background: if you ask him for his first name he might tell you one but it's likely not his real name. the same goes for his birthday - he'll say anywhere between october and november - but it's on record as october 25. he doesn't usually like to acknowledge it, and he especially doesn't like discussing what year he was born. (he was born 1854, same year as oscar wilde, and growing up alongside all that had a big impact on him.)

the long scar on his face extends onto his back; he was attacked from behind while looking back. there's a lot of different versions of what exactly happened, depending on when you ask him, but the only consistent details are that he got it decades ago while out on an assignment with a colleague - and he returned alone.

if you call him a necromancer he won't deny it, just smile and deflect. his use of black magic means he can prolong his life and age more slowly than most people - he draws on energy, a bit like a blood mage, and can control anything dead (mammals, plants, etc). religiously devout but in a very self-serving way: justifies his use of occult magic by selective interpretation of scripture, for example. if you're involved with death and/or the occult somehow he'll be more likely to develop genuine respect for you.

has lived in italy long enough to mostly lose his accent from Somewhere Else and be fluent in italian as well as latin.

chainsmoker, uses drugs - mainly cocaine but also heroin, sometimes in combination. he just Does Not Give A Shit. usually has naloxone in a pocket somewhere. (also, if he's on the brink of organ failure at all times, when he dies his body will be useless. even his own death is something he can make into a dick move.) he isn't self-conscious about his drug use, though he does try to be discreet about it and he'll deny being an addict if you confront him. his idea of helping someone manage an opioid addiction is to suggest they try cocaine. *finger guns*

teaches theology classes. students respect him and fear him.

when he was much, much younger he attempted to have sex with a woman but he's a misogynist and was a virgin in addition to being a homo so it's unlikely she enjoyed it much. (a woman could certainly femdom him though. that'd be interesting....) he's generally okay with flat-chested trans guys - even so, he'll likely say something transphobic at some point since he uses his interest in transmasc vag to support his desperate attempts to be heterosexual.

shockingly, he's in a long-term relationship:
dren marku (subpage forthcoming).

in some AUs for maurice he inevitably gets involved with dren. they're pretty evenly matched and they're both terrible to each other in different ways, but it's okay because their chemistry is incredible and the sex is amazing...once maurice learns to get dren off and not just himself lmao.

in the canon timeline dren is basically trying to engage in espionage and joins the secret society in an attempt to steal some of the society's secret medical techniques; they work together and have what dren intended to be a one-night stand, but maurice's possessive tendencies lead him to do some digging and discover the truth about dren's background. he blackmails him and they basically become frenemies with benefits. after a couple years of this the two of them survive a violent attack on the secret society and realize that they care about each other more deeply than either of them is willing to openly acknowledge.

over time maurice learns to become less obviously homophobic, both to keep dren around and because when you know everyone already thinks/knows you're dating a dude it starts being kind of embarassing to keep up the pretense. still, don't ever imply to his face that he's gay and/or going steady with a man unless you're looking for a fight.

(that said, it is absolutely a committed relationship as far as he's concerned. they might as well be married, even if they have divorced energy a lot of times. the idea of dren being involved with anyone else, even in the past, makes him dangerously jealous. he'll engage in casual sex with other people, though, if the opportunity arises and it serves his plans.)

trivia:

• if you embarrass him or make him uncomfortable enough in an intimate situation he'll start throwing around "fag" or "faggot" - maurice is the type to call a man a fag while said man is sucking his dick. NO HOMO!!!1


• refuses to kiss the man he's fucking because that's gay :galaxybrain: (it's about the emotional intimacy kissing implies, for him anyway. the only exception is hsau since he's accepted he's gay and there it's a possessive behavior for him)


• extremely into degradation and torture, both psychological and physical. if you're his subordinate then even better; he gets off on abusing his power, but he's usually discreet about such abuse. ironically, he cannot tolerate unexpected pain. if it's an injury in the line of duty then he can handle it, but one time [name] broke his leg as part of a well-deserved revenge and he started sobbing and lost his boner. if you hurt him outside of battle he will cry. it's very sexy, especially because he almost never cries otherwise. on that note, he is not a "daddy dom" just because he's old and prefers to be dominant, lol. he's a bottom in deep, deep denial.


• weapon of choice is a pump-action shotgun or fillet knives.


• he will binge on sweets if given the option, but otherwise he eats a typical meat-heavy italian diet. he tends to skip meals with no real pattern due to hyperfocusing on work or because of drugs suppressing his appetite, though he does enjoy sharing meals with others. (hope you don't mind the taste of cigarette smoke.) he also drinks alcohol - mainly wine and scotch, the peatier the better.
  
  
• has erectile dysfunction (age and drugs will do that to ya) and the severity of it depends on what i feel would be the most erotic in a given situation lmao but generally the rule is that he can't get it up more than once every 24 hours without some kind of external help. in 'verses with magic he has a special blood spell of his own design, in mundane AUs it's viagra but the idea of using the drug is embarassing to him lol. because of this he has become (or will become, if this is a 'verse where he's a virgin or close enough to one) very good with his hands and mouth.


• really, really likes blowjobs, both receiving and giving. this is part of why he's so violently homophobic - he knows deep down he'd enjoy sucking dick and is scared of surrendering to that. on the occasions where he's forced/coerced into giving a blowjob, whether it's a flesh dick or a strap-on, he almost always cums in his pants untouched. giving cunnilingus doesn't have as dramatic an effect on him, though he does find that he enjoys it very much when given the opportunity. he's also terrified of receiving anal for similar reasons; being the penetrator is less scary to him though he won't be the one to initiate and might still make a point of objecting on moral grounds even when he's balls deep in ass.


• knows ballroom dancing - waltzes, mostly, though he can tango quite well if he wants to - and prefers classical music. he doesn't especially care for anything composed after world war ii and will complain if made to listen to composers he knows were homosexual (even if he enjoys the music itself). he enjoys arguing with dren about this and which composers are best.


• speaking of, a smattering of some of the songs that i feel evoke him are: black magic / i never said i was deep, jarvis cocker; stalker's tango / beat the love, autoheart; misanthrope necromancer, misanthrope; the weirdos waltz, peter gundry; sex and violence, scissor sisters; mephisto waltz no. 1, liszt; faggot, sam vance-law