Randall Gray

your beloved wizard grandpa. born Stuttgart, Germany, 1783, name Benedikt Johannes Arnhold. renowned scholar of the antiquities at heidelberg university. benedikt rapidly climbed the ranks, as the son of a wealthy family, anyone with too much time and too much money on their hands in these centuries would study the classics. he fancied himself a bit of a philosopher - he always had the feeling there was just something so mystical, about those statues, those grand works of architectural genius. perhaps he took this mystification a bit further than his peers.

it was in his 40s he came in contact with Hellfire Clubs of England, and set up his own little faction in Heidelberg, carefully tucked away into the dark underbelly of the university. benedikt was a personable man, one that shared his intricate philosophies with all that would listen. bit by bit, he would cherry pick students and colleagues he deemed to share his passions, and recruit them into his own little branch of bacchanalia. 

one apprentice stuck out in particular, a dashing younger man, perhaps 30 at best, who wouldn't age a day in all the years he'd know him. the two developed a special bond, though their beliefs often clashed, the other man shared his vigor, his hunger for knowledge of what's beyond. they both simply needed to know, and it infuriated benedikt he would not share the source of his knowledge with him. an endless back and forth of sermons, hidden rituals, and private symposia of philosophies. it was in his sixties the younger man revealed to him that he knew the secret to eternal life, but the price to pay was grand. 

in the short span of 20 years, the cult split off into another branch, with just the two of them. true, honest magic and alchemy branded their practices, as the man would show him time and time again just how he sustained his youth with elaborate rituals. agonizing bit by bit, he revealed more of his truths to him.

these rituals, of course, were fakes. there was not a spot of simple magic involved in his immortality. he merely wanted to test him.

truth to be told, it terrified him. he was faced with secrets he could not have dreamed of, and he was too paralyzed with fear to step forward and grasp them. his private cult ceased to grow, and closed off into a tightly knit circle of those already initiated. but to benedikt, his words no longer held truth. to worship a dead god was like an insult to knowing there was more. yet he refused.

it was then that randall settled down, assumedly for good. he lost all ties with what was once his cult, and even with his job, fired due to deliriousness. but he minded not — he was old, and most of all, decently wealthy. he had no qualms with wasting away in his chair his last days. he stopped going outside, tucked away oermanently in the safety of his study. it was 16 years later, when the man was nigh on his death bed, that his old favorite burst through his door, and spilled much more than the secret to his immortality.

and so, there was benedikt. equally immortal, now a vampire in the guise of an extremely old man. he and his favorite terrorized the streets of the city at night for what turned rapidly into decades, but by far not as long as eternity should have allowed. the truth is, benedikt was gone. far gone. his years of isolation, paired with the taxing process of turning to undeath, drove him completely mad. he was unmanageable for his mentally young favorite, who had to abandon him, unable to bear with the ruination he brought to his lover.

benedikt was alone.

years into the future, he has traveled to a place unknown to humans, and adopted a new identity: randall gray, a quirky old bookseller, and expert mage. to his customers, he simply appears as a kind old man, who obviously has a good bunch of screws loose. he has leaned into this new identity so deeply, he may simply have forgotten his previous rambunctious life. but if applied the right pressure, he may just snap, and revert to the bloodthirsty, ravenous beast he once was.