Count Dracula

[Proto Man]

[float=right][/float]Location/Role: Dracula is located inside the castle that bears his name, and he is in charge of an army that is likewise named for him. Erected following the banishment of Diablo from the Omniverse, Dracula’s Castle is located deep in the hinterlands of the Pale Moors.

It is from this castle that the mysterious Count Dracula rules a loose network of monsters, demons, and undead creatures that constitute ‘Dracula’s Army.’ While by no means an intricately organized force, it is not uncommon to find groups of disparate creatures bearing the Count’s coat of arms. These groups tend to raid travelers and the small villages in the area around Darkshire.

History: It is now mostly common knowledge that Count Dracula was once a mortal man. Born a Wallachian aristocrat in the fifteenth century, Dracula had a degree of privilege in life that many of his countrymen lacked. Due to his heritage, he eventually became a warlord in a part of Europe under constant threat of Muslim invasion. After this point, the details become somewhat blurry, as Dracula himself is quite silent on the topic. All that is known is that the Count carried out a guerilla war against the Ottomans that spanned decades, and while he had success for many years, the tides eventually turned on him.

No one knows when Count Dracula the man perished and Count Dracula the vampire was born, although most would assume this occurred by the end of the fifteenth century. The history of Dracula thereafter is a mixture of speculation, rumors, and the tales of Abraham van Helsing. It is uncertain when Dracula came to the Omniverse.

In the days when the Black Gate was still open, Dracula was the equivalent of a commanding officer in the army that marched for the Lord of Terror. A handsome, smart, and charismatic individual, the vampire led many crippling raids against the forces of the Kingdom. When the fighting turned to large-scale battles, Dracula was often spotted near the front lines amidst the infantry. A master of the psychological aspects of war, the count would often impale the corpses of slain enemy commanders on pikes outside the walls of Darkshire.

For reasons unknown, Dracula was absent from the Battle at the Black Gate. The reasons for this are varied. Some claim he had been preoccupied in other parts of the Moors. Others state he foresaw the end of his master’s reign of terror and used this time to consolidate control over his forces. Whatever the cause, Count Dracula escaped the end of the war with a large nucleus of followers intact.

Several months followed in which the Pale Moors experienced a short period of peace and a potential shot at gradually returning to their pre-war prosperity. What is now accepted as fact is that Dracula used this time to forge his castle and army and gradually rise to power in the deep reaches of the Moors. By the end of the year—around the same time that the fog swallowed Silent Hill—Dracula could claim dominion over much of his former master’s zone of influence. The citizens of Darkshire, who had almost had enough time to be happy, slipped back into despair as attacks resumed on their already beleaguered city.

While he yet lacks the power of Diablo, it is clear that Dracula seeks to follow in the footsteps of his former master. And given the situation in the Pale Moors and the Omniverse at large, it is doubtful that any will be able to stand in his way.