Marius de Romanus was born in 30BC, the illegitimate son of a Roman nobleman and a Celtic slave-woman, in the city of Massilia (modern-day Marseille, France), in the Roman Empire along the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Italy. As he matures into manhood, Marius becomes a scholar and a traveler throughout the Roman Empire. In his mid-twenties, he meets his future fledgling Pandora (then named Lydia), and he desires to marry her, although his proposal is ultimately rejected by her father because she is too young. Almost two decades later, Marius is kidnapped by Mael and other Druids, who take him to the ancient vampire Teskhamen, whom they refer to as the God of the Grove. Badly burned and weakened by the Great Burning of 4 CE, Teskhamen turns Marius into a vampire through a very long process of blood exchanges, with the expectation that Marius will travel to Egypt to discover the fate of Akasha and Enkil, the first to be made.
Marius escapes the Druids and flees through the woodlands of the Celts. He travels to Egypt, where he finds the Elder who cares for Akasha and Enkil, now called Those Who Must Be Kept, since their great age has transformed them into unresponsive statues. The Elder lies when he, in response to Marius’s questions, states he does not know the cause of the Great Burning, but Akasha speaks to Marius telepathically and informs him the Elder set them in the sun and that he is planning to sink them to the bottom of the ocean. Akasha then kills the Elder, and Marius takes her and Enkil out of Egypt to Antioch, where he reencounters his mortal beloved, Lydia, whose family was murdered, and as a result she is living in exile under the name Pandora.
Also in Antioch appears the ancient vampire Akbar, who, like Marius’s maker, Teskhamen, is badly burned. Seeking to drink from the Mother and the Father, Akbar learns that Marius is their caretaker and that he loves the mortal Pandora. Akbar drains Pandora to the point of death and threatens to kill her if Marius does not let him drink Akasha’s blood. Marius acquiesces and saves Pandora by turning her into a vampire, but when Marius brings Akbar to Akasha, the Queen destroys Akbar. Marius and Pandora remain together for the net two hundred years, caring for Those Who Must Be Kept.
When Pandora begins living with her maker, she brings her one-legged Athenian slave, Flavius, to serve them. Marius grows to deeply love Flavius. When Flavius becomes deathly ill, Pandora thinks they should turn him into a vampire. Marius refuses, but Pandora does so anyway. Marius is greatly angered and exiles Flavius from his house and from the Roman Empire itself. Her disobedience plants a seed of bitterness between Marius and Pandora. He has a great desire to teach her, but she refuses to learn from him. When he can no longer live with that or their arguing, he takes Akasha and Enkil from Pandora and will not see his fledgling beloved for many centuries.
Marius returns to Rome, where he encounters the ancient vampire Avicus, who is—like Teskhamen—a God of the Grove, but in ancient England. Marius is greatly amazed to also encounter Avicus’s fledgling Mael, the former Druid who held Marius captive for Teskhamen and was sent to Avicus to take Marius’s place as the new God of the Grove, Teskhamen’s successor. Despite the fact that Marius begrudges Mael for forcing him to become a vampire, Marius and Avicus become friends. As the three of them begin living together in a small coven, Avicus and Mael soon learn Marius’s secret, that he is the caretaker of Those Who Must Be Kept, and they willingly help him fulfill his duties.
At the fall of Rome, Marius, Avicus, and Mael move to Constantinople, where they continue their duties for the Mother and the Father. They discover another coven dwells in the city, led by Eudoxia, the fledgling of the ancient Egyptian vampire, Cyril, who is the fledgling of Marius’s predecessor, the Elder. Referring to herself as “the Vampire Empress,” Eudoxia demands to see Akasha and Enkil, but Marius refuses. With her coven of Rashid, Asphar, and Zenobia, Eudoxia attacks Marius, at which point Marius discovers that, because he has been drinking Akasha’s powerful blood, he is stronger than Eudoxia, even though she is much older. He also discovers that he has the Fire Gift when he burns Rashid to ashes. Eudoxia returns later, showing greater humility and imploring Marius to let her see Akasha. Marius reluctantly agrees, but when she stands before the Queen, she is so enraptured that she offers herself as a sacrifice. Akasha arises and drinks from Eudoxia to the point of death. Although Marius saves her, Eudoxia is greatly embittered. In a plot against Marius and Those Who Must Be Kept, Eudoxia kills a nobleman and leaves the body exposed in such a way that the mortal citizens of Constantinople blame Marius for the death. The mortals ransack Marius’s house and nearly destroy the shrine. Enraged by this, Marius goes to Eudoxia’s house, destroys her coven, sparing only Zenobia, and then drags Eudoxia before Akasha, who immolates Eudoxia to ashes.
Marius leaves Avicus and Mael and takes Akasha and Enkil back to Italy. He creates a secluded shrine for Akasha and Enkil in the Italian Alps, unreachable by any mortal at that time, where the vampires can rest safely while he makes a home in Venice.
He becomes a painter and a patron of the arts. He invites many young boys to live in his house to learn the artistic crafts.
Marius soon encounters the mortal courtesan Bianca Solderini. While feeling a deep attraction to her physical beauty, he marvels how her mortal mental ability prevents him from reading her thoughts. His attraction to her sours when he learns that she is a murderer. But when he uncovers that a merciless relative is extorting her to assassinate his enemies, Marius’s attraction is rekindled and he resolves to give her his powerful aid.
Marius also encounters the mortal Raymond Gallant, a member of the Talamasca Order, who provides him with news about Pandora and how the vampire from India is manipulating her, yet their whereabouts are still a mystery. Raymond promises to keep Marius informed if the Talamasca discovers any new information.
During that time, the vampire Santino, leader of the Children of Satan, introduces himself to Marius. He reads Marius’s mind, learns of Akasha and Enkil, and requests a meeting with Those Who Must Be Kept. Marius denies him, finding his Satan-worshipping coven abhorrent. When Santino insists, Marius threatens to destroy him; Santino withdraws but watches from a distance the keeper of Those Who Must Be Kept.
Marius eventually finds a mortal child from Russia, Andrei, who will later become the Vampire Armand. Andrei was abducted by Tartars and is now locked in the dungeon of a brothel. Marius buys the young Andrei, renames him Amadeo, and brings him to live in his palazzo. Marius and Amadeo develop a deep relationship. Amadeo doesn’t learn that Marius is a vampire until the night Marius saves Bianca from her extorting relative and his malicious family. Amadeo begs Marius to turn him into a vampire, but Marius refuses. In an attempt to incite Marius’s jealousy, Amadeo begins a brief affair with the Englishman Lord Harlech. When Amadeo ends the relationship, Lord Harlech storms into Marius’s palazzo in a jealous rage, armed with a poison blade, and duels with Amadeo. Amadeo slays him, but Lord Harlech mortally wounds the boy. Bianca nurses Amadeo until Marius arrives. When Bianca leaves, Marius turns him into a vampire.
Marius and Amadeo live happily together as maker and fledgling, both developing deep feelings for Bianca, until Santino and his Satanic coven invade Marius’s home, kill most of the boys, set Marius on fire, and kidnap Amadeo. Severely wounded, Marius mentally summons Bianca and receives her permission to turn her into a vampire. She takes him to Akasha and Enkil’s shrine in the Alps, where Marius drinks Akasha’s blood.
While his health is restored, Bianca, like Pandora before her, helps Marius care for Those Who Must Be Kept. When his wounds more fully heal and he can walk about among mortals, he goes to Raymond Gallant, who is now an old man and who informs Marius that the Talamasca have learned that the mysterious Indian vampire is still controlling Pandora and that they are likely living near Dresden.
Marius takes Bianca, Akasha, and Enkil to Dresden, where he finally reunites with Pandora and discovers that her companion and fledgling, Arjun, is not keeping her against her will after all. Marius begs Pandora to return to him, vowing that he will leave Bianca if she will leave Arjun, but Pandora rejects him and leaves. Bianca overhears Marius and leaves him also.
Nearly fifty years later, when Marius is packing up his belongings to take Akasha and Enkil to another region, he uncovers a note left by Pandora on the night they separated, asking him to find her in Moscow and help her leave Arjun. Marius immediately goes to Moscow, but by then she has already left. He can find no trace of either her or her fledgling lover.
Marius brings Those Who Must Be Kept to an island in the Aegean Sea, somewhere between Greece and Turkey. He remains there for years, caring for the people living on the island, until one night he begins hearing the voice of a young vampire searching for him, calling to him— the vampire Lestat. Hearing Lestat’s persistence, Marius leaves his island and finds that Lestat has buried himself underground after his fledgling Nicolas committed suicide and his fledgling mother, Gabrielle, abandoned him. Marius exhumes Lestat, revives him with his own ancient vampire blood, and then takes him back to his island sanctuary. After Lestat awakens, Marius shares some of his history with him, tells him about Those Who Must Be Kept, and swears him to absolute secrecy. When Marius briefly leaves, Lestat goes to the shrine and plays the violin for Akasha. Moved by his bravado, Akasha awakens, drinks his blood, and lets him drink hers also. Full of jealousy and anger, Enkil awakens and attempts to destroy Lestat. Fortunately, Marius saves him, but warns Lestat to leave to let Enkil’s anger diminish. Before Lestat can return, Marius takes Akasha and Enkil to a new hidden location in the frozen lands of northern Canada.
He fills their shrine with every new technology, partly to show them human development but also partly in the hope that they will awaken for him. By the time of the late twentieth century, Akasha and Enkil watch on television how Lestat has returned with new rock music in a successful band that is revealing secrets of vampires and challenging Those Who Must Be Kept to arise. Impressed once again, Akasha rises from her throne for a final time. She kills Enkil and buries Marius deep beneath several tons of ice. He projects out mental warnings to the other vampires that the Queen has arisen, but she is already flying throughout the world, immolating most of her vampire children. When he is finally freed from the ice by Pandora and Santino, he rendezvouses with many other vampires, including his fledglings Pandora and Armand, at the compound in the Sonoma Mountains belonging to Akasha’s mortal enemy, the ancient vampire Maharet. After Maharet informs Marius and the others of her version of the story of the Queen of the Damned and the Legend of the Twins, Akasha appears and offers them a choice of joining her cause for global domination as her servants, or perishing. Marius stands with Maharet and refuses to serve. So do all the others, including Lestat. They all fight against Akasha, but she is indomitable. In the end, Maharet’s twin, Mekare, suddenly appears, beheads Akasha, consumes her brain and heart, and takes into herself the spirit of Amel, to become the new Queen of the Damned.
Now that Marius is no longer the caretaker of Those Who Must Be Kept, he keeps closer contact with other vampires, especially Armand’s fledgling Daniel Molloy, who sinks into madness and bitterness towards Armand. Marius welcomes Daniel into his home, takes care of him, and helps restore his sanity; and in doing so, Marius finds a wonderful companion who also helps him make contact with the modern world.
Marius mourns when, after Lestat returns from his journey with Memnoch the Devil, Armand appears to commit suicide, but Marius’s mourning turns to joy when Armand reappears a few months later, having been saved with the help of two mortals, Sybelle and Benji. Marius decides to do Armand a favor and turn Sybelle and Benji into vampires to give Armand excellent immortal companions and also to protect them from mortals seeking to destroy Armand or any vampire. In the beginning, this greatly angers Armand, but Marius and Daniel both convince him that if Armand had turned them into vampires, they would have been weaker than him, the telepathic connection between them would have been lost, and they would have ended up hating him, the way Daniel had; but when Marius’s powerful blood in them, Benji and Sybelle are Armand’s equals.
Following this, when Marius is alone one night, he hears another vampire whom he has never encountered using the Mind Gift to send out a telepathic invitation to any vampire for friendship. Marius responds and meets Thorne, an eighth-century Viking made vampire by Maharet.
Marius and Thorne tell each other their histories. Marius is surprised to learn how Maharet abandoned Thorne for Mael, and Thorne is enraged at how Santino’s injustice towards Marius has gone unpunished. Marius advises Thorne against Thorne against seeking revenge against Maharet for rejecting him, but sensing that Thorne will not be dissuaded, Marius sends Maharet a telepathic warning. Marius and Thorne go to sleep that morning in Marius’s home but awaken the next night at Maharet’s Java compound. Much to their mutual surprise, Santino, is also there as Maharet’s guest. Out of a sense of honor and duty, Marius begs Maharet for vengeance for the wrongs that Santino did against him and Armand, but Maharet does not allow it. Knowing that Marius will not act without Maharet’s permission, Thorne does Marius a favor and exacts an old Viking custom of wergild—or exacting a “man’s price,” often taking a life for a life—and blasts Santino with his powerful Mind Gift until Santino is a bloody pulp. Thorne then uses the Fire Gift to burn Santino’s remains to a charred scorch on the ground. Everyone is equally surprised at Thorne’s behavior, especially Marius, who, although he would never be so bold as to disobey Maharet, smiles and nods at Thorne, showing his inexpressible gratitude.
Marius relocates to the Chateau de Lioncourt, where Lestat becomes the Prince of the vampire race. The Court of the Prince forms, and Marius is one of the most prominent figures. Arjun challenges Marius’s authority by attacking him, but he easily destroys Arjun. Prompted by this event, Marius creates new laws for vampires in the new millennium and helps guide the formation of this new Court, inspiring Prince Lestat to dub him the “Prime Minister” of all vampires.
Marius is the noble heart of the vampire clans. His sense of honor and duty guides him through every age. He is the caretaker of Those Who Must Be Kept and the sharer of vampire secrets with Lestat, who reveals those secrets in the twentieth-century, causing Akasha to rise for the last time and incite the Great Burning of 1985.
prguitarman
snowghoul
tangentwithtanner
izzy806
