Count Benjen III

"Alas, I am no mortal man you see. The gods bestowed me with the ability to live forever if I continue to drink the blood of lesser beings. Tell me though, you were told to kill me were you not? I must know your employer, so that I must sate my need for revenge! " Count Benjen, after the assassination attempt by Zenaxus

Count Benjen III is a minor antagonist in the Sabre of Meitor. He is the leader of the Mucilage Province, a ruined kingdom that has since turned to a harsh desert. A vampire for many years now, he has kept his abilities hidden from the world, waiting for the chance to exact revenge on the warlock who cursed his grandfather's castle.

Present in Druin at the time of the Black Speech, Benjen was nevertheless preoccupied with locating his jester Seth Qualls, who had fled from his service that morning. Had he gone to the speech, he would have found Seth being named as a champion of the people.

Benjen later suffers an assassination attempt, forcing him to reveal his vampiric nature early to his attacker Zenaxus. Benjen's soul is later separated from his body by Nekro Sander at Zenaxus' command. Nekro explains that Benjen technically is now as close to death as he can be through normal means.

Later, he is accidentally resurrected not just once, but twice. It is implied he is part of the original vampire's bloodline and can only be slain by a legendary weapon.

Count Benjen's battle theme is Lord of a Dead Empire from Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Early Life
Almost nothing is known about the Count's early life, except for the fact that he was born to Count Benjen II and his unnamed wife. It is assumed that the younger Benjen was born at Dead Man's Sands, the ancestral castle of the Kingdom of Aria.

It is not clear for how long Benjen III has been a vampire. Judging by his confrontations with Seth Qualls, Benjen has been a vampire for several years by the time the Black Speech comes to pass.

The Curse of Dead Mans Sands
The Count was married to Lucille Basin for a few years between 565 - 568 UB. The marriage was brief, as Benjen's personality sent Lucille towards adultery. Lucille notes that the marriage had been arranged by her brother Carlos Basin and a young Aeris Rawle. The marriage was purely political, designed to remove Lucille from the line of succession to the Armanian throne.

In 567 UB, a group of adventurers arrived at the castle with his sister in law Lucina Basin. When one of them murdered a healer who was travelling with the Armanian royals, Benjen saw an opportunity to clear the Broken Tower of monsters. He poisoned the adventurers, offering the antidote in exchange for clearing the tower. Cruelly, the count made sure there was only enough antidote for 1 member of the 5 strong party. The following details how the party died.

- Olibobs (Survived, found a second antidote)

- Snu'Sun (Survived)

- Tobias Tellerin (Hanged on the orders of Count Benjen)

-Ser Jeremiah Stone (Cooked by a Scorching Ray)

-Trox (Magically increased in size, causing the floor to collapse; the fall would kill it)

A few years before the events of the Sabre of Meitor, Benjen travelled to Rausten and purchased the services of Seth Qualls. Unbeknownst to Seth, he was intended to be used as the new court jester.

The Black Speech
The Count and his entourage arrive in Druin for the Soul Hero celebrations. He was also planning to sell Seth Qualls at the market the following. Seth escaped before he could be sold on.

In a black rage, Benjen spent a few days in his inn room, unable to comprehend why Seth had run from him. Afterwards, he is seen leaving the city for his home in the Mucilage Province.

A few days pass, and Benjen is seen at the main inn at Plage. He is noticed by Seth, who panics and asks Zenaxus to assassinate him. However when Zenaxus slits the Count's throat, Benjen merely shrugs it off, revealing his vampiric ways. Rather than slaying the barbarian on the spot, Benjen instead questions him about his employer. Zenaxus successfully bluffs and blames Vallogo Jr. In a fury, Benjen transforms into a bat and flies out of the inn through an open window.

The next morning Benjen arrives back in Plage alongside Ser Roland Osteler, who notes that Vallogo Jr was killed while he slept. Roland seems to be unaware that it was Count Benjen committed the crime. It was at this point that Benjen noticed Seth. Instead of backing down, Seth confronted his former master, and a fight ensured. Weakened from his exertions, Benjen was no match for the combined efforts of Seth and his party, especially once his sword was shattered by Zenaxus' brute strength.

After returning swiftly to his home of Dead Man's Sands in bat form, Benjen began to raise an army capable of attacking the other nations of Liken. He began experimenting with techniques to create an army of slaves completely in thrall to him. However this was stopped when his essence was ripped from his body by Nekro Sander to show the latter's intentions to Zenaxus."He is now close to the black door Zenaxus. Only he can through walk through it though. It is just as easy to bring him back. Then he'll be more powerful than ever.""Nekro Sander to Zenaxus after he 'killed' Count Benjen III in Rausten"

Battle of Honours Camp
A couple of weeks later, Count Benjen was accidentally resurrected by the Morzon tribe of the Great Plain during a celebration of the dead. This came at a time of instability for the Georgic Alliance. Taking advantage, now more powerful and angry than ever, Benjen set about continuing his work to raise an army to conquer Liken. This was the start of the Soulless Campaign, so named since Benjen now stole the souls of those in thrall to him.

Benjen arrived during the Battle at Honours Camp and managed to convert a few clansmen to thralls, though he was ultimately forced to retreat by the Heroes of Time.

Fight on the Great Plain
Arriving with a large army, over 30000 men strong, Benjen was able to overwhelm the Oda clansmen and the primary Armanian army. Only through the combined efforts of all 4 sides in the battle was Benjen finally defeated. Though he was killed, it was not by a legendary blade, so he can rise again, more powerful than ever...

Magical Mutiny
Count Benjen was resurrected by the undead Brooke Moon, who was controlled by a portion of Luther Render's soul. Luther's body was used. Aware of where he was, he challenged Raynard Olivier to single combat.

Battle of the Dark Night
It is currently not known how this duel between Raynard and Benjen concluded, though many large explosions could be seen by the Heroes of Time. It is later revealed by Harry during the Journey to Arman that Count Benjen was victorious and had fled back to his castle; Dead Mans Sands.

Into the Desert
Having obtained Starlight the Holy Spell from Raynard Olivier and already possessing Wunton the Dark Book through an unknown method, Benjen was able to combine the two to control every single corpse on Liken, including Brooke Moon. Now seeking Meitor's Sabre for himself, he commands Brooke to steal the recently acquired Armanian Key. She did so and flew across the Aria Desert to hand it to him.

Assault on Dead Mans Sands
The Count was confronted by Trident Generals Luther Render and Letra Musca, although he was able to send Brooke onto Carcino, having somehow found out where the Trident Key was. He was later seen by the Heroes of Time, who were finally successful in killing the vampire...

Personality
Count Benjen is known to have a rather off putting personality, prone to childish tantrums worthy of small children. He is however a very powerful vampire, which causes him to display arrogance in the face of lesser opponents. With a calculating mind that does not forget easily, Benjen is easily offended. This sends him into a fit of rage, losing what little humanity he has left.

Benjen often forgets the tasks he needs to do on a daily basis. Tanaki Juppus once bluntly put it as 'Having the organisational skills of a cucumber'. Benjen seems to be unaware of this fault.