The early 19th century was a desperate time for mankind. The Belmont clan had gone missing, the specter of Count Dracula continued to loom over Transylvania, and people began to lose their ability to resist darkness. Fearing the worst, those in positions of power began to search for new ways to counter Dracula. A brave few formed organizations whose purpose was to prevent the return of count Dracula and in the event of his resurrection remove him from this world.

One such brave soul was Barlowe, who formed an organization called Ecclesia. It was Ecclesia's mission to study "glyphs" (magical energy representative of the power that dwells within all things) and one day put them to use as the means for fighting Dracula. Their efforts were so considerable that certain men of power took notice and entrusted to Barlowe the vessel for the soul of Dracula, in hope that Ecclesia's research would materialize in a weapon potent enough to destroy the Dark Lord. Furthermore, he was ordered to seal away the vessel and release it from captivation only when a final solution was apparent. There was one technicality: Should their research ultimately prove invalid, the vessel would be taken away from them. Barlowe agreed to these terms.

Ecclesia concocted several glyphs and used them against the vessel. Not one of them could even scratch it. If those in power found out, they would surely take it back, leaving Ecclesia in ruin. They managed to keep their failure a secret, securing the vessel, and continued experimenting. Finally, Barlowe came up with a solution: Fight fire with fire! His research, helped along by Albus--his star pupil and Ecclesia's chief researcher--culminated in the creation of Dominus, a glyph of ultimate power. Dominus was the representation of the Count Dracula (the mystical combination of hatred, anger and agony), which they magically altered to be used as a weapon against the Dark Lord.

What his students didn't know (except possibly for Albus, who despite being kept largely in the dark was working closely with him) was that Barlowe could not resist the vessel's allure and was actively studying it rather than keeping a safe distance; Dominus' very existence was in fact based upon the samples taken directly from the vessel, which contained Dracula's actual body parts. Somewhere along the way, things went awry; Barlowe, thanks to frequent contact, was corrupted by the vessel's power and became engulfed in darkness, which he managed to hide from his students while he plotted to resurrect Count Dracula, the very opposite of his original goal. He began hatching a sinister scheme.

In order to bring about Dracula's return, he'd have to sacrifice his students and somehow do so with their blessing. He used Dominus, being the bearer of which was seen as an honor, as the catalyst. He chose Shanoa, a woman gifted with the ability to absorb and harness glyphs, as the one to bear Dominus, under the guise that she'd use this power to fight Dracula. When Albus, who knew of Dominus' self-destructive power, sought to protect Shanoa by convincing Barlowe to instead entrust him with the "honor," the old man reluctantly agreed.

Though, he had no intention of keeping that promise; in order to take Albus out of the picture, he sent him a great errand and in the meantime hoped to infuse Shanoa with Dominus, knowing it would kill her and serve as the perfect sacrifice. Even though Albus returned in time to stop it from happening, interrupting the ceremony and stealing away Dominus for himself, Barlowe was able to salvage the event by instead sacrificing Shanoa's memories and emotions. When she awakened in an amnesiac state, he lied to her, insisting that it was Albus' intervention that led to the loss of her memory. He then sent her on a mission to track down Albus and retrieve Dominus, as if Albus was simply a misguided youth seeking ultimate power.

Barlowe remained at Ecclesia and during conversations with the multitasking Shanoa managed to play coy, showing no hint of ill-intent and appearing as completely sincere. For now, he could only encourage her to continue on Albus' trail, eliminating him if necessary. When Shanoa finally began to figure it all out, thanks to the now-understood actions of Albus, she confronted Barlowe, who revealed the vessel's existence but nothing more. She was eventually forced to slay Albus, who was overpowered by Dominus but lived on in her memory as the brother she once knew; she returned to Ecclesia and honoring her promise to the fallen Albus refused to use Dominus on the vessel, as Barlowe requested.

She called Barlowe on his lies, knowing of his evil deeds. He started to deny the charges, but his tone only grew more apologetic, as if his actions were simply misunderstood. "Shanoa," he said, "if you ever trusted me, then hear me: Mankind needs you. Needs your life!" It was now clear that Barlowe was under Dracula's control. The now-mad Barlowe, laughing maniacally, began an assault on Shanoa. Soon, he was brought to his knees, utterly defeated.

Without Dominus, he explained, he could never destroy the seal and release Dracula into this world, which was "the realization of Ecclesia's mission and the singular wish of all mankind." Mimicking Dracula's words, Barlowe stated that it is indeed mankind's wish, that their hearts yearn for his presence; if not, why would he return again and again? The enchanted Barlowe, his strength returning, began hovering, gravitating toward the vessel. Sensing the imminent return of Dracula, he used what remained of his power to destroy the already cracked seal, sacrificing himself to the cause. Shanoa watched as the vessel exploded, vaporizing Barlowe in the process.

Barlowe was successful in resurrecting Dracula, his last act in this world though the antithesis of Ecclesia's original ambition. Though it isn't easy to justify blaming Barlowe for his inability to resist the darkness, it's due to his actions that all record of the disgraced Ecclesia would vanish into the mists of time.