Once a proud dragon who narrowly avoided being absorbed into the domain of the Dragon King in Vael-Kaelen, Tarquin Sanguinis recognized his own waning power and refused to bow. Facing inevitable subjugation, he struck a desperate, blasphemous pact with a slumbering, death-like primordial, offering eternal devotion in exchange for dominance. The primordial remade him into a monstrous vampire dragon, imbuing him with the dark power to claim his territorial island, choke it in a permanent wall of black fog, and plunge it into perpetual darkness. Paranoid of any potential rival, Tarquin systematically hunted and devoured every other dragon in his territory, leaving none alive. When the catastrophic mind-rend swept across the world, Vesper-Nox’s isolated and shielded environment protected him, allowing him to rule unchallenged as the undying tyrant of the isle.
Under his iron-fisted rule, humanity has been fractured into a brutal, vampiric feudalism. The Tithe Cities operate as heavily taxed settlements where citizens are kept perpetually weak, compliant, and anemic through regular, mandatory bloodletting ceremonies. Enforcing his dark decree are the Crimson Guard—brainwashed human thralls clad in heavy black iron plate armor etched with draconic runes and wielding weapons engineered to hemorrhage their targets. Beneath them, the Dragon-Blooded Cult consists of high-ranking human priests who practice dark alchemy to consume diluted drafts of Tarquin’s vampiric blood, granting them twisted, Spark-infused powers and elongated fangs, though they remain entirely subservient to his psychic command.
Opposing him from the shadows are the Rebel Enclaves. The Under-Vein Network snakes through deep mining tunnels and volcanic fissures, carved just high enough in the crust that the colossal, winged shape of Tarquin physically cannot fit inside to crush them. Among them move the Dhampir Border-Walkers, who inherit predatory instincts and night vision without falling prey to the dragon’s thrall-compulsion, acting as frontline scouts, assassins, and guerrilla leaders. Alongside them, the Ashen Guerrillas coat themselves in heavy alchemical ash and sulfur compounds to mask their living scent from Tarquin's terrifying tracking senses, striking at blood-caravans before retreating into the tight cave networks.
Where is he located:
The Obsidian Sanguine Spire – A towering, jagged monolith of glass-like black stone jutting from the central volcanic crater of Vesper-Nox, wreathed in freezing fog and dripping with coagulated shadow, serving as the grim roost and throne room of Tarquin Sanguinis.