Theodore Ravenhurst

Name	Theodore Ravenhurst
Race	Human
Type	Relic Hunter
Faction	Free Willed
Premiere	Desideratum: Blood Bonds
Relative(s)	Anaximanes Ravenhurst, Deborah Ravenhurst

Theodore Ravenhurst

"Aye right, Deborah, these monsters are like a dog lickin’ piss off a nettle!."

Biography

Pre-Desideratum: Blood Bonds

Theodore Ravenhurst was born near the end of the 18th century in Peterhead, Scotland. He always had a very loud, uncouth demeanor with a penchant for elaborate and witty insults. Theodore had a very short temper- but a very caring heart. Gruff, tall, and wide, the man wore an imposing figure wherever he went- which was usually towards the most dangerous thing that he could find. He grew up on the sea, helping his father with fishing. This is how he first learned of the reality of monsters. The pair had hauled up a net and trapped in the ropes was a strange looking statue made of gold. It was a nude woman with carvings on the base. They were so excited and wrapped up in the idea that it would make them rich, that they did not even consider how such a thing could be pristine after what was likely millennia in the ocean.

The statue was small enough that a person could hold it in their hand. They took it with them back home, careful to keep it hidden. The whole way home, Theodore, in his late teens, imagined what he would do with his share of the wealth. However, things changed after they returned home. They showed the statue to his mother and when she touched it, her hand seemed to clench tightly around the statue. Dumbstruck, he and his father watched as his mother’s eyes glowed and they could not pry the statue from her slender hands. She began chanting in a language foreign to the pair, repeating certain words like “Lesbos” and “Sappho”. Suddenly, the light dimmed and their mother appeared normal. However, when she opened her eyes, her irises were violet. They tried to ascertain what had happened, but she ignored the men and simply ran away with the statue.

Both men went to the church and prayed, but it did nothing as his mother did not return. Then, certain women in their town began acting strangely, and eventually, they found that a coven of some kind had formed. The pair found themselves in an old chapel, and before them women were wantonly enjoying each other’s bodies. Near the front of the chapel stood Theodore’s mother, naked, praying in front of the statue and intoning strange words. There was a pattern scrawled on the floor with purple glowing runes. These men did not know it, but the women had lost their souls to Lilith. They were specifically sapphic now, thanks to the enchantment on the relic. The assemblage was attempting to generate enough lust magic to summon a succubus. In the end, the pair was forced to slay the enthralled women, and as they approached his mother, she burst out crying. When she embraced his father she drew a dagger and stabbed him in the back. Theodore was forced to watch his father die and he slew the innocent woman.

After that, he dedicated his entire life to locating anything else that could possibly lead to such ends. This brought him into contact with many monsters, and on occasion, demons. Theodore met Deborah when his path led him to her father’s estate. He demanded that her father lock down their manor, hide away their servants, and lock themselves in their rooms that night. He told them that the family was in grave danger, and that dark forces were about to target them. Her father threatened Ravenhurst, borderline provoking the massive man, but even with his fiery temper, Theodore held his hand. He said that if they did not heed his words, the family and servants would all die or become mockeries of themselves by the next dawn, but still, her father resisted and Ravenhurst left.

Deborah rushed after him even as her father yelled, and followed Theodore out the gates of her father’s land with a deluge of questions. Ravenhurst warned her again of dark things in the world, and that he spent his life and time tracking monsters and artifacts of power. She told him that she could see fae folk and other strange things like ghosts and spirits. This filled him with a happiness he had not known since before he and his father found the cursed idol. He was seen as a lunatic by most, but here was someone that also knew there was more to reality than what most think. However, he quickly felt concerned because the demons were far more scary than fairies. She promised after the house had been locked up for the evening, she would sneak down and let Ravenhurst inside.

What ensued changed his life forever. He had been correct- Ophidians arrived in the cover of night and broke into Deborah’s family manor. Ravenhurst did not know what they were after, only that he had followed them from the Isle of Man all the way to her home, and that he was certain her family owned a relic or artifact important to these hideous ophidian demons. Knowing it was likely suicide to fight the demons head on, alone, Ravenhurst had no choice but to try to save Deborah’s family, even after they had shunned him away- his sense of honor dictated no less. In the ensuing fight, much of the household was roused and found themselves swarmed by snake people. The leader stepped forward and fought Ravenhurst. Using shadow magicks, he easily defeated the Scotsman, and then, as Deborah cowered with her family in the corner, the scaled priest ordered his minions to attack and convert them all. As they fell upon her family, something powerful and natural, unlearned, untamed, and potent, erupted in Deborah and she unleashed arcane magic on the demons.

Not understanding what she was doing and her enemies as confused as she was, she touched Theodore as he lay dying, only to heal his wounds shut. Springing to his feet and drawing his sword, he could only laugh at the confused faces of his once haughty enemy. The pair cleaved their way forward, and as Theodore managed to slay the others, Deborah with her wild but powerful magic defeated the scaled priest and also destroyed large parts of the manor. Her family and their servants all could not comprehend what happened that night. Ravenhurst searched the damaged mansion as the family reeled, and questioned her father, but could not figure out what the ophidians wanted. Deborah suddenly remembered a dream and said that it was her. She was the reason that they had come.

Something about her drew them there, but she did not know what. However, she remembered that they would eventually have her, someday. Ravenhurst refused to believe that and swore to stay by her side and protect her until his last breath. She told her beleaguered family that she could not stay because, eventually, the monsters would come back. She left with Ravenhurst and the two had many other adventures, fell in love, and married. The pair even teamed up with Calis Van Gothen and Johann Conrad Dippel to bring about the end of Vlad Țepeș. Over time, because of the dark, unexplored places and cursed tombs that the pair visited on their travels, they accumulated rare treasures. The cursed relics were hidden away and the others sold or given to museums. This earned the Ravenhursts renown for archeology, and it gave them sizable wealth. They eventually bought a large swath of countryside near the town of Wakefield, New York in the U.S.A. There, they built a massive mansion that would be known as Ravenhurst Manor and erected a magical vault below it.

They had a child, Anaximanes Ravenhurst, but they did not even have the luxury of spending a decade with their son. When he was a child, the ophidians finally found the pair again. The Ravenhursts had done the unthinkable, and managed to procure the Egg of Ophion, sealing it within the vault. Anaximanes was at home while his parents were in a carriage outside Wakefield when the attack occurred. The plan was to convert Deborah into one of their own, as they needed the magical barriers released around the vault. The driver and horses killed instantly, Theodore threw himself on the force as Deborah used her magic, but this time, the demons were prepared. Theodore refused to stand down even as his doom approached, and Deborah watched him slain under fang and claw. Angered at the death of Theodore, and refusing to submit, Deborah summoned every ounce of her power, and annihilated the ophidians. However, she used so much power and her heart was so broken, that she succumbed and died, lying on Theodore’s broken body, leaving Anaximanes to raise himself, and hoping that the enchantments she had cast on the manor would forever contain the evils stored within.

Appearance

Guff, all, and wide in physique. Age is unknown.

Abilities

• Strong Physical Attacks
• Expert Weapon Master

Gallery

None at this time