Wednesday, 15 May 2019

V5 Chronicle - Faction Profile - The Sires

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...
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The Sires
Each of the current coterie members has their own reasons for coming to Los Angeles and has radically different relationships with the vampires that sired them. As the chronicle progresses and more information comes forth more of these profiles will be added. For now here are profiles for Stéphanie Mayoux, Sire of Michael Tomassio and Sofia Rivera, Desdemona Moore, Sire of Vincent 'Vin Ghast, 'Moon Ray', Sire of Johnny 'Roach' West, Edward Kaya, Sire of Daniel Matthews, William Foxley, Sire of Hope Romero and Jane 'JJ' Johnson, Sire of Eric Moore.

It was decided by the player themselves that Mr Hertz's knew little of his sire. His embrace was a purely business arrangement without any real emotional or other connection and to be fair this suits Mr Hertz just fine. I have therefore refrained from fleshing out his particular sire as it adds nothing to the story...for now...

Sire of Michael Tomassio and Sofia Rivera
Stéphanie Mayoux
Aliases and Nicknames
'The Black Rose', 'The Widow', 
Clan
 
6th Generation Toreador (Via Diablerie)
Known Childer
Nora Montoya, Paolo 'Paul' Tomassio (AKA Michael Tomassio), Sofia Rivera, Travis Blackburn
Haven
Haven 3 (Various rented luxury apartments and hotel suites), Haven 2: Luxury Tour Bus (Hidden Armoury 3, Luxury, Security System, Watchmen 1)
Backgrounds
Ally 5 (Victoria Ash), Allies (Security Team: Effectiveness 4, Reliability 3), Contacts 1-4 (Fashion Industries), Fame 4 (Kindred), Herd 3 (Sycophants), Influence 5 (Fashion Industries), Mask 2, Resources 5 (Fashion Empire), Retainer 3 (Mariyam Hagan, Ghoul), Retainer 3 (Sayed Watkins, Ghoul), Retainer 3 (Zaine Wade, Ghoul), Status 4 (Camarilla Harpy)
Merits
Linguistics 3, Stunning
Flaws
Dark Secret (Diablerist, targets 'unworthy' Toreador only), Infamy 3 (Kindred Only, 5 Amongst Toreador)
Lore
Annabelle (3: With Thanks to our Donors, 5: Inner Circle), Carmelita Neillson (1: The Art of Story), Convention of Thorns (1: Thorns Historian), Descendent of Helena (1: Skin-Deep, 2: Real Talent, 3:Embrace the Stereotype, 4: Divine Purity), Fiorenza Savona (2: Breakfast with Fiorenza, 3: Friendly Benefits, 5: Government Motion), Firstlight (1: Evasion Tactics), High Clan (1: Peacock, 4: Embraced to Rule, 5: Blessed, not Cursed), Kindred Dueling (1: Honourable Combatant, 3: Stake Fighter), Kindred Inconography (1: Iconographer, 2: The Writing on the Wall, 3: Trendsetter, 5: Giorgio Who?), The Circulatory System (1: Tap Into the System, 2: Little Black Book, 3: Farm Upstate), The Pony Express (1: Access to the Network, 5: Passenger Service), Victoria Ash (1: Ashen Kiss, 2: Vermilion Invitation, 3: What Makes Them Tick, 4: Celebrity Affectations, 5: Patron, Lover, Companion)

Stephanie Mayoux is a childe of the Countess d'Adhemar who is in turn a childe of the notorious former Justicar Madame Guil and can trace her line back to Helena herself, a fact that she rarely misses the opportunity to point out. Embraced in 1891 for no better reason than her natural beauty she also showed a considerable talent for art, culture and politics which naturally led her to the role of Harpy.

Stephanie vowed to herself that if she ever embraced a childe of her own it would be for far less shallow reasons than mere looks and so she spent considerable time with any perspective candidates to ensure they had something more to bring to the clan of the rose than simply another pretty face. After meeting the handsome young man Paolo Tomassio she became quite enamoured but true to her own vow met with him each night and spent many hours discussing the finer points of culture, belief and politics in order to ensure that she wasn't adding another 'pretty but pointless' individual to the clan. Eventually Stéphanie asked him that if given the chance would he wish to continue in this existence forever, not realising the true consequences of the question he answered, yes.

She and her childe travelled far and wide before eventually ending up in London. Though her relationship with her childe had cooled due to her displeasure at some of his choices of acquaintances she still kept in contact. Then the Second Inquisition arrived in London.

At Elysium during the first of the attacks her familiarity with the location enabled her to find an escape route through a little known exit and for the first time in her unlife used her supernatural speed, not for the purposes of art but instead of violence, utilising a talent with a blade learned originally purely for it's aesthetic appeal. Tearing through the first Inquisitor she encountered, then a pair of surprised soldiers who thought they'd drew a safe duty as perimeter guards she made her way to a secondary haven of hers, gathered what belongings she deemed important and used what favours she had to get out of the city along with a family known as the Bartholomew's who had contacted the same benefactor. While the Bartholomew's headed to the Anarch Free States for reasons Stephanie couldn't fathom she herself flitted from city to city.

The ruthless streak that her line was known for emerged in light of the losses she had experienced and she gained a reputation as a Harpy of unusual viciousness, quickly gaining dominance in any court she entered and destroying the status of those she deemed unworthy of the position they had. Members of her own clan without ability to match their airs and graces are particular targets. Victims who have reacted to these attacks with physical violence outside of Elysium have found that her knives are as sharp as her tongue and her hands as fast as her wits, each kill a work of art in it's own way. If her victims are potent enough, she is also rumoured to consume their souls.

She has also used her considerable financial resources to invest in various fashion and modelling agencies and now also has considerable influence in the mortal world enabling her to pre-empt or create trends which she can then capitalise upon within Elysium.

In the last year she has been searching for word of the childe she lost in London and it is now rumoured that contacts within the Camarilla have pointed her in the right direction. 

In fact she has known of Michael's location for some time and has decided to send another of her childer, Sofia Rivera, to investigate what exactly he is doing in the Anarch Free States.

Sire of Vincent 'Vin' Ghast
Desdemona Moore
Aliases 
'Demonmaw'
Clan
11th Generation Brujah, 7th via sanctioned diablerie
Childer
Caitlin Sinclair (Deceased), Dwayne Koch, Georgiana Landry, Lidia Allison, Musa Abbott (Deceased), Vincent Ghast.
Haven
Haven 1-3 (Various Camarilla Safehouses around the world)
Backgrounds
Ally 5 (Fiorenza Savona), Ally 5 (Lucinde, Justicar of Clan Ventrue and Red Alastor) Allies (Camarilla Agents: Effectiveness 2-4, Reliability 2-3), Contacts 4 (A global network of spies), Fame 3 (Kindred), Influence 4 (Through Camarilla), Mask 4 (Cobbler, Zeroed), Retainers 2-3 (Various Ghouled Personnel), Resources 4, Status 5 (Camarilla)
Merits
Linguist 3
Lore
Anarch Revolt (1: Critical Ancestor), Archons (2: Watcher in the Dark, 3: Red Phone, 4: Color of Authority), Convention of Thorns (1: Thorns Historian, 2: Tradition Master, 3: Convention Secrets), Fiorenza Savona (2: Breakfast with Fiorenza, 3: Friendly Benefits,), Kindred Dueling (1: Honourable Combatant, 3: Stake Fighter, 5: Trials of Death), Sect War Veteran (3: Trophy Kill), Victoria Ash (1: Ashen Kiss, 2: Vermilion Invitation)

Embraced in 1495 by a loyal follower of the Camarilla in the wake of the Convention of Thorns, Desdemona has always considered the Camarilla to be the only kindred organisation with the proper attitude and commitment to keep order amongst the kindred.

Her unquestioning loyalty has made her many fans amongst the hierarchy of the Camarilla and she has served as Archon for one Justicar or another almost unceasingly since a mere decade after her embrace even being given the rank of Praetor in multiple campaigns against the enemies of the sect. A warrior in life as in death her approach was for centuries one of direct and brutal action though as time went by she began to see the wisdom in infiltration, subterfuge and the less satisfying but often equally effective, none violent methods of victory. However, given a choice she'd much rather bang a few heads together.

The nickname 'Demonmaw' came some century into her career after a fellow Gangrel Archon whom she saved from a horde of fleshcrafted Tzimisce ghouls taught her the rudiments of Protean as a sign of gratitude. Rather than utilising the discipline to manifest the traditional feral claws favoured by most she instead uses the ability to extend her fangs to monstrous proportions and has created a unique fighting style for herself, tearing flesh and throats with equal skill. Despite a preference for getting up close and personal she is also an expert with firearms and a number of close combat weapons.

Given the turbulent times that now exist for the kindred of the ivory tower, Desdemona has been granted the rare gift of a sanctioned diablerie of two of the recent enemies she has been tasked with bringing down. One was a Brujah of the Sabbat and the other a Lasombra elder whose location was given to her by another of that clan who wished to abandon the Sabbat in favour of the Camarilla. This latter kill lowered her generation considerably as well as giving her some grasp of the Lasombra's signature discipline of Oblivion. The black veins in her aura have now faded but many have observed that her ability to hold her temper has faded with them.

Over her five centuries of service she has sired six childer, though only four still survive into the modern nights. One was lost in a raid against her within one of her havens by the Sabbat and another was slain more recently during the scouring of London by the Second Inquisition. Two of the remaining childer defected to the Anarchs when the Brujah left the Camarilla while she and two others of her line remained. What is known to only a few is that only one of these childer truly abandoned their sect. Though Georgiana Landry did indeed turn her back on her sire, Vincent 'Vin' Ghast has actually journeyed to the Free States to attempt their overthrow with two other deep cover Camarilla infiltrators.

With the disappearance of Karsh leaving the position of Warlord of the Camarilla open it is rumoured that she now has her eyes on the vacancy as the absence of the Brujah as a Camarilla clan has made her previous goal of Justicar no longer an option. A success by a childe of hers in Los Angeles would help this goal considerably.

Sire of Johnny 'Roach' West
'Moon Ray'
Aliases
Ahanu, Arlo Marley, Buzz, Cheveyo, Indigo Skye, Ray Sunshine, Zappa and many more...
Clan
11th Generation Malkavian
Known Childer
Johnny 'Roach' West and many others (mostly destroyed)
Haven 
Flaw: No Haven
Backgrounds
Herd (Varies), Resources (Varies), Status 3 (Malkavians)
Merits
Bond Resistance 3, High Functioning Addict (Social)
Flaws
Hopeless Addiction (None specific - Any drug will do), Infamy 3, Prey Exclusion (None drug users)
Lore 
The Cobweb (4: Pluck the Strands, 5: Malkav’s Will)
Derangement
Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia 

A constant bane to the kindred of both Camarilla and Anarch cities for the last two centuries, this mysterious Malkavian is notorious for randomly embracing junkies, Romani fortune tellers, Faith healers and others who either have or claim to have visions. His stated goal according to the few who have spoken to him is to "Make the visions real...", believing (or so he says) that it is the Malkavian powers of premonition which will show the true future for all kindred and that it just needs enough with such powers to believe the same vision at the same time for it to re-write reality to a perfect vampire world. Of course the definition of 'perfect' is open to debate.

Those few who have challenged him on the sanity of the scheme have found that it is dangerous in the excess to challenge a true believer. The fortunate ones recover their minds shortly after, those who were particularly vocal may find themselves spending an eternity with an interesting new compulsion and very occasionally they become believers themselves.

With this in mind he embraces freely and without even a basic consideration for the masquerade meaning that most of his creations have spectacular but short un-lives before the local kindred population puts them down. Those of his childer that survive do indeed have prodigious powers to observe aura's, force premonitions and pick the truth from the lies that are a common factor in all kindred encounters. One of these childer, known as 'Roach' came to the attention of Miss Myra Ross, an agent of Fiorenza Savona who put forward the idea that such a one might come in useful in their upcoming scheme to send infiltrators to the Free States. Whether this fits with his sires grand schemes or not remains to be seen...

Sire of Dr Daniel Matthews
Edward Kaya
Clan
11th Generation Banu Haqim, possibly lower now due to diablerie
Known Childer
Daniel Matthews
Haven
Haven 1 - (Armoured RV: Hidden Armoury 5, Watchmen 1)
Backgrounds
Allies (Death Squad: Effectiveness 4, Reliability 3), Mask 3 (Zeroed), Resources 3 Retainer 3 (Maiya Whittaker, Ghoul), Status 4 (Followers of Ur-Shulgi)
Merits
Linguistics 2
Flaws
Infamy 3, Obvious Predator
Lore
Fatima Al-Faqadi (2: Extended Web, 4: Recognised Judge)

Edward Kaya had always been recognised as a skilled assassin and it was for these very abilities that he was embraced some three centuries ago. Being an expert in both infiltration and covert assassination as a mortal he simply added his kindred gifted abilities to the skills he already possessed and changed payment in gold for payment in blood.

Having weathered the ups and downs that the clan had experienced over recent decades his personal opinion was always that his clan should be the ones doing the judging rather than being those judged by weaklings and undeserving fools like the Tremere. Never one of the faithful he immediately sided with Ur-Shulgi when the purging of Alamut began and wholeheartedly agreed with the destruction of Jamal whom Edward had always considered a weak leader. Of his two childer at the time only one agreed with this new direction within the clan and being an active and faithful Muslim defied his sire and suffered the consequences as Edward Kaya drained his blood and then his soul. He and his remaining childe then pledged themselves to the new power within Alamut.

Edward Kaya's Preferred Weapon
While in the middle-east he came across a soldier whose sense of justice seemed to fit with Edwards own philosophises and after witnessing him allowing a soldier to die whose acts he deemed unworthy he offered him an eternity to continue his work. Dr Daniel Matthews learned the practical skills that his sire taught and acted against the targets he was given, confident that he was serving justice by doing so.

After many years of service his sire began to give his childe more freedom believing that he no longer needed to watch his every move. This turned out to be an error of judgement as given free rein to implement the tasks given him Daniel's thorough nature began to allow him to detect flaws in the information provided and soon concluded that rather than punish the guilty he'd simply been removing impediments to his sires ambitions and that of Ur-Shulgi whom Edward served unquestioningly. Barely surviving the confrontation that followed, Daniel fled.

Since then Edward has actively being searching for his missing childe, going as far to offer substantial rewards for any information leading to his final death at his own hands. Information pointing him to Los Angeles has recently been discredited after considerable work by Daniel's allies but it's only a matter of time before he discovers the ruse and turns his attention once more to the city of angels.

Sire of Hope Romero
William Foxley
Clan 
12th Generation Gangrel
Known Childer
Aaron Saxe, Eli Pope, Flora Mckeown, Hope Romero, Nicholas Garcia, Ryan Stewart, Tasha Paterson.
Haven
Flaw: No Haven
Backgrounds
Resources 1 (Petty Crime)
Merits
Eat Food, Iron Gullet
Flaws
Infamy 2 (Federal Fugitive), Known Blankbody.
Lore
Lupine Expert (1: Huntsman)

As a woodsman living off the land as a hunter during his life the transition to the unlife as one of Clan Gangrel was fairly simple. As with many Gangrel embraces his sire left him to his own devices for several weeks to see how he coped with existence as one of the kindred. Once their observations led them to believe that the childe was worth consideration they taught him how to enhance his mortal abilities with his supernatural senses and use the other gifts that came along with their clan heritage.

William's reasons for separating himself from society were due to a criminal past that he had barely escaped and which he knew would one day catch up on him. As a mortal he'd associated with several militant organisations and had been present at the murder of a federal agent, so once he deemed he'd learned enough, he used his gifts of shape-changing to travel vast distances at night and waited out the day beneath the ground in mist form leaving his sire and teacher far behind.

Several decades of travel later he came across Hope Romero, surviving in the wilderness as he once had and in a moment of nostalgia embraced her, leaving her to prove herself as had been done to him before training her as he'd been taught. Hope was however far too independent to take what she had learned for granted and began to develop her own skills much to William's irritation who had wanted a subservient companion, not an equal. Vowing not to make the same mistake again he selected a far more weak-willed candidate for his second childe and began to guide them to the role he desired for them immediately. When Hope confronted him about this break from tradition she was attacked by them both and was forced to flee.

Since then William Foxley has embraced several more childer, selecting only the most malleable individuals and immediately indoctrinating them into a hierarchy with him firmly planted at the top. They travel through the wilderness and along rarely used routes feeding upon hitch-hikers, lone travellers and others they consider easy prey, funding themselves with any money and valuables the victims possessed. William is however always first to feed and has first pick of their victims belongings as befits the position of leader. He still occasionally thinks about the childe who defied him and plans one day to seek her out and show her the price of defying the leader of the pack he now sees himself to be.

Sire of Eric Moore
Jane 'JJ' Johnson
Clan
11th Generation Nosferatu
Known Childer
Eric Moore
Haven
Haven 2: Del Rio Apartment Home (Library 1: Computing, Location, Luxury, Postern 1: Sewer Access, Security System 5), Haven 1: Disused Sacramento Sewer Storage Area (Security System 1)
Backgrounds
Influence 2 (San Diego), Mask 4 (Cobbler, Zeroed), Mawla 4 (Ambrus Maropis), Mawla 3 (Bertram Tung), Resources 4 (Cryptocurrencies)
Merits
Linguistics 1 (Spanish)
Flaws
Adversary 2 ('Blackwell'), Looks 2 (Repulsive)
Lore
Ambrus Maropis (1: True Believer, 2: Clandestine Information, 3: Taught by the Best, 4: Back Door Panopticon, 5: On Another Grid Entirely), Cleopatras (1: Close Examination, 2: Clothed in Power), Descendent of Zelios (1: Sanctuary), Goblin Roads (1: Night Rider), The Pony Express (1: Access to the Network), Wauneka (1: Secluded Meetup, 2: Spy Path, 3: Insider Connections, 4: Spy Skills)

Jane 'JJ' Johnson is a Nosferatu information broker who specialises in extremely high-end corporate espionage and the targeting of individuals who others might deem 'untouchable'. As a disciple of Ambrus Maropis she has the technical skills to compliment her investigative talents and though her prices are bordering on the excessive, she nonetheless has no shortage of customers.

Originally from Seattle but now a resident of San Diego she still maintains various havens around California and has a rarely used bolt-hole in Sacramento, just in case.

Her primary rival within San Diego is a mysterious and reclusive Nosferatu known as 'Blackwell' whose position as a close confidante of Baron Tara Kearney gives them considerable power and influence. However she sees this as a challenge to be overcome and takes great pleasure in acquiring information from right under his nose.

Her childe Eric's uncanny ability to find information attracted the attention of his sire, who was impressed by his technical skills and amused that Eric used those skills to whistle blow or humiliate those he felt deserved it. Though she would never do as many 'charitable' jobs as her childe takes on, she still has a begrudging admiration for him when he does.

JJ negotiated a position for Eric within the L.A. organisation of an old acquaintance of hers named Bertram Tung, where he acted as an assistance of sorts in-between acting upon his own side-lines. His move into the employ of Michael Tomassio, a notable Anarch within Los Angeles, has intrigued her considerably. Perhaps her childe has more business acumen than she gave him credit for.

Though Eric and his sire parted on good terms, she still treats any request for assistance as a business transaction and her services are currently well out of his price-range. Perhaps, as he becomes more established, that may change in the future.

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Should you be interested in the chronicles and stories associated with these pages then links to them all can be found HERE.
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Acknowledgements
I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Stephanie Mayoux is Emily Beecham, Desdemona Moore is Amanda Donohoe, Edward Kaya is Laurence Fishburne and William Foxley and pack are a scene from the film Vampires by John Carpenter, and Jane Johnson is Julie Benz.
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