Gregory Duff Collingsworth is one of Akasha’s most trusted servants. Over the many millennia of his life, he influences the shape of vampirekind through powerful covens that become billion-dollar companies and reform vampirism in the twenty-first century. He appears in Prince Lestat (2014), Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016), and Blood Communion (2018).
After going down into the earth to sleep and survive the test of time, the ancient vampire Nebamun, who is made by Queen Akasha herself, arises in the third century of the Common Era and takes the name Gregory Duff Collingsworth.
When he encounters Chrysanthe, a mortal from the great Arab-Christian city of Hira, she gives him vast and informative lessons on history, art, and the sciences. Gregory falls in love with Chrysanthe, turns her into a vampire, and takes her as his second Blood Wife, having forsaken all hope of ever finding his first Blood Wife, Sevraine, whom Akasha took from him in ancient Egypt. Gregory and Chrysanthe live together in northern Africa, in the city of Carthage, for many years, where they meet the one-legged Athenian slave, Flavius, whose maker is Pandora. Flavius informs Gregory and Chrysanthe of all he knows of the fate of Those Who Must Be Kept (Akasha and her husband-king, Enkil), since his maker’s paramour, Marius, is their caretaker. Flavius also teaches Gregory much on Roman and Greek culture, artists, historians, philosophers, writers, and more. Gregory, who as Nebamun lived under Akasha’s rule that no one with deformities or disabilities will be turned into a vampire, is immediately impressed that Flavius is now an immortal, despite having only one leg, which effectually shatters Gregory’s superstitions of his former vampire religion. He and Chrysanthe welcome Flavius to stay with them in a coven, and the three remain together for centuries.
During the eighth century, in what is known as modern-day France, when Rhoshamandes still rules, before the Children of Satan besiege him and his realm, Gregory encounters Teskhamen and his fledgling Hesketh, and they talk about much concerning the ancient days, since Gregory (as Nebamun) was the Captain of Akasha’s army, the Queens Blood, while Teskhamen was a part of Akasha’s sacred blood priests.
A few centuries later, Gregory desires to expand what he calls his Blood Kindred and invites into the coven two vampires, Avicus and Zenobia. Avicus was turned into a vampire during the reign of Akasha and made to worship in her blood cult, but he has heard tales of Gregory’s former identity, Nebamun, who rebels against the Queen.
Over the next millennia, Gregory builds a place of security for his Blood Kindred, a sanctuary that will not only guard them against enemies but also provide a place of advancement for the Undead. The pinnacle of his work comes in the twenty-first century, when he builds Collingsworth Pharmaceuticals, a conglomerate of pharmacies and hospitals that help mortals and secretly serve Undead clients. Through Collingsworth Pharmaceuticals, Gregory begins working with the vampire scientists Fareed and Seth, Akasha’s son, whose breakthrough research makes many advances for the benefit of vampires. One such benefit is restoring Flavius’s leg through a cloning procedure.
After Prince Lestat creates the Court of the Prince at Château de Lioncourt, Gregory becomes a prominent member, especially in informing the Court of the existence of the ancient vampire Gundesanth. He supports the destruction of Rhoshamandes for killing Maharet and Khayman. And he helps the Replimoids purchase a new colony in rural England.
For more perspectives on Gregory’s character, read the Alphabettery entries Akasha, Avicus, Chrysanthe, Collingsworth Pharmaceuticals, Enkil, Fareed Bhansali, Flavius, Lestat de Lioncourt, Nebamun, and Zenobia.