Croner Izzard

Croner is a vampire who sits still in the only place that still knows him. An immortal, who clings to his dead loved ones and can't move on. Doubted by his community, mocked by his companions, it seems that maybe he'll stay stuck, churning inside a grieving routine that destroys him.

Croner Izzard is a vampire, but never been at peace with it. Born in the late 1800s to a quiet rural life, he worked in his family's leatherworking shop. At home, his mother and younger brother were frequently found together, planning his younger brother's upcoming marriage. Dinners were warm, fun, and inviting, up until his turning, when he was 23 years old.

As the vampire hiding in his house lunged at him, he was ripped from his mortal life. His turning was long enough for the intruder to ensure that his family was consumed while he laid asleep, in a feverish limbo. Waking up to an empty house, he tries again, clinging to his routine: waking, cooking breakfast, cleaning the empty house, and tending to livestock. But his mouth dries at the sight of food. His body spasms and refuses it. There is an intense hunger he can't fix. The sun stings him, and no one tells him why. Every creak or noise is a reminder they’re not here, making his chest tighten and his eyes well up. He struggles to live, left to carry their memories into eternity.

He gathers that he is no longer human, which paralyses him, as days turn into weeks, months and years of aimless sitting. Having aged enough to outlive his childless generation, he believes the only way to keep his humanity is to care for what remains. Tears dry and give way to unnerving stiffness, while he sticks to his little town, to his little house, and to the reminders that still make him shake and tense. However, self-preservation remains a mean thing. He tells himself he is still human, as he stabs and feeds on those who try to vandalize his house, leading to a never-ending cycle of rumours about those who disappear around that place. When vandals are too scared and blood is scarce, he feeds on his cows. The nibbling over 90 years has built a zombie-like herd of cows, which don't seem to die except in leather harvest. The milk is rancid and doesn't sell.

Now roughly 110 years old, he retains the appearance of a tan man in clothes of black and red. A hat shields his red reflective eyes, and a poncho covers most of his sunburn scars when he travels for work. He’ll braid his hair often in two twin braids, a single one, or let his black, pin-straight hair fall to his elbows. He is accompanied by two reapers: Shimmer, a black horse who aids him in transportation as he ages, and Samhain, a crow who brings him news and pressures him to get his affairs in order. All three feed on vandals, and the reapers will frequently feed on bar hunts, unbeknownst to the other vampires. He is warm if quiet, underlying him a sense of resignation towards his vampiric nature. He is sharp and quick-minded, fast but not strong, and specializes in revolver handling, though his fitness is not suited for a shoot-out. Not only that, but he struggles with seeing his worth as a vampire. Frequently, he ponders letting Samhain do his job, but he must ensure that he protects the memories of his loved ones.

He gets by day to day, supplying distant buyers with quality leather products and tending to the ranch at night.