Izolda met Ignatios in 2013. Only several weeks had passed since Svyatoslav had tortured her, so she was extremely shaken, terrified, and overwhelmed when she saw yet another nelapsi. He was visiting the Holy Circle to give several (strange and dangerous) books to the Grand Library. When he came across her she was utterly terrified of him because he was the first vampire she’d encountered since Svyatoslav. However, he reached into her mind and forced her to calm down; that’s also how he learned about what happened between her and Svyatoslav. He was horrified and overcome with guilt even though it wasn’t his fault.

He grabbed her and held onto her so she would absorb his life force. He thought this would save her and make her healthy again. He also thought it was a suitable punishment for him to die this way. Ignatios’ life force did significantly help her but she didn’t kill him. Someone heard her telepathically calling out and pulled Ignatios off her before her curse/uncontrollable power could take all of his life force. It took him a few months to recover.

Ignatios vowed to hunt down and kill Svyatoslav after that.

;;---ooc

If you read anything about the Holy Circle and find yourself thinking, “hmm, that sure sounds cultish. . .” it’s because it’s most definitely a cult. 

It’s a small, isolated community in the middle of nowhere. Three people (Adelina, Alessandra, Antonia, aka the Tribunal) have absolute control and authority over everyone else. They’re the highest-ranking members and at the very top, with nine Wardens serving directly below them. Members aren’t allowed to talk about the Holy Circle with outsiders, they have to leave their whole family and previous life behind if they want to join, they have to swear a literally magically binding blood oath to the Tribunal, etc. People who are born in the community aren’t allowed to permanently leave and are told little about the outside world, only enough to do their jobs properly. If someone does try to discuss the Holy Circle with outsiders, it’ll end very badly for them; they won’t die, but what does happen still won’t be good. The blood oath / mental binding is somewhat new; it was only put in place around the year 1800.

Ignatios knows about the Holy Circle because he learned about them long before they started coming up with methods to prevent members from talking about their organization. The fact that they’re literally altering people’s minds bothers him but sadly he can’t do anything about it.

are these your people?

;;headcanon

Ignatios had been captured by a group of fanatical pagan vampires in the year 1140. They were the somewhat similar to the Akashan bloodline but came from a different core. He was kept in confinement inside the hollowed trunk of a massive tree, similar to the Akashan gods of the grove. He escaped in 1170 only after hypnotizing one of the cult’s newest recruits --- a newly turned young vampire --- into releasing him. He had been without a sufficient amount of blood for over 30 years at that point. He was feral and insane and so couldn’t stop himself from killing and devouring the young vampire. It still wasn’t enough, but he did gain the strength to run away from the cult. 

He fed on animals until he came across Svyatoslav’s village. The scent of so much human blood drove him into a frenzy and he lost control. He killed most of the village and then afterwards buried himself in the earth a significant distance away from the village. All that blood and being able to sleep for a week helped him both physically and mentally recover but still not completely. He still killed the group that came after him, partly in self-defense and partly for their blood. Everyone in the group except Svyatoslav, who was only severely injured. When he finally started to become self-aware again it was only enough to save Svyatoslav. These days however Ignatios wishes he would have killed him instead.

He has never turned anyone else into a vampire ever since and he doesn’t plan to either. The entire situation with Svyatoslav makes him feel immense guilt and regret. He feels immense guilt, regret, and self-hatred for losing control and slaughtering the village. He feels responsible for all the harm Svyatoslav has caused over the years because none of it would have happened if he had simply killed Svyatoslav instead of changing him. He deeply regrets turning him. He doesn’t want to risk a repeat of something like that happening again. 

the plague-spreading vampires

Excerpts are from the Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology by Theresa Bane. 

These are vampires that are specifically associated with the plague or spreading sickness in general. The ones listed here are almost definitely not all the types of vampires associated with the plague, but this list is long enough now anyway.

Feel free to add more in reblogs if you want though. 

Abchanchu: This vampire from Bolivia hunts its human prey by appearing to them as a kindly old man who is lost and in need of assistance. Anyone who helps this creature will soon meet with a tragic end. If the victim does not contract a fatal disease soon after the ill- fated meeting, his body will be discovered drained of its blood.

Anito (other names: Anitu, Mamangkiks): From the Philippines comes a vampiric spirit known as an anito. It rises from its grave, a burial mound, as a gaseous vapor. Although the anito seldom ventures too far from its grave, it will assault anyone who enters into its domain. It clings to the victim and allows itself to be inhaled. Although not consumed, the anito will infect the person with an illness that presents as an outbreak of boils. Eventually the disease spreads through the blood and enters into the lungs. Many people who fall victim to the attack of an anito die, especially children. Highly territorial, the anito can be abated with offerings of fruit left on top of its burial mound. There is a chant that offers protection for those who need to walk through an area that an anito is known to defend: “Honored spirit, please step aside, I am just passing through.” Although the anito does not seem to gain any apparent means of nourishment or sustenance from these aggressive assaults, that does not disqualify it as a vampiric being. Many species of vampires are plague carriers and gain no benefits from the death that they cause from the illnesses they spread. 

Baka. (other names: Benin): The baka is a vampiric spirit created when a bokor (a Vodun priest) who has led a life of evil dies. The baka has the ability to shape- shift into any animal it desires and by doing so will have a physical body. Once a form has been assumed, the baka can then hunt down humans to consume their flesh and drink their blood. The baka is especially dangerous because no matter what animal form it takes, it will retain its natural strength, which is powerful enough to kill a healthy adult man. In addition to sating its hunger for blood, the baka oftentimes is a vengeful being, especially if the bokor it was in life was murdered. To ensure that it has its revenge against those responsible for its death, the baka may decide to spread a fatal disease throughout a community.

Begierig (Bur- GEAR- eg), Nachttoter, Nachtzer, NACHZEH - RER, NEUNTÖTER: This is a GERMAN VAMPIRE and the literal translation of its name means “avid chewer.” One of the earlier reports of this vampire came from Minister George Röhrer in a series of reports sent to the theologian Martin Luther. The begierig can be created in one of three rather eclectic ways: by being born with a caul, by drowning, or by being buried in clothes that have one’s name sewn into them. Although this vampire is blamed for tying cows’ tails together, it actually never leaves its grave. The begierig lies in its grave with its left eye open, chewing on its burial shroud. When its shroud is consumed, it begins to gnaw on its own body, all the while making piglike grunting noises. Every night the begierig uses its psychic powers to drain away the energy, both physical and emotional, from its family members (see ENERGY VAMPIRE). GARLIC, if heavily consumed by the family, is a known repellant but not a permanent fix to their problem. The begierig is a known plague carrier and its body is covered with open sores, so one has to be especially careful when exhuming the body. Some object must be placed in its mouth to keep it from its incessant chewing, such as a stone or a coin. Another method is to tie the mouth closed with clean white linen. As is the case with so many species of vampires, beheading it and burning the body down to ash will destroy it. 

Berwick Vampire (Bur- LICK Vam- pire or BER- ik Vam- pire) (other names): Vampire of Berwick- Upon- Tweed In 1196, in the village of Berwick (England or Scotland, sources conflict), a rich, corrupt, and overall sinful merchant died of the plague and was not buried in hallowed ground. The merchant returned to the village as a vampiric REVENANT—a smelling, rotting corpse that carried the plague. At night, the undead merchant would run through the streets screaming, “Until my body is burnt, you folk of Berwick shall have no peace!” Dogs would bark in alarm as he would near and nearly half of the village died of the plague. Eventually, the people of the town exhumed the body, severed the limbs and head, and burned the body down to ash. 

Bruculacas. A vampiric REVENANT from the Greek Isles, the bruculacas looks like a corpse with tightly drawn, red skin (see GREEK VAMPIRES). A foul smelling and filthy creature, its body cavity is filled with slime and excrement, spreading the plague wherever it goes. It preys on humans for their blood. 

Dodelecker (Doe- DE- lic- er) Dodeleker, NACHZEHRER: The dodelecker is a unique and interesting vampire. It is as aggressive as any of the vampires one can imagine; however, it lacks the coordination, manual dexterity, and speed to actually catch anything. Its cries of hunger can be heard as it lies in its grave, chewing on its burial shroud and its own body, struggling to free itself. If it ever manages to escape its tomb, the dodelecker innocuously shambles about, moaning and making whimpering noises as it feebly attempts to catch something. It would love to feed on fresh human flesh and blood, as most REVENANTS do, but because of its physical inability to successfully hunt, it is forced to settle for living a GHOUL like lifestyle and consuming the rotting flesh it is able to find and scavenge. If it were not for the fact that it is a plague carrier, it would be completely harmless. After nine years of nightly risings and wanderings, it will finally lie down in its grave and rise no more (see GERMAN VAMPIRES).

Dschuma (SHOE- ma): The dschuma is a VAMPIRIC WITCH spirit from Romanian lore. Looking like either a young virgin or an old hag, it is covered with cholera that it spreads wherever it goes. At night, it can be heard wailing in pain, as the disease is worse then. The dschuma cannot be destroyed, but it can be made to leave an area. Seven old women must spin, weave, and sew a scarlet shirt all in one night, without speaking, and then leave it in the woods for the dschuma to find. The vampire has a particular vulnerability to the cold and very often has no clothes of its own. As soon as it finds the shirt, the dschuma will put it on and leave the region, perhaps as a token of appreciation. If seven old women are not available, seven maidens can be used in their place. However, the dschuma will take its time when it decides to leave. 

Gierfrass (GEAR- firss): In Germany, when a person commits suicide or is buried in clothes that still have his name sewn into them, he may return as a disease- carrying vampiric REVENANT known as a gierfrass (see GERMAN VAMPIRES). It attacks all of its family and friends first before moving on to strangers. 

Jedogonja (YA- dog- in- ya), LAMPIR, LAPIR, Upir, VUKODLAK In Slavic regions, Serbia in particular, there is a species of vampire known as a jedogonja. It has a hairy body, red eyes, and sharp teeth (see HAIR). It feeds on animals and the blood of the people it knew in life through a hole that it bites into their chests. It spreads an epidemic wherever it goes and anyone who is killed by a jedogonja or died because of the disease it carries may come back to unlife as this type of vampire. Horses and oxen are particularly sensitive to this vampire and become nervous when one is near. If someone leads one of these animals around a cemetery, it will balk and refuse to pass over the grave of a vampire. Once the resting place of the vampire has been found, the body can be exhumed during the day and burned to ash.

Khmoch Long (CA- muck LONG), Khleng Khmoch, Khleng Srak, Preay (“vampire”): In Cambodia there is a vampiric bird that looks like an owl but is not. Khmoch Long (“ghost owl”) flies into a village and lets out a call that causes disease and brings death to those who are already dying. Fortunately, the vampire can be easily driven off by yelling vulgarities and insults at it or by throwing firewood or cheese made from cheese at it. 

Koldun (Coal- DUNE) In Russia, a koldun is a vampiric sorcerer whose name means “one who uses magic.” (The female form of the word is koldun’ia.) Generally speaking, he is a poor man of marginal social status among his people, who victimize him while simultaneously asking for his assistance. The koldun, in life, uses his magic to do harm to others, either by evil inclination or because he was hired to do it, accepting jobs out of whimsy if not financial necessity. Kolduns are carefully watched by the people of the community that they live in or near, as they are both feared and respected. A koldun who has accumulated a great amount of magical knowledge has the ability to “spoil,” a power that causes crops to fail and causes illness and death to livestock and people. Apart from his herbal lore, the sorcerer has a power source that he can tap into— a vampire that gives him the ability to cast spells. Although the koldun is a human, it may be possible that he is a LIVING VAMPIRE, but after his death (particularly if he dies by committing suicide, dies by drowning, or was never baptized), he will return to unlife as a vampire himself. 

Kosac (CO- sac), Orko, Prikosac: In Croatia, when a member of the community returns to unlife, its face red and with an elastic body, it is called a kosac. By day it lies helplessly in its grave. However, at night the vampiric REVENANT returns to its former hometown, knocking on doors, and drinking the blood of anyone who answers; it is especially interested in attacking its former spouse. Victims remember only falling into a deep sleep and awakening feeling tired and drained of energy (see ENERGY VAMPIRE). Kosacs can also spread a mysterious and fatal disease. Although it is impervious to being staked, it can be destroyed by beheading. Croatia was the site of the first “modern- day vampire epidemic.” In 1672 it was reported that Giure Grando of Khring, located on the Istrian Peninsula, returned to unlife and was responsible for causing many deaths. 

Nachzehrer: In German folklore, a nachzehrer is a sort of vampire. The word nachzehrer translates to "after (nach) living off (zehren)" likely alluding to their living after death or living off humans after death in addition to the choice of "nach" for "after" which is similar to "nacht" ("night"). The nachzehrer was prominent in the folklore of the northern regions of Germany, but even in Silesia and Bavaria, and the word was also used to describe a similar creature of the Kashubes of Northern Poland. A Nachzehrer is created most commonly after suicide, and sometimes from an accidental death. According to German lore, a person does not become a nachzehrer from being bitten or scratched; the transformation happens after death and is not communicable. Nachzehrers are also related to sickness and disease. If a large group of people died of the plague, the first person to have died is believed to be a nachzehrer. Typically, a nachzehrer devours its family members upon waking. It has also been said that they devour their own bodies, including their funeral shrouds, and the more of themselves they eat, the more of their family they physically drain. It is not unlikely that the idea of the dead eating themselves might have risen from bodies in open graves who had been partly eaten by scavengers like rats. The nachzehrer was similar to the Slavic vampire in that it was known to be a recently deceased person who returned from the grave to attack family and village acquaintances.

Nelapsi (NELL- ep- see):. A vampiric REVENANT from Slovakia, the nelapsi is known to be able to destroy an entire village in a single night. With two hearts and two souls, the nelapsi is very fast, very strong. It can kill a person with a single blow and is also a plague carrier. To prevent a person from becoming this type of vampire, place money, a religious icon, or personal items in the COFFIN with the body at the time of burial. There is also a very complex ritual that can be performed, which involves running a stake through its heart, carrying the body headfirst to its grave, and tossing a few handfuls of poppy seeds in the grave with it, just in case the ceremony did not work. Should the person rise from the dead as a nelapsi, it must be staked through its twin hearts with a stake made of HAWTHORN, iron, or oak.

Neuntöter (New- un-TOTE- er), Neutoter: The neuntöter is a vampiric REVENANT from German vampire lore (see GERMAN VAMPIRES). Its name, neuntöter, means “nine killer,” as it takes nine days for the vampire to fully transform once it has been placed in its grave. When it does rise, it is covered with open sores and smells like excrement. It is also a plague carrier. People who were born with teeth or an actual spoon in their mouths are heavily predisposed to becoming neuntöters upon their deaths. To ensure that a person lies in rest for all time, the spoon that was in his mouth at birth must be burned to ash and then fed to the child. If this is not done, then after death, the head must be removed from the body between the hours of 11 P.M. and midnight; additionally a lemon must be placed in the mouth before the body is interred. 

Taxim: A vampiric REVENANT said to exist throughout Eastern Europe, the taxim is a plague- spreading animated corpse fueled only by its desire to enact revenge. The taxim seeks out those who caused it great distress in life, and nothing short of achieving its goal will stop it. 

Vukodlak (VOO- cod- lac), Pricolici, TRICCOLITCH, Tricolici, VRUKOLAK, Vukodlack, Vukodlaki, Vukolak, Vukozlak, Vulkodlak, Vulkolak: In Serbia a vampiric REVENANT known as a vukodlak is created whenever a heretic, magic user, or werewolf dies or if a person commits suicide or was murdered. When the vukodlak rises from its grave it looks like a bloated corpse with blood around its mouth, long fingernails, and reddish skin. Its first victims will be its surviving family and friends, and only after they have been killed to the last will it move on to others. Wherever the vukodlak travels it spreads illnesses and carries a plague that affects cattle. GARLIC and silver will ward off a vukodlak, and throwing a handful of carrot or poppy seeds on the ground will distract it long enough for a victim to easily escape, as it is compelled to pick up and count each seed. The vampire can be destroyed but a specific process that must be adhered to. First it must be stabbed with a stake made of mountain ash. Then the vukodlak is decapitated. Finally, its heart is to be removed from its body and boiled in wine. 

Vyrkolakas (Vry- COO- low- casz), Tympaniaois: The vyrkolakas is a vampiric spirit from Greek lore (see GREEK VAMPIRES). When a werewolf dies, its spirit will return and possess a corpse, which it will animate in order to use as its own. Since the spirit is an entity apart from the body it occupies, it is not considered a REVENANT. Once the body becomes possessed, timpanios will occur, meaning its bloated body will become hard, and the skin will become so tight that when it is slapped it will sound like a drum. There is at least one vyrkolakas in every Greek clan. The vyrkolakas will walk through the community it used to live in, spreading disease and calling out the names of people it once knew. Anyone who happens to see it and look directly at it will die instantly; anyone who should answer its call will die within 24 hours. 

:;---ooc

The sad thing is, she actually is the reincarnation of his dead wife Volha. She’s had multiple lives between then and now but is unaware of them. Svyatoslav was right about that, however he did fail to make her remember any of her past lives. 

She’s not special or unique. Many people have past lives. Almost no one ever remembers them. They may have bits and pieces during early childhood but those memories are quickly forgotten as they age.

This lifetime is the first one he’s found her in after she died in 1170.

;;---ooc

The nelapsi’s blood and venom stunted her growth. She’s currently 18 years old but looks to be a few years younger. She always looks sickly, frail, and fragile. She’s always weak and tired. She’s underweight due to her body rejecting everything except meat, blood, and water.

Even before he became a vampire or the attack on his village, Svyatoslav was mentally unstable. He experienced mania and psychosis, believed demons spoke to him, had visions, etc. 

Seeing the mutilated, broken, bloodless corpses of the people in his village severely traumatized him and made everything worse. He buried his six siblings in a mass grave, all of whom had been killed in the attack. At the time he wished he had died with them. He had no children or other remaining relatives, so he became determined to keep his wife from dying. Volha’s death --- occurring only a week after the attack --- shattered him and shoved him over the edge. Since she had died from the plague, he was forced to burn her body instead of properly burying her. Seeing the charred corpse of his wife utterly broke him.

He gathered the remaining survivors and went to the vampire’s grave partly for revenge and partly because he hoped he’d die in the mission. He wanted to be with his family in death. 

After he became a vampire himself, he started to believe the attack on his village was a punishment from God. 

Izolda hasn’t been hugged in over eight years. She’s very touch-starved and if someone she likes does hug her, she’ll fall apart and sob. Getting positive physical contact would instantly overwhelm her and she’ll cling to her favorite person as tightly as she can.

That is, if the person touching her is immune to her life-draining. Or at least resistant to it. Her iron-lined gloves and layers of clothes do help weaken her death-touch but still can’t fully prevent its effects. If the person holding her dies she’ll be devastated. Honestly, the extreme shock and trauma of her killing someone she likes and cares about --- even if it was unintentional --- would probably cause her heart failure. 

She can drain someone’s life-force in order to heal herself but she doesn’t want to do that. Technically, she can steal others’ life force to stave off the curse’s effects but that’s still not a permanent solution. It won’t last forever.

Broke: Sexy angsty vampires who go to high school and drink animal blood, date teenagers, and refuse to kill humans. They’re rich, classy, sophisticated, well-educated, well-dressed, and may or may not be nobles. 

Woke: Every single vampiric entity mentioned in myth and folklore exists in the same universe. Some are more prevalent than others, some are naturally more monstrous than others, each has different strengths and weaknesses. Strigoi, nelapsi, draugr, neuntöter, ekimmou, etc. All of them share the same world.

Bespoke: Monstrous vampires that may or may not be pretty but have more resemblance to vampires mentioned in folklore; they drink human blood, enjoy killing people, are considered plague-bringers, and can only truly be killed by fire. Most only become weak and lethargic in the sunlight instead of bursting into flames. They are usually made from either peasants, evil people, or the first person who died in a plague.

marshbride-blog​:

steampunktendencies​:

Vampire Hunter Kit

“Cased vampire killing kit, in a rosewood and ebony case with inlaid silver stringing and mother-of-pearl inlaid plaque. Contents include a black powder percussion 2-barrel pistol, a powder horn and bullet mold, bone handled dagger with crucifix, three small crucifixes, mallet and two wooden stakes, book of common prayer, two small framed portraits of Jesus, holy water and four glass vials with crystals. 4"H x 16"W x 9.75"D, Circa - 19th C”. [Propnomicon]

I’ll ask my prof, but if I had to guess, this is probably a souvenir and not an actual toolkit

Here’s the thing: people who were seriously, earnestly (in their own minds) killing vampires were, literally, peasants, and vampires didn’t have much in common with vampires as we know them. old-timey vampires aren’t smart and they aren’t fast, and vampires don’t turn people into vampires by biting them. Slaying a vampire would go something like: so-and-so claims to have been visited by someone recently deceased, so a group of guys would go to that person’s grave, dig them up, and do unpleasant things to their corpse. There are some myths about “the things vampires do” (fight each other with farm tools (??), steal milk from cows, knock shit over in your barn, maybe lure you somewhere if you’re at a party and you shouldn’t be) but when you look at actual accounts of vampire slayings there doesn’t seem to be a huge concern that the dead body you just dug up is going to literally fight you (since obviously that never happened).

So, taking this into account:

The gun. Really, you wouldn’t need to shoot a vampire from a distance (since you would have to dig it up first) and you wouldn’t know for sure if you’d hit the heart, which was a part of it

Also, are peasants going to be wasting their bullets on vampires if they know that stabbing a corpse is going to work just fine? Bullets (or even guns themselves maybe?) aren’t going to be easy to come by or cheap.

Religious iconography wasn’t part of the mythos either. So have fun with that holy water, Jesus portrait, and 3 separate crucifixes

Who would even go to the trouble of making something like this? This kit suggests that it’s a “here’s everything you need, now get to it,” but that’s totally opposite to everything that vampire slaying would represent to actual people doing it. It was a community thing. You wouldn’t get your own “kit,” other people would help you or lend you what you needed.

Now, there was a thing about how europe was divided into parts: the barbaric uncivilized east vs cosmopolitan west, and people from the west would go on vacations to the east just to slum it basically and be in a culture with such ~backwards beliefs.

But then, the Enlightenment hits in Europe like 1650/1700, and suddenly the new thing is logic and rationality and peasant crap like vampires is really on the outs among the educated and the elite, and the fact that people in eastern europe are doing this stuff suddenly gets really sensationalized in western tabloids. (Elizabeth Bathory’s trial from the early 1600′s gets mixed in with all this and taken completely without vital context, which is: a) being accused of bathing in blood is on par with being accused of witchcraft and b) the hungarian nobility was pulling that kind of shit on each other like all the time always.)

so in the 1760′s, this guy Gerard van Swieten gets sent by the empress of Austria to disprove all that stuff, and he attends some of the vampire slayings talked about above, and he writes this report, Discourse on the Existence of Ghosts, explaining how all the things peasants took as proof of vampirism, like a lack of decomposition, were actually not proof of anything, and then that got circulated and it/other anti-vampire efforts kind of eroded the belief. (In class, they said that the Inquisition killed witches by burning them, but the Enlightenment killed vampires by patronizing them.)

So, then vampires get brought back in the romantic period via poetry and fiction bc they’re kind of taken as an example of something magical and mystical about the world being killed by too much arrogance and logic. And in all this they undergo a real transformation from being “some guy, a walking corpse now” to like, this person that you want to be friends with, who’s enigmatic & charismatic, and this comes with some changes to the vampire rules, although not to the ones that we would think about necessarily: garlic’s there, but sunlight’s not, and religious iconography isn’t. (Actually, I don’t remember crosses or Jesus coming up in either Carmilla or Varney the Vampire, although I might be wrong about that, so it’s possible that element wasn’t even introduced until Dracula as late as 1897).

So, when I look at this: the source says that it was from the 1800′s, meaning, after the publication of that report, and featuring some references to vampire traits only introduced in late popular fiction … so yeah, I’m pretty sure this is a souvenir or a novelty item or something.

The vampire who turned Svyatoslav was called Ignatios. 

Ignatios was born in Constantinople in the year 510.  He lived with his parents, maternal aunt, two younger sisters, and one older brother all in the same house. He joined the Monastery of Stoudios in the year 530 when he was 20 years old; the monastery was located in the Psamathia region near the Golden Gate south of the Mese.

He lived through the 18 months of darkness that began in the year 536 (or perhaps late 535); on March 536, Constantinople began experiencing darkened skies and colder temperatures. Almost everyone he knew died from starvation or sickness over the course of those 18 months. He came close to dying himself a few times. He and other people were forced to resort to cannibalism several times due to famine. He felt intense guilt for having to eat dead human flesh. He felt so guilty that he resorted to physically harming himself, believing he should be punished and suffer. He would frequently intentionally burn himself.

When the plague spread through the city in the year 541, everyone he knew had already died by that point. He caught the disease in the year 545 at the age of 35. He was near death and, because the people couldn’t notice his very faint breathing or heartbeat, thrown into a mass grave before he was even truly dead. 

The vampire found him among the corpses. He changed Ignatios on a whim. He simply wanted to see if he could make another of his kind. There wasn’t anything deeper to it than that. To this day, Ignatios hates his maker with a burning passion. 

The reason Svyatoslav kidnapped her was because he was 100% convinced she was the reincarnation of his dead wife Volha. His wife died in the year 1170 from the plague, the same year he became a vampire. He told her he could literally see her soul and recognized it as being the same as his wife’s. He spent over a month digging into her mind and torturing her because he thought it would awaken her past life’s memories. No, he didn’t see any flaws in this plan and broke her bones when she pointed them out.