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Last of the dreaded Clan McAllister, Zephrym has long dwelt alone in the remains of his ancestral home. But for a single tower and the secret vaults beneath, all now lies in ruin. This was of old the Lord’s Tower – before the peasantry rebelled and burned the estate. Here his parents lived before the Baron had them executed as devil worshippers. And here Zephrym returned as a young man after being expelled from the Academy Arcanum for delving into forbidden lore. Alone but for the dreams and whispers in the dark, he has continued his studies on his own. From the McAllister vaults he drew ancient tomes and from these tomes he has mastered the power which is his birthright, and so become a warlock of considerable ability.

When, a decade past, Zephrym sought to extend his influence into the surrounding countryside, he was thwarted by the Baron. It seems that Zephrym’s mother, before being burned at the stake, divulged her son’s true name so that he could be allowed to live. With this knowledge the Baron has absolute leverage over the old warlock whose power derives from infernal pacts and dangerous bargains. So it was that Zephrym was exiled to his tower and there has remained except when called forth to do the Baron’s bidding.

Now older still but at the height of his power, the warlock has been summoned one last time. If this final mission can be completed well, the Baron has sworn to release Zephrym from his bond. In return the warlock has sworn to leave the Barony and never return. This he indeed plans to do, for he has little interest in the mortal world but has spent great effort forming alliances and laying plans in the realm beyond death.

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Zephrym of the clan McAllister is an old man with a long white beard. He bears a wizard’s wand from the Academy Arcanum and wears a long leather coat of fey design. Aside from the infernal arts for which the McAllisters are infamous, he has studied the lore of Caiphon, the Dream Whisperer, who dwells beyond the void of the night sky. In recent years he has developed the art of the soul weaver – which concerns itself with capturing and using part of the spark of life as it crosses over to the next realm. Zephrym is not evil except in that he wholly lacks empathy and doesn’t see death as a bad thing. He is eminently pragmatic, very intelligent, and committed to whatever is his current cause. Currently, that cause is to rescue the Baron’s son and so remove the final claim against his soul.

In order to conceal the distasteful business about true names and devils, the story has been put forth that Zephrym wants to atone for the McAllister crimes. Publically, it is said that he only wants history to record that the last McAllistor served the realm loyally and protected its people from evil. In truth, he could not care less what history thought of him.

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The "Soul Weaver" verbage in the background is my flavor text interpretation of Zephrym's warlock abilities and paragon path (there really isn't much about actual blood in the Blood Mage). Zephrym's 'curse' is establishing a tie to the victim's soul such that as it departs the body, some of the energy is fed to the warlock (I get temp hit points when a cursed target drops). My Shared Pact feat also lets me bolster my allies with this energy - assuming they don't mind the source.

Some of my other abilties let me damage myself for power (like recalling an encounter power, or doing extra damage) while my high level utility lets me regain extra hp from a surge. I'm visualizing the hit-point economics behind Zephrym's mechanics as a manipulation of lifeforce energy rather than blood.

Lastly, I interpret Zephrym's high CON as a result of this soul weaving magic. He has greatly strengthened his own lifeforce through his dark arts - he's not naturally super-healthy. Also, being of an infernal pact many of his powers will have special effects dealing with dark energy and spirits rather than blood and slime. Anyway, there's no mechanical change anywhere - just flavor text.