Interest Check: Ancient Vampires in the Byzantine Empire (Old World of Darkness)

[Kolbrandr]

So, some months back I pitched a OWoD/Dark Ages elder vampire game set in late 12th century Constantinople, and while there was an initial sizable burst of enthusiasm, ultimately I ended up with three completed characters, which wasn't really sustainable to start a campaign with, so that was kinda that. The suggestion was that it was a slow time for the board and to try it again some months later. Life got fairly busy in the interim, but, less so at current, so I figured what the hell, why not give it one more try.

The describing the initial premise to see if there was any interest went like this:

The central notion is this. The year is 1197, and the Eastern Roman Empire's state is more precarious than it has been in over a century, the venal dynasty of the Angeloi undoing much of the strength returned to the land by the Komnenian restoration. Seljuk, Arab, Bulgar and Latin circle around it as ever more ravenous threats. Yet for all that, Constantinople herself remains the Queen of Cities, the golden city, the greatest of Medieval Christendom, populated on a scale mind bogglingly impossible to the Western barbarians who may as well be still scrabbling in dirt and filth by comparison. It is yet almost a touch of heaven on earth, a small piece of eternity made manifest.

Which is as it should be, when the guiding will behind it is itself eternal. And undead. And so the fearful, half maddened whispers go, divine.

Empire and city both are the child of Michael the Patriarch, a vampire several millennia old with a dream so powerful it has imprinted itself on the very least of the unliving in Byzantine shadows. That it has become a Dream, and almost a religion. That vampires could use their eternity to build something at last eternal, something greater than themselves, beyond themselves, something to not simply endure through history, but to define it. Some say that for damned, blood drinking things to have such ambitions is a blasphemy against their nature and God Himself, and Michael himself has been punished for it with a growing madness. That as his empire decays, so too does his mind and spirit, that his fall, will accelerate its fall. Yet within the city itself, in his increasingly rare, overwhelming presence, he is a god, an archangel, his Dream made manifest in himself. And it is easier to be overwhelmed perhaps, than to think about the storm of plots that swirl around him, for and against the Dream, for and against the empire. Of smaller, pettier, personal feuds and schemes born of the grudges that lives carried into centuries can make fester and roil, such that their expressions are conflagrations as destructive as any crash of grand gambits.

The center of wealth, of religion, of art, of culture, and power, the vamipres of Constantinople contest over everything from lives to souls to a golden throne, enrapt from an almost obsessively mystical culture, drunk on decadence and glory, however fading, as much as the readily available blood of its people.

So, the campaign! It's 1198, the Fourth Crusade, if it happens, is still just some distant nightmare beyond conceptualizing, but the empire is certainly not on solid ground, both openly and in the shadows. The prospective players are amongst the lords of the night that in some cases perhaps helped build this whole empire up in the first place, yet may find themselves powerless in the end to arrest its fall.

Which is to say, I'd like to run an elder vampire game. I haven't fully settled on character creation yet, but players would be vampires of the 6th generation, no older than, let's say, the 6th century CE (and no younger than, let's say, the early 10th century), and unless you have just a truly awesome idea for "recently arrived elder" (not impossible, I suppose), with centuries behind them thereby to establish a place of power and influence in the empire as a whole. Not a first come first served thing.

I'd want it to be somewhat sandboxy, with characters having agendas they might want to initiate or pursue even as plot otherwise happens to interact with or not, and in my experience, that is somewhat easier to happen when characters are actually powerful enough to be able to have and act on agendas of their own.

It would be a system game, as frankly I just prefer those, though generally that's for resolving things outside of the bounds of social interaction. The system will mostly be the Dark Ages: Vampire one, might house rule some things, but otherwise, anything from it, from the various books connected to it, feel free to run by me. Haven't decided on a rating, that will likely come out of overall player preference. Character wise, because the setting is both historically and fictionally a rich one, I don't really need more from you guys than a backstory, though I would like some detail there on what you got up to over the centuries and your particular inclinations now. Happy to help with noting who potential rivals, friends and enemies might be, though as old as fuck immortal nightwalkers, if you want to come up with some of your own, that is also cool.

Having been embraced outside the empire but eventually having come to and established yourself within it, also entirely fine.

Basically, the empire is decaying, do you want to do anything about that? The enmity with the Catholic Church/Venice/various Latin (Western) Kingdoms is getting worse. Do you want to do anything about that? The Seljuks and others are encroaching, how about that? Do you want to simply immerse and lose yourself in the culture? In the ever spawning religious debates and heresies? Pursue feuds and alliances with your fellow immortals? Look into this whole "Michael is insane" thing (though many in the city don't even conceptualize that as possible)? Embrace wholeheartedly the Patriarch's angelic imagery instead and find a place for yourself at the right hand of Heaven (which, many do)? Bolster the Dream? Weaken it? Destroy it? Expand your own power and influence to ever wider scales? Explore esoteric magics, mysticsm or philosophy?

Any clan that is not the Baali or infernal vampires are fine, though with the age range for starting embrace, Tremere don't really work. Otherwise, even the Assamites occasionally looked at the Byzantines as a potential hedge against the Western kingdoms, or even the Turks, who not all of the clan were great big fans of (the medieval assamites were a lot less monolithic, to put it one way).

It is worth noting that the Tzimisce of the Byzantine empire are very different than the main branch of the clan, and much more philosophers, mystics and monks than the gore soaked freakish warlords the rest of the clan cleaves to being (and there's some rivalry and hate as a result).

Anything else I will mention as we go and as questions come up, just wanting to see if there's actual interest before doing that much more typing.

[AndyZ]

Absolutely keeping an eye on this.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Got PM  count me in.   I assume the character approved prior is still good to go, I hunt her down here and submit. 

[Kolbrandr]

Well, let's see how the checking for interest phase goes first before you put your character back up. They're otherwise still fine though, just give it a bit.

[RubySlippers]

Have to dust off my PDF's, I'm interested.

[Sahariel]

I am very  interested in this game. I still have my old background, or I could make an original character, if there's still room.

[Lockepick]

Posting interest! I've had a Ravnos cult leader idea I've wanted to play for a while. Just have to remember how oWoD works!

[Blythe]

Tentatively interested, possibly with a Malkavian 'prophet' or a perhaps a vicious Brujah theologian. What kind of posting rate would you be expecting for this?

[Bloodied Porcelain]

Not really in to system games online, but as I used to play oWoD table top, I look forward to following this when I have the chance. :)

[Kolbrandr]

Tentatively interested, possibly with a Malkavian 'prophet' or a perhaps a vicious Brujah theologian. What kind of posting rate would you be expecting for this?

Ideally I'd prefer a post a day sort of rate as a minimum once (well, if) the game gets going, I've seen wayyyy too many things die in slowdown.

[Kolbrandr]

Not really in to system games online, but as I used to play oWoD table top, I look forward to following this when I have the chance. :)

Fair enough, just personally not into freeform.

[Blythe]

Ideally I'd prefer a post a day sort of rate as a minimum once (well, if) the game gets going, I've seen wayyyy too many things die in slowdown.

Ah, understandable. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to keep pace with that, so I'll need to withdraw my interest. Regardless, you've got a great game idea here, and I wish you well with it and much fun. ^^

[Kolbrandr]

Just waiting to see if the last of the people that completed a character last time wanted to give this another go, otherwise there look to be five of you or so expressing interest, so I'll put up some more indepth stuff in a bit.

[Orange Marmalade]

Was talking with you a bit last time this came around but was never able to decide on a concept... still interested though, and have a little bit more free time than I did before.

I'm reading through Constantiople by Night right now just to try to reorient myself with what the time period was like for Cainites.

[Kolbrandr]

Alright, I don't think I'm going to hear back from that other person anytime soon, so, may as well forge onwards. Barring the two people who finished up characters from last time (and one other fellow who shot me a character background), the very first thing I want from you guys is your character background. No stats, just background. Ideally pm it to me first. Now, a lot of the setting information here can be found in Constantinople by Night, which is easily findable on pdf and really to this day remains arguably the best supplement white wolf ever put out for any of its game lines as far as richness of material.

However, I'm not going to want to force people to do a read through (I just recommend it for your own benefit), so, from the last thread, some setting overview:

So the thing to note especially about how the city is run on the vampire side of things, is that it is somewhat off standard from much of the cainite (era term for vampire) world, particularly the west, reinforcing that sort of otherness of the society.

Most notably, Michael as the sole dominant figure in the style of a Prince of the city is not how Constantinople or the organization of vampires in the empire worked for much of its existence. He was (and in some ways still is, his force of personality just dominates it these days) part of a trinity of rulers. Called in fact, that, the Trinity. Michael loves him some Christianity parallels.

Originally Michael's Dream was bolstered by his partners/lovers that he came to Constantinople with him back when Constantine was making it his capital, the Tzimisce called the Dracon, and Antonius the Ventrue, both methuselah (several millennia old vampires, they are to elders what elders are to everyone else) and in a practically unique power sharing relationship with him. Michael served as the inspiration and overall guide for the Dream expressed in control of culture and the church both, the Dracon kept it living and dynamic philosophically as far as control over the more mystical side of the city, the monastic orders, and academia, while Antonius worked to ensure it as a day to day reality in the world as far as influence and temporal power in the political and military sphere. The Dracon and Antonius would ultimately fall into a feud that would end with Antonius killed and the Dracon self exiled from guilt and shame, but the society they built to govern the vampires of the Eastern Empire, along with their positions, would remain.

In theory thereby, Constantinople is governed still by the Trinity, with two of the childer of Antonius and the Dracon filling their places and maintaining their overall responsibilities. Overall governance for the city comes out of accord between them when needed, with each family having a judge/proxy called a Quaesitor to otherwise rule on squabbles or concerns for smaller issues. In practice things are more fractious and fluid, with boundaries of influence, duty and control not always respected. Beyond that, the rare times where Michael appears to proclaim anything directly as opposed to being represented by a proxy, it may as well be law. 

Of more particular note is the family system that was designed to express the original intent. Clan in Constantinople is defined by the great figure that established the presence of that clan. So the Toreador are the Michaelite Toreador, the Ventrue are the Antonian Ventrue, and the Tzimisce, because the Dracon was something of a contrarian, are the Obertus Tzimisce. Members of the clan can usually be traced to that defining figure, ultimately, even across the empire, and those that can't get functionally adopted into it as needs be. This in part reinforces the idea that all members of the clan must share in the duties and legacy of their family, and also thereby hold some of their authority as a trade off.

Below the three Trinity families are the Scion families. Essentially each Trinity family sponsors various Scion families to aid them in their overall sphere of responsibilities, generally the result of some brood or another from some clan managing to establish themselves in the city with the patronage of the Trinity. It's a somewhat lesser social position, though still one of strong note, but in theory it makes for being able to call on the protection, resources and support of one's sponsor family. It also means they have better odds of getting permission to embrace more childer than vampires outside of a family. It also carries with it what authority comes from having some function of the city/empire delegated down to them. The family is again usually named for the prominent member (who may not be alive anymore), but sometimes for something else that still is otherwise some oblique reference to being a group/its purpose.

The current scion families of note are, starting with those that belong to the Toreador, the Magnus Lasombra, who depending on your perspective manage the Orthodox Church for the Toreador and/or gulled them into giving them control of it, and/or are totally screwing that up. The Malachite Nosferatu, who exist out of one of Michael's genuinely beneficent and even regal acts of repurposing Nosferatu embraces intended as a mockery and punishment, and making them into the source of a strong and proud scion family. The Malachite family are basically something of all purpose agents for Michael himself, at least, again, in the ideal, and regard themselves otherwise as guardians of the Dream, however needed. Finally there are the Setite Children of Judas (their head, not named Judas, it's a half Michael picked name), who look to have no official duty at all, and generally try to constantly corrupt and challenge everyone, but possibly they are held as the test of the strength of the Dream, and that is why they are allowed to remain in the city, and protected for what they do, to an extent (it largely taking the form of trying to make the city's vampires and their mortal charges corrupted and vice ridden, failing from loftier goals). If Michael lets them stay in the city for that reason, it is perhaps a demonstration of his vainglorious, half mad religiosity to want and need such acts. They're otherwise quite hated.

The Antonian Ventrue are less prolific in Scion families, and part of that is simply because it's not as though the Ventrue have it in their nature to enjoy not holding onto all the influence they have directly. Still, of note are the Lexor Brujah, who are tasked with handling the bureaucracy and law of city and empire, and Lady Alexa Theusa, a 5th generation Cappadocian who serves, somewhat, as a quasi mystical councillor to the family, but while she has a family charter and could thereby create her own, she has in the main not done so (unless someone wants to be her childe or something).

The Obertus Tzimisce have the one family, the Baron's Gangrel, who are basically their protectors and enforcers (and are something of the city's muscle and peacekeepers overall), and like the nosferatu, see themselves as guardians.

These are not, it should be said, the only vampires in the city, Constantinople is huge after all, and can support a large vampiric population. These are however the big power blocs with the lion's share of status and power. There are vampires outside of them ranging from everything from a Ravnos artificer to the representatives of Genoa and Venice's vampire courts, to an official representative from the Assamites to the court of the city to all sorts of various and sundry, even the occasional occulted salubri, even clan vampires of the above clans that simply exist outside their scion families.

[Kolbrandr]

How is this particularly relevant to you, the player? Basically the canonical 5th generation vampires are in the Ventrue, Tzimisce, Toreador, and Lady Alexa of the Cappadocians. If you want an existing 5th gen sire (to be detailed in a bit), you'd be from one of their families and connected to them thereby. You could always instead be a member of those first three clans adopted into the family, etc. (But if you are making, for instance, a Toreador, there's a certain cachet and resonance in being one of Michael's grandchilder, I would say. As a millennia old 4th generation vampire, not like other of his kids might not be floating about in other parts of the world. *end editorializing*)

If you want to be of a different clan, and particularly of one not noted amongst the scion families, consider that maybe you are the head of your own scion family, as defined by you. I'm entirely amenable to the idea (in which case though, be prepared to spend a bunch of points on status). Ponder out thereby who of the Trinity families yours would be affiliated to, and what your duties might be.

If you're a clan with an existing scion family, you'll want to decide if you're a member of it via adoption or what have you, if you exist outside of it. Or, because things are defined as much by family as clan, if you are a distinct scion family from that one, doing your own thing, connected to a different Trinity family. Or perhaps you're simply a solitary elder who has managed to carve out a place of note for themselves (though that is no small achievement). Or you are the envoy of someone or something. Or you have indeed recently arrived to the city itself. Etc.

Either way, all things to noodle over.

It's worth noting that the Baron's Gangrel are the youngest scion family, so if you go Gangrel, you decidedly predate them, something to consider.

[Kolbrandr]

Book wise, this is going to be a system game, so I do need you guys to have given the Dark Ages: Vampire rules a read through at least (not Vampire: the Dark Ages. Dark Ages: Vampire is basically the revised version of the rules, just ignore the setting material there, since they start off in 1230). The 20th anniversary edition, you don't need to buy that when it comes out, and given that I've kinda hated the entire 20th anniversary line, I'm not likely picking it up myself. Game start is otherwise going to be in 1197.

[Lockepick]

Just to clarify: Is it possible for a member of Clan A to be considered part of a Scion Family that is predominantly Clan B? As an example: could a Ravnos be 'adopted' by the Malachite Nosferatu, to work towards the same purpose as them? Though I would understand if they were unable to attain the same status as a card-carrying Nosferatu.

Just checking for my options?

[Kolbrandr]

It's not really possible. The scion families are each made up of one clan with a fancy name for whoever runs/founded said family basically. You could however be a scion family of the same trinity family and be heavily allied to the Malachite Nosferatu, for instance.

Or you could have the patronage of a scion family or the like, you just wouldn't be considered an actual member of in the sense of being able to say "I am an X", you would more say "I am under the protection of X". Or "I work for X".

[Kolbrandr]

Some other things to keep in mind. Please remember the no infernal vampires/daimonion/etc. thing and the 6th century CE to 10th century CE as the age range in which your character should have been embraced. The most I bent was a few decades before the 6th century.

[Lockepick]

Is there any particular character sheet or RTJ format you'd like our backgrounds in? Or any idea of how large of a background you're expecting?

[Kolbrandr]

Just type one up and send it to me, it's a character background writeup so honestly, just send as the paragraphs of a character history. Note name and year of embrace before getting into any body of text and all.

As far as length, however long you feel hits all the major points you want to hit, but I would prefer length over brevity.

[Kolbrandr]

Feel free also to ask questions about an intended concept first before getting into indepth typing, don't mind answering them.

[Kolbrandr]

As the notion has come up while talking with people, you can certainly have sired childer, and they can certainly be in the city with you (you're all old and crap after all). If you want them to be loyal mind you, take some dots of allies (or plan to take some dots of allies that is).

[Orange Marmalade]

Concept is coming together... almost done!

[Meliai]

Hello hello!

I am one of those elusive dorks who actually finished their character the last time Mr Kolbrandr attempted this game, back with my Salubri Healer in hiding.

I am currently trying to claw my way out of a creative black hole so I might not be jumping in right at the very start of the game (depending on how quickly I'm back to fighting shape and how soon the game starts) but she'll pop up sooner or later.

[Kolbrandr]

As other people refine theirs, if everyone who has had a backstory approved wants to post it up publically to the thread, or as publically as you want if it otherwise contains things you want to keep secret, feel free.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Mei Shou  (Mary of Constantinople) 6th Toreador  769-789   Progeny of Petronius, grand childe of Beshtar/Michael.   

A dancer within a troupe from the empire of the Tang dynasty.    The Tang dynasty open the borders of the Chinese empire and allowed uninhibited trade with the world during the dynasty.  Turning the Chinese court into a center of worldly cosmopolitan.    Likewise on the flip side Chinese ambassadors would be dispatched to the other countries beyond the Tang dynasty to promote the new flowering trade of the empire.    The ambassador to impress the Byzantine empire and leaders of the city of Constantinople would hire the troupe to bring along for a three months of daily shows.    Mei the troupes center piece for her exotic beauty and graceful dance.  Catches the eye of many of the artisans of the Michaelite Toreadors of the city.    The way she moved in such a fluid grace, one with the world is how she is described.     Even Michael himself would attend the performances of the foreign troupe of dancers.   It is through during this time one of his own sired  Petronius.   A Roman satirist who heads the Michaelite Toreadors in Constantinople.    Known for his well known hedonistic forays as both when he was of mortal kline and of Caine's blood.    Mei through is no ordinary young woman.   She is from the magistrate caste within the Tang dynasty.    Her father a regional magistrate.   She is well schooled and her dance is truly of the heavens.   However, it is not her lone artistic skill,  she is quite talented with a masterful stroke in calligraphy.  The pieces she puts forth are of extraordinary beauty.

Her first couple of hundred years are spent as a center piece of great show for her sire.   She would sit for the many artist of both painters,  sculptors and likes.   It at one point over shadowed her love of calligraphy.  The demand for her time to pose was great.    It was during this time that she would fall into place along the her path.   A path that is close to her own sire hedonistic pursuits.    Via Voluptarius is the path that Mei finds herself drawn to.   It is what sustains the beast that burns within her.   Sinners who travel along the Path of Pleasure actually use these sensual things to control their Beast by giving the it what it wants, and using the finest things in life to do so as a way to secure this sacrament. Feelings such as shame, modesty, moderation, or morality are surefire ways to rouse the Beast to anger, and thus those who follow the Path of Pleasure tend to seclude themselves from the real world as much as possible. In spite of their reclusive natures, most Voluptuaries have a role in Cainite society as procurers of the rare, taboo, and pleasurable.

It is in the 10th century that Mei  almost goes the way of Gallasyn, childer of Enasius,  or more commonly known as Gallasyn the fallen.   Who fell to the wiles of the Setites.  For Michael would not forgive him for abandoning the dream.   As he was one of the original Roman cainites that had come with Michael.    Mei could not leave her grand sire and sire.   Not as Gallasyn had done.    However,  she becomes increasingly reclusive.   An then she finds the perfect place for seclusion.   As she is baptist in the year of 969 on the 4th day of the June.  To become a Eastern Orthodox Christian.    She would in 989 take the vows of becoming a Nun within the church to serve god.    In her thought she believed in her grand sire,  believed he truly is the arch angel of God.     With zeal she went about building influence and control within the church.    While feeding her appetites in search of rare and taboo pleasures.   Weeding out those within the church hierarchy that blasphemy refuted her grand sire claims as grandeur of delusion.    However, a deeper secret is rumor about the one know as Mary of Constantinople.   A secret that could shake the very foundations of both the eastern and western churches of Christianity.   Even more then the claim of hubris of declaring oneself an angel of god.   A secret agenda that she has long been working towards.   That has attracted a cult of followers.

[Meliai]

Amélie des Fleurs

Background
In the early tenth century, a cainite monk from a Parisian abby found himself growing increasingly obsessed with a small flower shop near by. The monk, a Salubri healer, wandered inside one day and was shocked to find a rare herb, not native to the surrounding area, sitting on a shelf. He purchased it immediately, and enquired of the shopkeeper how he had grown such an exotic plant so far from its native soil. The shopkeeper evaded the monks questions, citing trade secrets, but the monk would not be dissuaded. He placed an order for several more medicinal herbs from far-flung corners of the continent, and he watched.

It took months of observation, but eventually the monk (Well, his mortal servants mostly. Little gardening takes place at night.) discovered that it was not the shopkeeper but the young bride of the owner who was nurturing the rarer flowers and herbs for sale in the shop.
The girl was quiet and shy, darting out of sight any time the monk tried to approach her, but again his allies among the local kine proved to be the key that would unlock the door to the fascinating young woman. Her name was Amélie, the middle child of a minor noble family. Though much beloved by her mother, she’d been scorned by her father when her appearance - much unlike her siblings’ - drew rumors that her mother had been defiled (or worse, unfaithful!) during one of the many barbarian raids Paris suffered through. When she was 15 she’d been unceremoniously married off to a wealthy merchant, the unpleasant rumors of her true parentage making her unapealing to even the most humble of noble families.

Her husband paid her little mind; it seemed the prestige of marrying a high-born girl was his only real interest, his numerous mistresses keeping him more than satisfied in other areas. Amélie, finding her days rather empty, took to a scholarly life and soon discovered a remarkable green thumb after perusing a number of volumes on botany, as well as a deep yearning to see the people and place she could only read about. She’d spent many of the days since her marriage in a sort of self-imposed isolation, gardening, reading, and attempting to draw the exotic lands she’d only seen in her mind. Though the strange robed man’s approach always spooked her, she was far more receptive when he sent young female thralls to her.

The monk worked slowly through his agents, learning about the girl and sewing the seeds of trust. Eventually, some time during Amélie’s 17th year, the monk approached her (his friends among the mortals having mentioned him and his trustworthiness with increasing frequency over the past year) and convinced her to run away with him. The pair left Paris and spent many of the following months on the road, where the monk observed and tested the gardener outside the safe but stifling walls she’d lived all of her brief life inside. She proved to be as nurturing and kind as the monk had hoped, and she was embraced shortly after her 18th birthday.

Amélie spent several years traveling with her sire, acquiescing to her new existence and learning the path of the healer. For nearly two hundred and fifty years afterward, she lived a remarkably peaceful life. She of course had to endure the same struggles every cainite does, but her quiet, helpful nature found her many friends and eased many of her burdens. She traveled as far and wide as she could, spending a few years in one region before moving on to the next, learning and teaching all she could as she went.

The wake of Saulot’s diablerization in 1133 was a terrible blow to Amélie. The good she’d been doing and the support, at times even adoration, of her fellow cainites was what made the harsh realities of undeath bearable. As her brothers and sisters were slaughtered and their reputation systematically destroyed, Amélie’s entire life fell apart. For fifty years she ran. At first, she tried to continue her mission of healing and care, but it seemed any time she revealed what she was, her trust was misplaced. Gradually she withdrew, isolating herself as much as possible. She shunned her duties as a healer as much as she could bare to, sequestering herself away in whatever gardens she could secure for herself. She reforged herself as a cloistered scholar and returned to the artistic skills she’d pursued in her mortal life, recording everything she’d learned in beautifully illuminated manuscripts, and when she’d penned all she knew she threw herself into newfound artistic passions, moving from ink on paper to oils on canvas and wood.

After nearly fifty years she found herself in Constantinople. She’d visited the city decades earlier and found herself drawn to its fading beauty like a moth to a flame, perhaps seeing its slow decline as a sort of mirror of her clan’s destruction.

Personality
Amélie has a gentle and empathic nature, the soul of a true healer, but she has not weathered the last few decades well. The deaths of so many loved ones, the betrayal of old friends, and the constant fear have led her to erect a shield of bitter cynicism around herself. Isolation does not suit her however, and as the years pass by she finds herself drawn more and more into the fold of Constantinople and its people, cainite and otherwise.

Amélie is patient and kind, traits she developed as a gardener that served her well during her years as a wandering healer. A natural caretaker, she often finds herself drawn to those in need of aid, be it physical or of a more ephemeral nature. In recent years she has fought this compulsion, as she found herself barely escaping from numerous traps in the years following Saulot’s death, but the longer she stays in Constantinople the harder she finds it to ignore the needs of the city and its people.

Recent History
Though the presence of another of her clan in the city was reassuring, when Amélie first arrived in Constantinople and presented herself to the patriarch she brought a gift in hopes of earning herself a place in his good graces, a finely bound and skillfully illuminated bible, transcribed by her own hand. The ploy worked better than she could have hoped. A number of the illustrations depicting the archangel Michael bore a striking resemblance to the cainite himself. Michael took this as a sign to bring the newcomer under his protection, and with his blessing she has been masquerading as a member of clan Toreador, keeping her forehead covered by a scarf and carefully avoiding anything that would reveal her third eye.

Despite her sire’s christian devotion, Amélie never quite took to the faith herself and finds the patriarch’s belief that he truly is the archangel quite troubling. Though deeply appreciative of Michael’s protection, the strange coincidence that he took as a sign from god instilled a deep unease in the girl and she prefers not to think about it too much, assuring herself that it must have been distant memories of seeing Michael on her earlier visit to Constantinople that resulted in the uncanny resemblance in her artwork.. Michael himself makes Amélie rather nervous, and she prefers to deal with Petronius instead, even when Michael is not in torpor.

Amélie’s haven is a (relatively) small but architecturally lovely villa within the Great Palace. Though the manor itself is not particularly large, it had a much more spacious atrium than others available with a large pool and carefully maintained garden. A handful of servants and three female “apprentices” of a sort, two painters and a botanist, form Amélie’s herd and reside at the villa.

[Sahariel]

Aetios/Gnaeus


Background:

Gnaeus was born in AD 430, the eldest son of a scion of the patrician Scipione branch of the Cornelii family and a mother of Visigoth abstraction. At eighteen, Gnaeus joined the imperial legions of Flavius Aetius. Gnaeus fought in the battle of the Catalaunian Plains in the Roman and Visigoth force that halted Attila’s advance into Italy. His valor was such that Flavius Aetius awarded him a rich prize of plunder and slaves. Clan Ventrue took an early interest in Gnaeus, when he was naught but a centurion. The Scipioness were integral to clan Ventrue’s success during Punic Wars. Tales of Gnaeus’s martial exploits reached the remnants of the Eternal Senate, and a veteran of the Punic Wars, the Ventrue Methuselah Gaius Marcellus.

Ultimately, the Eternal Senate chose to ghoul, rather than embrace, the young Gnaeus. For five years, Gnaeus served as a mouthpiece for his shadow regent Gaius Marcellus and the Eternal Senate. The Senate sought to stave off the dismemberment of the Western Empire via their mouthpiece Gnaeus and Flavius Aetius, the last great Roman General. Flavius Aetius named Gnaeus Primus Pilus of his First Legion, Reliable Flavian. Gnaeus was awarded honors in several campaigns. Notably, Gnaeus harassed Attila’s vast host with outriders during their rape of the Italian peninsula. After Flavius’s murder at that hands of Valentinian, Gnaeus lost his post as primus pilus, but continued to serve as a centurion under Flavius Petronius Maximus and fought the Vandals in the streets of Rome during their sack of the Imperial City in 455. The young Gnaeus became disgusted and disillusioned with the Eternal Senate’s ineffectiveness and indecisiveness, but continued to serve them as their mouthpiece and pawn; he was irrevocably addicted to Cainite vitae. Some months after his defense of the Imperial City, with naught but a handful of legionnaires, the Roman Ventrue decided to embrace young Gnaeus and begin his tutelage in the agoge. In 456, while Gnaeus was serving in Gaul, the Lasombra Sybil preempted the Roman Ventrue. 

After embracing the young centurion, Sybil enjoined Gnaeus to slay those who had brought about the atrophy and dismemberment of his beloved Rome. Lacking the vast resources of the Roman Ventrue and Toreador, Gnaeus fought them from the shadows. He orchestrated the deaths of two promising neonates, children of Ventrue and Toreador elders. Gnaeus also gained some measure of influence over Aegidius’s Army in Northern Gaul, but his machinations did little to forestall the inevitable fall of the Western Empire or damage the nascent Inconnu. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Gnaeus travelled into the wilds of Germany; indeed, he became somewhat mad. Half Cainite, half beast, he spent nearly a century stalking Gangrel, Tzmisce, and worse in Germania and Dacia. Sometime during the sixth century, Gnaeus entered into a struggle with a Gangrel elder. He chased and hunted the beast for weeks and, at the end of a long battle, gorged upon the beast’s blood and soul. His hunger sated, Gnaeus sank into the earth of a Dacian meadow. He slept for many years until he awoke to hear singing in his mother tongue.

Gnaeus rose from the earth and saw a great encampment of soldiers. He surreptitiously inserted himself within their army and travelled south with the crusader host of Godfrey of Bouillon. Gnaeus assumed the manners and language of the Frankish knights. He assumed the name Guillaume, the Frankish equivalent of William, the given name of the 11th century’s greatest soldier. After the resultant slaughter of the Weeks of Blood, Gnaeus lingered in the Holy Land and attached himself to an embryonic Christian Military Order, the Knights of Saint John, or the Knights Hospitaller. He forged an, at times, uneasy alliance with the French Toreador Alphonse des Rosiers. The alliance endured, in part, because neither Alphonse de Rosiers, nor any of his fellows, ever discovered “Guillaume’s” Latin name, nor his deeds during the twilight of the Western Empire.

The Inconnu were not forgotten, but in the centuries since Gnaeus’s departure from Italy, they had become all the more powerful and inscruitable. He searched and plotted, but, ultimately, their sect proved impenetrable. Gnaeus sought to preserve the Crusader states in the selfsame manner he sought to stave off the destruction of the Western Empire. He ghouled two promising knights and extended his influence to Italy, France and Spain. In 1158, Gnaeus changed his tabard and became the shadow regent of the Knights of Calatrava. He ruled, and on more than one occasion, fought beside the Iberian Knights. In time, reports of his prowess in battle against an Assamite Ancilla reached the Courts of Love and, in short order, he was denounced by the Grandmaster of the order and. Gnaeus fled Iberia with with a good deal of plunder, and two faithful ghouls.

Gnaeus longed for the Rome of his youth. Thus, he fled to Constantinople, and, to the elder’s amaze, Michael offered him sanctuary within the city. Indeed, the Methuselah displayed a saintliness that Cainites should not possess.  In 1195, Gnaeus received word of the Order of Calatrava’s disastrous defeat at Alarcos, and the elder entered a brief, dark rage. He adopted yet another language and set of customs; he took the name Aetios, a Hellenized version of his onetime General’s name. Aetios was also the name of a scheming eunuch and the irony was too acute to resist. Undeath makes a eunuch and a schemer of all men. During his short time in Constantinople, the tale of the Triumvirate’s Dream and the slow death of the same has made Gnaeus recall his years as a neonate, when he sought to save the Western Empire via Flavius Aetius. Michael and Dracon, and Caius’s treachery evoke memories of the treachery of Valentinus and his cronies, Petronius Maximus and Heraclius.

Gnaeus regards many of his Lasombra peers with distaste. He considers Magnus an ineffectual martinet and Peter an incompetent dullard. Sarah and Gabriella are both competent and capable. He shares a vision evocative of Gabriella’s vision of Constantinople. A strong city with connections to the Genoese Lasombra. Gnaeus reserves a profound contempt for Alfonzo and the Ventrue Caius. Alfonzo of Venice is no better than the rapacious Vandals who sacked the Imperial city, during Gnaeus’s mortal lifetime. Whereas Caius is guilty of a sin that recalls Valentinus’s treachery toward Flavius Aetius. Gnaeus’s attitude toward Constantine’s onetime lieutenant and the Venetian merchant is, at least outwardly, cordial. Although, Gnaeus would happily fillet the Patrician and the rapacious merchants if ever there were an opportune moment.

Image:

Gnaeus possesses his Visigoth mother’s dark hair and swarthy skin tone and his Latin father’s aquiline nose and patrician brow. During his mortal lifetime, he walked with a deadly martial grace. In the course of seven centuries, Gnaeus has refined his gait to a predatory, almost lupine bearing. The shadows about his eyes and face possess an unsettling and preternatural depth, a testament to his skill in Obtenebration. He is every inch the patrician and soldier.

[Orange Marmalade]

Here's the abbreviated/easily public knowledge version of what I've got worked out and approved - keeping it a bit short here so good info can be found out in character, or after connections are established :) Feel free to PM if you want to work out some shared background.

Name: Jordanes ibn Ziyad

Clan: Lasombra
Sire: Marcellus Rufus / Grandsire: Boukephos

Basic Info and Background:
Jordanes appears to be of mixed mortal blood, his parents being from two very disparate nations resulting in a swarthy look that could not be at all uncommonly found in later years from the region that would eventually become southern Spain.

He has traveled extensively across much of the known world and spent many of his younger Cainite years exploring the world through his new eyes. He remained mostly off the radar without making many waves for his younger life, biding his time as he looked for his true calling. He came to prominence around the same time that Antonius was removed and Caius took power. Almost immediately afterwards Jordanes became a fixture in Constantinople with Caius bestowing upon him the approval to begin his own Scion family in service to the Ventrue of the city.

Since that time he has worked closely as an ally of Caius, some saying he wants to siege control from him and others that he had hoped to become Caius's lover even as Caius had hoped to take Antonius's place with Michael. Either way, he proved effective at the tasks handed to him and over the last several centuries he has worked hard overseeing many of the city's trade contracts with the neighboring nations - a difficult task considering the number of enemies the city has throughout the region.

In the current nights, he works ruthlessly to help maintain the city, having bought into the Trinity's dream for the city and wanting to make a true name for himself across the Cainite world by being one of the movers and shakers in the perfect city they will one day achieve.

Personality:
Jordanes has the drive of a second son forever trying to prove himself. Far from desperate, however, he is a truly determined individual intent on making a name for himself and perfecting his skills. He often seems somewhat laid back, and at times soft spoken, though under it all lies his determination and a ferocity he keeps tightly restrained until called for.

[Kolbrandr]

Welp, that's four of you, which hits my minimum to work out a full game for, so, creation rules! (granted some of you already did this part last time, but still)

character creation guidelines:

Do not bother spending points on generation considering you are all 6th generation. Remember that you can't buy any background higher than 7 dots otherwise.

Do not buy the age background, it doesn't exist.

Otherwise, guidelines:

Your basic template works like this:

Attributes: 10 primary, 8 secondary, 6 tertiary, all start at 1 dot

Abilities: primary 13, secondary 9, tertiary 5, use the ones from Dark Ages: Vampire as much as possible, they start at 0 dots.

Disiciplines: 5

Backgrounds: 7

Virtues: 9 dots, they start at 1 dot.

And then spend 525 freebie/bonus points.

[Kolbrandr]

Also while we're here, what rating are you guys looking for with this? It seems like NC-Human or NC-Exotic would cover out to the furthest end of what anyone might want to truck in? Something scaled back from that? Other? I am more or less easygoing about ultimately preferred rating as far as that kind of thing.

[Orange Marmalade]

Awesome!

My vote would be NC-Exotic considering some of the various disciplines could technically move some things past 'normal' base humans.

Also for character generation - is there anything inherently off limits or limitations we should be aware of? Rare disciplines? Barred Path/Road choices or anything like that?

[Kolbrandr]

No daimonion/dark thaumaturgy/be prepared to justify to me anything particularly standing out as weirdballs and that I otherwise might say no to a thing. Other than that, not really.

[Amarlo]

As I am not as familiar with the Vampire WoD setting as I'd like to be, would I be able to play as perhaps... Someone's blood doll? Or Someone's somewhat newly sired childe?

Perhaps some other supernatural of some kind in the setting? I would love to participate in one way or another.

[RubySlippers]

I'm working on my character a HIGHLY PLACED Muslim Kindred diplomat on orders to represent the many Kindred courts among the Islamic Kindred and the cities Western Kindred.

[Kolbrandr]

As I am not as familiar with the Vampire WoD setting as I'd like to be, would I be able to play as perhaps... Someone's blood doll? Or Someone's somewhat newly sired childe?

Perhaps some other supernatural of some kind in the setting? I would love to participate in one way or another.

I very much appreciate the interest, but when the primary characters are centuries old vampires and I am making use of the vampire system and will be running plots thereby, a blood doll or newly sired vampire wouldn't really be capable of a lot on that scale.

[Amarlo]

Alright. Well I suppose I'll just have to watch then. :) Although I honestly didn't expect her to be able to do much anyways xD

[RubySlippers]

Okay I have an important question that is which Islamic Kindred Courts really matter, the major players, including strong warrior factions of a nomadic nature? As in the ones most likely to make the city Kindred nervous.

[Kolbrandr]

just checking in with people working on stats, how is that goin?

[Orange Marmalade]

I'm almost done with mine! :) The last bits are the hardest trying to round things out.

[AndyZ]

I haven't given up on this game, but I haven't been able to get any decent inspiration :-/ I'm sorry.

[RubySlippers]

just checking in with people working on stats, how is that goin?

My character should be done by tomorrow.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Also while we're here, what rating are you guys looking for with this? It seems like NC-Human or NC-Exotic would cover out to the furthest end of what anyone might want to truck in? Something scaled back from that? Other? I am more or less easygoing about ultimately preferred rating as far as that kind of thing.

I second the NC-Exotic.   Especially if we get a Tscimze player that is quite inventive.   It's the safe pick.     

[Kolbrandr]

I second the NC-Exotic.   Especially if we get a Tscimze player that is quite inventive.   It's the safe pick.   

Well that's two for NC-Exotic, and the reasoning is fair enough certainly, if everyone else is cool by that, that's what we'll go with.

[Kolbrandr]

I haven't given up on this game, but I haven't been able to get any decent inspiration :-/ I'm sorry.

That's alright, it happens. If you happen have a character notion while the game starts going, just let me know and we'll see what we can do. You still have a bit of time in the meantime otherwise.

[RubySlippers]

Salamah Al-Majidah
Ashirra Diplomat

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

SALAMAH AL-MAJIDAH
Ashirra Diplomat
Merchant Lord

Clan: El Hajazi Ventrue
Generation: 6th
Nature: Caretaker & Defender
Demeanor: Caregiver

ATTRIBUTES
PHYSICAL
Strength  5   -stronger than she looks-
Dexterity  5  -catlike reflexes-
Stamina  7  -rugged-
SOCIAL
Charisma  6  -natural leader-
Manipulation  7  -cunning-
Appearance  4  -classic beauty-
MENTAL
Perception 6  -discerning-
Intelligence  7  -brilliant-
Wits  5  -quick thinking-

ABILITIES
TALENTS 
Alertness  5  -sense danger-
Athletics 3
Brawl 4  -claws-
Dodge 4  -evade-
Empathy  4  -sense emotions-
Expression  4  -written works-
Intimidation  5  -formidable-
Leadership  5  -forceful-
Subterfuge  5  -hide motives-
SKILLS
Animal Ken  3
Archery 3
Commerce  6  -Islamic trade-
Crafts  4  -optics-
Etiquette  3
Melee  3
Performance  3
Ride  3
Stealth  4  -quiet footed-
Strategy  5  -urban-
Survival  3
KNOWLEDGES
Academics  7  -astronomy-
Geography  3
Investigation  3
Law  4  -trade-
Linguistics  3
Medicine  3
Occult  5  -vampire lore-
Politics  5  -Cainite-
Seneschal  4  -estate management-
Theology  7  -Islam-

ADVANTAGES
BACKGROUNDS
Allies (Childer) 7
Domain (Couple City Blocks)  5
Domain Security  2   
Influence (Constantinople Poor)  5
Influence (Trade Routes)  7
Resources  - Clan Merit PARAGON - Farm Land (share cropping), Salt Mine, Shares of Many Businesses, Caravans, etc. 8
Retainers  7
Status (The Ashirra)  7

DISCIPLINES
Animalism  1
Auspex  1
Celerity  3
Dominate  -Fealty-  6
Fortitude  7
Obfuscate 2
Potence  5
Presence  -Passion-  6
Protean  3
VIRTUES
Conscience  4
Self-Control  5
Courage  5

TARIQ EL-SAMA'  9
WILLPOWER  9
BLOOD POOL

CLAN WEAKNESS: Can only feed on the blood of female mortals, properly consecrated.

MERITS
Blush of Health  [2-pt. Merit]
Dual-Nature  [2-pt. Merit]
Eidetic Memory  [2-pt. Merit]
Open Road  [2-pt. Merit]
Paragon - Resources  [6-pt.  Merit, Clanbook Ventrue]

FLAWS
None

FREEBIE POINTS
Disciplines 29 Dots  -133FP
Virtues 2 Dots  -4FP
Willpower  +4 Dots  -4FP
Attributes +18 Dots  -90FP
Backgrounds +64 Dots  -70FP
Abilities +100 Dots  -200FP
Merits 14 Pts.  -14FP

Background:

Born in the early years of the rise of Islam honoring Allah the Just and Merciful adopted by a powerful leader of men, schooled in war and in the kindness adopted by the most honorable Hajji Jenaab Gilgamesh Khorram-Din defender of the faith and scholar of Sharia Law. (second is a title of roughly Sir or honored person) She showed an early aptitude for learning and was given a mans education save in the arts of war including the sciences although not at a school but still benefitted from the best education coin could buy and her adoptive father at nights lovingly schooled her in Islamic Law she never knew why he was gone every day and asked mostly he was working at important work for the King. She went on the Hajj with relatives when she was eighteen fortunatly not to far for her over others of the faith with longer distances to travel and did the rituals and while there acquired many books for her fathers library.

When she was in her twenties after a marriage that failed when she didn't have children she returned home and took up her work in sciences and writing books for women on the Koran mostly ones teaching the virtues including education noting the Prophet never said women should be ignorant in life. She also invested her monies in various interests some ship trading, spices and silks and art from many Muslim lands that elevate the soul in ways approved by the Koran. She also gained a reputation in charity like her father tending to the poor usually with business set-up and learning trades getting  a share of their businesses but not interest which is forbidden.

Then she took ill and was dying of a wasting disease ,cancer but not known as that, and her father embraced her after she agreed joining the Undead as a vampire her existance changed somewhat but she just used the new connections to gain more wealth, focus on her work and worked in her way in the Asharra as a woman of learning and scholarship, diplomat between domains largely neutral and student of the ways of the West. That is what made her of value when Rome fell they needed centuries later a diplomat to Constantinople the great city and its Kindred choosing her was easy. Up to then she never made waves in society and is known for her charity, devotion to the faith and to her people as a group so is not as powerful as many or devoted to war but did learn to defend herself since being a mortal but is respected among her blood as a scholar.

She did Sire a few times her children all women of genius or talent, wealth didn't matter but rather improving her blood with more worthy ones and wealth was easy to provide some investments and talents good for earning a living. None are with her at this time one is in Persia, one in Egypt and two in Damascus but are well regarded and positioned for women of the faith she favors being hands off once embraced to not sully their genius once a training period is over.  In the community she provides help to the poor Christians out of favor in society, Jews and of course the Muslim minority with conversion to the faith even more help.

Quotes:

We are required by Allah to convert others to our faith and mercy can bring the poor to Allah the Merciful, if that fails there if fire and the sword.

Coin is of value only for what it can do for Allah, its useless unused.

[Kolbrandr]

As long as the ones in this thread. (well, not Jordanes, that one is more the "knowable if looked into" version) Longer is fine as well.

[Kolbrandr]

I know some of you are being slowed down by life as far as finishing a background, but could I get a general update as to where everyone who hasn't otherwise given me a character sheet is on things?

[Meliai]

Amélie des Fleurs
Profile here

Name: Amélie Player: Meliai Chronicle: Byzantium

Nature: Caretaker Demeanor: Survivor Clan: Salubri

Generation: Sixth Concept: Unicorn hiding in the rose garden Haven: Villa on the grounds of the Great Palace

Attributes

Physical Strength Dexterity Stamina

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Social Charisma Manipulation Appearance

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Mental Perception Intelligence Wits

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Abilities

Talents Alertness Athletics Brawl Dodge Empathy Expression Intimidation Leadership Legerdemain Subterfuge

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●      ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Skills Animal Ken Archery Commerce Crafts Painting, Illumination Etiquette Melee Performance Singing, Dance Ride Stealth Survival

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    Portraits    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●        ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●      ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Knowledges Academics Trivuim Hearth Wisdom Investigation Law Linguistics Medicine Occult Politics Seneschal Theology

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    Botanical remedies    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●      ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Advantages

Disciplines Valeren Auspex Obsfucate Potence Animalism Celerity Presence

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    Path of the Healer    ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ●    ● ● ●    ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Backgrounds Mentor Herd Allies Contacts Domain Resources Retainers Status

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    Michael the Patriarch    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Virtues Conscience Self-Control Courage

● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ●

Miscellaneous

Road of Humanity ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Willpower ● ● ● ● Bloodpool ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Health Bruised Hurt Injured Wounded Mauled Crippled Incapacitated

-1 -1 -2 -2 -5

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Weakness Cannot harm another, even in self-defense. Doing so subtracts 2 dice from all roles for the remainder of the scene. Any use of Valeren above the second level causes third eye to open. Concealing an open eye is painful and imparts a one die penalty to all rolls.

Bonus Point Spending

Attribute increases - 50 points

• Stamina to 5 (+2)
  
• Charisma to 6 (+3)
  
• Manipulation to 3 (+2)
  
• Perception to 6 (+2)
  
• Intelligence to 7 (+1)
  
• Wits to 5 (+2)

Ability increases
Talents - 54 points

• Alertness to 6 (+4)
  
• Athletics to 2 (+2)
  
• Dodge to 5 (+5)
  
• Empathy to 7 (+4)
  
• Expression to 4 (+4)
  
• Leadership to 3 (+3)
  
• Subterfuge to 5 (+5)

Skills - 59 points

• Animal Ken to 6 (+6)
  
• Crafts to 7 (+4)
  
• Craft field of expertise, Illumination
  
• Craft specialty, portraits
  
• Etiquette to 5 (+2)
  
• Performance to 6 (+4)
  
• Performance field of expertise, dance
  
• Stealth to 7 (+7)
  
• Survival to 5 (+5)

Knowledges - 77 points

• Academics to 7 (+7)
  
• Hearth Wisdom to 7 (+4)
  
• Hearth Wisdom Specialty, Botanicals
  
• Investigation to 4 (+3)
  
• Law to 4 (+3)
  
• Linguistics to 7 (+5)
  
• Medicine to 7 (+4)
  
• Occult to 4 (+3)
  
• Politics to 3 (+3)
  
• Seneschal to 3 (+2)
  
• Theology to 5 (+4)
  

Disciplines - 252 points

• Valeren +5 (2x levels 2,3, and 4)
  
• Auspex +6
  
• Obfuscate +4
  
• Potence +3
  
• Animalism +4
  
• Celerity +7
  
• Presence +7

Backgrounds - 29 points

• Herd to 2 (+1)
  
• Allies to 7 (+7)
  
• Contacts to 3 (+3)
  
• Domain to 4 (+4)
  
• Resources to 3 (+3)
  
• Retainers to 7 (+7)
  
• Status to 4 (+4)

Tentatively done crunch stuff!
I still need to talk to Kolbrandr about who, specifically, my Allies and Contacts are, but I believe all my other backgrounds are covered in my bio.

[Orange Marmalade]

Sorry, been slacking on this - I should have it finished up today (Friday)

[Kolbrandr]

This just came up when talking char creation. Yes, you can take combo disciplines at starting if you know from what those suckers are and have one in mind and run it by me obviously.

Does 1/3rd of its xp cost in bp sound fair? Question opened to the floor.

[RubySlippers]

I can't seem to come up with such a long character background.

[Kolbrandr]

Would you like me to resend you your previous character background?

[RubySlippers]

My clan changed but that could work, so do so.  :-)

[Kythia]

Is this still recruiting?

[RubySlippers]

Likely, the more the merrier.

[Kolbrandr]

Is this still recruiting?

Still recruiting, yep! Worse comes to worse you just join in slightly after the others.

[Kythia]

Cool.  Looking at either a Malkavian prophetess, a Lasombra nun or a Tzimsce nobleman's wife.  Any preference?

[Kolbrandr]

I'd lean to the first or third of those, if only because we don't have anyone from either of those clans as of yet, though if the nun appeals to you, go with that.

Bear in mind with the nobleman's wife thing, you're several centuries old, if you're a nobleman's wife, that would likely be under some kind of cover identity or some suchery.

[Kythia]

Yeah, I got that covered.  Ghouls and Vicissitude make such affairs easy.

I think I might go with the noble, actually.  Got a relatively cool concept.  Or I think so at least.

[Kolbrandr]

Feel free to pursue it then. Let me know if you have any questions otherwise, and just remember to shoot me a character backstory first before you do any sheet work.

[Kolbrandr]

any updates from those still working on backstories?

[Orange Marmalade]

any updates from those still working on backstories?

How are we doing sheet-wise? I think I still need to flesh out some allies/contacts/etc kinda stuff with your help too :)

[Kythia]

Working on it.  Sorry, busy weekend.

[RubySlippers]

I just need to do her Childer as her Allies and add them to her background. 

[RubySlippers]

I decided not to play this.

[Kolbrandr]

Alright, fair enough.

[Kythia]

I'm still in.  Working on backstory once I finish one more post.

[Kolbrandr]

How are we doing sheet-wise? I think I still need to flesh out some allies/contacts/etc kinda stuff with your help too :)

Was hoping to get everyone's sheets in before doing comparative work of "how do they look between each other", but I'll just forge ahead with sorting out stat questions I think with Ruby dropping out.

[Kolbrandr]

I'm still in.  Working on backstory once I finish one more post.

Cool, you have some time.

[Kythia]

Do you want the backstory PMing or posted here?

[Kolbrandr]

PM first would be ideal

[Kolbrandr]

slight delay while I scream in frustration and smash my head into my desk at Ell having eaten some of the posts I was sending out on your characters. I think the one to Kythia got through.

[Kythia]

It did ;D

[Kolbrandr]

just as a status update, Kythia's background is largely approved, talking with everyone else on fleshing out their backgrounds (in terms of the actual stat, allies and contacts mostly) or in one case a particular flaw mostly.

[Orange Marmalade]

I'm eager to play!

Kolbrandr, sorry for the delays on some of the background stuff I'm working on. Had a shitload of stuff at work to deal with, plus things got a bit busy in the personal life, PLUS my computer died leaving me my crappy laptop. But I'm unpacking my new computer as I write this.

[Kythia]

ADRIANA KOURKOUAS NEE VÃDUVA   

Adriana's story starts with stupidity and sadism, neither of them hers.  It starts with a Byzantine noble newly awakened as a mage and, having no contacts within that world, utterly incapable of assessing his own power.  John Kourkouas would have been a Solificati if things had worked out differently, and perhaps even a good one.  His first major action was a massive mistake though and he never recovered from it.  Through good (bad?) luck he realised shortly after his awakening that the western foreigner leaving the city was more than he appeared, a vampire.  Working with the vital essence of such a creature would be a step forwards, without a doubt, to perfecting his own physical form and after discrete enquiries around town he managed to find out that the foreigner hailed from Dacia to the west.  He travelled there to confront the beast in its own lair, completely confident in his abilities.

Nikolae Trepescu, though knew of mages.  Nikolae Trepescu knew most things; a Kolduni sorceror of great power with only Laanto Dormotji between him and the...being known as Tzimisce.  Some upstart barely awakened kine was no threat and could have been dispatched effortlessly.  That wasn't the route he took though, his sadism was far more developed than that.  Instead he feigned bargaining for his life.  No, no, please don't kill me, think of what I can offer you.  And so on.  Eventually a bargain was struck, a very human bargain.  Because John was still new to being a mage and his desire to understand the secrets of the universe took a second place to his desire for an attractive and never aging wife.  A peasant girl was chosen from one of the villages under Nikolae's rule and, after a brief training period, the two of them were dispatched beack to Byzantium.  John happy with his new eternally young wife and confident he would eventually purify his flesh and become unaging alongside her.  Nikolae, the wiser of the two by an immeasurable distance, happy with the certainty that John would regret trying to threaten him for the rest of his days.

He has.  That was five hundred and thirty eight years ago and, for a given value of alive, he's still alive.  And very much regretting it.  Adriana took over the family without noticeable difficulty and used the contacts here sire had given her in Byzantium to parley her way into Cainite life.  Periodically she makes minor changes to her appearance and reinvents herself as her daughter, snaring some stupid young noble who snaps up the chance to gain the Kourkouas riches from their sadly son-less family. Noone ever notices, who keeps track of these things on the centuries long scale that would be needed to spot a pattern.  Besides the Cainites, of course, and they already know.  Adriana has long since forgotten what she originally looked like, having "aged" and then become younger so very many times. She's rarely seen by the Kine anyway, and if her husband seems distracted constantly then, well, he's a busy man running the vineyards of the family.  Noone who didn't know could possibly guess it was often her mind lurking behind his eyes.  Noone who didn't know could ever guess that her centuries old first husband still existed - lived is a strong word - in the cavernous cellars of the house though even those who did know would struggle to recognise the crawling shambling monstrosity as human.

Among the kine that know her, which is few, she's known as an intelligent and witty young girl of seventeen - at the start of he campaign she's back at the start of the cycle - with the long black hair and pale skin of her family (she's no longer sure if those are original looks or something she picked up along the centuries, but its certainly lasted a while now).

Among the Cainites of the city, she's known as a sort of sommelier.  She has, over the centuries, honed and further honed her taste for blood and now serves as a "procurer" of speciality and hard to find refreshments for Toreador salons, Malkavian whims, Setite rituals and Ventrue who are out of choices.  Her easy procurement of anything you might ask spiced with anything you might ask is the source of her status and is supplied by alter egos througout the city and numerous fleshcrafted prisoners tended to by the tentacles of her once-husband.

Stats to follow in a bit

[Kythia]

I hope you don't mind, Meliai, but I stole your awesome layout

underway

Adriana Kourkouas

Name: Adriana Player: Kythia Chronicle: Byzantium

Nature: Architect Demeanor: Survivor Clan: Tzimisce

Generation: Sixth Concept: Sommelier Haven: Kourkoaus estate just outside the city

Attributes

Physical Strength Dexterity Stamina

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Social Charisma Manipulation Appearance

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Mental Perception Intelligence Wits

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Abilities

Talents Alertness Athletics Brawl Dodge Empathy Expression Intimidation Leadership Legerdemain Subterfuge

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●      ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Skills Animal Ken Archery Body Crafts Commerce Crafts Etiquette Melee Performance Ride Stealth Survival

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●        ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●      ● ● ● ● ● ● ●        ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Knowledges Academics Hearth Wisdom Investigation Law Linguistics Medicine Occult Politics Seneschal Theology

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●        ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●      ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Advantages

Disciplines Animalism Auspex Thaumaturgy Path of Blood Vicissitude

●        ●    ●        ● ●

Backgrounds Herd Status

● ● ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Virtues Conscience Self-Control Courage

● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ●    ● ● ● ● ●

Miscellaneous

Road of Humanity ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Willpower ● ● ● ● Bloodpool ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Health Bruised Hurt Injured Wounded Mauled Crippled Incapacitated

-1 -1 -2 -2 -5

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Weakness Must sleep in at least two handfuls of soil from the village of her birth.  Failure to do so halves dicepool each successive night to a minimum of 1

Bonus Point Spending

Attribute increases - 50 points

Ability increases
Talents - 54 points

• Alertness to 6 (+4)
  
• Athletics to 2 (+2)
  
• Dodge to 5 (+5)
  
• Empathy to 7 (+4)
  
• Expression to 4 (+4)
  
• Leadership to 3 (+3)
  
• Subterfuge to 5 (+5)

Skills - 59 points

• Animal Ken to 6 (+6)
  
• Crafts to 7 (+4)
  
• Craft field of expertise, Illumination
  
• Craft specialty, portraits
  
• Etiquette to 5 (+2)
  
• Performance to 6 (+4)
  
• Performance field of expertise, dance
  
• Stealth to 7 (+7)
  
• Survival to 5 (+5)

Knowledges - 77 points

• Academics to 7 (+7)
  
• Hearth Wisdom to 7 (+4)
  
• Hearth Wisdom Specialty, Botanicals
  
• Investigation to 4 (+3)
  
• Law to 4 (+3)
  
• Linguistics to 7 (+5)
  
• Medicine to 7 (+4)
  
• Occult to 4 (+3)
  
• Politics to 3 (+3)
  
• Seneschal to 3 (+2)
  
• Theology to 5 (+4)
  

Disciplines - 252 points

• Valeren +5 (2x levels 2,3, and 4)
  
• Auspex +6
  
• Obfuscate +4
  
• Potence +3
  
• Animalism +4
  
• Celerity +7
  
• Presence +7

Backgrounds - 29 points

• Herd to 2 (+1)
  
• Allies to 7 (+7)
  
• Contacts to 3 (+3)
  
• Domain to 4 (+4)
  
• Resources to 3 (+3)
  
• Retainers to 7 (+7)
  
• Status to 4 (+4)

[Kythia]

Man, spending this many dots takes a lot of time.  I need a break.  Completed sheet to come soon, though.

[Kythia]

This just came up when talking char creation. Yes, you can take combo disciplines at starting if you know from what those suckers are and have one in mind and run it by me obviously.

Does 1/3rd of its xp cost in bp sound fair? Question opened to the floor.

Could I get a call on this please?  Original source is the Revised Tzimisce Clanbook.  How many dots in retainers for one of those puppies?  Don't worry,it won't go out and about. 

While you're ruling what about this one.  Original source is Player's Guide to the High Clans.

As a final ruling, whats the word on alternative powers for disciplines above 5?

EDIT:  Also, four posts on the trot.  Go me.  Who needs stupid other people to have a conversation with.

[Kolbrandr]

If you mean, can you take multiple powers for a discipline rating, sure (like taking, I don't know, both flesh of marble and earth travel for protean 6, or having both potence 6 as potence 6 for the main effect and also a potence 6 power) just remember to buy the discipline dot twice. If you mean, can you come up with your own high level disciplines? Mayyyyybe.

The combo disc is possible. A vozhd is possible, but I need to ponder what I'd rate that at.

[Kythia]

If you mean, can you take multiple powers for a discipline rating, sure (like taking, I don't know, both flesh of marble and earth travel for protean 6, or having both potence 6 as potence 6 for the main effect and also a potence 6 power) just remember to buy the discipline dot twice. If you mean, can you come up with your own high level disciplines? Mayyyyybe.

The first one  ;D

Are we assuming that the V:DA book gives the "default" level 6 powers?  That is to say, do I have to take that one and then can buy an alternate level six, or can I just use the alternate level 6.

My gut feeling for the vozhd was 3.  Per the book that's "Three retainers or two above average retainers or one remarkable retainer" (And I'd then spend a few more to get a few more normal ones) But, obviously, what you say goes.

[Kolbrandr]

You can use the alternate discipline dot instead if you want, instead of having to take the DA:V one. Remember you can also take a disc as high as 7 and that you'd have to plumb other books for options for those anywho.

[Kythia]

Yeah, I got them lined up.  Want me to run 'em by you before I finalise?  All from official sources, I wouldn't touch homebrew with yours.

[Kolbrandr]

I'd need to know what they are anyway after all.

[Meliai]

I hope you don't mind, Meliai, but I stole your awesome layout

Don't mind at all! :-)
Anyone else who feels so inclined is free to use it as well. Hopefully the tables aren't too difficult to figure out.

[Kythia]

I'm sorry this is taking me forever, by the way.  Up to 342 points spent, but do feel free to start without me if I'm holding up the carnival

[Kolbrandr]

I'm still waiting on a few people to flesh out the last of their childer and allies and such things anyway really.

[Kolbrandr]

I'm eager to play!

Kolbrandr, sorry for the delays on some of the background stuff I'm working on. Had a shitload of stuff at work to deal with, plus things got a bit busy in the personal life, PLUS my computer died leaving me my crappy laptop. But I'm unpacking my new computer as I write this.

Any luck yet?

[Sahariel]

Okay, so I made an Old Flame up from Whole Cloth, but I have been totally swamped with real life, of late. I am really looking forward to this game, is there anyway Gnaeus could drop in maybe one week into things?

[Kolbrandr]

Sure. I'm waiting on a few more things from a few more people, so if by chance you manage to sort things out before then..

[Kolbrandr]

Speaking of which: Meliai- anything on finalizing your allies?

Kythia- let's see how the Vohzd does as a level four retainer, if that feels in play as having been too costly, I'll reduce it and we'll do something with the free points. Also, any luck finishing up?

Generally: Can you guys note which particular advanced disciplines you took if you took different ones from those in the core, or additional ones, or etc.

[Kythia]

Do it tonight, was just waiting on that.

[Orange Marmalade]

How are we lookin, bossman?

[Kolbrandr]

Still waiting on a few sheets being finished/filled out.

[Kolbrandr]

checking in again on how this is going for those still unfinished.

[Kolbrandr]

anyone heard anything from Kythia?

[Meliai]

Not I, though it looks like she's been around the boards

[Kythia]

I am indeed around the boards. Whatcha need me for?

[Kolbrandr]

Did you finish up your character?

[Kythia]

I did.  Pretty certain I sent it you?  At work at the mo, but when I get to my home computer I'll resend it.

[Kolbrandr]

Don't have it, no.

[Kolbrandr]

Meliai had to remake their character due to a laptop kersplosion, once that's sorted, we'll get this going. Admittedly most of you still have incomplete stuff, but I feel like if I keep waiting, this is just never going to happen, so we'll just go ahead and try to manage with what's been sorted out.

[Elias]

any openings left?

[Meliai]

Just wanted to pop on while I have a spare moment to apologize for my slowness. Work has been hectic lately, and on top of that my roommate and I are hunting for a new apartment which is consuming most of my free time and energy.

I'll do my best to get my stuff wrapped up this weekend, but sadly I can't make any promises :c

[Kolbrandr]

Hey, so, with Kythia on hiatus and Meliai just not getting back to me for over a month now (and honestly, my basically having had to let go Kythia not actually finishing her sheet), that reduces the players in this to the point of being unviable again, so, while likely not a shock to those remaining, this obviously isn't happening again.

Ah well. I think trying to do this twice and ending up at the same place each time sends a message that I will heed.

Just figured to not have the thread linger as dead without confirming note of this not happenin, would have felt a bit jerkish.