Abaddon Atrum

Quick Facts:

• Abaddon is a canniablistic vampire, meaning he drinks the blood and eats the flesh.
• He is a mage, using his powers of Illusion to trap and seduce prey.
• He feeds almost exclusively on men and children, regardless of gender.
• Abaddon has no memory of his life starting about 50 years before current events.
• Abaddon is left-handed.

Abaddon Atrum is an Imperial, born in 3E 407 in the city of Anvil, in Cyrodiil. His father was a sailor, and his mother worked at the local tavern, which was a common place for sailors and seadogs to rest and find entertainment. Abaddon's mother was not a prostitute, though she did engage in some casual relationships with sailors from time to time. Abaddon's father was one such sailor, and one who happened to get her pregnant. The fact that he was actually a pirate was only mentioned after, though she was not interested in pursuing a relationship of any dedication, which suited him just fine. After Abaddon was born, his father would stop by from time to time, sometimes months or even years apart. Mostly, this was to sleep with his mother. Sometimes he would bring gifts for Abaddon, like a small dagger or a flute. The flute was the last gift his father gave him, and he never returned after that visit. He and his mother were not sure if he was simply dead, or if something else had happened. 

While he was not rich, his mother made enough money, and was given enough by his father, to live comfortably. His mother passed away when Abaddon was 23 years old, and so he took what money was left to him and traveled around the country. He wished to be a bard initially, having a gift for speechcraft, song, and music that was notable even among Imperials. But along his travels, he also discovered and honed a talent for magic. At first it was for self-defense and protection while on the road, but soon it became a larger interest, and eventually his wandering began to center around expanding his magical talents, and music was used as a way to make money while stopping in taverns and towns. 

His main focus was then gathering recommendations from the local Mages Guild halls of Cyrodiil, starting with his home city of Anvil, with the intention of entering the Arcane University in the Imperial City. He eventually attained the rank of Apprentice and gained entry at the age of 24. His magical talents lay mainly with Illusion, Alteration, Conjuration, and Mysticism. While attending the Arcane University, Hannibal Traven became Arch-Mage, and banned the practice of Necromancy, which Abaddon had dabbled in only slightly. But the expulsion of those members found to be practicing this art convinced him to hide any involvement he'd had in the invocation of spirits. 

This also began a secretive group that rallied together to continue the practice without the Arch-Mage being aware, students and teachers alike who gathered together under shroud of darkness to share the black arts with one another. Abaddon was curious about this, and also eager to expand his skills without regard for consequences, and so he joined that which soon became a coven. The meetings were casual at first, but soon they began to get darker, more dangerous, and eventually violent. They had begun robbing graves, but soon enough there was a fresh kill. An Imperial City guard had seen the grave robbing, and Abaddon, with some others, were forced to kill him to maintain their secrecy. Abaddon was somewhat surprised to find that the murder did not bother him. He'd killed in self-defense before, but this was far more selfish. But he didn't care. In fact, he valued his own education and the slaking of his curiosity above the lives of others. If they were weak enough to be murdered by a group of students, surely they weren't very strong to begin with, and had no business being in the Imperial Guard. 

His killing was noticed by forces darker than he'd yet encountered, though he remained unaware of that for some time. 

But that first murder started a chain of events that led Abaddon down the path to violence, cannibalism, and madness. Through study and secret, Abaddon attained the rank of Warlock (and technically still holds it, though the Mages Guild no longer exists). By this time the Arch-Mage had been made aware of the cult of Necromancers within his own Guild, and was sending fresh mages, and those with more experience, to exterminate them. Abaddon himself was asked to complete such a task, and faced with expulsion and excommunication or destroying the coven of close-knit wizards he'd been a part of for years, he chose the latter. He would not lose what he had worked so hard to attain, and his familiarity with these folk made them all completely unsuspecting of his actions and bloody betrayal. One by one he killed them all, using his now highly proficient illusion magic to trick and confuse the men and mer he'd lived and worked with, until they were disoriented and drained, and made for easier prey. He stored all their souls in Black Gems so they would not go to waste, and left their bodies to rot and wander after some quick spellwork made to cover his tracks, just in case he'd forgotten anyone. 

This was the moment where he was finally contacted by the Dark Brotherhood; Sithis had seen his brutal massacre and found it worthy. At the age of 26, he was recruited by Lucien Lachance, and found little reason not to join the Brotherhood. What little he'd lost in the demise of his secretive coven, he found replicable there. He had no guilt for what he'd done, but he understood the loneliness that came with having nobody to speak with about the topics which interested him the most, and also the danger of isolation. The Arch-Mage had not stopped hunting Necromancers, and now there were fewer than before, which would make his own actions all the more noticeable. There was also some sense of solace there, as the parts of himself that had been cultivated and encouraged by his time in the coven were valued now, higher than his magical prowess was his willingness to commit acts of unconscionable violence. And he was willing. 

He was involved with the Cheydinhal sanctuary, and befriended a higher ranking member named Vicente Valtieri, an old vampire who took an interest in the young and physically attractive warlock. They formed a friendship that soon bordered on romantic, and Vicente offered to become Abaddon's vampiric sire when he proved himself worthy and willing. Abaddon, who saw no downside to this offer, took it readily. Once the change had taken him, he reveled in the feeling of power and bloodlust, and gave into it easily. He would never age and never die, so long as he was powerful and cunning enough to avoid those few things which could kill him.

Soon enough he progressed through the ranks of the Brotherhood as well, and his duties as a Mages Guild warlock proved to be useful in this. He could infiltrate places in the University itself without arousing any suspicion, and his comings and goings could always be related to private research or trusted Guild activities. This also gave him access to plenty of ingredients for poisons, which he could sell or trade to other members of the Brotherhood.

But this was not made to last, and soon enough, a traitor was suspected in the midst. Since Abaddon was the newest initiate, he was tasked with cleansing the Sanctuary of threats, and that turned out to mean murdering every other member of the Sanctuary. Once again, those he had lived and slept and killed with would die by his hand, and this disturbed him somewhat, but none more so than Vicente. Killing his own sire caused something to shift and snap within Abaddon's psyche, and in a desperate attempt not to lose all that he had gained, he indulged in a mad and sudden urge to consume the elder vampire. He ate his flesh and drank his blood, and once the cleansing was complete, he found that the desire to eat the flesh of all his victims was irresistible. 

He had fallen into Namira's sphere without even knowing it.

But he was not given time to explore this, nor to repair the damage that he had done to himself by this act. That was the year the Oblivion Crisis began, and yet throughout it all, Abaddon continued his duties for the Mages Guild and the Brotherhood until it was no longer possible. Soon enough, his ageless appearance was garnering suspicion within the Guild, and he had to quietly step fully into the shadows, and completely embrace his role as an assassin. He did not form bonds with anyone else, and did not speak to people unless he had to, becoming incredibly solitary. Even other vampires held no appeal to him, and he rarely interacted with his own kind purposefully. 

This continued for nearly 50 years, and Abaddon's mental state continued to deteriorate during that time until he often fell into states of feral bloodlust. Namira was communing with him, or so he thought, as was Molag Bal, Sheogorath, and Sithis himself. He remains unsure to this day if there was actual communication, or merely hallucinations. 

The Great War then broke out between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion in 4E 171. During this time, the Brotherhood was called upon more than it had ever been before, but that meant  Abaddon, as a senior member, was at the forefront of many political assassinations. This put him into the open in a way he hadn't been before, and eventually it was too dangerous to continue, and he distanced himself from the Brotherhood unless specifically called upon. He maintained almost complete isolation, hunting and killing more like an animal than a man, and giving in fully to the dark desires which had been bred into him through actions. But the war meant danger, and he also had to be more careful and selective of when and where he hunted. Madness, however, does not plan well, and he inevitably fell within the sights of a group of vampire hunters. They tracked him and found him, and they were well equipped and formidable. The resulting encounter nearly killed Abaddon, and even though he lived, it was not without cost. He was horribly scarred, and could no longer venture into towns without arousing suspicion and being far too conspicuous, falling into a similar fate to his late sire Vicente - trapped to interact only with the Brotherhood, and monsters similar to himself. When the war ended four years later in 4E 175, the Imperial City had been attacked directly, the White Gold Tower ransacked, and the Mages Guild dissolved. The Brotherhood was also then forced into hiding, as Bravil - the home of the Night Mother - had been decimated, and the Dark Lady had to be moved into a secret location. Communication between members of the Brotherhood slowed to a crawl, and any remaining contact with the Brotherhood that Abaddon had ceased. Having no reason to stay in Cyrodiil any longer (and having attracted attention from vampire hunters once again), he made the decision to venture further into Tamriel. 

He chose Skyrim, thinking the northern lands would be more sparsely populated than other countries, and having heard tell of the Volkahir breed of vampires that resided in the icy wilderness. By this time, through madness and age, he had forgotten his early life, and remembered nothing aside from his work with the Brotherhood.

Upon entering Skyrim's borders in 4E 179, he found no active Brotherhood, or at least not what he remembered. He couldn't find a way to make contact with the Volkahir either, and rather than make further attempts to resume a life similar to what he had before, he simply began travelling again, going around Skyrim and tasting as many different types of people as he wished. He discovered a cult dedicated to Namira during this time, and made his first real moment of contact with the Daedra, coming into possession of her artifact and cementing himself as a patron. Eventually he came to Winterhold, and saw the College there. Having only a vague recollection of being in the Mages Guild several decades earlier, he thought it might be a convenient place to hunt and feast, and a good cover for certain behaviors. His interest in the previously banned practices of the Black Arts didn't seem to matter that much to the College, and although it wasn't widely known, it was not a secret to the higher ups. However, in the year 4E 184, he made the mistake of seducing a fellow member of the College down into the Midden, and devouring him there. He was caught, and though it was presumed he committed this act for a ritual, and not due to being a vampire or a cannibal, he was expelled for the crime. So he once again began wandering.

The Dragon Crisis of 4E 201 (when he was 227 years old) forced  him to change his pattern of wandering along roads and murdering anyone he came across. Since he still looked 26 years old, and maintained an attractive figure despite his scarring, he rediscovered his passion for music and journeyed to the Bard's College in Solitude to enter apprenticeship. He was denied, though this did not stop him from using his natural talents, and his vampiric skills, to further his lethality. 

Abaddon can be found as a mysterious traveling bard, only entertaining in the twilight hours, and leaving once he has been paid. Odd disappearances during his times in certain towns and cities are only circumstantial, and there is no proof that he has ever been involved...

-Relationships-

Friends:

Lovers: Vicente Valtieri (deceased)

Enemies: