BeteNoire App
1. Player Information
Name (or internet handle): Teresa
Current characters in Bete Noire: torchwoodteaboy and ydy_blaidd_drwg
2. Character Information
Name: Eric Northman
Livejournal Username: doesntdohumble
Fandom: True Blood
Image: http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/111619076/39286196
Reserve: here you are
3. Character Information II
Age/Appearance: Eric Northman is 6'4" tall Viking vampire. He's got blond hair and blue eyes, and is extremely pale, not having been able to see the sun in a very long time. He's very attractive and a lot of people want him, including people that don't even like him. As Sookie says in the books, her favorite part of him is his butt, so it must be pretty fit as well. He is over a thousand years old, although the exact date of when he was actually born and the exact date of when he was turned remain vague, only speculated to be C. 900 and 930 respectively. He carries himself well, like the Viking chieftain that he was very long ago, even though his only claim to anything of the sort in that moment is the fact that he's the vampire sheriff of Area 5.
History: Eric's wiki page
Personality: Eric Northman is a complicated man, having lived for a very long time and therefore with a lot of memories that he carries around with him. The majority of his life (both alive and as vampire) was spent alongside his maker, Godric, and through this relationship he displays a great capacity for loyalty and love, even if he doesn't really recognize it as love even after all that time. When Sookie questions his relationship with Godric, he admits to her that he does not understand what the word love means. This is in part due in part to the fact that he is so old and has lived so long in vampire politics that he cannot remember what it is like to feel human emotions anymore. It is also due to the fact that Godric has taught him that a vampire is never at the mercy of his emotions. He does admit that being around humans (Sookie especially) make him feel more emotions than he would otherwise, and he doesn't like that. Which shows that he is a deeper man than his outward appearance of cocky, arrogant, and calculating outward appearance gives him credit.
Despite being cocky and arrogant, Eric still recognizes rules and authority as such. He does not consider himself to be above vampire law (though he cares very little for human law, as he sees it as having no application to his life as a vampire). His visits to the Queen of Louisiana have him treating her with the level respect that is due to her, and his encounters with the vampire Magistrate have him on good behavior as well. When Bill kills Longshadow in his bar, for example, Bill commits a crime against vampire kind and Eric therefore brings him in front of the Magistrate, as is required by law. However, his sense of honor shows its head when Bill asks him to back him up on the point that Longshadow had been stealing from Eric and his bar, and therefore although Eric would not mind having Bill put out of the way, he ends up saving him from a much crueler sentence than the one Bill ends up serving. And after the state switches hands when Bill defeats Sophie-Anne and becomes the King of Louisiana, although Eric quite obviously has a rivalry going on with the other vampire he still recognizes him as the higher authority and follows his orders and command.
As a leader, he is also just and fair. This is coming in from his experience many many years ago of being a viking chieftain, but all the same, he is a kinder vampire authority than most. He gives the people under his command choices, rather than simply ordering them what to do, and he likes to negotiate and bargain rather than have his word be the final say. When he is carrying out punishment of humans, although the treatment of the people themselves would be considered "inhumane", for a vampire he is pretty lenient. When he kidnaps Lafayette for selling vampire blood, for example, he doesn't kill him right off the bat. He takes him in and questions him and yes, alright, tortures him a little, but he keeps him alive and lets him go when Sookie bargains with him to do so. Although he does like to appear imposing and frightening to humans, he does not scare people for the sake of being horrible. He likes to cut an impressive image, but when Sam brings Arlene's children to the bar he's fairly accommodating for them, despite his big bad vampire reputation. People recognize him for the authority that he is and come to him when they need help, as is the case with Alcide's father. When he falls into debt, he comes to Eric for a loan. Of course, this means that Alcide's family is now in Eric's debt, but he is not unfair with how he makes them repay it: with their loyalty to him. As Russell states, he has an "old world" politeness about him, which translates over regardless as to whether he's being manipulative or sincere.
Just because he is just and fair a great deal of the time, that does not mean he is not without his downfalls. Eric is possibly one of the most hardheaded vampires out there, who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, even if it means doing something heartless, ruthless, is something that goes against what he believes in, or sets him back in other aspects. For example, Eric and Sookie were working toward having more of a trusting relationship thanks to their work together with saving Godric from the Fellowship of the Sun. Eric does save her from a bomb, taking the shrapnel for her instead. However, he tricks her into sucking the pieces of debris out of his skin so that she will have drank his blood and therefore have a bond with him. He knows that it's not something that she'll appreciate, but he wants it, so he finds a way to make it happen. This same drive is demonstrated later in the series when Eric is seeking to hurt Russell, the vampire who was the one to issue the order to kill his family so many years ago. Eric has sex with Russell's lover, and then stakes him, so that Russell will have lost something dear to him much as he lost something dear to him all those years ago. This goes against vampire law, which it is his duty to uphold, but it meets his end goal in getting Russell's attention and exacting revenge for his family.
Being so old, Eric grew up speaking a completely different language than any of the ones that are spoken nowadays. This means that he's had to adjust through the years and can speak a variety of versions of them, Old Swedish, Swedish, German, and English, to name a few. He's also good at picking out accents from one another, able to recognize a Mississippi accent from a Louisiana one for example. He's lived a very long time, and he's spread out across the globe, owning many different residences all over the globe. Because he is old, also, he has a vast knowledge of the different types of supernatural beings there are out there. Even Bill, who does not like Eric very much, comes to him for advice on what a maenad is and how he might track one down.
He has learned to adapt through the years, not remaining unchanging like some of the older vampires, but embracing the change. Which is why he is such a good businessman with Fangtasia, as well as a good leader. He can balance both the new and old ideals and maintain a certain level of dignity that new ideals just don't account for anymore while remaining innovative in a way that the older ones never could achieve. He is a very clever vampire, which also comes in handy for business; he knows how smart it is to have a network of people who are loyal to him and so any chance he can take he works it so that a person will be on his side. Which is manipulative, but it is also smart, and a tool that many of the older vampires use as well, although there is only one vampire that we know of who he has created and must follow his every word as he is her maker, which shows that he is also discreet in how he does this networking. He is old, and yet he lives with the knowledge that his surroundings will not learn to adapt to him, so he should learn to adapt to his surroundings. Again a technique that he uses not only in his personal life, but in his business strategies as well.
Eric carries with himself a lot of prejudices against humans and other supernaturals, especially werewolves. He considers vampirekind to be higher up on the chain than humans, which is a sentiment shared with a lot of the other vampires, especially the older ones. He likes to make remarks about how human Sookie is with her emotions and her impatience and her softer feelings. He remarks that it's humbling to have to ask humans for assistance on anything. As the Magister states, humans exist to serve vampire, and that is their only purpose in their eyes. Eric has the habit of referring to any human he does not know as "human", and in a somewhat condescending way. Despite all of that, he can himself become attached to humans, although it is once again a feeling that leaves him boggled. He doesn't understand feelings such as love and attachment very well at all, so every vampire that falls in love with a human he questions about what they find so fulfilling about humans, in hopes that he might better understand his infatuation with Sookie himself. He seems to think that the idea that they can grow old and sick somewhat disgusting, once again because vampires themselves are not capable of doing so. Even so, he does find himself being seriously attached to Sookie, in part because he can't have her, then because she intrigues him, and then because she has had his blood and he has a metaphysical bond to her emotions. He keeps her protected and informed, even if it goes against what he'd normally do otherwise.
Along with his prejudice against humans, he carries an extreme dislike for werewolves and shifters. He recognizes them as other supernaturals, and therefore a little more worth paying attention to than humans, but he still doesn't like them. He remains just and fair when dealing with shifters such as Sam, however. But with werewolves, that's where Eric really loses his cool. When he was human, his father, mother, and baby sister were all murdered by werewolves. Since then, Eric harbors an extreme dislike and wariness of were-kind at all. He and Godric stalked this faction of werewolves that killed his family through the decades and centuries, waiting for the right information and the right news. Even though he finally gets to have his revenge with those wolves and the vampire behind their actions, that does not do anything to better his opinion of werewolves in general.
Eric enjoys being a vampire, and he does not approve of mainstreaming, like Bill does. He doesn't want to live in a society integrated with humans, living under human law, nor does he want to reduce himself to drinking TruBlood like the other mainstreaming vampires. There are many who are willing to donate a little blood to him, and he can glamour them into thinking that it's one of the most pleasant experiences they've ever had, so he doesn't see what the harm is in taking the real thing directly from the source. He does lose his temper and when he does he's a dangerous man, because of his vampire strength. One man who had murdered some vampires had the audacity to put a silver cross to his face, so Eric mutilated the man in front of his other prisoners. But then he acted like it was no big deal to do something like that, turning to ask Lafayette if he'd ruined the work that Pam was doing on his hair. He's not a monster, his ideals just work in a different way than humankind's.
Sexual Preferences/Orientation: Vampires are very sexual beings, as will be further explained by their powers and the fact that someone who drinks their blood will automatically be attracted to them and have sexual dreams about them. Eric is no exception to this. He likes to have sex and does so liberally with anyone that he can. He generally gravitates towards women although he is not opposed to sleeping with men, as is demonstrated when he obviously knows what he's doing when he ends up sleeping with Talbot, Russell's royal consort. Eric can be monogamous, although that means that he would have to commit to one person and one person only, and at this point in his life he really doesn't want to do anything of the sort. It's not impossible, just improbable that he would do something like that. He enjoys random hookups with random people, and enjoys enjoying himself with them. If it's not good sex, then he won't continue with it.
Powers: Eric is a vampire, and an old one at that. Vampires' strength and power grow with their age, and since Eric's over 1000 years old he's very strong. For example, once, when a man pushed him past the limit of reason, he ripped the man apart with his bare hands, and easily as well. As with strength, speed is another thing that vampires possess and grows with age. Therefore, Eric is really fast, and quiet about it too, able to sneak up on people at any time that he wants. Because he is undead and vampire, any injuries he receives will heal in a matter of moments. Unless an injury is severe, then he'll need blood to drink in order to heal himself.
Vampires need to drink blood, and Eric is no exception to this. However, the older they get the less they have to drink to sustain themselves as well, and thus Eric doesn't need to feed a lot all the time. Once a vampire drinks a person's blood, though, a metaphysical bond is established such that that vampire now knows how the person is feeling at any given time (the effects of which are stronger depending on how much blood the vampire has drank), and also is able to keep tabs on that person from a distance (feeling their fear, danger, happiness, lust, etc. from afar). Vampire blood on the other hand is a very powerful healing agent, and if someone who is injured drinks it, they will become well again as quick as vampires heal. It also gives them a supernatural boost, regardless as to whether they're injured or not. Of course, with this supernatural boost comes sexual dreams of the vampire whose blood the person has had it from. Regardless as to whether the person is initially attracted to that vampire, they will automatically have sexual dreams about them. Vampire blood is addictive, though, any sort of magical creature can be effected by it, and as such is treated as a drug that they call "V"; to vampires, the blood is sacred, and therefore dealing "V" is a heinous crime. However, giving of it freely to a person of their choice is another matter entirely, and one that Eric practices himself.
Eric also possesses the ability to "glamour" average humans. A vampire has to be looking the person in the eyes to glamour them, and when it works, it puts the person into a trance-like state and makes them entirely obedient to that vampire. It is primarily used for feeding, although it can also be used to make easy cover-ups for stories, get information out of someone, or just manipulate them in any way. It doesn't work on telepaths like Sookie, though. It is a learned skill, as is flying, which Eric can also do. Not every vampire is able to, but he has demonstrated the ability countless times in the show, whether it's straight-out flying, or hovering in place in the air. Additionally, his senses are very much heightened, such that he can hear, see, and smell better than the average human.
If Eric wanted to, he could convert a person into a vampire by biting them and draining them to near death, and then feeding them his own blood. He would then bury himself with his new "child" until they were reborn as a vampire, his "progeny". Eric is only known to have one "child", though, that being Pam, and it is unlikely he would make another, as the bond between maker and child is a great one. He can call his progeny to him at any time he likes and as his or her master, the "child" is obligated to listen to any command that he makes as a master, regardless as to how they feel about it. This can be demonstrated when Godric orders Eric to leave the roof when he wants to meet the sun at the end of his life.
Of course, being a vampire does have its downsides as well. He is unable to go into the sun, unless he has had the blood of a fairy, and a full-blooded one at that. During the day, he must sleep, otherwise he gets the "bleeds", which means that his nose, eyes, and ears will randomly bleed a little bit, since he is not meant to be up at that time. Eric, being so old, though, does not need to sleep as much, and so he's up usually before the sun sets fully. If he were to meet the sun, he's old enough that his body would burn much faster than a younger vampire's, as it would also if he were to be set on fire.
Just because he is undead does not mean he cannot die, and a good wooden stake or wooden bullet to the heart will just about do it. Silver, as well as wood, is dangerous to vampires, as it instantly burns them, and regardless of how thick the chain is, the vampire can not struggle against it. Theoretically, the strongest of vampires can be held down by the thinnest of chains, if there is enough of it keeping him down. He is not immune to magic, nor is he immune to blood conditions or poisons in the blood he drinks, and so he must be careful with that as well. Also, being a vampire, he is not allowed to enter homes without being invited. This does not apply to public places or hotels, but if he were to visit someone's home, so long as it is not the home of another vampire, Eric must ask them for permission to enter before he does. That is not to say that he can't just glamour them for entrance, though, as has been done in the show before.
Last, but obviously not least, Eric has fangs, but they are retractable, so he can hide them in plain sight. These fangs protrude with a specific muscle movement as well as with the emotion that he is feeling behind it. If he is aroused or excited in some way, his fangs will involuntarily pop out, but he has enough control on himself that that is generally not the case unless he wants it to be. Unlike other vampires, as well, Eric's fangs are not behind his canine's but behind the teeth before that, the maxiliary incisors. Unlike other vampire lore as well, Eric can see his reflection and he does show up in photographs.
Reason for playing: I would love to play Eric because he is such a complicated character. He is sweet and kind and loyal and manipulative and melancholy and jealous and sexual, and it's a good challenge to balance all of things on top of one another. I'm apping him specifically into Bete Noire because it is a city of sin, and Eric would fit right in. I'd be interested in having him set up a bar/night club like he has in his original canon, if possible, because so far I don't think that there is such a place in the game and it would be a useful addition for another meeting place for people. Eric is good at running a business like that, and there are quite a few characters in game that would probably be interested in working at or going to such a place. As for why a pan-fandom game, it's because I think it would be interesting to be able to bounce Eric off of all sorts of people and creatures, especially those that do not exist in his canon as far as we know, such as aliens and the sort. Eric himself would be very interested in learning more about all the different sorts there are out there, after all.
5. Samples
First-Person:
My fellow citizens, it has been a while since I last wrote to you. I have heard that there have been several attacks on the population as of late, and that recent...suggestions have linked those deaths to vampire kind. I can assure you that such is not the case, and that any connections that have been made are a gross exaggeration of the facts. How very...human of you to pin the blame on vampires as soon as exsanguination comes into play. I know not of what sort of creature could be at fault for such brutalities, but it would not be within a vampire's best interests to cause a scene. It's not really our style. Should the authorities need aid on such matters, I myself would be willing to assist and clear our name in any way possible. After all, it would be in our best interests to work together on the matter, yes? Vampires, after all, are friend, not foe.
Third-Person:
Eric didn't like this. He didn't like answering to Bill Compton, not when Bill was only centuries old and he was over a thousand. He didn't like that he knew that he was stronger than Bill, but yet he still had to answer to him. He did, because he was loyal, and there really wasn't any reason not to, but. The thought that it could have been him lingered in his mind. If Bill wasn't the American Vampire League's pet, if it had gone by strength, then it would be him as the King of Louisiana. He could have anything he wanted. He could have Sookie. But he didn't want to be king any more than he wanted Bill Compton to be it. It would be too much work, and he didn't want to humor himself into thinking he had the power in that position when Nan Flanagan would just dictate whatever he would be doing as king anyway. So he answered to Bill, as he was supposed to, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
He could understand why it was him assigned to this supposed witches' coven of alleged necromancers. He was the strongest and oldest vampire in the state, after all. And the coven was in his territory. It stood to reason, from both of those facts, that it would be him to go. But he knew what necromancers could really mean, and he was humoring himself if he wasn't at least the little bit intimidated by the idea that...something could really happen here. If he wasn't careful, if they really were necromancers, then. Well, who knew what could happen. With witches, it was any man's guess. Powerful and playful with their magic. He'd never liked witches much. There was something so...well. They were annoying. All of this mother earth and father sky and ritual sacrifice and the likes. Witches didn't much like vampires either, though, so he supposed that they were even, in an odd way.
He paused outside of the store, making a bit of a face at it. This was the place where alleged necromancy was going down? A store that openly boasted tarot readings and had a hokey grim reaper statue out in the front entryway (he could see it through the window, very Halloween decoration-y of them). Maybe Bill was starting to lose his touch. He had seemed so serious and concerned when he'd sent him out here, but. What was the worst that could happen with a coven that met in a store like this? Ouija boards? Maybe a few bumps in the night here and there? Well, he was about to give them a bump in the night that they'd remember. This would teach them to try and mess with necromancy in his territory. Stepping up to the door, Eric pushed his way through and ended up...on the street outside? Not any street that he recognized either. And it smelled different.
Quicker than a flash, Eric turned in place to go back through the doors that he came from, but they were gone. Before him there was an empty brick wall of an unknown alleyway that smelled of piss and decay. He darted his eyes around warily. Just where the hell was he anyway? Bill sure as hell had a lot of explaining to do...
Third-Person #2:
Eric lay back on his bed in the bunker that he'd had built underneath the house that he'd bought from Sookie's brother. Jason, his name was, if he remembered correctly. He couldn't say Sookie's house, because it wasn't anymore. Not when it was in his name. Sure, Sookie herself lived in it once more, but it was his. He didn't need permission to enter. He was free to do whatever he liked. But he was pretty sure that this was a dream, him lying there on the bed like that. For one thing...he could smell the sunlight, and feel it too.
He had been in the sun briefly for the first time in over a thousand years only about a year ago, when he and Russell had drank Sookie's blood together. For that briefest of moments was the first time in a very long time that he had felt the sun on his skin without feeling his blood and skin beginning to boil as well. But he hadn't been able to enjoy it, all things considered, and the moment had been little more than fleeting. But now... Now he felt the sun's warm caress on his skin, gentle touches on his lips, its warm body pressed against his, the feeling of her breasts against his chest. And he knew he was dreaming, because when he opened his eyes, they met none other than Sookie Stackhouse, her blond hair glowing in such a way that he knew he'd never get to see, not really, not being a child of the night as he was.
"This is a dream," he said, looking up at her as she pushed herself up and straddled his body. "You aren't really here. You would never agree to this."
"Nope," Sookie said, wrapping her hand around his arousal and lord, her touch. He had never felt more alive, in all of the years that he'd been a vampire. It wasn't about the sex, although as she stroked him...that wasn't bad either. Not bad at all. "I wouldn't. Doesn't mean that we can't enjoy ourselves now, though. Am I right?"
Eric grinned, his fangs popping out as he did so, his hand moving to stroke the length of her thigh as he pressed his hips up against her hand. "I was hoping you would say something like that," he said with a smile, and in the blink of an eye he had their positions reversed, with her underneath him on the bed, the sudden movement making her let out a noise of surprise that sent shivers down his spine. This was all a dream, a dream induced by the fact that he had had her blood, and recently, but. That didn't mean that he couldn't indulge himself a little, he thought, as he lowered himself on top of her, positioning himself between her legs, and slowly slid himself inside. Meeting the sun never felt so good, he mused.
Name (or internet handle): Teresa
Current characters in Bete Noire: torchwoodteaboy and ydy_blaidd_drwg
2. Character Information
Name: Eric Northman
Livejournal Username: doesntdohumble
Fandom: True Blood
Image: http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/111619076/39286196
Reserve: here you are
3. Character Information II
Age/Appearance: Eric Northman is 6'4" tall Viking vampire. He's got blond hair and blue eyes, and is extremely pale, not having been able to see the sun in a very long time. He's very attractive and a lot of people want him, including people that don't even like him. As Sookie says in the books, her favorite part of him is his butt, so it must be pretty fit as well. He is over a thousand years old, although the exact date of when he was actually born and the exact date of when he was turned remain vague, only speculated to be C. 900 and 930 respectively. He carries himself well, like the Viking chieftain that he was very long ago, even though his only claim to anything of the sort in that moment is the fact that he's the vampire sheriff of Area 5.
History: Eric's wiki page
Personality: Eric Northman is a complicated man, having lived for a very long time and therefore with a lot of memories that he carries around with him. The majority of his life (both alive and as vampire) was spent alongside his maker, Godric, and through this relationship he displays a great capacity for loyalty and love, even if he doesn't really recognize it as love even after all that time. When Sookie questions his relationship with Godric, he admits to her that he does not understand what the word love means. This is in part due in part to the fact that he is so old and has lived so long in vampire politics that he cannot remember what it is like to feel human emotions anymore. It is also due to the fact that Godric has taught him that a vampire is never at the mercy of his emotions. He does admit that being around humans (Sookie especially) make him feel more emotions than he would otherwise, and he doesn't like that. Which shows that he is a deeper man than his outward appearance of cocky, arrogant, and calculating outward appearance gives him credit.
Despite being cocky and arrogant, Eric still recognizes rules and authority as such. He does not consider himself to be above vampire law (though he cares very little for human law, as he sees it as having no application to his life as a vampire). His visits to the Queen of Louisiana have him treating her with the level respect that is due to her, and his encounters with the vampire Magistrate have him on good behavior as well. When Bill kills Longshadow in his bar, for example, Bill commits a crime against vampire kind and Eric therefore brings him in front of the Magistrate, as is required by law. However, his sense of honor shows its head when Bill asks him to back him up on the point that Longshadow had been stealing from Eric and his bar, and therefore although Eric would not mind having Bill put out of the way, he ends up saving him from a much crueler sentence than the one Bill ends up serving. And after the state switches hands when Bill defeats Sophie-Anne and becomes the King of Louisiana, although Eric quite obviously has a rivalry going on with the other vampire he still recognizes him as the higher authority and follows his orders and command.
As a leader, he is also just and fair. This is coming in from his experience many many years ago of being a viking chieftain, but all the same, he is a kinder vampire authority than most. He gives the people under his command choices, rather than simply ordering them what to do, and he likes to negotiate and bargain rather than have his word be the final say. When he is carrying out punishment of humans, although the treatment of the people themselves would be considered "inhumane", for a vampire he is pretty lenient. When he kidnaps Lafayette for selling vampire blood, for example, he doesn't kill him right off the bat. He takes him in and questions him and yes, alright, tortures him a little, but he keeps him alive and lets him go when Sookie bargains with him to do so. Although he does like to appear imposing and frightening to humans, he does not scare people for the sake of being horrible. He likes to cut an impressive image, but when Sam brings Arlene's children to the bar he's fairly accommodating for them, despite his big bad vampire reputation. People recognize him for the authority that he is and come to him when they need help, as is the case with Alcide's father. When he falls into debt, he comes to Eric for a loan. Of course, this means that Alcide's family is now in Eric's debt, but he is not unfair with how he makes them repay it: with their loyalty to him. As Russell states, he has an "old world" politeness about him, which translates over regardless as to whether he's being manipulative or sincere.
Just because he is just and fair a great deal of the time, that does not mean he is not without his downfalls. Eric is possibly one of the most hardheaded vampires out there, who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, even if it means doing something heartless, ruthless, is something that goes against what he believes in, or sets him back in other aspects. For example, Eric and Sookie were working toward having more of a trusting relationship thanks to their work together with saving Godric from the Fellowship of the Sun. Eric does save her from a bomb, taking the shrapnel for her instead. However, he tricks her into sucking the pieces of debris out of his skin so that she will have drank his blood and therefore have a bond with him. He knows that it's not something that she'll appreciate, but he wants it, so he finds a way to make it happen. This same drive is demonstrated later in the series when Eric is seeking to hurt Russell, the vampire who was the one to issue the order to kill his family so many years ago. Eric has sex with Russell's lover, and then stakes him, so that Russell will have lost something dear to him much as he lost something dear to him all those years ago. This goes against vampire law, which it is his duty to uphold, but it meets his end goal in getting Russell's attention and exacting revenge for his family.
Being so old, Eric grew up speaking a completely different language than any of the ones that are spoken nowadays. This means that he's had to adjust through the years and can speak a variety of versions of them, Old Swedish, Swedish, German, and English, to name a few. He's also good at picking out accents from one another, able to recognize a Mississippi accent from a Louisiana one for example. He's lived a very long time, and he's spread out across the globe, owning many different residences all over the globe. Because he is old, also, he has a vast knowledge of the different types of supernatural beings there are out there. Even Bill, who does not like Eric very much, comes to him for advice on what a maenad is and how he might track one down.
He has learned to adapt through the years, not remaining unchanging like some of the older vampires, but embracing the change. Which is why he is such a good businessman with Fangtasia, as well as a good leader. He can balance both the new and old ideals and maintain a certain level of dignity that new ideals just don't account for anymore while remaining innovative in a way that the older ones never could achieve. He is a very clever vampire, which also comes in handy for business; he knows how smart it is to have a network of people who are loyal to him and so any chance he can take he works it so that a person will be on his side. Which is manipulative, but it is also smart, and a tool that many of the older vampires use as well, although there is only one vampire that we know of who he has created and must follow his every word as he is her maker, which shows that he is also discreet in how he does this networking. He is old, and yet he lives with the knowledge that his surroundings will not learn to adapt to him, so he should learn to adapt to his surroundings. Again a technique that he uses not only in his personal life, but in his business strategies as well.
Eric carries with himself a lot of prejudices against humans and other supernaturals, especially werewolves. He considers vampirekind to be higher up on the chain than humans, which is a sentiment shared with a lot of the other vampires, especially the older ones. He likes to make remarks about how human Sookie is with her emotions and her impatience and her softer feelings. He remarks that it's humbling to have to ask humans for assistance on anything. As the Magister states, humans exist to serve vampire, and that is their only purpose in their eyes. Eric has the habit of referring to any human he does not know as "human", and in a somewhat condescending way. Despite all of that, he can himself become attached to humans, although it is once again a feeling that leaves him boggled. He doesn't understand feelings such as love and attachment very well at all, so every vampire that falls in love with a human he questions about what they find so fulfilling about humans, in hopes that he might better understand his infatuation with Sookie himself. He seems to think that the idea that they can grow old and sick somewhat disgusting, once again because vampires themselves are not capable of doing so. Even so, he does find himself being seriously attached to Sookie, in part because he can't have her, then because she intrigues him, and then because she has had his blood and he has a metaphysical bond to her emotions. He keeps her protected and informed, even if it goes against what he'd normally do otherwise.
Along with his prejudice against humans, he carries an extreme dislike for werewolves and shifters. He recognizes them as other supernaturals, and therefore a little more worth paying attention to than humans, but he still doesn't like them. He remains just and fair when dealing with shifters such as Sam, however. But with werewolves, that's where Eric really loses his cool. When he was human, his father, mother, and baby sister were all murdered by werewolves. Since then, Eric harbors an extreme dislike and wariness of were-kind at all. He and Godric stalked this faction of werewolves that killed his family through the decades and centuries, waiting for the right information and the right news. Even though he finally gets to have his revenge with those wolves and the vampire behind their actions, that does not do anything to better his opinion of werewolves in general.
Eric enjoys being a vampire, and he does not approve of mainstreaming, like Bill does. He doesn't want to live in a society integrated with humans, living under human law, nor does he want to reduce himself to drinking TruBlood like the other mainstreaming vampires. There are many who are willing to donate a little blood to him, and he can glamour them into thinking that it's one of the most pleasant experiences they've ever had, so he doesn't see what the harm is in taking the real thing directly from the source. He does lose his temper and when he does he's a dangerous man, because of his vampire strength. One man who had murdered some vampires had the audacity to put a silver cross to his face, so Eric mutilated the man in front of his other prisoners. But then he acted like it was no big deal to do something like that, turning to ask Lafayette if he'd ruined the work that Pam was doing on his hair. He's not a monster, his ideals just work in a different way than humankind's.
Sexual Preferences/Orientation: Vampires are very sexual beings, as will be further explained by their powers and the fact that someone who drinks their blood will automatically be attracted to them and have sexual dreams about them. Eric is no exception to this. He likes to have sex and does so liberally with anyone that he can. He generally gravitates towards women although he is not opposed to sleeping with men, as is demonstrated when he obviously knows what he's doing when he ends up sleeping with Talbot, Russell's royal consort. Eric can be monogamous, although that means that he would have to commit to one person and one person only, and at this point in his life he really doesn't want to do anything of the sort. It's not impossible, just improbable that he would do something like that. He enjoys random hookups with random people, and enjoys enjoying himself with them. If it's not good sex, then he won't continue with it.
Powers: Eric is a vampire, and an old one at that. Vampires' strength and power grow with their age, and since Eric's over 1000 years old he's very strong. For example, once, when a man pushed him past the limit of reason, he ripped the man apart with his bare hands, and easily as well. As with strength, speed is another thing that vampires possess and grows with age. Therefore, Eric is really fast, and quiet about it too, able to sneak up on people at any time that he wants. Because he is undead and vampire, any injuries he receives will heal in a matter of moments. Unless an injury is severe, then he'll need blood to drink in order to heal himself.
Vampires need to drink blood, and Eric is no exception to this. However, the older they get the less they have to drink to sustain themselves as well, and thus Eric doesn't need to feed a lot all the time. Once a vampire drinks a person's blood, though, a metaphysical bond is established such that that vampire now knows how the person is feeling at any given time (the effects of which are stronger depending on how much blood the vampire has drank), and also is able to keep tabs on that person from a distance (feeling their fear, danger, happiness, lust, etc. from afar). Vampire blood on the other hand is a very powerful healing agent, and if someone who is injured drinks it, they will become well again as quick as vampires heal. It also gives them a supernatural boost, regardless as to whether they're injured or not. Of course, with this supernatural boost comes sexual dreams of the vampire whose blood the person has had it from. Regardless as to whether the person is initially attracted to that vampire, they will automatically have sexual dreams about them. Vampire blood is addictive, though, any sort of magical creature can be effected by it, and as such is treated as a drug that they call "V"; to vampires, the blood is sacred, and therefore dealing "V" is a heinous crime. However, giving of it freely to a person of their choice is another matter entirely, and one that Eric practices himself.
Eric also possesses the ability to "glamour" average humans. A vampire has to be looking the person in the eyes to glamour them, and when it works, it puts the person into a trance-like state and makes them entirely obedient to that vampire. It is primarily used for feeding, although it can also be used to make easy cover-ups for stories, get information out of someone, or just manipulate them in any way. It doesn't work on telepaths like Sookie, though. It is a learned skill, as is flying, which Eric can also do. Not every vampire is able to, but he has demonstrated the ability countless times in the show, whether it's straight-out flying, or hovering in place in the air. Additionally, his senses are very much heightened, such that he can hear, see, and smell better than the average human.
If Eric wanted to, he could convert a person into a vampire by biting them and draining them to near death, and then feeding them his own blood. He would then bury himself with his new "child" until they were reborn as a vampire, his "progeny". Eric is only known to have one "child", though, that being Pam, and it is unlikely he would make another, as the bond between maker and child is a great one. He can call his progeny to him at any time he likes and as his or her master, the "child" is obligated to listen to any command that he makes as a master, regardless as to how they feel about it. This can be demonstrated when Godric orders Eric to leave the roof when he wants to meet the sun at the end of his life.
Of course, being a vampire does have its downsides as well. He is unable to go into the sun, unless he has had the blood of a fairy, and a full-blooded one at that. During the day, he must sleep, otherwise he gets the "bleeds", which means that his nose, eyes, and ears will randomly bleed a little bit, since he is not meant to be up at that time. Eric, being so old, though, does not need to sleep as much, and so he's up usually before the sun sets fully. If he were to meet the sun, he's old enough that his body would burn much faster than a younger vampire's, as it would also if he were to be set on fire.
Just because he is undead does not mean he cannot die, and a good wooden stake or wooden bullet to the heart will just about do it. Silver, as well as wood, is dangerous to vampires, as it instantly burns them, and regardless of how thick the chain is, the vampire can not struggle against it. Theoretically, the strongest of vampires can be held down by the thinnest of chains, if there is enough of it keeping him down. He is not immune to magic, nor is he immune to blood conditions or poisons in the blood he drinks, and so he must be careful with that as well. Also, being a vampire, he is not allowed to enter homes without being invited. This does not apply to public places or hotels, but if he were to visit someone's home, so long as it is not the home of another vampire, Eric must ask them for permission to enter before he does. That is not to say that he can't just glamour them for entrance, though, as has been done in the show before.
Last, but obviously not least, Eric has fangs, but they are retractable, so he can hide them in plain sight. These fangs protrude with a specific muscle movement as well as with the emotion that he is feeling behind it. If he is aroused or excited in some way, his fangs will involuntarily pop out, but he has enough control on himself that that is generally not the case unless he wants it to be. Unlike other vampires, as well, Eric's fangs are not behind his canine's but behind the teeth before that, the maxiliary incisors. Unlike other vampire lore as well, Eric can see his reflection and he does show up in photographs.
Reason for playing: I would love to play Eric because he is such a complicated character. He is sweet and kind and loyal and manipulative and melancholy and jealous and sexual, and it's a good challenge to balance all of things on top of one another. I'm apping him specifically into Bete Noire because it is a city of sin, and Eric would fit right in. I'd be interested in having him set up a bar/night club like he has in his original canon, if possible, because so far I don't think that there is such a place in the game and it would be a useful addition for another meeting place for people. Eric is good at running a business like that, and there are quite a few characters in game that would probably be interested in working at or going to such a place. As for why a pan-fandom game, it's because I think it would be interesting to be able to bounce Eric off of all sorts of people and creatures, especially those that do not exist in his canon as far as we know, such as aliens and the sort. Eric himself would be very interested in learning more about all the different sorts there are out there, after all.
5. Samples
First-Person:
My fellow citizens, it has been a while since I last wrote to you. I have heard that there have been several attacks on the population as of late, and that recent...suggestions have linked those deaths to vampire kind. I can assure you that such is not the case, and that any connections that have been made are a gross exaggeration of the facts. How very...human of you to pin the blame on vampires as soon as exsanguination comes into play. I know not of what sort of creature could be at fault for such brutalities, but it would not be within a vampire's best interests to cause a scene. It's not really our style. Should the authorities need aid on such matters, I myself would be willing to assist and clear our name in any way possible. After all, it would be in our best interests to work together on the matter, yes? Vampires, after all, are friend, not foe.
Third-Person:
Eric didn't like this. He didn't like answering to Bill Compton, not when Bill was only centuries old and he was over a thousand. He didn't like that he knew that he was stronger than Bill, but yet he still had to answer to him. He did, because he was loyal, and there really wasn't any reason not to, but. The thought that it could have been him lingered in his mind. If Bill wasn't the American Vampire League's pet, if it had gone by strength, then it would be him as the King of Louisiana. He could have anything he wanted. He could have Sookie. But he didn't want to be king any more than he wanted Bill Compton to be it. It would be too much work, and he didn't want to humor himself into thinking he had the power in that position when Nan Flanagan would just dictate whatever he would be doing as king anyway. So he answered to Bill, as he was supposed to, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
He could understand why it was him assigned to this supposed witches' coven of alleged necromancers. He was the strongest and oldest vampire in the state, after all. And the coven was in his territory. It stood to reason, from both of those facts, that it would be him to go. But he knew what necromancers could really mean, and he was humoring himself if he wasn't at least the little bit intimidated by the idea that...something could really happen here. If he wasn't careful, if they really were necromancers, then. Well, who knew what could happen. With witches, it was any man's guess. Powerful and playful with their magic. He'd never liked witches much. There was something so...well. They were annoying. All of this mother earth and father sky and ritual sacrifice and the likes. Witches didn't much like vampires either, though, so he supposed that they were even, in an odd way.
He paused outside of the store, making a bit of a face at it. This was the place where alleged necromancy was going down? A store that openly boasted tarot readings and had a hokey grim reaper statue out in the front entryway (he could see it through the window, very Halloween decoration-y of them). Maybe Bill was starting to lose his touch. He had seemed so serious and concerned when he'd sent him out here, but. What was the worst that could happen with a coven that met in a store like this? Ouija boards? Maybe a few bumps in the night here and there? Well, he was about to give them a bump in the night that they'd remember. This would teach them to try and mess with necromancy in his territory. Stepping up to the door, Eric pushed his way through and ended up...on the street outside? Not any street that he recognized either. And it smelled different.
Quicker than a flash, Eric turned in place to go back through the doors that he came from, but they were gone. Before him there was an empty brick wall of an unknown alleyway that smelled of piss and decay. He darted his eyes around warily. Just where the hell was he anyway? Bill sure as hell had a lot of explaining to do...
Third-Person #2:
Eric lay back on his bed in the bunker that he'd had built underneath the house that he'd bought from Sookie's brother. Jason, his name was, if he remembered correctly. He couldn't say Sookie's house, because it wasn't anymore. Not when it was in his name. Sure, Sookie herself lived in it once more, but it was his. He didn't need permission to enter. He was free to do whatever he liked. But he was pretty sure that this was a dream, him lying there on the bed like that. For one thing...he could smell the sunlight, and feel it too.
He had been in the sun briefly for the first time in over a thousand years only about a year ago, when he and Russell had drank Sookie's blood together. For that briefest of moments was the first time in a very long time that he had felt the sun on his skin without feeling his blood and skin beginning to boil as well. But he hadn't been able to enjoy it, all things considered, and the moment had been little more than fleeting. But now... Now he felt the sun's warm caress on his skin, gentle touches on his lips, its warm body pressed against his, the feeling of her breasts against his chest. And he knew he was dreaming, because when he opened his eyes, they met none other than Sookie Stackhouse, her blond hair glowing in such a way that he knew he'd never get to see, not really, not being a child of the night as he was.
"This is a dream," he said, looking up at her as she pushed herself up and straddled his body. "You aren't really here. You would never agree to this."
"Nope," Sookie said, wrapping her hand around his arousal and lord, her touch. He had never felt more alive, in all of the years that he'd been a vampire. It wasn't about the sex, although as she stroked him...that wasn't bad either. Not bad at all. "I wouldn't. Doesn't mean that we can't enjoy ourselves now, though. Am I right?"
Eric grinned, his fangs popping out as he did so, his hand moving to stroke the length of her thigh as he pressed his hips up against her hand. "I was hoping you would say something like that," he said with a smile, and in the blink of an eye he had their positions reversed, with her underneath him on the bed, the sudden movement making her let out a noise of surprise that sent shivers down his spine. This was all a dream, a dream induced by the fact that he had had her blood, and recently, but. That didn't mean that he couldn't indulge himself a little, he thought, as he lowered himself on top of her, positioning himself between her legs, and slowly slid himself inside. Meeting the sun never felt so good, he mused.