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Name: Adrien Ludovic Gilles de Montauban

Date of Birth: Sept. 15, 1845

Age: 32

Birthplace: Montauban, France

Hair/eye color: black/ greyish-blue

Parents: Antoine and Georgette Gilles, deceased

Siblings: Colette Gilles, deceased

Ethnicity: French, Italian


Info: Adrien was born into a middle-class bourgeois family in Montauban, France. Adrien's father inherited a textile business from his own father, Étienne Gilles, who began the business at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution as it swept through France. Adrien's mother Georgette came from a family of Italian immigrants, her being first generation French. She had taken a job at Adrien's father's factory when it was still in his grandfather's name. Antoine met with the lovely young woman during a routine inspection of the factory under his father's orders, and the two had an instant attraction. Antoine's parents were opposed to the union, as the girl had no money and no title which could aid their son's advancement, but Antoine could not be persuaded to end his relationship with her.

The couple soon married and produced two children, Adrien and Colette. Because of their father's wealth, the siblings enjoyed a lifestyle of relative ease, although they had no title. Adrien's elder sister Colette was three years his senior. Despite being close in age the siblings had little love for each other, Colette being flitty and outgoing whereas Adrien was introverted and had difficulty opening up to others. Both were intelligent and gifted, although Adrien inherited more of his mother's exotic beauty.

With his son failing to earn a title, grandpere Étienne's hopes fell on his two grandchildren, whom he made sure were instructed from birth in all the classical modes of education: arithmetic, English, astronomy, and music, as well as the tools of a socialite, namely dancing, etiquette, and courtship. Colette had little difficulty securing a prospective spouse with these talents at her disposal, although her first match proved disastrous.

At the time of this event, Colette was 19, and Adrien 16. Colette's would-be husband had a sister who was Colette's age and was married, however she did not love her husband. Upon meeting Adrien, who was at the time a budding handsome youth, she could not help herself and began to seek his attention. Having little affection for his sister who frequently berated him, Adrien had no qualms about ruining her prospects, and took the woman to bed. When the woman's husband discovered this, he challenged Adrien to a duel. Certain he would die, and truthfully not afraid to end his life, Adrien accepted.
As it turned out, Adrien was quite quick at the draw. Though Adrien only struck the man in the shoulder, it was enough to damage his body and his pride. After this the engagement of Colette to her suitor was broken, and from that point on Colette refused to look at her brother again. Adrien was soon sent to a boarding school in Paris in an attempt to dissolve tension.

Adrien, though he was bright in his own way, had the same issues at school as he did anywhere else: he was shy and often alone. He did not disclose why he was sent there to anyone, only said his father thought being in Paris would be good for him and aid him in becoming a better man. Despite his scandal at home, Adrien did do his best to please his teachers and was lauded by them, much to the chagrin of the other students. Though he truthfully was no better in his courses than many of the other boys, his talents in conjunction with his handsome features made him a natural target.

One day outside of the dormitories, Adrien was assaulted by a group of boys, who had intended to mar his body and his reputation. One of them had heard news of Adrien's duel from a family friend, and his dalliance with the married woman, and so the boys used this to mock him. Little did they know that since the time Adrien had shot the ferocious husband in Montauban, he had grown a deeper and darker soul than perhaps even he himself could have imagined.
Pinning the leader of the rabble beneath him, Adrien bashed in the boy's head with a brick, as the others looked on in horror. They ran, searching for help. At that moment, it became apparent to Adrien that there was no way he could ever return to his old life.

Fleeing the school with only the clothes on his back, Adrien worked temporarily as a male prostitute in Dijon, where he also discovered his appetite for carnal pursuits involving members of his own sex. Still, this was not enough. He had tasted blood, and desired more. However, with a price on his head from his murder at the school, Adrien was forced to take many pseudonyms and don many disguises to avoid detection. He sent only one letter to his family during this time, telling them a lie that he was going to end his own life out of guilt for his heinous crime and throw himself into the sea.

In the meantime, with enough money saved from the brothel, he bought his way out of France and emigrated to England in 1864, where his charms as a gentleman enabled him to quickly be adopted into the underground, and also allowed him to mingle in society when the occasion called for it. His reputation soon grew as an excellent hired man, where no job seemed too dangerous or outside of his reach. Many times he nearly lost his life, but the very act of risking his life - as well as taking the lives of others - became his source of income, as well as his passion.

Eventually news came to Adrien through the underground channels of his parents death, as well as that of his sister, who had contracted smallpox and died not long after marrying a Baron from Marseille. Having no male heir, Adrien father's business was taken over by his uncle upon his father's death. His uncle was a hard and righteous man who never forgot the stain of having a murderer in the family. He remained unconvinced of Adrien's suicide, and would have enjoyed very much seeing his nephew hanging from a rope.

The rope still waits for Adrien,...