had reached their twenties, the younger Lambarde had just about given up hope that his brother could or would ever return his efforts.
At the age of 25, Eric moved out of the Lambarde house. John and Elizabeth were relived, acting like their eldest son had never existed. But Dante was curious. He was sure that his brother couldnāt have found a girl he wanted to marry and why else wouldĀ he move out? Following his brother, after spotting him in the marketplace one day, Dante discovered the truth. Eric had taken up residence with one of the local alchemists. But this man was very different from the others. It was rumored that he dealt with black magic and evil spirits as well. No one went to this man for his help unless they were in dire need. Horrified at the path his brotherās life was going down, Dante hurried back to his parentās house, vowing to never try to find Eric again.
He didnāt see his brother for 7 years after that. At the age of 30, Dante had married and had two children, a boy and girl. His family lived on his parents land, taking over as lord of his fatherās land after his father had died from a hunting accident. One night, as Dante slept peacefully with his wife, Eric broke into his house. The eldest Lambarde brother was changed. The alchemist he had taken up residence with was a vampire and after years of feeling less superior to his younger brother, Eric had jumped at the opportunity to finally become be stronger than Dante. Seven years after being turned, Eric was finally ready to exact his revenge. Having glamored Danteās children to do exactly as he said and not utter a word, Eric brought the two into Danteās room in the middle of the night. Jerking awake at the sound of his name coming from his wife, Dante and his children were forced to watch in horror as Eric drained every single drop of blood from his wife. The rest of the night was filled with slow and cruel revenge as Eric tried to make up for all of the years he was made to feel insignificant by his brother.
When he had finally finished torturing Danteās children and their bloodless, lifeless bodies lay sprawled across the floor of Danteās room, Eric was finally ready to finish off Dante. Glamored to simply sit still through all of it, when Eric finally let Dante move, he fell to his knees completely unable to move. Disappointed at the lack of fight from Dante who had seemed to lose the will to live, Eric decided to end his brother quickly. He was just about to drain him when someone flew into the room and threw Eric off of Dante. The second Eric was thrown from Dante, Dante fell to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness.Ā
The next thing he knew, Dante was buried 6 feet underground. But he wasnāt dead. Another more powerful vampire had saved and turned him. After digging themselves up from the grave the elder vampire had buried them in for the night, she explained to Dante was happened. The vampire who had turned Eric was her maker, but he had abandoned Isabelle, for that was her name, after making her. Isabelle had spent the next century tracking her maker down and had been stalking him for the last month or so. When she discovered that he had made another vampire and actually stuck around this time, she had vowed to tell this new progeny of the evils of his maker. She had followed Eric that night with the intent of doing so, when sheād found him attacking Dante. Refusing to let her makerās evilness wipe out an entire family, she stepped in and saved Danteās life, letting Eric escape.
At first, Dante was horrified at what she had turned him into. He tried to kill himself several times, but failed every time. He hated himself and the fact that his entire family had been killed so ruthlessly because of him. It took many years, but finally, Isabelleās love and kindness broke through Danteās self-hate. She treated him like her son and helped him to see that being a vampire didnāt make him evil, there were ways to be a āgoodā vampire. He flourished under her love and care and became a well controlled vampire. They spent several centuries together, travelling the globe and doing all they could to make up for the evils done by vampires.
When Dante was 650 years old, Isabelle decided that there was nothing else that she could possibly teach him and released him, but not before making him swear that now that she wouldnāt be around, he wouldnāt go tracking down his brother. Dante reluctantly agreed and moved on with his life, continuing the lifestyle Isabelle had taught him. He took advantage of everything modern education could teach him and for the next century and a half or so, Dante didnāt even think about his brother.
Having settled in a small town in the middle of nowhere Indiana, Dante was starting a new life as a lawyer when he began to hear unsettling rumors about the strange man who lived in the woods several miles out of town. Rumors floated around about people disappearing in those woods and never being seen again. Curiosity sufficiently piqued, Dante went to investigate what sounded very typical of a vampire. What he found was much worse.
Eric Lambarde had set up residence in these woods and was experimenting on humans and vampires alike. At the time, he was holding two female humans captive. Dante rushed back to town, unnoticed by his crazed brother, and began to prepare to rescue the two humans. Several weeks later, prepared to leave town with the girls after he rescued them, Danted headed back to the woods. He didnāt have to have to do much, for when he got halfway to his brotherās cave, he found the two girls running away. Dante helped them escape and the next two nights, he turned them both into vampires so that Eric could no longer track them. And he hasnāt ever regretted it.
Eva and Sonia are his greatest joys. The three of them traveled the next few years together, in utter happiness. It wasnāt until recently when they discovered that both Eva and Soniaās families were in a small town in Mississippi, that the trio headed to Oxford. Dante wants nothing but the best for his two protegy and he hopes that reuniting them with their families will, in a tiny way, make up for the atrocities committed to them by his brother.
