Dawnwriter

Ambrus

Ambrus is the youngest vampire of the pack; and therefore, he has something to prove to his peers.

He once sought these vampiric powers to reach new heights. There is nothing he’ll shy away from, no red line he won’t cross.

Concept art by Kacper Madejak

His gleaming armor and perfectly coiffed hair make Ambrus look like a nobleman, but his origins couldn’t be humbler. His life as a human was hard, filled with pain and humiliation. Now, he’s more than ready to settle the score with the world and all who spurned him.

The photo goes under the text, otherwise it would have been too heavy for an average-sized post

Ambrus Leon Chiro

1. What’s your favorite part of the costume – and the most challenging one? I really love being historically accurate, so we had to study the whole background of the cosplay of the character, of the costume design, and I really love the fact that you can combine so many different techniques and at the same time being, you know, pretty cool and dynamic with people – and keep the charm as well, you know.

2. What do you like the most about your character? Oh, I thought we said short questions, right? I have to talk a lot now. Ambrus is everything! Ambrus is history you know… I really love how this character has a wonderful background which makes you think about life choices in general, perspectives…

3. Any advice for aspiring cosplayers? Just keep creating. Everything is wonderful in this community. We gotta stand proud together and I really think that every cosplayer out there that wants to cosplay should believe in themselves; go out there, have fun and share positivity with the community, because this is the best community you’re gonna ever have.

Blood Guards. There's no task they'll refuse, no red line they will not cross. For those who taste this kind of power even once will do anything – anything – to experience it again.

Ambrus. Ambitious and thrilled with his newly acquired powers, there's nothing he'll shy away from, no red line he won't cross.

Option 1 "just sounds cool" – The Dawnwalker devs like the phrase about "red lines" to highlight emotional tension. Nothing conceptual behind it, just a stylistic choice.

Option 2 "a bit conceptual" – There isn’t a direct plot connection with Ambrus and his story, it’s more of an indirect theme. Blood of the vampire offers a way not to die. Vampirism gives you that too. It represents power, health, and safety – things you desperately needed in the 14th century during the Black Death. Without them, anyone would’ve been in serious danger. It’s not just about the Blood Guard and Ambrus – even if they share that drive for power – it also applies to Coen, to Lunka… Lunka got lucky. But if you’re already a young man and someone offers you the choice between becoming a Blood Guard or risking plague boils, watching your fingers blacken, and rip – well, that’s a choice. So, what pushes people to cross those red lines? That’s probably a theme the story will explore.

Option 3 "direct link" – The choice of words directly ties Ambrus to the Vampire Guard. Ambrus is portrayed as a warrior on the "icon." Like Saint George slaying the dragon (I hadn't thought about it, I saw it somewhere, and wow, yeah). But from what’s known, he isn’t just some regular warrior in the vampire coven – he’ll have lands to rule. His role is that of "protector" and "warrior." The Guards are warriors. That could be a connection. Maybe in the coven he’s the Warlord – responsible for weapons, armor, strategy, training the guards, and keeping them under control – basically, everything needed for defense and offense. Most likely he is Brencis’s helper. But Brencis looks like someone who can handle all the staff himself. Still, even a king needs advisors.

In a big game or franchise, there can be elements that interest both men and women, without taking away from each other. I’m curious to see how the developers will play the Ambrus card.

Here’s what I want to say: Any non-con, rape, or anything like that is devastating for me personally. Killing - yes, he is a vampire, after all, and a former mercenary.

I understand that dark fantasy like Dawnwalker emphasizes some historical realism… A man in the Middle Ages + mercenary + crossing all red lines + vampire + powers that place him above mortals, which he will rule with.

The chances of any non-con increase exponentially. For me personally, that’s a big no, and maybe this feeling will pass… but no.

In media, sometimes this is pushed for a female audience, or society at large: a man with an evil woman conquers the world - great, good one, let's gooo. A woman with an evil man - deceived victim. Some people enjoy this, and there’s specialized media entirely about that. I hope Dawnwalker isn’t that kind of media; that would be an owari da for me.

Drinking blood from the neck is already intimate enough and more than sufficient. (Although with those fangs, people might end up cutting themselves so he can drink warm blood from the wound.) But that’s already dark enough, okay.

I understand that here the male character is the main hero. However, women will play the game, of course. There will be m/m content (the Cohen/Ambrus Empire). Heterosexual women who will still be fed on. There will be interactions of Cohen with women and Ambrus with women (killing for blood doesn’t count). There will be some kind of emotional hook for the female audience. How it all looks will decide everything.

Actually, to make him well… someone who does not assault women despite his evil traits, you could add a moment that someone did this to his sister/mother/friend at some point, showing him the cruelty of the world he lives in. A witness trauma. He has no intention of doing it himself.

For example, Cohen protects his sister Lunka. All of this is part of building an emotional anchor for the player. And we’ll see if there will be something similar with Ambrus. I think it will be quite freaky and follow a rather selfish logic, and this is the only way for a character like Ambrus to be convincing, in my opinion.

For example: "only those I care about matter, those who are my loyal friends, those who are my family" something like that. In that case, he could also have a sister.

It won’t be as simple as: he doesn’t tolerate violence against women and children on his lands. It will be something more hidden, disguised within his own logic.

'Cause dying on your lips is how I wanna go. The cat has his own song. So that this post isn’t just me being horny.

His ring.

He have signet ring?

In medieval Europe, the signet ring ascended to prominence, assuming the role of a marker among the nobility.

Traditionally, signet rings were worn either on the little or the ring finger of the least dominant hand, with the most common usage being on the little.

Benedikt von Hertenstein (born about 1495, died 1522)

There were exceptions, but in the books I found there are few details about the index finger for such rings, how they originated, and how they were perceived. Of course, there are many different modern articles from magazines and jewelry houses, but I want only academic books.

The index finger, I’ve heard, is considered the finger of power, authority, and rule. But I don’t really know where I got this information from, most likely from articles that explain the meaning of each finger and the symbolism of wearing rings on them. However, there must be some kind of original sources or inspirations behind this lore.

The mount of Jupiter is found under the index or first finger that which orders, threatens, points. Jupiter gives fervid religion, noble ambition, honours, gaiety, love of nature, happy marriages, love unions. In excess, he gives superstition, excessive pride, love of power for itself, a desire to shine. In absence, it causes indolence, egotism, irreligion, want of dignity, want of nobleness, vulgar tendencies. Your luck's in your hand, or The science of modern palmistry : chiefly according to the systems of D'Arpentigny and Desbarrolles, with some account of the gipsies 1880  London: J. Hogg

So, it all started with chiromancy. That’s where not only the lines on the palms come from, but also the patron on the palm and fingers. The oldest copy of such a palmistry text in Latin is found in a Book of Psalms made for Canterbury Cathedral in the twelfth century. Later versions of the text came equipped with images, for the guidance of users, as shown here.

British Library, Sloane MS 2030, ff.125v-126r.

All these things can show us symbolism (which we came up with ourselves) and the history of superstitions, which can become part of an artistic image, a detail of the medieval world and what people believed in back then, and simply entertain us.

Why is Jupiter associated with power and strength? All roads lead to Rome.

In On the Nature of the Gods (De natura deorum), Cicero, while discussing Jupiter, quotes Ennius, whom he regards as the father of Roman poetry: Aspice hoc sublime candens, quem invocant omnes Iovem. "Behold this shining vault above, which all call Jupiter" This line comes from Ennius’ Annals (fr. 63 Skutsch). Here the poet identifies Jupiter with the sky itself, the visible firmament, emphasizing his all-encompassing and divine nature.

Jupiter, if he should be lord alone, will thoroughly improve and benefit all things. Among mankind, in particular, this planet promotes honour, happiness, content, and peace, by augmenting all the necessaries and comforts of life, and all mental and bodily advantages. It induces also favours, benefits, and gifts emanating from royalty, and adds greater lustre to kings themselves, increasing their dignity and magnanimity: all men, in short, will share in the prosperity created by its influence. Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos Classic but outdated translation of this seminal work from Ptolemy.

It is very difficult to find an exact quotation about Jupiter and its connection to the index finger, because most of it is in medieval manuscripts written in Latin that have not been digitized. Therefore, only later works with citations are available. Academic works of the 20th and 21st centuries that analyze chiromancy are unlikely to provide a direct quotation. Something like "Jupiter, the king of planets, bestows qualities of authority and ambition. The index finger, under his influence, and the mount beneath it point to a regal nature and a striving for glory"- no, cant find.

However, considering what Jupiter meant to the ancient world and to occult studies in the Middle Ages, I'm sure, it was implied.

Fig. 1 : Chiromantic drawing from Philip Mey (in Chiromantia medica, fg. 1, p. 10) (...) ♃ Jupiter Palmistry, an art between the occult and medicine illustrated by German practitioners during the Interbellum By Alexandra Nagel

 "Chiromantia medica" Mey Philippus 1665

Chiromantia. — Padova : Matthaeus Cerdonis, 1484

Jovis m (genitive Jovis); third declension (New Latin) alternative spelling of Iovis (“the god Jove, Jupiter”)

This is a book that talks more about rings, but attention to the symbolism of the index finger is not given. George Frederick Kunz — Rings for the Finger (1917, переизд. Dover, 1973)

In the trailer, when Coen says "Evil", and they show those guys - that’s not a coincidence.

It is clear that he is generally referring to this whole dark magic. However, "Evil is behind it all". 1:45 It is an emotional moment, and the word "evil" is not associated with transformation, such as Cohen seeing his claws grow or his powers increase. The word "evil" is cinematically tied to the company of vampires here. There’s a chance Ambrus will be a rebel and side with Coen. Only for his own goals.

If there’s a chance to convince Ambrus with a couple of moralizing lines to be more "human". Read as: a sparkling vampire. I’ll be done with that in a second. No. You have a different area. My sense of beauty: This media ain’t big enough for the both of us. *cowboy music*

No offense to the sparkling vampires from Twilight - they know exactly what they are, and that’s fine. But Twilight is still a story for teenagers who’ve already outgrown cartoons about good and evil and now need something edgier. If this were an anime in the shoujo style, no one would be worrying or asking why "the vampires are so sweet". Cuz it made to be. Dawnwalker is dark fantasy, and anything outside that genre would just look unconvincing and downright lame. I also dislike and am tired of redemption arcs, which I don't believe in most cases, and in a lot of cases, I think it's purity culture thing, so I'm a little jealous even of those who are okay with them.

It’s hard to imagine a quest where this would be more than just a few lines, and for them to be truly convincing and natural, not some big "I’m going to fix you" campaign like in a Loki fanfic.

Reflection on his obvious harshness, hunger for power - all of that? Ew, no. I also need to know how much vampirism actually changes one’s mind. I assume barely in this game, though maybe. But since Ambrus was a mercenary, and given what’s said about him "there's nothing he'll shy away from, no red line he won't cross", I think as a mortal he was already a nuclear bomb.

Beyond his personality traits, I get the impression he drinks human blood like it’s soda. Maybe not and he’s more pragmatic. But his vibes definitely feel Marazhai to me.

If Ambrus rejects the dark side, it would be a huge disappointment and not my story. So I hope Ambrus is going to be the one who ends up corrupting Coen. That would be 10/10.

The only kind of reflection or "I can fix him" angle I can accept is tied to his attitude toward Coen. I think Ambrus will underestimate Coen, maybe look down on him. And perhaps we could influence that.

So they might end up dividing lands between them, with Ambrus leaning more into "law" - not creating anarchy. Not to be "better", but to rule long and successfully. A pragmatic still dark side.

Once a betrayed mercenary - now reborn in darkness with strength beyond limits. Ambrus may be the youngest among the vampires but don't mistake that for weakness.

Leonchiro is a cosplayer officially hired by Rebel Wolves to perform as Ambrus at Gamescom 2025.

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