Ansul

Andreius Ansul (or just Ansul) is easy to mistake for a harpy or griffin. On the ground, he looks something like a black velociraptor, including a long feathered tail. Despite his vulturine appearance, wings and twin hook claws on the ends of his big toes- Ansul is actually human. Or was, originally.

A trained and talented magic user, he got his start as an alchemist and a physician, before being seized with the desire to harvest more and more power which led him to study shape-shifting and eventually necromancy in a bid to achieve true eternal life.

While technically able to shift into a human form, he refuses, mainly out of fear of how painful the transformation was the first time. It took hours in which he fainted several times and took weeks to recover. Going through it again to get back would probably kill him, as he is a very old man by now.

In addition to alchemical skills such as making simple health remedies, he can also turn base elements into gold (whether or not it reverts back to base metal later is another matter.) His true talent however is the art of soul harvesting to achieve lengthened life. Ansul is not undead and immortal like a vampire, but truly alive and stays that way by ripping the life essence out of various victims. An animal might tide him over for days or weeks, but a human soul might give him years. Victims must be chosen carefully as the extraction process is delicate and time consuming. Other necromantic feats include making simple zombies, and, potentially, raising the dead in more complete ways, if one can pay the price.

Ansul found his way to Thornmouth through one of the moon gates near the city. In his old life, he was employed by a ruler as a court wizard and enjoyed a very cushy lifestyle. When the ruler's son died in an accident however, the court necromancer was called to raise him. Ansul obliged, but the risen prince was volatile and unpredictable, and wound up killing his own father before being put down by guards for the final time.
The remaining court turned on their once lauded wizard and sought to have him executed, but he managed to escape his fate by bribing a prison guard with transmuted gold (which turned back into shit nearly the moment he had slipped away) and flew towards the known location of a portal while the enraged guard fired arrows from below.

Ansul has not, and will not, learn from the experience.

He can be described as sarcastic, nihilistic, ambitious and flirty.