Benoit Blood-Eyes – General of the Damned

During the Belfrie Rebellion, Benoit of Mistrath was a loyal advisor and military strategist to the Belfrie brothers, serving as the right-hand to Arthur Belfrie himself. It was much of his own military prowess that earned them decisive wins against Draksborne in the early years of the war, and indeed his reaches within Draksborne’s military that earned him soldiers loyal to the Belfrie cause, and intelligence fed through Draksborne’s military, having served as a general under the empire for years, commanding his own campaigns against the Elves of Nan Thalias. For Benoit, fighting against the emperor felt to be a noble, worthy cause; a land free of tyranny, filled with autonomy where men may govern themselves rather than bow to a king. Yet, Benoit would never see this vision. In the latter years of the war, the forces of Draksborne orchestrated a devious plot to ambush Arthur and his men with a host of vampires. Whilst the vampires were eventually driven back, they sustained heavy losses, and Arthur, alongside a handful of his soldiers, were stricken with vampirism. They fled to his manor of Vyncourd near Volosvio, gathering their bearings until they eventually found refuge in the Baldurian colony of Duskweave Isle. The gloomy and foliage-dense isle south of Volosvio provided them with a home in plain sight, and whilst they initially fed upon whatever food came their way, they would be discovered by Almenhier Thrasliche, who instilled on them his tenets, a means to survive their curse without forsaking their souls. Benoit still followed Arthur in this time, and even when the isle was cursed by the Lich Kelathar, he did not relent in his support when Arthur brokered a deal with the lich to allow them to remain on the island. Yet, centuries later when Duskweave became a centre of conflict, Arthur betrayed Kelathar and the other denizens of the isle, siding with mortals in exchange for pardons and safe passage off Duskweave. Benoit, strongly advised against this. He still recalled the time they were pursued by Paladins of Erdrydion sent by Arthur’s twin brother, and knew that their ailment would not be easily forgiven, nor forgotten. When it came time to find a new home, Benoit chose to abandon his post at Arthur’s side, believing wherever he would take them, misery would follow. Instead, he chose to walk a new road, one at the side of Noctra de Blanc, a half-elven woman from Greypeak who promised any who followed her a home in her palace in Greypeak. Benoit obliged, and took place in her council as an advisor. Here, the tenets of Thrasliche were forgotten, and Benoit and his kin indulged in bloodlust, consuming any sweet meals that presented themselves. Whatever moral codes and righteous honour he once held as a man had long since faded in his centuries of living off beasts on Duskweave, and he thought it fine to finally indulge himself after so many years of abstinence.