- a crown cannot sit upon two brows -

His position as a sanguine noble doubles as being a missionary for the Mohgwyn Dynasty, where he must spread the gospel of accursed blood. Ludovit is charming and charismatic to a near uncomfortable degree. His voice is gentle with a honeyed tone, and he uses sweet words to lure in those around him. Beneath his outward charm, however, lies an air of malice. He will pepper in small insults alongside praise to plant seeds of doubt and win over his target. His goal is to lure others into the Mohgwyn Dynasty, be it as a knight or a sacrifice. When not spreading the Dynasty’s word, Ludovit’s outward charm will often crack and show what lies beneath, where he is especially haughty and vicious.

Very rarely will someone be able to pry beneath what the Mohgwyn Dynasty has made him. In those rare cases, Ludovit’s vulnerability shows and he can be the gentle, kind boy he once was. Due to the confusion and distress these feelings bring him, these moments do not last long. A tarnished, Niles, has made many attempts- some successful- though it usually ends in his death and reawakening at grace.

At age 8, Ludovit kills a man in the brothel because he didn’t like the person threatening his mother and aunt. His mother, Dorothea, makes a deal with Esgar, the blood priest, to protect Ludo from being taken and killed by the Order. The deal consists of protection under the agreement that at age 15, Ludo will be taken by the Bloody Fingers and trained as an assassin. Dorothea agrees and Ludo is then taken to the sewers, where he will be safe. He’s raised by an omen named Barbas, who is separate from the Dynasty. Esgar is also involved during this time, planting the seeds to make Ludo’s desire to join the Bloody Fingers grow. Ludo is subjected to abuse and told that it’s love and connects him to the other Bloody Fingers and it’s something to cherish. He often goes back to Barbas trying to hide cuts and bruises.

Ludo doesn’t like this at first because, of course, pain hurts!! Esgar keeps telling him to embrace it though and tells him to cause pain in turn, and that pain will be what connects everyone. When Ludo is 12, Esgar brings another Bloody Finger to meet Ludo and tells Ludo to hurt them. Ludo hesitates and the Bloody Finger encourages him, so he does it. He cuts them up, the Bloody Finger gets treatment, and Esgar congratulates Ludo and tells him what a great job he did. This makes Ludo happy, even though he didn’t like what he had to do. He tells himself he has to enjoy it, it makes people proud of him, so he has to do it for them.

At 13, Esgar brings Ludo a captive and tells Ludo to kill them. Ludo, despite his confidence now, feels doubt because this person is clearly scared and upset. He questions Esgar, Esgar hits him and threatens him to do it. Things like “don’t you want to make us proud?” “don’t you want the formless to love you?” etc, and so Ludo kills the captive. Esgar continues to bring Ludo victims until he feels no hesitation and immediately finishes the job without command.

By 15, when Ludo officially becomes a member of the Dynasty, he has been molded into the perfect assassin. He quickly climbs the ranks and at age 20, he gains the position of Sanguine Noble, where he acts as a commander to those ranked below him. He has his own squadron of Bloody Fingers that he has personally trained, as well as a pack of festering hounds.

Ludo cannot remember the last time he was allowed to just be himself, if he can even remember who that person is.