Grigore Summers

Considered to be one of the foremost, and also one of the only, scholars to ever take up the seemingly impossible task of collecting knowledge regarding various monsters and some forms of magic, Grigore Summers is well known throughout the Achaean Empire for his many works. He was a very high-ranking priest of the Olympians who later converted solely to Astra Aeterna, though there were those who said he did not truly commit himself to Astra's beliefs. His legacy remains one of some controversy, but his overall expertise in his fields cannot entirely be denied.

Early Life

Grigore Summers was born a handsome young man in Vyzigord, a place he claims is utterly taken by dark powers, haunted frequently by monstrosities like vampires and even werewolves. He has absolutely nothing kind to say regarding his childhood home. When he was very young, he claims to have heard a terrible howl on the night of a full moon that frightened him back into his home from his troublemaking. The following day, his parents were found dead along with almost a dozen other villagers from his local hamlet. Tales of a werewolf being the cause of the massacre led him to dedicate his life to the pursuit of the dark powers and cataloguing of knowledge as to how to root out and destroy various evil beings and creatures. He became a priest, dedicating himself to chronicles.

Books

Summers was a fiery and dedicated man, always willing to espouse to anyone who would listen his vehemence regarding total condemnation of anyone even suspected to be a servant of evil. He is best known for his many works: books on many subjects, such as demons, werewolves, vampires, witches, black magic, and the undead, as well as some other denizens of the Underworld. Though some of his statements seem incredible in nature, such as his assertions that werewolves can swallow their victims whole and vampires can dominate the minds of others merely by meeting their gaze, the seemingly wild statements throughout his works cannot be disproven and may very well be true.

However, he is criticized for also condemning those who hunt them. Primarily, he offers extreme criticism of their methods and even claims some, such as the Knights Templar and Inquisition, are not harsh enough when seeking to destroy evil. This is a source of great controversy among those who study his works, as he never actually took up any form of monster or witch hunting, himself.

Death

Late in life, Summers claimed he was cursed with an unholy plague. The illness left him weak and barely able to walk, coughing up a strange black substance he referred to as demon ichor. He documented his illness with as much precision as he could, given he claimed his mind was ailing as the disease progressed. By his own personal request, he was buried while still barely alive, an unhealthy shadow of his former robust self. He is presumed to be long since dead. His body lies entombed in Coronaria, sealed well away in an undisclosed location, also by his own request.