Francisco Galliano was born in the city of Stranov in the Kingdom of Strovia in the year 1276, making him 221 years old at the beginning of Armor of Sorrow. As the son of wealthy parents who were cousins to the ruling royal family, Francisco’s childhood was filled with luxury and privilege during the apogee of Strovian society. His father was a man obsessed with business and his professional pursuits, while his mother was solely responsible for his upbringing and his education. Francisco described her as a strict disciplinarian, so much so that he wished for the day he would be free of her rules. He got his wish as tragedy struck, and his mother died when he was only eleven years old. Following her death, Francisco found that his actions were almost never punished or corrected. His father paid him little attention, and all of his teachers and servants were terrified to offend their lord. Francisco confessed that he wasn’t sure if his behavior was celebrating his freedom or hoping his mother would return from the dead to stop him. As a young adult, he lived a life of debauchery, indulging in everything money and nobility could afford, including an endless stream of women all willing to give him whatever he wanted, never rejecting him. This continued until that fateful day in 1301 when the entire royal house was cursed following the Binding of the Wind.
Little is known of his life after the curse, except for his confession that he continued to indulge himself in greater and greater sinful acts of lust and violence, finding that all pleasures in life began to feel dull and hollow. He settled in Austernell many years ago with so much Strovian gold that he never had to work a day in his immortal life. Dara Griffonheart first met Francisco on a dinner date in his home, intended as a means to gather evidence that he was in fact the Killer of Downtown. Instead, Dara was captivated by his charm, generosity, and considerate nature. His hospitality and character were so impeccable that she turned against her friends, believing they had accused the wrong man. On her second date, he revealed the truth of his story and told Dara he hoped they could be together as immortal companions. He promised if she stayed by his side, he would offer her a life of love and decadence beyond her wildest dreams.
After Dara rejected him the first time, he appeared to her again, treating her with love and affection and confessing that he was the Killer of Downtown ten years ago. He expressed his profound regret for the people that he killed to survive and carried the weight of the unrest in the city on his shoulder, starving himself of blood to atone. He offered Dara an eternity of love and devotion. However, Dara discovered that Francisco was responsible for Tonnifer’s death after she rejected him after he confessed he was a vampire. In a split second decision when Bax and Francisco were fighting to the death, Dara intervened and stabbed Francisco in the chest to save Bax’s life. Now, convinced that Dara would never accept him, he retreated to the caverns beneath the city where he fought the heroes alongside the hag Gretchen the Wretch. He proved himself a formidable opponent on a black horse, dressed in armor, and carrying an enchanted axe. He badly injured Adalard and Dara and broke Dara’s sword with his axe before he was defeated by Dara’s sting of Sorrow and then bled dry by a surprise attack from Moxie and Rinn.
Dara finally confronted the severely weakened vampire in his home where she realized that he had discovered a magical wishing stone that fell from the sky over ten years ago and asked it to bring him love. He mourned the path of darkness he had taken and confessed that he contemplated suicide a thousand times before, hoping that somewhere in the world there was someone good enough to forgive his misdeeds. Dara told him that even though he had done many evil things, she was still willing to give him a chance to be the man he wanted to be and live a lif with her forever. Sadly, Francisco knew that a happy life between them was impossible. Realizing that what he truly wanted was for someone to end his life, he fought her with the last of his strength until Dara killed him with her father’s broken sword. Despite never telling Dara how beautiful she was because he knew she hated it, he could not resist but tell her in his final moments that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever known, both inside and out. Dara buried Francisco in the cemetery at Austernell in a nameless grave marked with a Strovian rose, taking his axe and the wishing stone.
Armor of Sorrow 