#tescanon

Erosandros’ contemporary appearance is by no means a standard vampiric form — something far more akin to an anomaly. While he received his pureblooded vampirism directly from Molag Bal, his anomalous state was not inherited from Bal; instead, it is the result of an alteration by another Daedric Prince—Clavicus Vile. An alteration that came to as a consequence from another clan’s dealings with the Prince.

Purportedly, by source of the Cyrodiil Vampyrum Order (who are currently the dominant clan strain in Cyrodiil), Clavicus Vile blessed the members of the Order with the ability to blend into mortal society, heightening their inconspicuous and manipulative strength in influential Cyrodiilic social and political circles[1]. This suggests that all vampires who have been supposedly altered by Vile are more likely able to bypass visual vampiric telltales, and that the blessing strives to make the vampires as non-vampiric looking as possible --- enough that they wander through mortal society, undetected.

Clavicus Vile, however, is not known for keeping his end of the bargain long.

Often, his pacts involve sudden negative consequences, or to have what he granted to the individual abruptly taken back from them. There has been no information to suggest that the dominant strain of Cyrodiilic vampires have had their alteration deprived from them. The fact that the alteration itself has not been retracted from Cyrodiilic vampires, as of yet, implies that the consequence of Vile’s deal involved means other than confiscation or ownership of the vampire’s souls in Oblivion.

Vile has shown a distinct interest in the meddling of mortal affairs, morbid games and an exploitation of people’s interest in what he can provide[2]. The Cyrodiil Vampyrum Order keep a multitude of tabs on other clans, and are supposedly wary — or paranoid of the power — of “enlightened clans” such as the Glenmoril Wyrd or Whet-Fang sodality to the point of regarding them as rivals. They fear those who could encroach on their contemporary power and holding in Cyrodiil, after years of elimination of vampiric competition and gradual climbing of Imperial social ladders. 

The pact with Vile would have occurred prior to their complete dominance over Cyrodiil’s area, before their decimation of other vampiric clans–yet their fears would have remained similar, and the motive behind the pact itself would have been in order to secure a foot above other clans. 

Fear of power deprivation, craving of power, and wish to be granted superiority over other vampires would have been prime for exploitation for Vile’s entertainment. Thus, Vile’s consequence for the blessing was to trigger fear. Following the blessing of the highest members of the Cyrodiil Vampyrum Order, Vile set off to bless the other clans / vampiric individuals–in Cyrodiil at the time–with the same alteration, attempting to incite conflict and panic within the Order (as what power they had been granted would have then not been exclusive; feeling threatened and acting to destroy other strains inflicted with the gift).

Erosandros was one of the vampires hit with the fallout of the Vampyrum Order’s pact. Being in Cyrodiil at the time it transpired, he was targeted by Vile’s alteration. However, with Vile trying to alter the most entrenched source of Molag Bal’s gift, Pureblooded Vampirism – the purest and thickest form of Bal’s blood in mortal veins – Erosandros’ body resisted the foreign intervention. That inherent bodily resistance did result in alterations, though some of the alterations were stunted and divergent from Vile’s intentions.

The changes in Erosandros, as direct consequence of Vile’s intervention, are as follow:

Intentional: Vile was able to mitigate the suspended state of trauma and strain in Erosandros’ eyes, thus eliminating the black sclera resultant of the subconjunctival haemorrhage. He was permitted to have white scleras.

Stunted/divergent: Foreign pigment was initially introduced by Bal, giving Erosandros’ the typical vibrant, vampiric red eyes. Vile strived to eliminate Erosandros’ post-vampiric red irises and return Erosandros to his pre-vampiric iris colour—light blue. However, Vile was unable to extract the introduced pigment given resistance from the sheer intensity of Bal’s work, and in the attempt to revert it to blue he inadvertently altered the pigmentation more, further deviating it from the normative human iris spectrum. This–a butchered attempt to revert his eyes to blue–resulted in Erosandros’ atypical iris state of having vibrant, violet eyes.

Unintentional: Vile’s attempt to make Erosandros more human in appearance affected not only his human form, but his Vampire Lord form. The form was mutilated from the foreign influence, resulting in Erosandros’ form being particularly distinctive and anomalous. The skull of the creature vaguely resembles that of an enlarged human skull, and horns have protruded from the cranium—seemingly a sign of Vile’s interference.

Intentional: While Erosandros still needs to regularly sate his haematophagic state, his urges have since been diminished. He can persist for longer periods without needing to feed, which aids him in protracted social situations where trying to get another’s blood in his system is—in the very least—difficult to achieve.