Essen, Dhampir Rogue (Patreon)

A resourceful dhampir rogue I drew on commission recently!

Character: Essen, Dhampir Rogue

Originally born a half--elf and abandoned at birth, Essen found himself in the loving hands of the three Almer sisters who raised him along with their various other adoptive children as their very own. Essen grew up poor but loved by the sisters and his siblings, all of them doing whatever they had to do to make ends meet within the port city of Talistone.

His life was relatively tame up until he became sixteen years of age, and hired thugs began to pressure his adoptive parents to pay back supposed debts, leaving behind threats and breaking furniture in the process. Under these threats, the oldest members of the house decided to try to fix things… by stealing, of course.

Essen and his two older brothers ran off into the streets, doing what they needed to do to keep their family safe. After a short while, Essen had successfully broken into a noble’s house and taken a great number, thinking that the lady of the house was apparently asleep. But his actions drew the attention of with Lady Nightingale, the lady he had stolen from and secretly a vampire.

Lady Nightingale took one look at the young half-elf and decided he looked delicious. She promptly whisked him away to become her servant and food source.

After six months of servitude, Essen’s body began to… adapt to the vampiric magic and repetitive feeding, his body assuming some of the characteristics of his captor. He was no longer a half-elf, but a dhampir.

With his newfound gifts and a desperate mind set, he escaped the lady's manor and visited his family one last time to tell them that he was going far away from Talistone. His family gave him one last gift, the silk blue scarf around his neck.

It’s been four years since his escape, and the now dhampir rogue is still adjusting to his newfound powers and hunger as he travels alongside some new friends: Gale the human warlock, Kilani the human fighte,r and Tony the half-orc paladin.

For now, Essen keeps his dhampir nature a secret from his friends, uncertain how they’d react. Yet, he hopes to one day become strong enough to get revenge on Lady Nightingale and perhaps even find a way to regain his half-elven nature one more.

What do you think? :)