Early Life
From very early on in his life Vance's story is one struck with tragedy. His unmarried mother lived on her own in the outskirts of Greyport. Here she worked as a seamstress nearing the birth of her child. On the day of labor the outskirts in which she lived was attacked by an unexpected Vampire, His mother and many others being feasted upon by this creature of the night. Her life essence was drained form her body, and she rose again 3 hours after post mortem as a Vampire Spawn. A child normally would not last in their dead mother, but her undead blood mingled with the child, infusing him with vampiric fortitude.
A nomadic family wandered into the site of the attack half a day after the incident. All the other Vampire Spawn had already left their homes to follow their vampiric lord. The only one that didn't leave their dwelling was Vance's mother. Deplete of blood from child birthing, she was left bed ridded and trapped in her home with the sun beaming outside. The family was searching the ransacked area, the father being the one to stumble upon the lone vampire spawn. She was mercifully killed by the man who was named Vander. He was about to leave her home until he heard a thump coming from her belly. Vander's curiosity getting the better of him, he preformed a c-section on the corpse pulling out a baby which never took its first breath yet reached out for Vander's hand. The baby had been born with a set of fully grown fangs, but other wise seemed to be normal. Vander considered killing the child, but conscience would not allow him to lay a hand on the child. From then on Vander adopted the child into the Erling family, gifting the newborn with the name Vance Erling.
The Erling family were believers of Espardius. Vander and his wife Elise were intelligent scholars that instilled a worldly curiosity into Vance, his older brother Vincent, and his younger sister Emily. Vance was informed very early on in his life that he was adopted, even sharing the horrid details of his adoption. His parents did their best to temper Vance's hunger for blood, even practicing blood letting to satiate his thirst. Watching his parents go through such lengths to feed and protect him caused a resentment to grow towards the Vampire that killed his birth mother and cursed Vance with his undead nature. This hatred would grow over the years as Vance would experience discrimination for his affliction, sometimes even from his own brother.
Vance spent 17 years with his family traveling through upper Jaldhyr. That is until Espardius' floating city landed by Tarsal. His family took it as a sign that they should go up with the city, the chances that they would be so close to the cities landing being astronomically unlikely. This was most likely their last chance to enter the city. Vance was interested in going with his family, but felt a seething urge to get revenge against the wandering vampire. It pained him, but Vance decided not to travel with his family. With a sorrowful goodbye Vance watched the city float into sky. He steeled himself and decided that he must hone his skills in Tarsal and search for any sign of the Vampire or its spawn.
Adulthood
Vance spent the next 9 years researching world history, Arcane rituals, and religious doctrine to learn how to combat the creatures that bump in the night. He even subjected his body to occult experiments to gain a semblance of control over the blood in a creatures body. To sharpen his skills in battle he took on monster hunting, facing off against minor fiends and monstrosities. His search for vampires has been uneventful to say the least. Tarsal is a wealth of knowledge, but even here Vance's true quarry is nowhere to found in the region.
Over the last two years Vance Has become well acquainted with a paladin named Vethuk Hearthome. They've assisted each on several business dealings, even growing close enough to share their goals with each other. While trying to pursue a lead for Vethuk, Vance learned of the death of a notable fence in Uran. Concerned that this killing may be tied to either Vethuk or the progressing plague, He emplores Vethuk to join him in investigating the murder of the entrusted fence. Hopefully in assisting his partner Vance will gain a powerful ally to assist in exacting his revenge...