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Bodyguard for an ancient worshipper of Ra by mutual agreement, a Kindred employing blood magic and stealth, deadly to anyone standing in or close to a shadow, and has no idea those legendary stories and rumours his sire told him are actually mostly true. His name is Nasr. He will speak in gray.
Nasr Andil was born 1913 in Naples, Italy, to second generation Egyptian immigrant parents. During his late teenage years Nasr had a tendency to move with "bad crowds" as his mother put it, and got into his fair share of trouble, mostly shoplifting and petty theft. Then his mother died after a period of sickness, and Nasr left the bad crowds behind due to her dying wishes. His father had died during World War I when he was little, so now he had to care of himself as he was an only child. He turned his life around and managed to get a few jobs as a bouncer at different local music clubs, due to his rather strong physique and that he knew how to fight. He found out he was rather good at the job.
One night early 1939 there was an unusually heated fight between two guests at one of the clubs he worked at as a security guard, and Nasr and another one of his colleagues had to handle it. After they broke up the altercation and was escorting them out of the club, the one his colleague handled suddently pulled out a knife and swung around with it. Nasr reacted remarkably quickly and was able to kick away the knife before it was able to connect and restrained the man until the police came and took over. He did not know it at the time, but among the club's patrons there was one individual who had taken an interest in him.
A week after the altercation involving the knife Nasr was on his way home at night after a shift at one of the local clubs he worked when he thought he saw something in the shadows from the corner of his eye. When he turned his head to look, there was no one or nothing there. As he continued walking he felt as though someone was watching him, but he could not spot anyone. It was not as though he was scared. He wasn't. But he was a little unnerved, like there was something in the shadows around him. And there it was again in the corner of his eye, like something stepping out of or into a shadow. But once again, there was nothing when he turned his gaze.
He reached his home, where he lived alone, on the outskirts of the small italian town he had moved to a few years before to get away from his birthplace and his old friends. When he got in there was an unknown man sitting on one of his chairs in his kitchen, but Nasr did not panic. The stranger did not seem be out to hurt him. He wondered if he was from the local mafia. But he did not owe anyone anything. "Sit down." the stranger said, and nodded towards the other chair.
"Are.. are you with the mafia?" he asked. The stranger laughed. "No, not at all." he said. "Then why are you here?" Nasr said after a little pause. "I am here with a job opportunity, you could say." the stranger replied. "I have got a job already." Nasr was confused, and at the same time somewhat intruiged. "I know. I saw how you handled that knife last week. I was impressed. So I chose you." The shadows around the stranger seemed to dance in the darkness. It must have been quite some job if someone has to enter your home to offer it to you. "This job opportunity is not so very different from your current. Just so much grander. But you must accept it. I will not force it upon you." he continued. It sounded so much more interesting than Nasr's current. He was good at it, but it was not very fulfilling. What did he have to lose?, he wondered. "I accept." Nasr said. A smile appeared on the stranger's lips and then he suddenly disappeared. A sharp pain in his neck, followed by pleasure. Then it all went dark.
Nasr had been Embraced by Mustafa Najib, a 200 year old Kindred with roots in Egypt. Not that he had told Nasr that he would need to be Embraced to accept the "job". And the job turned out to be as a contractor, of sorts. During the two years following his Embrace, Mustafa had told him that he was from a long line of Kindred who offered a service to other Kindred, traditionally as eternal servants. But Mustafa only offered contracts or arrangement, no life-long ones. Nasr's grandsire had abandoned that tradition. During that time Mustafa trained Nasr in various things to further help him in his new line of work. Tricks in remaining hidden, how to heighten his senses and basic martial arts due to being mainly as it was mainly as a bodyguard this line of Kindred were contracted. Nasr was also taught blood magic, to be able to assist other blood mages in the Circle which his sire and now himself was a member of. The ability of Obfuscate served him well during this time, as World War II had broken out and he had no interest in getting caught in it.
About 7 years into his Requiem, Nasr's blood changed. He manifested his sire's bloodline. That of the Khaibit. "Now I can really teach you." his sire bluntly said when it was realized. The discipline of shadows. Obtenebration, as it was called. Nasr turned out to be rather talented at this discipline and picked it up quickly, much to Mustafa's delight. Nasr was also allowed to hear passed down stories and legends from his sire, telling of several rumoured origins of their bloodline. All preposterious, of course, legends as they were, but nonetheless wonderous. He was also adviced to stay away from Budapest and The Prince of the city. There were old rumours among the Khaibit of his horrendous influence on the shadows, and disruption of the same. There was no details in the stories, but subconsciously he felt that it was best to stay away -- true or not.
During the following years he trained under his sire and carried out some short-term contracts and taking a few security jobs at different clubs at night. But before Nasr was able to master Obtenebration his sire disappeared. Until this day, Nasr has still not heard from his sire and is unsure of his status. But his sire had taught him enough since his Embrace to be able to carry out his new-found purpose and set out alone for Rome, which had been the plan all along.
After Nasr had become situated in Rome and been introduced to the local Circle, some of that time's members he still has contact with today, the rumour of his arrival had gotten out. One of the rare Khaibit as a free agent. Not few Kindred were intruiged by having one of those as an eternal servant. But of course, eternal service was not on the table to the disappointment of many Kindred. A contract with a Circle higher-up was arranged, mostly due to Nasr's knowledge of blood magic, as an assistant. Of course, Nasr's other talents was highly appreciated by his new employer and he was tasked with other things as well, such as gathering (or stealing) blood magic supplies and dealing with some rivals during his service. And as a bodyguard, when his rivals realized who was behind some of the "accidents". The contract ended with Nasr's employer's untimely Final Death during one of the times he had ordered Nasr to stay behind and gone out for "private" matters.
Not long after this Nasr met an newly arrived enigmatic Kindred by the name of Amenostris, whom he offered his services to. This apparent Elder of times past needed him as a bodyguard, which was the role Nasr prefered. He saw his own heritage, both mortal and bloodline, in her as an old Egyptian. And the offered service reminded him of his mortal life as a security guard. He was good at protection. Too bad his last employer failed to recognize that. As part of their arrangement, Nasr has lodging within Amenostris's haven in Rome and the privileges to feed of her herd, among other things. He has until this day had her as an employer, his longest service contract, and he is quite content even though she is no blood magician or a member of his own covenant. Nasr cares less about such things. He cares more about keeping her safe and holding up his end of the arrangement. For this reason he prefers to make it seem like it's an actual master/servant relationship they have, while his talents in Obfuscate allows him to appear like a non-Kindred, which means he's often overlooked and underestimated by others -- assuming they can notice him in the shadows in the first place.
Boogeyman
Spoiler
The Prince of Budapest.
Virtue and Vice
Spoiler
Fortitude: There is little chance any outside force would be able to convince Nasr to ignore his contract. At all, for whatever reason.
Greed: Sometimes his old habits of his younger years come back. The temptation to steal gets too strong, and he might let something he has no obvious need for slip into his pocket when no one is watching.
General politics:
Spoiler
Nasr cares little for the minute politics going on in Rome when it doesn't affect him directly or his service. As a Khaibit most Kindred look at him as little more than a servant anyway, though he would probably be able to speak as a proxy for whoever powerful or influential "master" he might have at the time and that would be accepted.
Some thoughts on covenants:
Spoiler
In the Circle of the Crone Nasr's rank is low, but he has some acquaintances, mostly blood magicians he has helped in the past with various things. No one around now that he has been in a contract with though. He doesn't involve himself often with the deeper aspects of the Circle, nor does he usually gather much with those within.
He's not too concerned with the animosity or 'peace' with the other covenants in town, but if it came to it he would lend assisstance if able, as long as it did not take away from his service. And if it would make the service impossible, due to his contractors ties to another faction, the agreement would assumably be terminated until such times when there was not a conflict of interest.
Among the other covenants Nasr mostly just thinks the Lancea as distasteful, with their lip service to god. The Invictus like their rule, and they can rule if they want to. Nasr has no ambition to. The fascist Carthians he dislikes. He disliked Mussolini during the Second World War, and he dislikes the Kindred fascists now. Though if that's because he disliked them as a mortal or because of what they are and think now he's not sure.
Physical description
Spoiler
Nasr prefers a somewhat smart casual combination of denim jeans, a shirt and a not too fragile unbuttoned gray jacket, something easy to fight in if it comes to that. Under that he is able to conceal a thin kevlar vest, which is not too surprisingly handy in the line of work as a bodyguard.
A picture might appear at a later point, if I find something fitting.
Last edited by watupwithdat : 10-27-2012 at 09:03 PM.
Son of the Morrigan, writer of horror fiction, amateur Kindred historian, and former nomad, Matthias has finally found a family with the Circle of the Crone in Rome, and he intends to protect them. If he can find some interesting mystery to look into in the process, so much the better. He will speak in a predator's Red.
Background:
Spoiler
Matthias was born the only child of a wealthy family. His parents did their best to be hands-on parents, raising Matthias directly, without the aid of daycare centers, until he began school. Even then, they continued to be highly involved and interested in his life.
Matthias was always quiet. He wasn't very good at making friends, and because of this he preferred solitude. From the time he learned to read and write, he always kept a journal with him, and spent a large amount of time writing in it. His thoughts, fantasies, daydreams, hopes and fears, records of his day to day life, all went into the journals. If he wasn't writing, he was reading, and getting new ideas for the books he would eventually write.
Matthias' family owned a cabin in Maine, and each year they spent July there. Matthias developed a love for the outdoors at this cabin, and his parents encouraged this. His father had been in the Boy Scouts, and had managed to attain the rank of Eagle Scout, and he hoped his son would follow in his footsteps. Alas, Matthias did not do well in Cub Scouts as a child, and wanted no part of Boy Scouts when he was old enough. Despite this, his parents continued to encourage his passions for both the outdoors and for writing.
Matthias majored in English in college, with a focus on creative writing. He knew that he wanted to be a writer after college, and his parents, as always, continued to encourage him. After he graduated, he moved into a studio apartment in a different part of town from his parents. He had a trust fund that still had some money left over from college, which he lived off of while he worked to get his writing, mostly short stories, published. Eventually, he was able to get a few of his works published as parts of anthologies, and he even managed to get a position writing a column for a pulp fiction magazine. Life was good. Until tragedy struck.
It was just after New Year when the fire happened. The lights on the Christmas tree had apparently shorted out, and the dry tree had caught quickly. His parents had both perished. They left him no small amount of money, as well as all of their possessions that had not been destroyed by the fire, and the house, should he choose to rebuild it. Most importantly, they left him the cabin. Matthias sold off the property, ended the lease on his apartment, and moved into the cabin in Maine almost immediately. Situated two hours outside of a small town in rural northern Maine, it afforded him the solitude that he enjoyed, and the reminders of his childhood with his parents helped him through his grief better than any human could have.
The cabin was almost entirely self-sufficient, except for food, occasional parts for the generator and other repair supplies. Matthias went into the town once every two weeks like clockwork to pick up provisions from the general store and place his next order, and then he disappeared back to his cabin in the woods. He was able to do almost all of the maintenance himself, his father having taught him well, and he was well-suited to life alone in the woods.
He first saw his sire the night before his column was due. He was having trouble coming up with an ending for his story, a tale about a young boy who wanders away from his family's campsite at night and unleashes a terrible evil upon the family. This was not the first time he had dealt with writer's block, and he had found that sometimes, fresh night air was the best cure. So he went for a walk into the dark woods. He was perhaps a quarter mile from his cabin when he saw a lone wolf sitting on the trail before him. It didn't move, didn't howl, bark or growl. It merely watched him. Slightly unnerved, Matthias decided that perhaps this was not the best night for a walk, and turned to return to his cabin. As he made his way back through the woods, he checked over his shoulder periodically, and discovered that the wolf was following him. Despite his mounting fear, Matthias remained calm, and returned to his cabin at a brisk walk, refusing the urge to run. Once he was safe inside, he looked out the window and saw the wolf. As soon as he met its gaze, it turned and walked back into the woods, quickly becoming lost in the darkness. Unnerved, Matthias found that his writer's block was gone, as was any desire to sleep. He finished his column, sealed it in an envelope, set it by the door to bring to the post office in town the next morning, and eventually managed to sleep.
The next evening, he realized that his wood supply was empty, and so his wood stove would not last him that night. He looked at the position of the sun in the sky, saw how low it was, and debated whether he really cared about having heat that night. He decided that it was necessary, as winter was setting in and it would be very cold without his wood stove burning. And so, Matthias set off once again into the woods, looking for a nice tree to fell and chop into firewood. By the time he had found an old snag that wasn't rotted through, felled it, and finished splitting the wood, it was long dark. As he turned to return to his cabin, the fears of the previous night and day seeming small and distant after a few hours' hard labor, he saw the wolf once again. This time it was blocking his path. He tried to approach it, hoping that it would frighten and let him pass, but when he stepped toward it, it growled at him. He decided to take another, slightly longer route home, and found that the wolf was not only following him, but seemed to be actively preventing him from returning to his cabin. Matthias managed to outsmart the wolf by doubling back multiple times, and eventually reached the safety of his cabin. His nerves were again frayed, and he found sleep impossible. It was not until the sun rose, and his fears felt foolish in its harsh light, that he was able to close his eyes and slumber.
Matthias awoke to a cold stove and empty stockpile. He had brought in only the wood he needed to get through the previous night, leaving the rest outside with the sled. Matthias saw that he had slept through the entire day, and the sun was setting. He ventured outside, hoping to quickly grab the wood he needed from the sled and then disappear back into the safety and warmth of his cabin. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so. His wood sled had disappeared. Leading away from the spot it had occupied the previous night was a set of tracks from the runners, and a trail of wood splinters. Matthias' anger at whoever had stolen his sled outweighed his fear of the darkness, and he followed the trail. He found his sled not long after dark. It was a wreck. The wood he had cut was nowhere to be seen, and the sled itself had been destroyed. Matthias was outraged, but he decided he would deal with it in the morning. For now, he was simply going to go back to his cabin, go to bed, and call the police in the morning. But when he turned around, he found the wolf staring at him, blocking his path back to his cabin once more. "I don't suppose you did this, huh?" laughed Matthias to the wolf. The wolf nodded, sitting in the exact middle of the sled tracks. Matthias wasn't sure of what he had seen, and figuring that it was a trick of his eyes, he ignored it. He tried to leave, but every step he took elicited a growl from the wolf. He stood his ground and stared the wolf down, and they began to circle each other. When Matthias thought he had an opportunity to turn and flee, the wolf ran him down. It pounced on him and tried to bite him, but he was able to wriggle free and roll away. He found himself back near the sled, and he grabbed one of the runners to defend himself. The wolf was back on him before he could get up. Matthias tried to strike the wolf, and he hit it once, but when he came in for the second blow, the wolf caught the bar in its jaws and wrenched it free of his grip. The wolf pinned Matthias to the ground and bit him, drawing blood. A lot of blood, in fact, or so it felt to Matthias, though the wound didn't display that much. The bit of damage the runner had done to the wolf faded before Matthias' eyes, and the wolf changed, becoming a human.
"I'm impressed with you," the wolf-turned-human said to Matthias. "When I first appeared, a lot of people would have run, but not you. You kept a level head and your wits about you. You made a mistake showing me where you lived, but you rectified that last night, trying to lose me when I blocked your way. Good job there, too, by the way, doubling back when you lost sight of me and then doing it again. And finally, we have tonight. You actually tried to defend yourself, instead of just running deeper into the woods. I am impressed. So impressed, in fact, that I think I'll give you a choice. I'm going to kill you, one way or another. However, I'm going to let you decide if you want to stay dead, or if you want to become like me. Kindred. A vampire. Think for a second before you answer." Matthias thought about it. He didn't have to think long. He didn't have any use for his humanity. He lived alone, he had no friends, no one would miss him if he died, and here was an opportunity to become a creature out of one of his own stories. He chose the blood.
Matthias and his sire traveled for some time. His sire taught Matthias part of the Protean discipline, and told him that they were predators, and the humans were their prey. They didn't need to concern themselves with human thoughts anymore. They could hunt, and kill, and take whatever and whomever they wanted. They were above the humans, as the farmer is above his cows or the wolf above the deer. It was their nature. Matthias reveled in this philosophy of moral abandon for a time. Until his sire was killed before his eyes.
They had just arrived in a new city, and Matthias and his master had taken a couple of tasty morsels off the street. They had been drunk, young girls with fake IDs bar-hopping on Spring Break. “Had” being the keyword. By that time, the girls were just exsanguinated husks, and Matthias and his sire were feeling the full effects of the copious amounts of booze the girls had ingested. They were talking and laughing, and generally ignoring any pretense of stealth or care when the attack came. A cell of hunters cornered them in an alley. Two from the street, two from the fire escapes, a fifth over the fence. Matthias was able to escape. His sire, however, was not. Matthias fled the scene, fear, Frenzy, and his own survival-instincts overriding all else. Matthias went to ground still within the city. The fight had taken most of his Vitae reserves, and Matthias knew he would have to hunt before he could move on. That day, he dreamed. It was a dream of blood and sacrifice, and he didn’t know what it meant, so he put it out of his mind when he rose the following night. After he had filled his reserves with Vitae, he left the city, following his gut instincts for which direction to go.
When he went to ground the next morning, he dreamed again. This dream was one of ritual and sacrifice, masked humanoids dancing and chanting around another being strapped to a slab. Again, Matthias was confused as to the meaning of the dream. He continued traveling, still feeling pulled by an unseen force. The dreams continued as well, growing more vivid with time, but no more clear. Eventually, as he drew near another city, he saw the identity of the person strapped to the slab in his dream. The dream had grown more vivid over time, and longer. Matthias now saw that it was a sacrifice of some sort. The masked being above the one on the slab held a knife aloft, and uttered prayers in a strange tongue that Matthias couldn’t understand. Then the being plunged the knife down, and the crowd surged, and Matthias couldn’t see the being on the slab, but he saw blood running down the slab and collecting in a bowl at the base of the slab. The being with the knife then picked up the bowl, and, intoning more prayers in that strange tongue, splashed it on the being on the slab. Then the being on the slab rose up, and Matthias saw who it was, and then he was looking out at the sea of masks around him, and he was the being on the slab, and then he awoke. His final dream began with him on the slab, but this time he wasn’t bound. He lay there willingly, and instead of a knife in the hands of the masked being above him, the being, an ancient hag, had only her claws. She plunged those horrid claws into Matthias’ chest, and then bent and drank his blood. Then she was young again, and she offered her own wrist, open and bleeding to Matthias, and he drank, and was changed, and when he looked around him, he saw the beings as before, but this time their masks were gone and he could see their faces, and he felt safe and home amongst their number, and he knew he was one of them.
Matthias awoke that evening and followed the invisible tug onward. He followed the tug across the sea, to Rome, to a nightclub, and when he went in, he found himself face-to-face with one of the people in his dream. He said that he had seen her in his dreams, and she took him to a back room. She asked him to tell her more of his dreams, and he did so. Matthias told her of his dreams of blood and ritual and sacrifice. She asked him if he wanted to know more about what his dreams and the figures who had appeared in them meant. Matthias agreed. She took Matthias to meet the Hierophant, who asked if Matthias had been brought to join the Circle. Matthias said he had. The Hierophant interviewed him for the rest of the night, and, apparently satisfied with his answers to her questions, allowed him to join the Chorus. Matthias was tested and prepared in the Chorus, and underwent his full initiation into the cult. He became an Acolyte, and devoted himself to studying and mastering Crùac. That was 50 years ago. In addition to learning the basics of Crùac, he has spent his Requiem in Rome relearning some of what the Embrace cost him, as well as improving his skill with his other disciplines.
Immortal Sinners and Night Horrors:
Spoiler
Above all else, Matthias knows of the Unholy. His sire told him legends of the Unholy, stories of her brutality and icy demeanor, of how she travels from place to place, never staying in one place too long. How she is feared by even the most powerful Kindred. How dangerous she is. Outwardly, Matthias appears to fear her. Secretly, however, he respects the Unholy, viewing her as being the epitome of what Kindred should be. His time with the Circle has added to this, as he has heard stories of her being the daughter of the Crone herself. This has only added to Matthias' respect for her. He wishes to be able to emulate her someday, answering to no master, no Prince.
His own travels before coming to Rome, along with his investigations of Kindred lore since his arrival and settlement have revealed many other noteworthy Kindred, as well as other, more bizarre entities. He has heard legends of a parasite that replaces its victims' tongues with its own body, creatures that can separate their heads from their bodies and fly around, drinking newborn infants' blood, creatures that feed on memories, strange spirits that possess vampires' bodies, and the Larvae and Draugr. He fears the last two most of all.
Politics:
Spoiler
The Tradition of Masquerade: The wolf does not fear the lone sheep, but it knows it cannot slaughter the whole flock. It must keep itself hidden until it can isolate one member of the flock, which it can then kill. So, too, is it with the Kindred. There are far more humans than there are Kindred in the world, and though alone they pose little to no threat, get enough humans riled, and everyone is in danger. The Tradition of Progeny: Live and let live, and always respect the choice. If a vampire wishes to embrace, that is his or her business and no one else's. However, no vampire should embrace a mortal without giving the mortal a choice in the matter. The choice may simply be, "become a vampire or die," but the choice must be offered. The Tradition of Amaranth: To drink another's hearstblood is the gravest of sins, or so it is said. In truth, Matthias is torn. Outwardly, he despises diablerie. Secretly, he has heard rumors that the Unholy commits diablerie regularly, and so he wonders, if such a paragon of the vampiric condition performs the act, why shouldn't he?
The Daeva: They're pretty, and they have hunting down to an art. Sort of, anyway. There's something to be respected there. The Ventrue: They've all gone soft, become too concerned with consolidating power and lording it over everyone else. Of course, given the disciplines with which the Ventrue show affinity, it seems there might be more to their relationship with the Gangrel than meets the eye. The Nosferatu: Pitiable creatures who have been forced to cope with far more than anyone should have to. Not only are they Damned, they're also uglier than sin. That just isn't fair. Still, they deserve respect, for managing to overcome everything in their unlives. That takes strength. The Mekhet: A tad cowardly, perhaps, but their search for ancient secrets is something to respect. He thinks he could have been happy as a Mekhet, if things had gone differently. The Gangrel: His clan, his family, his brothers and sisters in blood. What more do you want?
The Invictus: A bunch of corrupt pissants only concerned with consolidating power for themselves and [redacted] one another. Unconcerned with anyone who isn't in their exclusive club. Dangerous enemies, worse allies. The Carthians: If the Invictus are bunch of corrupt pissants that have forgotten their proper role, the Carthians are worse. Sure, the Invictus may be corrupt executives, but at least they're competent executives. The Carthians, on the other hand, are a bunch of corrupt pissants who claim to want fair representation for all Kindred, but can't or won't actually enforce any laws. Matthias would sooner bow to an Invictus Prince than a Carthian. The Lancea Sanctum: The Invictus' preachy right hand. Known to practice a form of blood sorcery that may or may not be related to Crùac. While the blood sorcery might be worth investigating, dealing with the preachiness is not. A bunch of holier-than-thou zealots with one of the best worst-kept secrets in the Danse Macabre. The Ordo Dracul: Had things gone differently, Matthias feels he would have made a good Dragon. Their search for a way to transcend the vampiric condition intrigues him, as do their searches for ancient lore. Having seen the Coils of the Dragon in action at least once, Matthias must admit to being impressed. The Circle of the Crone: His chosen covenant. He agrees with their view of vampires as natural predators of humans, and likes the thought that they might be smaller gods on earth. Crùac, of course, fascinates him to no end. They helped him discover his bloodline, and are as much his family as his clan and coterie.
Virtue and Vice:
Spoiler
Virtue: Fortitude. Matthias has learned, over a lifetime of self-imposed solitude, to rely only on himself, and to bow to no one. He has his values, and he stands by them, come hell or high water. They've gotten him this far. Vice: Sloth. Of course, his values aren't all that have gotten him this far. He doesn't admit it, not even to himself, but the biggest reason he accepted the Embrace, threw his humanity away so carelessly, sequestered himself away from the world after his parents died was because it was easier. It was easier to accept some form of immortality than to go into that great unknown, easier to give up his humanity than to continue living with the pain of loss, easier to hide from the world than to deal with all the people who knew his parents and wanted to comfort him. Even now, he follows this path. It was easier for him to follow the tug that brought him to Rome than to continue to wander aimlessly as a nomad in the States, easier for him to flee when his sire met his final death.
Physical Description:
Spoiler
Matthias appears to be very average-looking at first glance. There are no truly noteworthy features to his face or his build. He is not beautiful, but he is not ugly, either. He is simply... average. Of course, that description is hardly complete. Standing at a few inches shy of six feet, Matthias isn't exactly tall, but he's hardly short. He has very little body fat on him, and his frame is surprisingly wiry with muscle. His hair is messy, dark brown (almost black) in color. His eyes are bluish-grey, and are usually hidden behind yellow sunglasses. He doesn't need the sunglasses, of course. He took them off of a biker he waylaid on the road back not long after his Embrace, and has been wearing them almost constantly since.
Speaking of what he's wearing, his dress is somewhat remarkable. He wears a brown leather jacket, hiking boots, jeans, and a simple cotton tee-shirt. The hiking boots and jacket both have dark stains on them, which might or night not be blood. Matthias is content to spread the rumor that it is, but he won't say for sure one way or another.
EDIT: And how did you want us to go about determining starting vitae? Roll on the forums, IRL, or just have full pools to start with?
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by CN the Logos
They're just there, and horribly fatal when one stumbles across them, like self-aware landmines.
Last edited by ToySoldierCPlus : 10-28-2012 at 12:29 AM.
Egyptian Elder with unreliable memories, secret cultist of the shadows hoping to revive the cult of Râ in the modern nights, Amenostris hides in a florist's basement during the day and works as a Seer for the Court of Shadows during the night. Her color is orange, because yellow hurts my eyes.
Amenostris, Childe of Ankhetamon, Priestess of Ra, Wise and Revered Oracle of the Sun, has forgotten more than many remember. Still she recalls standing in the sun; still she remembers baring her fangs and devouring the blood of an offering to Ra under the watchful gaze of the daystar. Still she remembers the blistering heat of an Egyptian summerday. All those who say she is mistaken, that no Kindred ever walked in the sun – she ignores them. They know nothing.
She has long forgotten the day of her Embrace or the face of her Sire, but she remembers every single detail of the great painted statues in the temples. She does not remember the name of her father and mother and sisters and brother, but she will never forget the taste of the blood of a cow blessed and offered to Athor. She was once daughter to a high-ranking officer of the Pharaoh's administration, but she was carried away before she could be married, and her body was emptied and her brains shatered and her skin dipped in tar, and she woke up in fury and anger. She was seer and oracle and ruler, and she sat with the other Bak-Ra in the holiest part of the temples to partake of human offerings, their ghostly reflections standing in attendance and obeying their whims.
Some days she dreams; some days she catches glimpses of half-forgotten memories and write them down on paper, trying to extrapolate from them to rebuild the sand-buried palace of her memories. Some days she remembers the skies growing dark and fire falling from the heavens, clouds of locust devouring the crops, and the hateful visage of that sheperd man as he stood amidst a river of blood. Other days she remembers facing down the hated Hitittes and their charriots of iron, cold blades burning with cleansing power, and her brothers falling to ashes under their blows. Some days she remembers the face of Seth in the storm, a typhoon of sand swallowing Thebes, and its Followers laughing madly.
Her dream-diaries ressemble mythology texts and fantasy novels more than they do any kind of actual historical account, but she does not care. Some day the memories will come back, and then she will know again how to walk under the sun, and she will spread the worship of Ra to all Kindred in Rome, Italy, Europe, and the world. And she will be reverred once again.
Wake Up On Fire
In time, she grew weary. Her most beloved brothers fell to the hand of the Hitittes (or was it the Romans?) and the strangers brought the worship of her overbearing crucified god (or was it Aton?) The world started to slip out of her fingers, and her visions grew more present, her dreams more vivid, until she could not distinguish the present and the future, the real and the metaphorical. And so she went to sleep inside a sarcophagus, carefully sealed within a hidden tomb.
And there she remained, for centuries. Until one day, a coterie of Hungarian Moirai dug her up using old occult texts and their clan's prophetic skills. They carried her sarcophagus back to Budapest, where they hoped to awake her in a controled environment; historical records referenced Amenostris as one of the Moirai in Ancient Egypt, and they wished to benefit from the knowledge of that elder and use her for their own advancement.
But they had chosen the wrong nights. By the time they had brought her back and organized her awakening, revolt was flaring in the street, people rising in anger against the communist regim, and the tanks and soldiers were in the streets. At the sound of explosions and gunfire, the smell of smoke and fire, the Elder's eyes opened, and she said:
“The end of time is upon us, and I have come to lead us through fire and blood to the glory of the Sun.”
To this day no one, not even her, knows how she managed to say these words in a fluent, unaccented Magyar.
The End Is Nigh
In the following nights, she sated her thirst on animals, improvising sacrifices to Ra and performing augury for the Moirai who came to see her. She introduced herself to the Prince of Budapest as a priest of forgotten gods and oracle; the coincidence of the awakening of such an ancient Elder and the traumatizing events going on in Hungary at the time lent more credence to her mystic talks, weird prophecies and accounts of the past that did not mesh well with known history. She was a harbinger of doom; and as doom seemed to come upon Hungary, she fit right in inside the zeitgeist.
Amenostris thus managed to secure a position within the Carthian leadership of the city, and held onto it even as the “doomsday effect” diminished and things went back to normal; Cold War fears were still prevalent, and the fear that the world would end in nuclear fire remained strong. Using descriptions of the sun's physical workings that she barely understood, she started explaining how nuclear weapons were the manifestation of the power of Râ upon earth. Her talents as a seer were enough to make her useful to the Prince, and her status grew.
In time however, she grew weary of Budapest. The Carthians rejected all form of Kindred mysticism; the Lancea Sanctum and the Circle of the Crone both were seen by the leadership as relics of an age of ignorance, unable to truly explain the Kindred condition and bring only harm and oppression upon them. While Amenostris was entertaining at first, her rise in power led to people opposing her views and rejecting her mysticism violently. At the same time, the Invictus was growing restless; foreseeing a bad end for those who held on to the Carthian Movement in the times to come, the seer packed up and went away.
Starting Over (With An Ace Up My Sleeve)
She arrived in Rome unknown of all but the Moirai in the city, but thanks to their support she managed to approach the local Carthian movement and insinuate herself in their good favors. She has taken a position of advisor, and, in a way, stands for all those Kindred who fall outside the bondaries of Sanctified or Acolyte doctrines, and therefore suffer from rejection: her beliefs, while outlandish (she still believes she was a daywalker!) are different enough from the two standard ones that other Kindred with different views can identify with her and follow her in her opposition to both Covenants. Her oraccular skills allow her to help higher-ranked members of the Movement in their decision process.
All in all, she is a fairly subdued Carthian, with little standing in the city as a whole and a seemingly second-class role in her own Covenant. None realize that she is likely the most important figure in the Moirai of the city, who belong to all and none Covenants all at once. With their help and orracular talents, she is starting to move her pieces in order to accomplish her goal: founding a Covenant of the Sun in the city, Kindred ensnare by her beliefs who will spread the worship of Râ. And why wouldn't they? After all, as far as they can tell by watching her foresee the future, her beliefs work.
Haven:
Spoiler
In a somewhat poor suburb of rome is a florist's shop. The florist herself does not own the building; which is why she wouldn't dare to pry into the basement, which is quite large and, from what she heard when she bought the first floor, fit out to be rented as cheap lodging. Nobody ever seems to rent it however, and everyone seems to have forgotten it existed. Most days, the florist forgets it too.
Some days when she wakes up, it seems like someone has been in her shop, and her flowers have been displaced, forming strange patterns – patterns that seem to mean something, if one follows the “flower language.” Sometimes it seems a warning, other times an incentive. It weirds her out, but she knows better than to look too much into it.
Herd:
Spoiler
Amenostris had a great time during the whole “New Age” business; she set up shop as some kind of weird self-help guru, teaching people about the “solar energy” inside of them and inventing a whole bunch of practices by cherry-picking her immense occult knowledge (she spent literaly decades studying occult beliefs all around the world) and assembling a mostly coherent whole.
The fad has died, but the concept as remained; today, people know “Amina Nasri” as a counselor and advisor, with weird mystical beliefs but whose methods really works; basically, she serves a therapist for people who think therapist are for loonies. She has focus groups that do meetings once a week, share their experiences and such.
She feeds on them. She selects a few of them, carefully uses Majesty to fascinate them into lowering their guards, and take them for “private lessons” that usually end up with her vessels anemiac and her sated. She does not kill when she can avoid it, but her bloodline makes her night restless and her Vitae supply constantly dwindling: as such, she takes a toll on the energy and strength of her Herd, which is why she mixes them with human members of the Moirai.
In addition, she often looks for promising and open-minded pupils (but vulnerable to suggestion and indoctrinment) and sometimes “elevate” them to membership among the Moirai.
Allies:
Spoiler
You would be surprised at the number of powerful people who become anxious and irrational at the thought of Fate and Destiny, and choose to consult the strangest of occultists. Chiromancers and adepts of the Tarot get the patronage of even the mighty of this world. Amenostris is no different; thanks to the influence of the Moirai, she has managed to introduce herself as a clairvoyante from the distant Middle-East, bearer of strange methods and occult praxis. Now, among the political elite of Rome, many listen to her advice - though they do so hidden from the mocking gaze of the common people. Administrators and public servants come to her in secret (or invite her directly) and confide in her, saying things that should not be said, for a reading of hands and a throwing of bones.
And under their amazed eyes, she delivers, and they leave more confident and aware of their future, while she laughs and stores in her mind this useful knowledge.
A large unsubtle brute who has yet to learn how to cope with the typical manipulations of the Danse Macabre, he's only made it through so far because of his brother Knights and his skill at fighting. Unless he learns how to cope without his brothers he won't be able survive on his own. Alex spends his day's hiding in an abandoned house and his nights doing whatever the Leper Knights need. I'll speak in purple.
Alexander was born into a German family living in Berlin in the years leading to the Second World War and that's about all he can remember. Due to his short temper and stubborn refusal to back down he has spent more time in torpor than most vampires his age, this has clouded his memories of his mortal life.
All he can say for sure is that in 1957 he was working as an enforcer for an east German black marketeer about to be arrested by the Stasi. As they were both cornered his boss starting begging for his life saying he tell them anything if they spared him. Suddenly a man appeared from the shadows wielding a massive sword and cut his head off. Stunned the agents started to draw their guns but they were too late the stranger was already cutting them down. Seeing his chance Alexander grabbed a knife and joined the stranger even managing to dispatch one himself though he sustained a fatal gunshot wound doing so.
As he lay on the ground bleeding to death the man introduced himself as Johann Engel and explained that he was the black marketeer's backer and that he couldn't let him live if he was going to give him up. Apologising for getting him caught up in it all he said that he was impressed by his bravery and offered him the choice to die and either cease to be or carry on. Confused Alex said he wanted to carry on, suddenly Johann was tearing into his throat and Alex was blacking out. When he awoke he realised that something was wrong with Johann, he had strangely sinister eyes than made him difficult to look upon. All Johann said was follow me before he began to walk off (didn't he have a sword?) still confused Alex did as he was told and ended up at the local chapter-house of the Order of St Martin who welcomed him as one of their own. The Leper Knights (or was it just his sire?) taught Alex about kindred society while Johann taught him the Langschwert techniques he claimed to have mastered as a mercenary in the 17th century. Within a year he had manifested his sires bloodline and was welcomed fully into the Order.
Apparently when the Soviets claimed half of Berlin many Kindred (mostly communist Carthians) came with them and took control behind the Berlin Wall. The Invictus and Lancea covenants were now warring with them across the city. The Leper Knights were part of the Invictus and given the riskiest assignments (and not given much thanks either) Alex joined Johann on his missions ambushing Carthian gathering places and found himself excelling in combat even learning to channel his rage to aid him in fights unfortunately this lead him to anger frenzy several times in the middle of Carthian territory where he would often end up awakening from torpor many months later having been dragged away by his fellow Knights.
Due to his frenzies he was ostracized by the other Kindred (even more so than other Leper Knights) as a masquerade risk. However one day (was it 1972?) as he was returning to his Haven when an alluring dark haired kindred greeted him. She introduced herself as Elena Gavrik (which instantly put him on his guard) and offered to give him a list of vulnerable targets to sow chaos for the Carthians. Initially wary she eventually convinced him that she was sincerely trying to aid him. Over the next few decades they became lovers and with her help he inflicted serious harm to the Carthians.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall the Carthians were forced to surrender most of their territory and cease the fighting. Welcomed into the Invictus for her role in defeating the Carthians Elena thrived in the chaotic environment as Kindred vied for newly available
territory. However as the decades wore on she grew bored and began to encourage fights between Alex and other Kindred (fights he usually won). When the Sheriff questioned him Alex admitted she has been behind his recent actions and the next thing he knew she had been imprisoned in the Princes mansion.
Months passed and he became increasingly angry at the Invictus for what he felt was an injustice when he received a message from Elena detailing a plan to free her. Eager to reunite with one of the few Kindred (other than his fellow Knights) who had been nice to him in his Requiem Alex followed the plan and despite a few instances of violence (the guard pulled a weapon first!) was able to get her out. Elena then revealed that she was a Kallisti a rare bloodline highly prized as blood dolls by elder vampires.
Since Alex is hardly subtle the Sheriff and his men soon caught up with them Alex immediately attacked them while Elena fled. The next thing he knew he was waking up (about a year ago) in an building in Rome. After the Sheriff and his men forced him into Torpor (but not until he killed a few) and Elena fled the city the Prince wanted to execute him but his fellow Leper Knights smuggled him to Rome, hoping it was far enough away to avoid his reach.
Since awakening in Rome he has met up with the local Leper Knights and spent much of his time keeping a low profile. He has increasingly refused to work for the Invictus and has been advised to seek out the Ordo Dracul who have been known to welcome Leper Knights who have become disillusioned with the Invictus. Secretly he longs to know what happened to Elena and find out if she was just using him as his brother knights claim.
Physical Description:
Spoiler
Alex is a frightening man, he is tall (coming in at over 6 feet) and muscular and thanks to his heritage anyone who looks at him has the sense that he is about to explode in a fit of violence and bloodshed. None of this is helped by the balaclava and leather trench coat he wears at all times.
Here's a picture of his Balaclava:
Not Subtle at all.
Haven:
Spoiler
An abandoned building in the Suburbs west of the Trastevere. In the year he's occupied it he has done some basic repairs and expanded the basement where he sleeps.
Vice and Virtue
Spoiler
Virtue-Fortitude: Alex doesn't hesitate to put himself at risk to hold on to his convictions. Historically this has ended up with Alex in Torpor.
Vice-Wrath: Alex has a temper problem. If anyone looks down there nose at him (which is most Kindred) or calls him stupid (again a common occurrence) he loses it. This means when interacting with most kindred fights tend to break out. As a result he spends most of his time among his brother Knights where he feels most comfortable.
Politics:
Spoiler
The Daeva: Beautiful snobs who look down on anyone not as pretty as they are. That's all Alex needs to know to avoid them.
The Ventrue: Demanding ****s who think they have the right to order everyone around. Still they are the ones in charge so he does his best to be respectful it doesn't always work.
The Nosferatu: His clan. Since they're all in the same boat he thinks they should stick together especially against the Ventrue and Deava.
The Mekhet: They cling to the shadows like the Nosferatu but why? They don't have to so he is curious why they aren't more open in Kindred society.
The Gangrel: The Gangrel are the clan he likes the best (aside from his own). He respects their strength though he is put off by their strange relationship with animals and claims to special insight.
The Invictus: Most covenants look down on the Leper Knights but at least the Invictus recognise their skills and put them to use. Lately his disagreements with the Inivctus have prompted him to look for a better alternative.
Order of St. Martin: His brother Knights and the only reason he's lasted this long. He loves his brothers but he can't stand working with the Invictus which is causing problems. They are trying to help him by getting him set up with the Ordo Dracul. However he knows he'd have to leave them behind which is making him torn between his brothers and desire to be free from the Invictus.
The Carthians: As far as he knows Carthians are his enemies and he'd happily kill them all. Back in Berlin the Prince had to discipline him many times since the war ended for picking fights with them. The differing groups in Rome have began to sway his opinion but he still doesn't trust them.
The Lancea Sanctum: A pack of religious zealots who love to preach about how all Kindred should act. They love to talk about their awesome magic but seem reluctant to let anyone see it. Alex thinks they are full of crap using the questionable advice of one mad vampire and bribing members with the promise of magically secrets to maintain their power.
The Circle of the Crone: They look down on him and his brothers as shallow mercenaries but he doesn't share their animosity. He doesn't really know anything about them since he hasn't ever met one.
The Ordo Dracul: Secretive Kindred who are trying to transcend the Kindred condition. Alex doesn't really care about that he's just looking for a new home.
Last edited by JollyChris : 10-28-2012 at 01:14 PM.
Still waiting to find out how much vitae we're starting with, because that'll determine Matthias first actions upon entering a room full of blood dolls.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by CN the Logos
They're just there, and horribly fatal when one stumbles across them, like self-aware landmines.
Hmm... So, five starting Vitae. Matthias will be feeding on his way in, then. His plan, after leaving his haven on the outskirts of town, is to find someone alone, lure them down an alley, trap them, and have his fill. What kind of roll would that be?
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by CN the Logos
They're just there, and horribly fatal when one stumbles across them, like self-aware landmines.
Nasr would have fed before going to a club full of mortals as well. He'd do the 'ol classic 'Obfuscate 3 and sneak up on a human who happened to pass in a non-lit alley and feed on him or her', assumably without anyone noticing due to all the stealth involved.
Make a Presence + Streetwise to find someone on the way. You need to look like you belong but also where the dark corners are to pull someone in. It's also a neutral hunting ground (neither too numerous or too scarce; no mod).
Darn. Oh well, trying again until Matthias can actually feed: (2d10)[5][5](10) (2d10)[2][7](9) (2d10)[6][6](12)
EDIT: All right, changing hunting plan. He's just going to grab someone who's alone and drag them down an alley. No more luring, just outright sneaking up behind someone, grabbing them, and dragging them away.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by CN the Logos
They're just there, and horribly fatal when one stumbles across them, like self-aware landmines.
Last edited by ToySoldierCPlus : 10-29-2012 at 09:59 PM.
Make a Presence + Streetwise to find someone on the way. You need to look like you belong but also where the dark corners are to pull someone in. It's also a neutral hunting ground (neither too numerous or too scarce; no mod).
I am assuming Nasr would use a different dice pool? He's not planning on being seen at all due to Obfuscate 3.
Last edited by watupwithdat : 10-29-2012 at 10:17 PM.
I suppose it makes sense for Matthias, but it wasn't what I had in mind. For future reference, Matthias isn't going to bother with subtlety. He'll find someone on their own, corner them in an alley or other secluded place and have a drink. Or whatever he needs to do to get a useful dice pool for hunting.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by CN the Logos
They're just there, and horribly fatal when one stumbles across them, like self-aware landmines.
Drawing 4 vitae (or less depending on if she wasn't 'full' before Amenostris started feeding on her and how his hunt from before ends up -- need the accurate dice pool to roll for it first), which should leave her a bit woozy.
Just a quick note: inflicting 6 Lethal damage on an average human does more than making them "a bit woozy." Poor girl's on the brink of death. If she has Stamina 1 or has been fed on earlier, she is dead.
Just a quick note: inflicting 6 Lethal damage on an average human does more than making them "a bit woozy." Poor girl's on the brink of death. If she has Stamina 1 or has been fed on earlier, she is dead.
Right. Which is why I added the "or less" part. Was going by the assumption of the average 7 health and not fed on before. ^^
But I'll change it to 3. Assuming he hunted successfully and drew 6 vitae that should top Nasr out.
Last edited by watupwithdat : 10-30-2012 at 08:53 AM.
Did we need a response here? People are drinking blood and I'm just fine with that... In here, at least. Not real life.
Yes, I needed a response regarding Nasr's hunting dice pool. Presence + Streetwise just doesn't reflect how he hunted.
Quote:
Originally Posted by watupwithdat
I am assuming Nasr would use a different dice pool? He's not planning on being seen at all due to Obfuscate 3.
Quote:
Originally Posted by watupwithdat
Nasr would have fed before going to a club full of mortals as well. He'd do the 'ol classic 'Obfuscate 3 and sneak up on a human who happened to pass in a non-lit alley and feed on him or her', assumably without anyone noticing due to all the stealth involved.
If all hunting dice pools are Attribute + Skill (and not any Discipline) I'd imagine Strength + Stealth would be more accurate, as Nasr would forcefully feed after stalking someone, and keep hidden during/after feeding.
If any combination is allowed Stealth + Obfuscate seems reasonable too.
Last edited by watupwithdat : 11-02-2012 at 10:21 PM.
As I'm good enough to forget that little v. (7d10)[9][3][8][9][9][7][7](52) (7d10)[1][4][9][4][7][10][10](45)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechanix
What? 8 freaking dice and not a single success?
I cry foul. I'm gonna pout in a corner now.
The forum dice roller likes to troll you sometimes. It's always trying to make you cry. Either you roll too well on tests that doesn't matter, or you roll very badly on the more important ones.
Last edited by watupwithdat : 11-02-2012 at 10:34 PM.
Re: Nasr's Hunting: Yep, you can hunt however you like! People were mentioning coercing mortals into alleys so I gave those rolls. Theoretically, any Attribute + Ability combination can be used for hunting with a good enough case (though Int + Academics would be near impossible, for instance). Knowing myself as a Storyteller, I'd pick the combination you want to try and come up with a flavorful justification. Unless it seems like nonsense, I'll be glad for the color added!
Specifically for Strength + Stealth (bodily dragging someone without making a sound) you can use Cloak of Night (Ob3) if you want some supernatural aid. This roll (Int + Stealth + Ob) will give you bonus dice on Stealthy hunting rolls equal to the sucesses. You are invisible thanks to the Discipline, but that doesn't help it when the victim screams his head off.
Re: Amenostris' Roll: No luck for the priestess, but everyone else's roll results will be in the IC thread. Is she still planning to try Spirit's Touch?
By the way, anyone know if there's a way to label spoiler blocks in these forums? "SPOILER=Title" doesn't work like I wanted...
Ah, alright. A little more smooth for hunting tests if we can determine them ourselves then. And I'll have a go with that method of getting bonus dice from a Cloak of Night roll. Makes Nasr's favoured way of hunting potentially more effective, which should be why he prefers it in the first place.
Int + Stealth + Obf; to determine bonus hunting dice from Cloak of Night (9d10)[3][2][8][3][4][7][3][1][5](36)
Strength + Stealth + 1 from Cloak of Night bonus dice from above roll (7d10)[1][3][7][3][1][10][5](30) + potential (9d10)[10][1][1][9][5][7][6][3][8](50) (7d10)[5][4][4][5][4][5][6](33) + potential (9d10)[4][3][10][5][9][8][9][7][4](59)
Maybe there's a better way of doing both tests in the same post, separating the ordinary dice and potential bonus dice like that.
Edit: That's a lot of numbers, hehe. I guess I don't need the 10-again table as just 1 success means a successful hunting and there's no exceptional success for hunting?
Will draw 6 vitae from successful feeding, which lands Nasr at 13/13 vitae.
There's no way of using spoiler titles as far as I know. Easiest way I can think of is just having the title right above the spoiler I'm afraid.
Last edited by watupwithdat : 11-04-2012 at 12:37 PM.
Re: Amenostris' Roll: No luck for the priestess, but everyone else's roll results will be in the IC thread. Is she still planning to try Spirit's Touch?
She is, since the symbol is completely foreign to her.
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