Knight Stigmata
Knight Stigmata.
That, so far, is the name of the vampire novel (you know, the one where I claimed I can write vampires better than Stephanie Meyers? Note to self: quit drinking coke after midnight) I've been farting around with.
I remember talking to subdude_ over a year ago about the naming of people, and I remember him telling me something about how people always have a Eurocentric POV towards naming. I mean, he does have a point. If a vampire is as old as the Crusades, then why wouldn't he possibly be an Arabic vampire? And if I'm going there, then why wouldn't he be the mystical Old Man of the Mountain? Of course, it's been almost 1,000 years, so he'd probably have gone through a dozen or more name changes and kept moving around. I could have him moving to the Americas during the Reconstruction Era, when the U.S. was still suffering from the impacts of the Civil War. His English is impeccable, and he understands all the nuances of the Americanization of English.
I think he would be living in a situation like "Angel" when he had his own series on TV, in a big city surrounded by the dregs of society. He's gotta be well off, since he's been around forever. But not comfortably well off, meaning he needs to earn money somehow. I discarded the mortuary idea (there's creepy, and then there's that "ewww" line I don't want to cross) and am thinking of other nocturnal things a vampire can do to earn money. I mean, the poor vamp used to be the Old Man of the Mountain for crying out loud. He has assassin skills.... hmm, what about bodyguard to the rich and elite? But then what would make him so likeable to clients and to the reader then?
Charm? Well, duh. Looks? He is a decent looking fellow, not too special nor too ugly. The perfect, average guy of indiscriminate lineage. Could blend in in over 100 countries readily, the talent of being an aschishin, or follow of Hassan, the first leader of assassins. It's a common misconception that they were named for being hashish users, which they were not... though they were indeed users of the plant. The notorious fanatic al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah, who led a small sect Ismailians, used hashish as a common recruiting tool when he was building his ranks.
Kinda like Greenpeace, come to think of it...
What makes ibn-al-Sabbah so important, however, is that he became later known as the Old Man of the Mountains, who terrorized both Christian crusaders and Muslim soldiers alike. Yeah, I could have gone with the fanatical leader who was a bloodsucking neck biter, but then what's the fun of that? I think Hassan was more like a person who was "blessed by Allah" and given immortality, thinking eternal life was the most treasured of gifts one could get. Of course, after 500 years it would grow a bit tiring, watching empires rise and fall while you remain unaged, not able to die normally, fearing death yet secretly hoping for it. That could make him likeable, come to think of it.
Of course, I chose a different name for him. I figured he would change his name, to rid himself of the stigma of being the Old Man of the Mountain (though in this day and age, maybe 1% of the population might recognize the name...). Nassir al-Jabar, or Protector of the Mountain (cleverly twisting his former life into his new one). Of course, he's not the most religious of men, given his current circumstances. Why would he be, anyways?
Suggestions about alternate career paths? I'm really liking the bodyguard idea, but I'm open to suggestions...