'So this is what he looked like, was it? Big black eyes with fine soft wrinkles at the corners and rather smooth lids. His mouth was a nice, smiling mouth. The nose was neat and finely made; he didn't disdain it. And the eyebrows; he liked these best of all because they were very black and straight, not broken or bushy, and they were drawn high enough above his eyes so that he had an open expression, a look of veiled wonder that others might trust. Yes, it was a very pretty young male face.'
This was a self description of Khayman as he looked into a mirror one night... Khayman is one of my favorite characters. He is probably the kindest vampire character, despite the fact that he kills his victims more maliciously than any other, tearing them from limb to limb, sucking the very marrow from their bones and draining the last drop of blood from the "pulp" that is inevitably left of them. However, he admits, to save yourself from being his victim, all you'd have to do is turn and say not so much as "hello". Once he's been spoken to, it's like he see's the innocence in you and can't kill.
Khayman is also very simple. His mind seems almost childlike in the way he thinks. It makes him very loving and accepting; when he sees fledglings he doesn't know he has a natural desire to become friends w/ them and protect them. However, one encounter w/ new fledglings led them to fear him, sensing his power, and they ran away in fear. This seemed to flip a switch inside his mind, and like a hurt child he lashed out, not truly realizing what he was doing and killed them. He reaches out to anyone who would be his friend out of loneliness, but has sensitive feelings and can easily be scorned... which leads many to believe he may be a little crazy even.
For a little background information, Khayman is one of the first brood. He was made by Akasha, as a sort of experiment. She drained his blood and gave him hers to see what would happen and he became a vampire as well. In turn, out of scorn for the way she'd used him as an experiment, not caring if he lived or died, he gave the dark gift to the twins, Maharet and Mekare. He is very supportive of the twins, and fathered the "great family" that Maharet follows so passionately down the lines; therefore, making him an ancestor of Jesse (the vampire fledgling) as well. He is very protective of her as well, and recognized her at once at Lestat's famous concert, the night Akasha came back.
He often spends his time moving from place to place, setting up a home at an apartment or flat, where he often goes out at night and makes friends w/ humans, even bringing them back to his flat to recite poetry to them, often falling in and out of love w/ the ladies who accompany him at these times.
Khayman's history isn't completely clear. Other vampires have tried to talk to him about his past, but he doesn't seem to be open to those discussions. He does love the other vampires very much, though. He finds them very interesting, and after the death of Akasha, he was a point of curiosity to all of them as well; w/ his general optimistic outlook on everything and his honest, childlike curiosity about life in general. He's said to have one of the stranger, more ancient types of beauty compared to the others, and amuses in the traditional idea of the classic vampire in top hat and cloak w/ a cane.
Khayman is one of the most powerful of the vampires, yet has an odd way of making you want to be the one to protect him. He seems to have the ability to charm everyone he converses w/ and perhaps in his odd simplicity, he is and will continue to be one of the more pondered on characters of the vampire chronicles.
