Orlando (18th century)

When Orlando was a toddler, his parents disappeared mysteriously. He continued to live in the same house, with strangers coming in to feed him and clean up after him until he was about twelve, which is when he had to start taking care of himself. His health was frail, so he could only do so much work, which was just enough to keep himself fed. His clothes, however, were rags, and his hair was matted.

As he grew up, Orlando heard strange things about the local noble, some baron who oversaw the land. He heard that no one could leave the town, even if they wanted to, without submitting a request to the baron, who required the request to be written, an impossible task for practically everyone in the town, as everyone was a peasant with no access to education. He didn't allow priests, or rabbis, or any other clergy into the town either. The doctors were strange men who came from the baron's keep, and people mysteriously vanished from time to time. Anyone who went into the baron's keep never returned. Orlando had heard people say that they were made nobles and sent off to Paris, but he'd also heard that they were sacrificed in dark rituals.

When Orlando turned twenty-five, two strangers came into his house in the night and asked him to come up with them to the baron's keep. Orlando refused, prompting one of the strangers to hit him over the head, knocking him unconscious. When he woke up again, he was lying on a wooden table, unrestrained and covered in bandages. Different strangers came into the room and carried him out to a courtyard, where Orlando reunited whith his father, who looked old beyond his years. He told Orlando that the baron and his kin were all vampires, and that the townsfolk were their livestock. He also explained that him and Orlando had a rare, sought after flavor of blood that vampires valued like a fine wine, and that's why they'd be kept alive for as long as possible.

For many weeks, Orlando was forcibly escorted to the baron's chamber, where his blood was sucked out of him against his will, leaving him with barely enough to stay alive. Every day, he plotted an escape with his father, whose health was quickly deteriorating. When the day of the escape came, however, Orlando's father stayed behind, as he was so close to death and feared being a hinderance on Orlando, who still managed to escape despite regret filling his heart.

Orlando kept moving all day, getting as far as possible from the town and the baron. He made it a few towns over by nightfall, with no friends to go to for help. None of the peasants or bourgeois answered their doors when he knocked on them. At the time he did not know this, but many of the townsfolk feared visitors after dark as they were thought to be vampires. As a last resort, he dragged himself up the hill to the mansion of the local noble. He managed to knock, but immediately collapsed after.

The baron, Arno, took care of Orlando, nursing him back to health himself. Though Orlando was initially distrustful, he eventually opened up to Arno and told him about his past. At that point, Arno came clean, revealing that he himself was a vampire. Despite this revelation, Orlando hesitantly trusted him anyways, as he had never tried to drink from Orlando or even suggested it.

Orlando made a full recovery over the course of a few months, and Arno even taught him how to read, igniting Orlando's love for writing and literature. He also learned about the arts from Arno. Now that Orlando had become very energetic, it was even more obvious that Arno was very weak and sickly, which Arno explained was due to him not consuming any human blood at all in years, just animal blood. Orlando was moved by this, and decided to allow Arno to drink his blood, but only once a month and no more.

Over the year that Orlando spent with Arno, the vampires who held him captive visited multiple times, asking Arno about Orlando's whereabouts, strongly suspecting that Orlando was staying with him. Arno did not budge, though, and protected Orlando at all costs, happy to finally have a real friend. Things were getting very dangerous, however, as the vampires would do anything in their power to get Orlando back. Thus, Orlando asked Arno to turn him, as it was the only surefire way to evade Orlando's pursuers.

During the time they spent together, Orlando developed romantic feelings for Arno, and was madly in love with him, though he feared saying anything as he wasn't sure Arno would reciprocate, and he didn't want to geopardize their friendship. Although Arno did feel the same towards Orlando, he also refused to make a move, as he realized there would be a power imbalance in their relationship.

In order to evade the Provencal vampires, Arno and Orlando escaped to Paris, faking their deaths by burning down the chateau. They were quickly absorbed into the community there, though they did not discuss their past. The Parisian vampires had also found ways to render animal blood more nutritious, so that they didn't have to feed from humans; however, it wasn't nutritious enough to give the vampire consuming it dark vision, transformation powers, or any other superhuman abilities. It was just good enough for vampires to consume it without being miserable.

With a little financial help from Arno, Orlando opened his own cafe, whith students coming in during the day and vampires coming in at night. It soon became one of the designated meeting areas for the local vampire community. The enriched animal blood was served at night, and fancy coffees and teas were served during the day.

Over the course of a few years, Orlando had acquired a sizeable amount of wealth through his endeavors, and even had his own lavish little apartment. Arno and Orlando started exchanging small gestures, such as heartfelt notes slipped into pockets, hands lingering on top of each other, and other gentle touches. These gestures evolved and became more intense as time went on, their friendship seamlessly turning into a romance.

During the Revolution, Orlando and Arno were found by the Provencal vampires, and when the Parisian vampires found out about Orlando's past, they condemned both Orlando and Arno and gave them the choice to either leave or be killed.

The two of them decided to leave together, boarding a ship in the south of France to go to Italy, but an unforeseen storm shipwrecked the already old and cranky boat. Arno was swept away by the current, while Orlando huddled in a lifeboat with a large part of his earnings in Paris and was rescued two days later.

Orlando was devastated by the loss of his beloved, even attempting to impale himself with a stake, which left a large scar on his back. At the end of the day, however, he decided to keep his life moving, looking for Arno any way he could. He established a shipping company, regularly taking trips on his ships, hoping to maybe find Arno again.

• Because of his trauma, Orlando is still nervous around most vampires.
• Though Orlando speaks in "proper" French usually, he uses his Provencal peasant accent and dialect involuntarily when he gets surprised, startled, or drunk.
• Orlando despises dirty, worn out clothes with a passion. They remind him of the time he spent in his hometown.
• A streak of Orlando's hair went white after he was turned into a vampire.
• During his time with Arno in the south of France, Orlando developed a fondness for the arts and beautiful things (like pearls).