During the course of the various stories of this chronicle the coterie has and will meet many characters so I'm therefore creating several profile pages for different groups within my version of kindred Los Angeles to help them keep track. I'll also amend these profiles as new information comes to light and old 'facts' turn out to be less factual than originally thought...
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
Marius's ChilderMarius's has sired hundreds of childer over the centuries. Some, in the manner of his clan were simply to see if the recipient of the gift was a survivor worthy of the Gangrel, others were convenient distractions or cannon-fodder to disrupt his enemies, others were merely momentary whims without purpose at all.
Marius Walker's Bloodline
They are also in the majority female for reasons that have never been made apparent but are the source of most of the more unsavoury rumours that surround Marius Walker's personal idiosyncrasies.
The unlife expectancy of his childer is very short indeed given his tendency to diablerise those he deems useless, a potential threat to himself or simply inconvenient. Some however have become notable kindred in their own right, though each is ever aware of the potential of a visit from their sire being the last thing they experience so attempt to keep on his good side.
The unlife expectancy of his childer is very short indeed given his tendency to diablerise those he deems useless, a potential threat to himself or simply inconvenient. Some however have become notable kindred in their own right, though each is ever aware of the potential of a visit from their sire being the last thing they experience so attempt to keep on his good side.
Others take the alternate approach and endeavour to make themselves so perfect a predator that even Marius would think twice before attempting to add their souls to the mass of black veins that dominate his aura.
This unhealthy and unpredictable mix of fatherly care and utter disregard flavours many of Marius's relationships and makes him notoriously difficult to second guess. Those amongst his children that survive into the modern age are surprisingly loyal to their sire despite the manner of their embrace. Given Marius's recent diablerie of Sir Matthew Lubbock, via a daemonic blade in his possession, it has been theorized that his influence over his offspring is now accomplished as much by supernatural abilities as fear of destruction.
The seven survivors of their sires various purges are of particular note as with the elevation of 'The Oratory' from an L.A. institution to one with global reach they have each been given positions of power within this expanded organisation.
This unhealthy and unpredictable mix of fatherly care and utter disregard flavours many of Marius's relationships and makes him notoriously difficult to second guess. Those amongst his children that survive into the modern age are surprisingly loyal to their sire despite the manner of their embrace. Given Marius's recent diablerie of Sir Matthew Lubbock, via a daemonic blade in his possession, it has been theorized that his influence over his offspring is now accomplished as much by supernatural abilities as fear of destruction.
The seven survivors of their sires various purges are of particular note as with the elevation of 'The Oratory' from an L.A. institution to one with global reach they have each been given positions of power within this expanded organisation.
The Lost
New abilities granted to Marius via his diablerie of Sir Matthew Lubbock have revealed to him the existence of two other childer but of these very little is yet known. No doubt they'll seen be drawn back into the fold, or destroyed as liabilities. Only time will tell.
The Found
Aviana Maria, 'The Hive'
7th Generation Gangrel, 6th via Diablerie
Known Childer
Known Childer
Myranda Maria
Haven
Wherever she chooses to go to ground.
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Mawla 4 (Marius Walker), Status 5 (The Oratory)
Merits
Merits
Iron Gullet, Stunning
Lore
Lore
Blood Plagued (3: Trace the Torpid Victims), Descendant of Xaviar (2: Where the Bodies are Buried, 5: Experienced the Antediluvian), Goblin Roads (1: Night Rider), Lupine Expert (1: Huntsman, 5: Ambassador), The Bahari (1: Dangerous Reputation, 2: Ritual Scarification, 3: Sacrifice the Children, 4: The Womb’s Blood, 5: First-Cursed), The Labyrinth, Los Angeles (1: Tunnel Access)
Derangements
Anthropomorphism, Claustrophobia, Paranoia
Aviana, also known as Hive, is the eldest childe of Marius Walker, and both the mother and sire of Myranda Maria. Marius couldn't bring himself to diablerise his childe, though this is a reticence he's since overcome with others of his line, and instead spirited her away.
Aviana Maria is unusual in that they are a pack of one, the rest of their forces available to them are the creatures under their control. In close quarters she is more than capable of holding her own, but more often when threatened she calls upon her allies. She is quite capable of militarising every creature within several miles and even the plants and trees bend to her will.
Aviana has kept a close watch on both her sire and childe, mainly through the eyes of the creatures she controls, as she was concerned about drawing any attention to either that might draw the ire of the Bahari. This obsessive use of creatures to do her bidding has become her preferred method of interaction and she is now the foremost master of Animalism, of her generation, that her clan has ever seen. She has also inherited her sires preference for diablerie and briefly matched Marius in generation, though not in potency of blood or raw power.
She has also mastered the ability to blend with the ground, travel through it, and can expand her consciousness to inhabit entire forests, or similar sized areas. Many allegedly haunted areas of land are merely domains that Aviana has claimed for brief periods of time. She has also, like Marius, felt the presence of the Antediluvian while sunk deep within the earth and neither emerged quite the same as before. One other trait she shares with her sire is the tendency to diablerise disappointing offspring. So far the only of her childer who seems exempt from this habit is her first, Myranda, who is currently her only surviving ancestor.
She has now emerged from the shadows and re-joined her sire after being forced to reveal herself to save her childe Myranda from the forces of the now destroyed Methuselah, Sir Matthew Lubbock. How this will effect the balance of power between his other childer remains to be seen.
As far as The Oratory is concerned, she is their foremost gatherer of information. To her a city is just another forest, albeit one of concrete, metal and glass and her gifts are no less useful when used against a city block as opposed to a forest.
7th Generation Gangrel
Known Childer
Esther, Vinicius Santos
HavenMary always sleeps melded with the earth.
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Allies (The Chosen of Ennoia: Effectiveness 5, Reliability 3), Fame 3 (Kindred), Herd 5 (Blood Cultists), Mawla 5 (Marius Walker), Resources 4 (Gifts from the Cult), Status 5 (The Oratory), Status 3 (4 with Gangrel, 5 with The Bahari)
Merits
Beautiful, Bloodhound, Gardener 5.
Flaws
Flaws
Infamy 3
Lore
Lore
Descendant of Xaviar (1: Martyred Ancestor, 2: Where the Bodies are Buried, 5: Experienced the Antediluvian), Low Clan (1: Thick Hide, 2: Cursed with Pride, 3: Uncanny Kinship, 4: Trade Amongst Equals), Lupine Expert (1: Huntsman, 2: Tactician, 3: Soldier, 4: Trophy, 5: Ambassador), Rudi (3: Gangrel Advocate), The Bahari (1: Dangerous Reputation, 2: Ritual Scarification, 3: Sacrifice the Children, 4: The Womb’s Blood, 5: First-Cursed).
Animal Features
Animal Features
Enhanced Senses (Sight, Smell, Taste), Talons (as Feral Claws)
Derangements
Paranoia, Sexual Sadism Disorder
The children of the wolf are a bizarre cult of Gangrel started by an unknown kindred who worshipped the Gangrel Antediluvian, Ennoia as not only the first true Gangrel but also claimed that she was the mother of all the lupine race too. This latter piece of information had led them into many conflicts with various werewolf tribes as the cult believed that it was their duty to spread their beliefs to kindred and lupine alike. Though the unlife expectancy of the average cult missionary was quite low, the children had gained a surprising number of followers in both Europe and the Americas.
A century ago, however the most senior members of 'The Children' were introduced to an ancient kindred text known as 'The Revelations of the Dark Mother' by a childe of Marius. Convinced of it's validation of their own belief system the Children of the Wolf almost overnight became a sub-group of the Bahari and a darker set of tenants began to be spread. Though many Lilitu cults are effectively matriarchal, the children hold no such restrictions upon leadership roles. Such positions are held by those who have bought the most converts into the cult with any disputes being resolved using the traditional Gangrel method of ritual combat. The only original prerequisite for membership was to be of Clan Gangrel, or Caitiff of Gangrel origins, and to be able to endure the rites of pain and conflict that all neonates must. This rule is now rarely followed and other clan members are also accepted though the rights of pain and conflict are the same for all.
Though true membership is only granted to kindred they also create cults of mortals who learn only a pale reflection of the mothers true teachings. None Gangrel are on very rare occasions given membership but must content themselves with being considered lower caste members at best and expendable at worst. They are however often full and willing participants in the other aspects of the Bahari's methods of worship.
That being said the most senior 'Mother' of 'The Chosen' is still Mary, the childe of Marius who bought the teachings of the Dark Mother to them as all converts are considered ultimately to be a result of the wisdom bought to them by her. Mary's origins are a mystery to all and some elder enemies of the children have suggested that she is both initial founder and leader of the cult and that they are a long-term plan and weapon created by Marius to spread his influence throughout the whole of his clan. Mary however claims her only allegiance is to the Dark Mother, and her offspring Ennoia, and given the fervour of her cult this is hard to dispute.
The occasional visitor to their temples or gatherings has noted that though most kindred refer to them as the 'Children of the Wolf', they more often refer to themselves as the Children of Ennoia or sometimes the 'Chosen of Ennoia'. This is a strong indicator that they are not simply Bahari, but also ancestor worshippers as well. With Marius now firmly in control of the cult, the ancestor worship has become of equal importance to veneration of the Dark Mother. Ennoia is his deity and he will go to extraordinary lengths to destroy any potential threat, even if only perceived, to her.
Though now more of a figurehead, Mary still has considerable influence, and in any situation where Marius has no preference, it is she who guides the cult. Many of her converts have made their way to other cities and from their they spread the word of their faith as well as gathering whatever intelligence they can on the blood cults of other places. Any information of use is filtered back to 'The Oratory' for analysis.
'She Who Dwells Below', 'The Plague', 'The Terror'.
Clan
Clan
7th Generation Gangrel
It was two decades before he once again found himself in Paris drawn by rumours of an elusive underground predator that the Scourges of the prince were unable to locate. Offering his services to Prince Villon he was offered a number of not insubstantial boons to remove the problem that was seemingly beyond the Toreadors own agents. It's possible that the Prince would have been less generous had he known that the Gangrel was hunting a problem of his own creation.
Deep within the sewer network he discovered his victim Tilly Kelly with a horde of ghouls, childer and blood bond slaves that she had created with an instinctive grasp of the basics of her nature supplemented through trial and error. This cult now worshipped her as a subterranean goddess of blood, many being members of the very cult Marius had stolen from the night he'd embraced Tilly. Swiftly establishing his dominance in the manner of the Gangrel clan he taught his childe the more exotic skills that she'd failed to instinctively discover for herself and how to conceal her activities from those who would do her harm. He also explained to her the importance of not annoying Princes who ruled their cities absolutely.
After removing the head of one of her more useless childer as evidence of the "mighty hunter from the depths that dared to plague your kingdom..." he returned to Villon with a spectacular and utterly preposterous tale of daring do knowing that ironically this would enthral and convince the prince more thoroughly than a more likely but mundane tale would have done. After receiving his reward he spent over a year teaching his childe and her cult the most efficient ways for a Gangrel to move between domains before moving on once more.
Though Marius has other childer more highly trained in the killing arts, none can match the terror that the horde of blood crazed followers of the mistress of the swarm can generate. Once arriving in a new city she quickly embraces broods of childer and armies of ghouls while her cult spreads through the disenfranchised mortals who make up the dregs of society. Over the centuries she has learned to channel her strength, speed and resilience into her own Vitae, gorging herself on kine cultists, ghouls who have outlived their usefulness and childer who have displeased her. She then allows her chosen ones to feed from her own body before unleashing them upon her foes.
Though her broods of Childer fluctuate wildly in number and age the oldest survivor of her childer, 'Quinn' has managed to avoid the fate of his brothers and sisters and managed to stay in her good graces for nearly two centuries. Frequent frenzies have resulted in a number of seemingly permanent animalistic mutations but given that he spends most of his time underground these have caused little inconvenience. The only rivals to his position are two other childer of Tilly's named Blake and Melinda. Though they match Quinn in generation, they are a fraction of his age and weaker in both potency of blood and the affections of their sire.
Should 'The Terror' and her swarm arrive in a city already inhabited by Marius then the likelihood is that her sire is going to war or that some-one with significant power has decided to employ her services against his advice.
Known Childer
Blake, Quinn, Melinda
Haven
Haven
Various underground haven's beneath the worlds largest cities.
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Allies (Animal Packs: Effectiveness 2, Reliability 3), Allies (Blood Cult: Effectiveness 3, Reliability 3), Herd 5 (Homeless), Herd 3 (Blood Cult), Mawla 5 (Marius Walker), Resources 2 ('Gifts'), Retainer 5 (Quinn), Retainers 4 (Broods of Childer).
Merits
Merits
Iron Gullet, Linguistics (French, Spanish)
Flaws
Flaws
Infamy 3
Lore
Lore
Blood Plagued (1: Detection, 2: The Science of the Blood, 3: Trace the Torpid Victims, 4: Curative Vitae), The Bahari (3: Sacrifice the Children)
Derangements
Derangements
Agoraphobia, Intermittent Explosive Disorder
One step ahead of a blood cult from whom he'd liberated several ancient tomes that had interested a generous client of his, Marius had made his getaway through the sewers of 16th century Paris. Though his pursuers were merely kine, they were many in number, close behind, and morning was a mere hour away. There the fleeing Gangrel discovered a young beggar and prostitute who had made for herself a shelter under the ground and a solution to his problem came to mind.
That she was not long for this world was immediately obvious. She was cold, malnourished and riddled with disease but despite this would serve as the distraction he needed. He drained what little blood she had and then embraced her leaving her with just enough vitae to stave off torpor but little enough to prevent the inevitable hunger frenzy that the approaching horde would no doubt trigger. Satisfied that this would be sufficient distraction to ensure his own safety he continued on his way without a second thought.
One step ahead of a blood cult from whom he'd liberated several ancient tomes that had interested a generous client of his, Marius had made his getaway through the sewers of 16th century Paris. Though his pursuers were merely kine, they were many in number, close behind, and morning was a mere hour away. There the fleeing Gangrel discovered a young beggar and prostitute who had made for herself a shelter under the ground and a solution to his problem came to mind.
That she was not long for this world was immediately obvious. She was cold, malnourished and riddled with disease but despite this would serve as the distraction he needed. He drained what little blood she had and then embraced her leaving her with just enough vitae to stave off torpor but little enough to prevent the inevitable hunger frenzy that the approaching horde would no doubt trigger. Satisfied that this would be sufficient distraction to ensure his own safety he continued on his way without a second thought.
It was two decades before he once again found himself in Paris drawn by rumours of an elusive underground predator that the Scourges of the prince were unable to locate. Offering his services to Prince Villon he was offered a number of not insubstantial boons to remove the problem that was seemingly beyond the Toreadors own agents. It's possible that the Prince would have been less generous had he known that the Gangrel was hunting a problem of his own creation.
Deep within the sewer network he discovered his victim Tilly Kelly with a horde of ghouls, childer and blood bond slaves that she had created with an instinctive grasp of the basics of her nature supplemented through trial and error. This cult now worshipped her as a subterranean goddess of blood, many being members of the very cult Marius had stolen from the night he'd embraced Tilly. Swiftly establishing his dominance in the manner of the Gangrel clan he taught his childe the more exotic skills that she'd failed to instinctively discover for herself and how to conceal her activities from those who would do her harm. He also explained to her the importance of not annoying Princes who ruled their cities absolutely.
After removing the head of one of her more useless childer as evidence of the "mighty hunter from the depths that dared to plague your kingdom..." he returned to Villon with a spectacular and utterly preposterous tale of daring do knowing that ironically this would enthral and convince the prince more thoroughly than a more likely but mundane tale would have done. After receiving his reward he spent over a year teaching his childe and her cult the most efficient ways for a Gangrel to move between domains before moving on once more.
Quinn, Eldest Childe of Tilly |
Though her broods of Childer fluctuate wildly in number and age the oldest survivor of her childer, 'Quinn' has managed to avoid the fate of his brothers and sisters and managed to stay in her good graces for nearly two centuries. Frequent frenzies have resulted in a number of seemingly permanent animalistic mutations but given that he spends most of his time underground these have caused little inconvenience. The only rivals to his position are two other childer of Tilly's named Blake and Melinda. Though they match Quinn in generation, they are a fraction of his age and weaker in both potency of blood and the affections of their sire.
Should 'The Terror' and her swarm arrive in a city already inhabited by Marius then the likelihood is that her sire is going to war or that some-one with significant power has decided to employ her services against his advice.
The Swarm's primary task is to ensure the security of Marius's home base within Downtown and prevent any unauthorized access to the vaults below Hallowbrook.
Emmanuella Booth, 'The Pale Lady'
Aliases
Emmanuella Booth, 'The Pale Lady'
Aliases
'Mortaria', 'Silent Death', 'Silver'.
Clan
Clan
7th Generation Gangrel
After preparing the specified tools required for this unorthodox job she headed to the large mansion house within one of the most expensive areas of Berlin that she had been informed was her targets location. She stealthily slew the exterior guards, bypassed numerous locked doors and found the target was indeed asleep in the basement where as instructed she drove the sharpened stake through their heart. Unfortunately for her the Gangrel she had been sent to bring final death to had taken the precaution of moving their heart elsewhere within their torso and awakening suddenly and in a berserk rage tore out the throat of his attacker before the effect of daylight forced him back into slumber.
Marius Walker awoke at nightfall covered in blood and with a wooden stake protruding uncomfortably from his chest, his would be assassin was slumped in the corner with a hastily applied and blood drenched tourniquet around her neck. Emmanuella was in shock from loss of blood but was inexplicably alive despite the savagery of the assault. Marius licked the wound closed before finishing the job he'd started during the day and then impressed by the force of will it had taken to stay alive, embraced her.
Unlife was little different than her mortal existence had been as her sire explained to her the basics of kindred society and how as long as she avoided sunlight, fire and assassins with stakes her abilities would be exponentially enhanced as one of the kindred. He passed onto her his own experiences transitioning from a mortal mercenary to an undead one as well as the fundamentals of the more useful vampiric disciplines to one of her profession. The only boon he asked in return was that she use her new talents to locate and destroy the one who had sent her to kill him, which she promptly did.
She has spent the subsequent three centuries perfecting her skills performing kills for both kindred and kine across Europe and the America's and has amassed a vast fortune and a client list including some of the most influential vampires across the Camarilla and Anarch domains and beyond. Most presume her to be Toreador or Banu Haqim, perhaps even Ventrue but few associate the sophisticated and beautiful killer with her true parent clan, a fact that amuses her sire considerably. With a personal security team made from the elite of a number of the worlds armed forces, a group of expert investigators and three ghouled assassins who perform jobs she deems unworthy of her attention she is a force to be reckoned with. The fact that the title of foremost kindred assassin is usually attributed to Fatima Al-Faqadi is a source of some irritation to her and it is unwise to mention her great rival directly to her face.
Any rumours of her appearance in a city at the same time as her sire is usually considered a dire portent that the body count is going to soon make an alarming upturn. Sometimes it may merely be a coincidence that her contract takes her to the same locale as her sire's current residence.
Known Childer
Meredith Lang, Rebecca.
Haven
Various mansions, penthouse apartments and luxury homes around the world.
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Allies (Private Security Team: Effectiveness 5, Reliability 3), Allies (Team of Investigators: Effectiveness 5, Reliability 3), Contact 5 (Mercurio, International Arms Dealer), Fame/Infamy 4 (International Assassin), Mask 4 (Cobbler, Zeroed), Mawla 5 (Marius Walker), Resources 5, Retainer 5 (Carmen Krueger, Ghoul), Retainer 5 (Gregory England, Ghoul), Retainer 5 (Rafael Davidson, Ghoul), Status 5 (The Oratory), Status 4 (Camarilla), Status 3 (Anarch), Status 1 (Sabbat).
Merits
Bloodhound, Linguistics 6, Stunning.
Lore
Lore
Ambrus Maropis (4: Back Door Panopticon, 5: On Another Grid Entirely), Ballard Industries (3: I Fought the Law and I Won), Descendant of Xaviar (2: Where the Bodies are Buried), Fatima Al-Faqadi (3: Missed Hit), Fiorenza Savona (2: Breakfast with Fiorenza), Fires and Floods and Devil’s Night (5: Puppetmaster), Firstlight (5: Friend on the Inside), Kindred Iconography (1: Iconographer), Lupine Expert (1: Huntsman, 2: Tactician, 3: Soldier), The Bahari (5: First Cursed), The Circulatory System (4: Secure Transit), Victoria Ash (1: Ashen Kiss)
One of Prussia's most skilled and expensive assassins and spies, Emmanuella's preferred method was to use her beauty to seduce her targets and either extract information during post coital bliss or take their lives while they were at their most vulnerable. She was also highly skilled with blade, poison and a number of more exotic techniques of assassination for when a more direct approach was needed.
Though used to the occasional unusual request in regards to methodology the assassin nonetheless had doubts about the sanity of her latest client when he requested that the target be staked through the heart and then decapitated before then being set ablaze. She was also assured that the subject of this bizarre death would be sound asleep during the day that they had specified for the job. Her misgivings were however overcome by the large leather bag of unusual ancient gold and silver coins she was offered for the contract.
One of Prussia's most skilled and expensive assassins and spies, Emmanuella's preferred method was to use her beauty to seduce her targets and either extract information during post coital bliss or take their lives while they were at their most vulnerable. She was also highly skilled with blade, poison and a number of more exotic techniques of assassination for when a more direct approach was needed.
Though used to the occasional unusual request in regards to methodology the assassin nonetheless had doubts about the sanity of her latest client when he requested that the target be staked through the heart and then decapitated before then being set ablaze. She was also assured that the subject of this bizarre death would be sound asleep during the day that they had specified for the job. Her misgivings were however overcome by the large leather bag of unusual ancient gold and silver coins she was offered for the contract.
After preparing the specified tools required for this unorthodox job she headed to the large mansion house within one of the most expensive areas of Berlin that she had been informed was her targets location. She stealthily slew the exterior guards, bypassed numerous locked doors and found the target was indeed asleep in the basement where as instructed she drove the sharpened stake through their heart. Unfortunately for her the Gangrel she had been sent to bring final death to had taken the precaution of moving their heart elsewhere within their torso and awakening suddenly and in a berserk rage tore out the throat of his attacker before the effect of daylight forced him back into slumber.
Marius Walker awoke at nightfall covered in blood and with a wooden stake protruding uncomfortably from his chest, his would be assassin was slumped in the corner with a hastily applied and blood drenched tourniquet around her neck. Emmanuella was in shock from loss of blood but was inexplicably alive despite the savagery of the assault. Marius licked the wound closed before finishing the job he'd started during the day and then impressed by the force of will it had taken to stay alive, embraced her.
Unlife was little different than her mortal existence had been as her sire explained to her the basics of kindred society and how as long as she avoided sunlight, fire and assassins with stakes her abilities would be exponentially enhanced as one of the kindred. He passed onto her his own experiences transitioning from a mortal mercenary to an undead one as well as the fundamentals of the more useful vampiric disciplines to one of her profession. The only boon he asked in return was that she use her new talents to locate and destroy the one who had sent her to kill him, which she promptly did.
She has spent the subsequent three centuries perfecting her skills performing kills for both kindred and kine across Europe and the America's and has amassed a vast fortune and a client list including some of the most influential vampires across the Camarilla and Anarch domains and beyond. Most presume her to be Toreador or Banu Haqim, perhaps even Ventrue but few associate the sophisticated and beautiful killer with her true parent clan, a fact that amuses her sire considerably. With a personal security team made from the elite of a number of the worlds armed forces, a group of expert investigators and three ghouled assassins who perform jobs she deems unworthy of her attention she is a force to be reckoned with. The fact that the title of foremost kindred assassin is usually attributed to Fatima Al-Faqadi is a source of some irritation to her and it is unwise to mention her great rival directly to her face.
Any rumours of her appearance in a city at the same time as her sire is usually considered a dire portent that the body count is going to soon make an alarming upturn. Sometimes it may merely be a coincidence that her contract takes her to the same locale as her sire's current residence.
Though outwardly portrayed as a network for information gathering, 'The Oratory' is not above eliminating targets should the price be right. In fact their secondary priority as an organisation of assassins is often more profitable than their primary activities.
7th Generation Gangrel
Known Childer
Known Childer
Evalyn Peck, Luella Gilmour and Maisey Burke
Haven
The Consolidated Chantry of Los Angeles
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Mawla 5 (Marius Walker), Resources 2, Status 5 (The Oratory)
Merits
Merits
Beautiful, Linguistics (French, German)
Flaws
Flaws
Infamy 3 (Tremere)
Lore
Lore
Descendant of Xaviar (2: Where the Bodies are Buried), Hesha Ruhadze (1: One of Hesha's Works, 2: Something Hesha Wants, 3: Museum of the Faithful), The Bahari (1: Dangerous Reputation, 2: Ritual Scarification, 3: Sacrifice the Children, 4: The Womb’s Blood, 5: First-Cursed).
Eleanor Braun was a mere hedge witch and herbalist who had the misfortune to be gathering forest herbs during a night that Marius was in need of sustenance. Impressed with how the young woman had managed to survive within the notoriously dangerous and bandit filled woods, he returned a small quantity of the blood he had taken from her and vowed to return in a month or two to see how she fared. Circumstances conspired to interfere with the vow and it was closer to two years before he found himself once again near the hamlet where he'd embraced the woman.
He discovered that rather than utilise the gifts of her clan she had instead adapted her mortal magical abilities and now called upon ancient covenants with spirits, commanding them to fulfil her desires, as well as drawing heavily upon astrology, the use of amulets and talismans, and especially ecstatic practices. He knew enough of the occult to realise that she was effectively using the original form of blood magic practised by all Kindred before it became lost to European vampires in the Dark Ages, albeit in a very primitive form. Her innate mastery of the arcane was quite remarkable.
Realising that her use of such powers would put her at risk from the Tremere clan who had grown possessive of the gift of blood magic he approached her and taught her the abilities of her clan as well as other physical disciplines she may require in order to defend herself. He briefly considered taking her soul so as to add her new abilities to his own but as his knowledge of Thaumaturgy was basic at best he decided against it, reasoning that the potential for unforeseen results outweighed the minor advantages he'd gain from the diablerie.
Though the abilities to change shape and control the creatures of the forest interested her she was primarily concerned with the quest for true occult knowledge and searched for such wisdom unceasingly. She became the bane of poorly guarded Tremere chantries and the repositories of mortal mages as she took by trickery or force what she could not gain through trade and service. She has also been known to deal with the cult of Set who now call themselves 'The Ministry' and is said to know Hesha Ruhadze personally.
It was over a century before she encountered her sire once more. He was drawn to her location by tales of a kindred witch hunted by a local Tremere regent from whom she'd stolen several significant items of magical significance. Mere days after his arrival, the regent, his followers and a dozen Gargoyle servants were brutally massacred while pursuing their quarry through a local wood where they had been told she was hiding in a nearby cave network.
In the modern age and in the wake of the shattering of the pyramid she hides her ancestry claiming to be an independent Tremere and trades her abilities for shelter, refreshments and other necessities. She and Marius have developed a bizarre game over the last century whereby she visits Marius each year on the anniversary of her embrace and demands that he either give her a gift or take her soul. So far she has received something on each occasion though it is a dangerous game considering her sires own beliefs.
Eleanor Braun was a mere hedge witch and herbalist who had the misfortune to be gathering forest herbs during a night that Marius was in need of sustenance. Impressed with how the young woman had managed to survive within the notoriously dangerous and bandit filled woods, he returned a small quantity of the blood he had taken from her and vowed to return in a month or two to see how she fared. Circumstances conspired to interfere with the vow and it was closer to two years before he found himself once again near the hamlet where he'd embraced the woman.
He discovered that rather than utilise the gifts of her clan she had instead adapted her mortal magical abilities and now called upon ancient covenants with spirits, commanding them to fulfil her desires, as well as drawing heavily upon astrology, the use of amulets and talismans, and especially ecstatic practices. He knew enough of the occult to realise that she was effectively using the original form of blood magic practised by all Kindred before it became lost to European vampires in the Dark Ages, albeit in a very primitive form. Her innate mastery of the arcane was quite remarkable.
Realising that her use of such powers would put her at risk from the Tremere clan who had grown possessive of the gift of blood magic he approached her and taught her the abilities of her clan as well as other physical disciplines she may require in order to defend herself. He briefly considered taking her soul so as to add her new abilities to his own but as his knowledge of Thaumaturgy was basic at best he decided against it, reasoning that the potential for unforeseen results outweighed the minor advantages he'd gain from the diablerie.
Though the abilities to change shape and control the creatures of the forest interested her she was primarily concerned with the quest for true occult knowledge and searched for such wisdom unceasingly. She became the bane of poorly guarded Tremere chantries and the repositories of mortal mages as she took by trickery or force what she could not gain through trade and service. She has also been known to deal with the cult of Set who now call themselves 'The Ministry' and is said to know Hesha Ruhadze personally.
It was over a century before she encountered her sire once more. He was drawn to her location by tales of a kindred witch hunted by a local Tremere regent from whom she'd stolen several significant items of magical significance. Mere days after his arrival, the regent, his followers and a dozen Gargoyle servants were brutally massacred while pursuing their quarry through a local wood where they had been told she was hiding in a nearby cave network.
In the modern age and in the wake of the shattering of the pyramid she hides her ancestry claiming to be an independent Tremere and trades her abilities for shelter, refreshments and other necessities. She and Marius have developed a bizarre game over the last century whereby she visits Marius each year on the anniversary of her embrace and demands that he either give her a gift or take her soul. So far she has received something on each occasion though it is a dangerous game considering her sires own beliefs.
With her own pack, 'The Oracles of the Crone', it is her task to retrieve vampiric artefacts and occult items of note for use by 'The Oratory'. As long as items continue to find their way into Marius's vaults then she has considerable leeway to use any methods she wishes.
'Talon', 'The Berzerker'
7th Generation Gangrel
Known Childer
Blanche Johnson, Kahu, Kesara Perez, Nessa Perez, Ria Perez, Sirena, 'Vein'.
Haven
None Known
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Allies ('The Lunatics' Gangrel Pack), Mawla 5 (Marius Walker), Resources 4, Status 5 (The Oratory)
Merits
Merits
Iron Gullet, Linguistics (French, Spanish)
Flaws
Flaws
Infamy 3 (Lasombra)
Lore
Blacksite 24 (5: The One That Got Away), Descendent of Xaviar (1: Martyred Ancestor), Firstlight (1: Evasion Tactics), Low Clan (1: Thick Hide, 3: Uncanny Kinship, 4: Trade Amongst Equals - Potence), Lupine Expert (1: Huntsman, 2: Tactician, 3: Soldier), The Bahari (1: Dangerous Reputation, 2: Ritual Scarification).
Talon first emerged during the American Revolutionary War where his gang took advantage of the chaos to trade weapons to the revolutionaries from those countries who wished their assistance to remain a secret. Obtaining a ship with a hold full of rifles, pistols and ammunition through betrayal and murder they attempted to turn a quick profit by selling the lot in one go.
Unfortunately the vessel had belonged to a Lasombra trader who had his own ideas about who should profit from the trade. He hired a notorious kindred mercenary, who was between tasks for his own sire, to retrieve the weapons and punish those responsible.
It took Marius three days to find Talon and his mercenaries at their arms sale, and after killing both their unfortunate customers and Talon's gang he held their leader captive until his employer arrived to take possession of his stolen items. The Lasombra then made the mistake of trying to get away with paying one third of the agreed upon fee, backed up as he was by a small army of his own forces. Marius killed as many as he could before being forced to retreat due to overwhelming enemy numbers. Having no intention of leaving Talon to the traitorous Lasombra, who had yet to pay for him, he took him along as he retreated.
What transpired between Marius and Talon during that retreat is unknown, but five nights later the Lasombra and his forces were wiped out by a newly embraced Gangrel and a gang of cutthroats he'd passed the gift of unlife onto.
Since then he has continued much as he did when alive, acting as a mercenary gang leader, thief and worse. On the rare occasions he and his sire meet it is usually for purely business purposes as Marius has discovered that he and his gang make excellent shock troops when a point has to be made.
Like his elder 'sister' Emmanuella, he is less a tool for acquiring intelligence and more a weapon against those who may object to the activities of 'The Oratory'.
Jane Doe, 'Mannequin'
Too many to list
Clan
Clan
7th Generation Gangrel
Haven
None Known
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Mask 4 (Cobbler, Zeroed), Mawla 5 (Marius Walker), Resources 5, Status 5 (The Oratory)
Merits
Merits
Bloodhound, Iron Gullet, Linguistics 6, Unbondable
Lore
Lore
Ambrus Maropis (1: True Believer, 2: Clandestine Information, 3: Taught by the Best, 4: Back Door Panopticon, 5: On Another Grid Entirely), Cainite Heresy (1: Let He Who Hath Understanding), Carmelita Neillson (1: The Art of Story), Convention of Thorns (1: Thorns Historian), Cult of Shalim (1: Dark Whispers), Fire and Floods and Devils Night (1: Trivia Buff), Firstlight (1: Evasion Tactics), Gehenna Cults (1: Mark the Bloody Trail), Golconda (1: Seeds of Golconda), Jeanette/Therese Voerman (1: Asylum Membership), Kindred Iconography (1: Iconographer), Low Clan (4: Trade Amongst Equals - Obfuscation), Operation Antigen (1: Early Warning), Ruins of Carthage (1: Clan Historian), Salvador Garcia (1: A Way With Words), Talley (1: Recognise the Signs), The Book of Nod (1: Precis), The Circulatory System (2: Little Black Book), The First Inquisition (1: Mistakes of the Past), The Promise of 1528 (1: Legal Scholar), The Trinity (1: Constantinople), The Week of Nightmares (1: Oral History), Victoria Ash (2: Vermilion Invitation)
Derangements
Dissociative Identity Disorder (Suspected)
The identity of Marius's, possibly, youngest childe is a mystery to all but her sire. She is a master of all the disciplines of obfuscation and transformation as well as the more mundane methods of disguise. She is also the most technological adept of his bloodline and can disguise her online presence with the same efficiency as her physical appearance.
As well as mastery of the most important disciplines required to maintain her disguises she also has a very basic knowledge of the lower level abilities of many of the other clans. In addition she has been well educated in many obscure bits of lore on a bewildering variety of subjects. At the very least this is enough for her to bluff her way into many organisations that would otherwise be impossible to infiltrate.
This enables her to pass for a variety of bloodlines as long as she can avoid letting anyone get a sample of her vitae. As the one thing she can never change this is her one and apparently only weakness.
In many ways she is to Marius what he once was to his own sire, namely a tool of infiltration and destruction. She also monitors any of Marius's 'deep cover' agents as she is one of the few kindred who can get close enough to them to retrieve intelligence and relay orders without blowing their respective cover identities.
--------------------
Storytellers Note - The Following Entry contains spoilers for Session One Hundred and Twenty Nine and Onwards
--------------------
Florence 'Fox' Mercado
7th Generation Gangrel
Haven
For now she resides with Marius, or in whatever Haven he provides for her.
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Mask 2, Mawla 5 (Marius Walker), Resources 3 (Funded by Marius)
Lore
Descendent of Xaviar (1: Martyred Ancestor), The Bahari (1: Dangerous Reputation)
Derangements
Derangements
Dependent Personality Disorder (Marius)
Florence was introduced to the kindred world by a Brujah known as Grafton who promised her immortality and the supernatural powers of his kind, once she had proved her loyalty to him that is.
That proof seemed to be to be his slave in all things, as well as a blood doll whenever he required sustenance. He assured her that all potential vampires went through this initiation before they were embraced, and his supernatural powers of presence ensured that she believed him. Unbeknownst to her, she was the twenty second, 'pretty young thing' that he'd made this promise to and many amongst candidates one to twenty one had ended the lives as a corpse dumped into a shallow grave. Grafton might have been an asshole, but he understood the importance of the masquerade, and had no intention of leaving unbound ghouls to their own devices.
Grafton was an ally of the famous, and infamous, Brujah known as Theodore Bell and was never slow to drop his name when he thought it might get him what he wanted. He knew full well that Theo would take a dim view of the enslavement of his 'toy' of the moment and so was careful to ensure that this aspect of his unlife was kept as a closely guarded secret. Fortunately the rest of the Camarilla didn't really give a fuck about mortals so no-one really paid that much attention to the revolving door policy he had for companions.
One fateful night for Florence, she was granted the gift of unlife, but not by Grafton. Instead she was taken by a lackey of Justicar Xaviars, named Marius, seemingly for no reason other than spite at her lover for some imagined slight. Terrified that her one true love would never forgive her for allowing another to take her, she ran of into the night. She survived by preying upon lone travellers, down and outs, and other easy prey. Grafton meanwhile didn't even bother to search for her, and moved onto blood doll number twenty three.
Unfortunately for her, her lack of a mentor, and easily predictable feeding habits, made her easy prey for the Brujah of a disreputable 'fight-club', who used her as just another 'dog' to fight others of her kind. Eventually she was freed, but when she discovered that her rescuer was the same bastard who took her from her love, she vowed to destroy him. Unfortunately this was beyond her capabilities, for now. She would learn from him, then destroy him using the very powers that he would teach her.
Now that vow is meaningless. Marius has accumulated many powers from those he had drained, including the ability to influence those of his bloodline. As his childe, she is particularly susceptible to this gift, and though she doesn't know it, is a slave once more.
--------------------
Should you be interested in the chronicles and stories associated with these pages then links to them all can be found HERE.
-------------------
Acknowledgements
I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Aviana Maria is Famke Janssen, Tilly Kelly is Anna Paquin, Quinn is Oliver Parker, Emmanuella Booth is Anastasia E.G., Eleanor Braun is P.J. Harvey, Talon is Michael Sheen, Mannequin is Tatiana Maslany and Florence Mercado is Camilla Fox.
--------------------
Acknowledgements
I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Aviana Maria is Famke Janssen, Tilly Kelly is Anna Paquin, Quinn is Oliver Parker, Emmanuella Booth is Anastasia E.G., Eleanor Braun is P.J. Harvey, Talon is Michael Sheen, Mannequin is Tatiana Maslany and Florence Mercado is Camilla Fox.
--------------------