Voshgah Madden Colter

General Information

Name: Born as Voshgah Abraxas, goes by Maddagar Colter, most call him Colter or Madden.

Race: Seraphir (Tserai Vampire), first generation.

Location: Estates in RhyDin and Mordigoth, logdings in Chateau Redmoon, Seumir, Morashtar.

Kin & Companions: Mate Firdan Corca, Tsetar Knight, bodyguard and friend, Azurael. Twin Brother Leorien. Sons Logaen, Talvaraen, Aelfynn, Calbereth

Paths: Wizardry, Divine Invocation, Lore, and Elemental Weaver. 

Inborn Paths: Telekinesis, Telepathy, Haste, Divine Presence, Thrones Gifts, Augury, Vampiric Presence, Blood Magic. 

Vampiric Attributes: can eat food but low nutrition, warm blooded, relies on blood to maintain health, grows cold if starved or badly wounded, heightened senses and emotions, sire by blood or procreation. 

Estates

Property: Orchard Rock Estate, includes the Stonemere Mountain range and Valley, the village of Vineshire or Vinetown, and the Rockshire Chateau. Redfields Estate in Mordigoth, includes Oldgate Castle and city and the surrounding lands to the triangulate Rivers of Borderwatch, Barrier and Ferryshire. Colter holds Substantial wealth as does his mate Prince Corca, ruling Prince of Mordigoth.

Background

Just as Colter had once fallen asleep in the little bedroom off the break room in Gilly's shop, he had passed out dead drunk beside Firdan in the orchard on soft new grass under the eldeset apple tree. They had pulled a bender at the harvest festival for three days now. His eyes cracked open as the sun rose to peer across the orchard to make the dewdrops on the apple leaves and grass glean as it beamed across the breadth of the rolling orchard. For a moment he thought he saw windows, cabinets and shelves full of crystals, colorful glass bottles and other motley curios. He lay there beside Firdan all through the morn, dozing on and off through the hangover that held him to the ground beside his lover. Even as the sun had risen to its apex to beat down on the apple trees and open swaths of rolling grass from above Colter lay there between sleep and wakefulness, his arms wrapped around Firdan, though he did stir and turn slightly to spill a plethora of blonde curls over Firdans chest. Colter felt like he was caught up in some kind of weird dejavu. His dreams when he dozed off were cast in shadows while the sun filtering through the old apple tree dappled him in warm sunlight. He was in a place in between things. The now and the yesterday. The darkness and the light. Sleep and wake. Dreams and memories. Hope and despair. Somewhere admist all the thoughts and dreams in between Killian's voice slipped in to tell him Robrek had moved out of his apartment and was staying in Durasgard until he chose to make other arrangements. They had a brief conversation over the subject which left Colter feeling even more depressed.

 

      Those old fears that had awakened in him not too long ago by the mere act of having gone unseen by Gilly had come back on him ten fold last night as once again he dreamt of his beginnings, of being born only to be discarded by the kingdom of light, cast out into an earthly fall onto Mordigoth, abandoned and forgotten at birth because of what he was, a taboo child conceived of two Tsetar. As he was cast down he was gripped by the forces of chaos and imbued with the Morning Star's ichor, and by the time he met the ground like a falling star the fallen seraph was also a vampire, the first of his genus. An infant vampire that had to crawl, scratch and claw his way to every pittance meal he could get his tiny little fingers on, be it a mouse, vole, rat or other rodent, and to wet his lips in any puddle he could inch his way across. His accelerated growth was the only kindness he knew as he quickly matured to stand and walk on his own in a matter of days, until finally, finally, after some weeks surviving in the wilds as a toddler, a human hand was offered to him in seeming benevolence only for the child they named Seru, which meant zero, to discover as he aged that it was a bitter cruel hand that had pulled him into the untold suffering of child, then adult, then long suffered slavery. 

 

It was a wonder Colter now supported the liberty and equality of mortals on their world as it had been humans who had treated him the worst, out of spite and hatred for their immortal oppressors. Oh but mortals hadn't been the only ones to torture, torment and exploit his incredible celestial attributes, so had vampires and demons who saw him as ruined for society, a slave of slaves that held less value to society than the slaves themselves. He was taken from his human slave master by a demon who made him his slave, and by that master was sold by the hour or day to other demons, vampires, devils and honored librrated mortals. 

 

Colter finally got free of all the anguish and agonies of that life by dying. He had finally been pushed too far and pushed back. He fought his demon master at every opportunity and when he wasn't fighting it was because he was utterly dominated and little more than the walking dead, and fought him like a madman when he wasn't having his every action controlled until he'd left his cruel master with no other choice but to kill him, which he did by throwing a party where Colter was the main meal. Being devoured by demons, devils and other vampires was Colter's first death. 

 

      When he was reborn he had a second chance and remembered nothing of that first two hundred years. In that second life Colter married a beautiful demoness who, by all accounts, after one hundred years of happy marriage had an affair with another demon who she brought to their bed against Colter's will. They both thoroughly enjoyed Colter before they killed him together. What more cruel a betrayal could there be? So went his second death. 

      

      Well in the following third life he was born a prince who was married off to a queen and ended up ruling her small country. He proved a very good king and he and his queen had a son. On his son's two hundredth birthday, his son celebrated by taking the army he had raised against his father to seize his throne. He did not however declare war openly but rather pretended to be bringing the army to place in his father's service. Colter had kept his country at peace against impossible odds a hundred years before his son was ever born. His treacherous son rode his army right through the castle's open gates and killed his father on his throne using trickery and deceit to slay him. Not two years later that country was swallowed up by a neighboring kingdom.

      

      In the fourth life death delivered him to who he was in partial possession of his past memories and was restored fully mature and with all his capabilities. He joined the Queens army and rose in the ranks with distinction to become a nobleman of property and means. He turned wealth into greater wealth and even greater wealth then sold all his properties and took all his riches to the unclaimed mountain lands of RhyDin beyond its known wilds and there in that ring of untamed mountains established his secluded estate of Orchard Rock.     

      Colter sired his first progeny in that life from a beautiful girl who was nearly killed during the war between the then seven kingdoms, called the seven banners war. She was no one of means or reputation, just a girl and innocent casualty of war who was dying and whom.he took pity on. Few vampires with a heart lived that did not eventually sire someone to save their skin. She was grateful. She took to being a vampire all too well and Colter had to far too often reign her in. She became ambitious and a danger to the people of his peaceful villa. SHE was the vampire of nightmares Colter was not. He didn't have the heart to finish what fate had intended for her. She was good to Colter. She was everything he could ever desire in a woman. Though he knew she was a danger to his people he trusted her with himself. Then while they coupled she drained him of his blood until he was in stone cold torpor and cut off his head, then his feet, then his hands, then cut out his heart. Though he arrived too late Colter's long time Tsetar friend, knight and blood provider Azurael, came to check on his Lord and found his progeny claiming his heart and he killed her. He sewed his long time Lord and friend back together and placed him in his tomb and kept his estate for him until his return. 

      His fifth life as Magdelai and his marriage to Firdan had been the shortest and the best life he had lived because as Magdelai he had not been betrayed or executed by the one he loved. Firdan had not been the one to betray his wife and children and that meant more than all the rest to Voshgah Maddagar Colter. 

In this, Colter's present life, Azurael had kept his kingdom safe for him and he was reunited with Firdan who did not reject him because of his gender or because he was in love with another woman. No, Firdan did all his power to make it work between the three of him and she too embraced him, had the good heart not to reject him... until she did. It seemed that the woman they both loved could not live with her mistakes or misdeeds being pointed out to her.

 

      There was little of peace in Colter's dreams since being rejected by yet another he had dared gamble his heart to. If not for Firdan Colter wasn't sure he could move forward. Firdan saw how deep his pain burrowed and was a steadfast rock for him to lean against. Firdan, who had warned Colter time and time again that things with Gilly might fall apart because she simply couldn't see beyond herself, could not fool Colter though. He was not a rock. His pain ran even deeper than his own. Even knowing Gilly had trouble seeing past the world she wrapped herself in, to open her eyes to the things she did to hurt others, they had tried and tried so hard to nurture her with their love, but it had just grown far too one sided. Being discarded by her for asking her to take a week to decide if they were worth the effort was the final straw. Certainly they had pointed out some very eggregious errors made by her, but were they cast of crystal, steel and stone or where they not beings of spirit, flesh, and bone? Those two were not in the habit of bottling things up they felt were important to express. Vampires of their ilk had heightened senses including emotions, and had to train themselves to adapt to those sensations, but no matter how adept they became at controlling their emotions it didn't mean they weren't very sharply felt. 

      

Colter remembered everything that had ever happened to him since birth this time around and it made his heartache all the more acute. Still he dozed off and on again, then he slept for a good long while and when he woke, he found Firdan awake too and he was staring at something. Colter followed his gaze to find a very large bear staring at them. 

 

They lost apple trees, grape vines and other fruit bearing flora to bears and deer now and again around the orchard, but they never killed them for it. The deer were hunted by the villagers, wolves and wild cats for food which kept their numbers in check. They just accepted the losses to the orchards from the local wildlife. Colter wished it so and their harvests were always plentiful. He believed in maintaining a natural balance that the wild life was part of. Dogs patrolling the orchards and livestock otherwise kept the wildlife from getting greedy. 

 

Firdan woofed at the bear through his breath like a wolf and its muscles tremored just before it took off running away from them. Oh what a sight to see that big old ginger bear running across the orchard in broad daylight, its muscles outlined beautifully by the sun. Vampires or not that bear could have lit into them, but Firdan was a lot scarier than that old bear and the bruin knew it. 

 

Firdan threw his arms around Colter and buried his face against his chest. "I love you, Madden. With all my heart, I love you." The thought that Gilly should have been there with them to see that was just killing Firdan and Colter could feel it in him.

 

Colter nuzzled against him and patted his back. "I know you do, and the feeling is mutual."

 

Firdan cuffed his back too. "How about we go climb into that amazing jet bath of yours and wash the last three days of drunken lament off of each other?"

 

"That sounds glorious," Colter agreed. 

 

Firdan smiled and slipped away from Colter to stand then offered him a hand up which he took. When the Tserai was on his feet Firdan coiled him with his arm. "Perhaps next week we can see about revisiting a friendship with Gilly." he said offhand as they started walking but Colter stopped dead in his tracks. 

 

"Why? She is no better as a friend than a mate. Ayuna was her friend and look what she did to her. She threw her away like she was nothing over something so petty as expressing her feelings to someone! And she deserted us for not holding her up as a goddess! And I am willing to bet the beauty of that bear would have been lost on Miss Brooke. The woman can no sooner be trusted as a friend than a lover! Your good cousin warned you did he not? How much more of your time and your heart will you waste on her? I've BEEN a slave. I know what it is to WANT to be punished. Well let me warn you and heed ME as you did not your cousin or that ghost you told me about last night that had you laughing to tears. She WILL break your heart as a friend as readily as she did as a mate. For the love of Gods I almost sired her! Regardless of how outlandish the reason I am so grateful she stopped me! I know you hate throwing in the towel and giving up on anyone you care about, and that is admirable, Firdan, but for your own good you MUST FORGET about HER. Please, my love." he implored with all his heart. 

 

Firdan sighed and encouraged him to walk with his own smooth gated strides. Even hungover he moved like a panther, just a hungover panther. "I will think about it," he said but he couldn't promise anything yet. Maybe he was a glutton for punishment but... Colter interrupted his train of thought. 

 

"I know you, Firdan, and what you are thinking. You're thinking she deserves a chance, that you owe her the opportunity to at least be a friend, that you don't want to lose her altogether. Well let me tell you, Firdan, she absolutely doesn't deserve you. You OWE her nothing. If anything she owes you. You built a ridiculously expensive apartment onto her store for Robrek to LIVE IN. Did she thank you for it? Did she get excited when it was finished and want to go see it? NO. She took it for granted as she does everything else! Firdan, we are lucky to have made a clean escape. Please just forget about her, if not for you, then for me?" He was desperate to have pulled the 'do it for me' card. "You can't teach her to be a better person either, Firdan, because she refuses to learn anything." 

 

"Well the apartment is there for Rob to live in regardless of our falling out," Firdan ascertained. 

 

"Killian informed me this morning that Robrek moved out. He's at Durasgard. Can you blame him after the way Gilly treated Ayuna? And he's heard of our break up," Colter informed him. 

 

"The apartment has private entrances outside, he could still live there," Firdan maintained rather stubbornly. 

 

"Firdan, you aren't thinking clearly at all are you? It's like she's infected you with her irrationally. You are thinking what a waste of your efforts and money for him not to be living there, but how can he? She's hurt everyone he loves. The apartment can be private, yes, but it is too close. Think, love. And please tell me your aren't thinking of using your brother as an excuse to visit in hopes of running into Gilly."

 

Firdan paused in his strides and shuddered. Tears glazed his eyes and he gritted his teeth against hot breaths of anguish. "She's wrecked me," he hissed with such profound pain as transposed into malice. 

 

Colter pulled him into a tight embrace kissing his cheeks and brow. "She's shipwrecked us both, but we have each other, Firdan, and we may find a woman who can love us as we deserve given time." Somehow Firdan's pain helped Colter put his own heartache into perspective. "We both knew this was coming, Firdan. Why are we surprised by it? Let us have some good old fashioned revenge by forgetting all about Gillette Brooke and getting on with our lives on our best foot. What say you?"

 

Firdan sighed heavily and nodded. Colter laughed and pulled him along. It was quite a walk from the middle of the orchard, then through the village to the chateau but it did them good and made them appreciate the whirlpool bath they took when they got there all the more. Firdan was in love with Orchard Rock Estate and its people and intended to spend a great deal more time with Colter in his little slice of mountain paradise. He also looked forward to getting to know his good man Azurael better. Colter and his people had built something amazing there.