Eric

Eric H. Marid was a junior professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania before becoming a vampire. His later careers include vagabond, wizard, king, emperor, mastermind, and busybody.

Physical Description Eric stands almost exactly six feet tall. This remained unchanged through the subsequent vampire transformation. Other elements of his appearance altered markedly. His apparent weight, initially around two hundred and twenty pounds, rapidly decreased to a hundred and ninety, giving him a slim, almost skinny appearance. His density, however, increased almost threefold, making his actual weight close to five hundred pounds.

His hair, originally a deep brown, darkened markedly to an inky black. His eyes also altered color. They started as a light blue, as a human, but darkened after his vampire transformation. Eventually, they became black. During the night, when his vampire nature takes over, his eyes are completely black—iris and sclera, both—and are sometimes mistaken for empty holes. His ears have also altered over time, becoming slightly pointed, but he tends to wear his hair longer to conceal them. Other alterations include his teeth. Aside from retractile fangs, his dentition has altered to provide a cutting edge on the outer face of his teeth. His tongue is also not human. It is much stronger than one might expect and he can extend it approximately eighteen inches. It is possible he can stab someone with it, at least well enough to draw blood, but the typical use of this organ is after he bites a chunk out of something’s flesh. The tongue is inserted into the wound to absorb blood more quickly than the animal is capable of bleeding.

The last major feature are his fingernails. Typically, they are sharp-edged and somewhat long even when retracted. When extended, they are a half-inch longer and can be used quite effectively as weapons or tools.

Early Life

Eric is somewhat reticent about his life before the University. It is known that he grew up in a two-parent household and received an extensive education.

University Career

Eric was an untenured, junior professor at one campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

He seems to have been a decent teacher, well-liked by his students. One may draw the conclusion he was available outside office hours for tutoring; he seems to have a delight for helping people understand things. By his own admission, however, he was not a strict adherent to the formalities of student-faculty relationships. One of his hobbies was to take intoxicated students to their homes rather than allow them to fall down wherever they might happen to be. The subjects Eric taught were introductory physics and computer sciences, presumably so a tenured professor would not be wasted on elementary classes.

Post-Mortem

After becoming infected with vampirism, Eric’s career and goals altered markedly. Initially skeptical of the change, once the fact of his own vampirism was proven he altered his science-oriented opinions regarding all things supernatural. His progenitor, Sasha Landvik, made it clear he had no financial concerns due to her own wealth. This left Eric with time and resources to pursue a deeper understanding of the changes wrought in himself by the transformation.