Conte Lazar

Conte Constantin Lazar is an Ulven count, patriarch of the Lazar family and one of the main antagonists in VARULV, Book III (Issues 7 - 9). He is Stig's biological father.

The Conte is an elderly man, frail but extremely well-off. His homestead, the Lazar Estate in Ardeel, is old money, and though he loves to speak of his family and heritage, he appears to have no love for his actual children. Despite that fact, the Conte's progeny numbers in the dozens, as keeping the bloodline of their unique Ulven history is of utmost importance to him. When the Contessa, Stig's mother, passed away, the Conte sought remarriage through Diana Lupei, though he insisted she first become Ulven as the couple had no intention of producing children through the marriage. It was discovered that the Conte's blood was unsuitable to perform the Rite, as each attempt yielded only Strigoi, not true Ulven. As a precaution against this, it was revealed that the Conte had invited his son solely to utilize his blood in the ritual, but even so, Diana did not transform into an Ulven and became one of the Strigoi. To this, the Conte deemed her unsuitable as a wife, calling her hideous and disregarding her and his role in her transformation as nothing more than an embarassing misstep.

It is assumed that the Conte's appearance as an Ulven very much resembles that of his son's, though he has yet to transform within the course of the story. He seems to be uninterested in the Ulven side of his being beyond the status symbol it implies.