Arno (18th century)

After many years of being a successful pirate, Arno's fleet took an unfortunate blow during a naval battle, many members of his crew dying as a result. Arno felt like a failed captain, so he decided to take his share of the treasure and leave, as he was so remorseful and felt unwelcome though his crew urged him to stay. Some viewed him as a traitor, someone who threw away their friendship, others understood, and others were unfazed.

Arno bought himself new clothes and took a ship to France with his chest full of precious stones, artifacts, and gold, enough to sustain him for multiple lifetimes. There, he connected with a network of vampires who helped him establish himself and suggested he acquire a title of nobility, which he did. He retired to a downtrodden little chateau in the Provencal countryside.

As Baron of Sauville, Arno oversaw mostly farmers. He refused to interact with them, however, as he feared his leadership would be catastrophic for them the way it was for his crew. Thus, he decided to help from afar, mandating a massive tax cut for farmers, often distributing money, covering healthcare needs for many peasants, but never showing his face.

Despite all his wealth, Arno struggled to find people who could willingly give him blood, which he needs to survive. He resorted to drinking animal blood, which kept him alive, but barely.

In about 1703, when a shuddering man passed out on the steps of his chateau. Upon waking up, the man introduced himself as Orlando, and revealed that he was being hunted down by vampires who wanted his blood. Arno took him in and nursed him back to health, protecting him from the vampires. Orlando revealed that he apparently had blood with a rare and sought-after flavor, and that ever since he was little he lived in a town where vampires essentially kept people as livestock, and now that he was 25, they had started taking his blood, so he ran away. Arno was disturbed by this revelation, and worked up the courage to tell Orlando he himself was a vampire, because he thought that was something he should know.

Arno kept protecting Orlando, and for whatever reason felt a really strong drive to keep him safe. Orlando noticed this, and also noticed how weak Arno was. Upon asking about it, Arno revealed he could barely survive without drinking human blood, and though he had hunger and thirst pangs daily he couldn't bring himself to hurt an innocent person, and now he was too weak to go out and hunt down evildoers. Moved by Arno's care for humans, Orlando offered his own blood, as he felt safe letting Arno (and Arno only) take it, also because there was only one vampire feeding from him about once a month, which was much more bearable.

Arno and Orlando spent over a year together, their friendship teetering on the edge of something else. Arno was grateful to finally have a friend again, and Orlando was grateful to have found somewhere he felt safe. Though the romantic feelings were there, neither of them dared to express them. Arno didn't want to be in a relationship where he had more power than his partner, and Orlando didn't want to make Arno uncomfortable.

Arno was confronted by the vampires who kept Orlando prisoner multiple times, but Arno always denied any involvement. Soon enough, though, the other vampires started to catch on to Arno hiding Orlando, and it became clear to Arno that the only way to save his beloved friend was to turn him into a vampire. Orlando agreed to this, and allowed Arno to turn him.

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.

As Orlando became financially independent over the course of a couple years, Arno felt more comfortable expressing his feelings toward him, though he really struggled to do it with words. He'd slip heartfelt notes into Orlando's pockets, make him food, read to him, let his hand linger on his just a little longer. Orlando reciprocated these gestures, until their relationship seamlessly developed into something romantic in nature.

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.

Arno woke up days later on an unknown shore, and having nothing left, he decided to become a sailor again to sustain himself while searching for his beloved.

• Because of his interactions with terrible vampires, Arno became distrustful of them.
• Arno still has an accent when he speaks French, as he learned it from various people originating in the colonies and not mainland France.
• Arno dislikes particularly elaborate embroidery on his waistcoats, but adores intricate embroidery on his coats.
• Arno carries a tiny locket with a painting of his own eye if he'd never become a vampire.
• He still wears his earrings from his pirate days.