At least that's the name he finally adopted. His Lord and Master was Lucifer himself and he answers to him alone. He was his Dark Lord's greatest creation, a masterpiece of malice and deceit; a cruel and terrible mockery of our Lord's vision of perfection called man.

But Man was human. Man was mortal. Man was fearful. Man was dependent. Man was foolish.

It was quite simple then, really... all of the hard choices were already made.

So Vampyre was inhuman. Was immortal. Feared nothing. Took what it wanted. Was cunning. Was predator.

Man was prey. Man bled.

And this would be the final mockery - the stick that Lucifer would use to poke our Lord's eye - Vampyre would feed on Man's blood to grow strong and proliferate and take Our Lord's world from Man.

And so he baptized his child and spawn, and charged him with one simple task: deliver an army unto him.

And this child, called Vampyre knew to please his Master and so roamed the world, free to make his own way. And Lucifer was proud and pleased to watch his progress and his ways.

He was a wraith in the darkness, formless and evil, unspeakable and deadly. And yet, he was free to make, experiment - make and destroy, and make again without consequence. To pick and to choose. At times he seemed to stumble. But there were strokes of brilliance.

But though he served to drag many to his Master's cause and way, he found this was a weakened state from which to fulfill his Master's order. Slaves will after-all fight only so hard. He knew from personal experience that the desire to please came from the deepest well of passion. And so he retreated into the shadows to observe... Man would be his unwitting teacher.

... and he saw he could learn much from the blackest of human hearts - the chieftains and warlords of the expanding empires of the day. He saw many rise and fall, they had the names that history has known and forgotten, in lands charted and lost...

... and the years faded...

He learned that it was indeed the human heart that held the treasure he was seeking - the dormant seed of malice that wishes to live in power forever. It would be easier and more successful (and yes his Master would appreciate conceit) if he turned the human heart to his darkness. And then as if to rub salt in our Lords' wounds, he decided that Vampyres would be born of a kiss. And they would kill so that they would live. They turn their backs on Heaven willingly by mortal sin. Intentionally by mortal sin. Passionately.

In fact, they would beg for the privilege.

It was perfect.

He took a name. And a title. And the Black Empire began.

Vladimir Karkoska. Eastern European. Nobleman.

Vampyre King.

The Master of souls.