Max is K.A.'s in-house muse, the dead guy who stands at her shoulder while she writes. Or sometimes he reclines in his armchair with a mocking smile and tells her she'd better check her research again. He is raven and yin, water that carves its path through rock. He is a devotee of the Dark Mother Kali, She Who Dispels Illusion.

Maximillien Lambert Lagracier de Mortifière was born to this life the night of 29 December 1765, high in the Jura Mountains of Eastern France. Les de Mortifière were an old and noble family of warriors, lords of the medieval fortress Porte-Noire. Their coat of arms bears the motto

AUDACITER DIEM OBI - MEET DEATH BOLDLY.

Maximillien, Vicomte de Porte-Noire, is the last of his line. He is both vampire and spiritual adept, raised to walk in death by a necromancer, a blood drinker, and the Goddess Kali.

Max's mother gifted him with the name Lagracier, Bringer of Reprieve. And so he is. His eyes are amber, like the blood of pines. His hair is often matted with things that lie on the forest floor--and beneath--for he sleeps curled in the fist of Gaia. Should you call his name and wake him, be prepared, for Mercy is not always gentle, and Lagracier likes to play.