The son of the famous Cleric Rudolph van Richten and Theurge Ingrid van Richten, Erasmus grew up in the seaside town of Avenir. Ingrid had died adventuring when he was too young to remember her, and Rudolph took responsibility of the boy's education, teaching him the ways of Umera and preparing him against the many evils of the world. Though an uncompromising teacher, Dr. van Richten cared for the boy more than anything in the world, and Erasmus was set to become a learned and powerful cleric like his father.
However, Erasmus' life was changed forever after an incident with a group of Vistani and his father. The group sought aid from Doctor van Richten to save one of their own, but the cleric was unable to raise the young man's life. In retribution, the Vistani stole Erasmus and took him into the Plane of Shadow, where they sold him to the Vampire Baron Metus Syrek in Syrek-Kas. Baron Metus drained the ten-year-old boy of much of his life, as he did with all his young subjects, then turned him into a Vampire Spawn.
In a few short months, Rudolph found Erasmus in Syrek-Kas, but his boy had been made into a vampire. Erasmus begged him to end his curse, and Rudolph destroyed his son with a silvered sword. After much time spent planning, he then took on Baron Metus and killed him, leaving Syrek-Kas an empty wasteland. He took Erasmus's body back to Avenir, burying him in the backyard of his home beneath a plaque dedicated to his life.