Vampire the Masquerade - 20's-30's in the Divided City.
- Thread starter Blackrat
- Start date
Bloodweaver1
First Post
When will selections be made or is eveyone playing together?
-Blood
-Blood
Delusion
First Post
The story of the life of James Maynard is one of survival. He was born via c-section on October 13th, 1843 on a Friday in New York City. He had three brothers and a sister, and had always been considered the black sheep of the family, even when all four of his siblings died during childhood from disease or other freak accidents. He thought surely he would die too when he was drafted into the army at age 18 at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. He was right, in a way.
For years, Jim, as he came to be called by his comrades, fought and narrowly escaped death more times than he cared to remember. For a great deal of his time in the army, he served under General Ulysses S. Grant and fought in 4 of the 10 bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, watching all those he came to know and love die. He was shot 4 times, miraculously avoiding becoming an amputee - once in the shoulder, twice in the leg, and once in the foot. He was nearly struck by artillery fire multiple times, and killed more men than he dared to count. As the war went on, Maynard's heart grew colder. Any belief in a God of any sort had been erased by the images of men lieing in crumpled lifeless forms covered in blood and gore. When the war ended in 1865 as he was packing up to go home, he recieved a letter informing him his parents were dead. He tried to take his own life in his tent that night.
With the muzzle of his musket in his mouth and his finger on the trigger, he suddenly realized someone was in the tent with him - though he was certain no one was there when he had first come in, and no one had enterered through the front of the tent. A cold hand was placed on his shoulder, and Maynard began to weep. "There, there," said a cold voice with its best effort at sympathy. "You don't know the meaning of true despair, boy," it said. Maynard dropped his weapon and looked up to see a bearded man in Union uniform - a general from the look of him. Who it was, he cannot be sure, as the next thing he remembers is waking up in his tent covered in blood with a mangled corpse beside him. A note was pinned to the exit of his tent. "You've been given a second chance, Jim - at a price. Never again will you see the light of day, and every single night for the rest of your existence, you will be forced to kill a man. You'd better start running, Jim. The nearest place to take shelter from the sun's rays is miles from here. Run, Jim. P.S. - I do hope you enjoyed your first meal." Horrified, he ran.
Realizing what he was and slowly making his way back to New York City under the cover of night, Maynard took his second chance and never looked back. He knew that night that only one thing and one thing only mattered - survival. This new outlook on life suited him, as he took what he pleased and killed whoever stood in his way. He became wealthy in this way quickly, and furthered his financial status when alcohol was made illegal via bootlegging. He resides in Brooklyn to this day, operating his alcohol smuggling business day and night with the help of his lackeys. For the most part, he tries to stay off the radar of the local Kindred and out of Kindred political affairs.
When Maynard was embraced in 1865 on the battlefield, his hair was unkempt and his face unshaven in weeks. He reverts to this state every day of slumber, though he goes through great lengths to maintain professional appearances. His dark black hair is slicked back, and he favors the modern fashion of suits, trenchcoats, and derby hats. His eyes are a pale icey blue, and he still bears many scars all over his body and face from his time in the war.
Edit: Forgot to clarify that Maynard is a Gangrel.
For years, Jim, as he came to be called by his comrades, fought and narrowly escaped death more times than he cared to remember. For a great deal of his time in the army, he served under General Ulysses S. Grant and fought in 4 of the 10 bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, watching all those he came to know and love die. He was shot 4 times, miraculously avoiding becoming an amputee - once in the shoulder, twice in the leg, and once in the foot. He was nearly struck by artillery fire multiple times, and killed more men than he dared to count. As the war went on, Maynard's heart grew colder. Any belief in a God of any sort had been erased by the images of men lieing in crumpled lifeless forms covered in blood and gore. When the war ended in 1865 as he was packing up to go home, he recieved a letter informing him his parents were dead. He tried to take his own life in his tent that night.
With the muzzle of his musket in his mouth and his finger on the trigger, he suddenly realized someone was in the tent with him - though he was certain no one was there when he had first come in, and no one had enterered through the front of the tent. A cold hand was placed on his shoulder, and Maynard began to weep. "There, there," said a cold voice with its best effort at sympathy. "You don't know the meaning of true despair, boy," it said. Maynard dropped his weapon and looked up to see a bearded man in Union uniform - a general from the look of him. Who it was, he cannot be sure, as the next thing he remembers is waking up in his tent covered in blood with a mangled corpse beside him. A note was pinned to the exit of his tent. "You've been given a second chance, Jim - at a price. Never again will you see the light of day, and every single night for the rest of your existence, you will be forced to kill a man. You'd better start running, Jim. The nearest place to take shelter from the sun's rays is miles from here. Run, Jim. P.S. - I do hope you enjoyed your first meal." Horrified, he ran.
Realizing what he was and slowly making his way back to New York City under the cover of night, Maynard took his second chance and never looked back. He knew that night that only one thing and one thing only mattered - survival. This new outlook on life suited him, as he took what he pleased and killed whoever stood in his way. He became wealthy in this way quickly, and furthered his financial status when alcohol was made illegal via bootlegging. He resides in Brooklyn to this day, operating his alcohol smuggling business day and night with the help of his lackeys. For the most part, he tries to stay off the radar of the local Kindred and out of Kindred political affairs.
When Maynard was embraced in 1865 on the battlefield, his hair was unkempt and his face unshaven in weeks. He reverts to this state every day of slumber, though he goes through great lengths to maintain professional appearances. His dark black hair is slicked back, and he favors the modern fashion of suits, trenchcoats, and derby hats. His eyes are a pale icey blue, and he still bears many scars all over his body and face from his time in the war.
Edit: Forgot to clarify that Maynard is a Gangrel.
Last edited:
Shalimar
First Post
Here is a more fleshed out version of my Lasombra Antitribu:
Gwen was the scion of a Ventrue household just beginning her training and indoctrination into the ways of business and politics that would serve her in the path her family intended for her. The young teen was expected to shine brightly after her eventual Embrace; unfortunately, her family had enemies, in particular the independent Lasombra Lucian. Lucian kidnapped and Embraced Gwen, tattooing her with the Lasombra sigil under her arm before doing the deed, an enduring insult to her Grandfather and the rest of the Archer clan.
Since her Embrace six months ago Gwen has been going through a crash course in all things Ventrue, teaching her in months what she would have been taught over years before she was finally embraced in her early twenties. At the moment she is in the unenviable position of being a reminder of an Elder’s failure, yet still being kept by his side out of a sense of duty. Gwen is the low girl on the totem pole in the Archer family, and has a lot of kindred looking over her shoulder to make sure she is more loyal to the family than to Lucian, and she has yet to rely find her place amongst the Camarilla Kindred, especially the rest of the Ventrue clan who she is doing her best to emulate in every way. She has drunken once each from every member of the Archer family, and once she has proven herself each member will sip once from her.
The Kindred know of Gwen, though she has yet to be formally introduced to the Prince and his court. Favors were burned with the Council and Prince on one side and with Sebastian on the other to mediate the dispute between Richard and Lucian without breaking the tenuous peace between factions that would have occurred had the Archers attempted to retrieve Gwen by force. The story spread, and most of the Kindred in the city consider her an amusing if helpless child(Harmless Merit).
[sblock=The Archers]Richard Archer came to New York almost 300 years ago, and he built his power base into the city as it grew, buying up controlling interests in the emerging industries to make his fortune. As time passed he turned his children to Ghouls as an introduction into the realm of the Kindred, refusing to embrace them until they had achieved a worthy success. As time passed, the family grew to the score or so of Archers there are today simply because the family was loyal to itself. Indeed, the first feeding of a family member is from a chalice filled with the vitae of all the family. Beyond long apprentice Ghoulships for the family members, the Archers also maintain a family line of ghoul servants that came over to the new world with Richard, the Mallory family.
While the Archers might be considered nominally Independent by some with a family complex in Brooklyn, the majority of the family make their home in Manhattan with the family supportive of the prince, having answered the Camarilla's call in the past.[/sblock]
Gwen was the scion of a Ventrue household just beginning her training and indoctrination into the ways of business and politics that would serve her in the path her family intended for her. The young teen was expected to shine brightly after her eventual Embrace; unfortunately, her family had enemies, in particular the independent Lasombra Lucian. Lucian kidnapped and Embraced Gwen, tattooing her with the Lasombra sigil under her arm before doing the deed, an enduring insult to her Grandfather and the rest of the Archer clan.
Since her Embrace six months ago Gwen has been going through a crash course in all things Ventrue, teaching her in months what she would have been taught over years before she was finally embraced in her early twenties. At the moment she is in the unenviable position of being a reminder of an Elder’s failure, yet still being kept by his side out of a sense of duty. Gwen is the low girl on the totem pole in the Archer family, and has a lot of kindred looking over her shoulder to make sure she is more loyal to the family than to Lucian, and she has yet to rely find her place amongst the Camarilla Kindred, especially the rest of the Ventrue clan who she is doing her best to emulate in every way. She has drunken once each from every member of the Archer family, and once she has proven herself each member will sip once from her.
The Kindred know of Gwen, though she has yet to be formally introduced to the Prince and his court. Favors were burned with the Council and Prince on one side and with Sebastian on the other to mediate the dispute between Richard and Lucian without breaking the tenuous peace between factions that would have occurred had the Archers attempted to retrieve Gwen by force. The story spread, and most of the Kindred in the city consider her an amusing if helpless child(Harmless Merit).
[sblock=The Archers]Richard Archer came to New York almost 300 years ago, and he built his power base into the city as it grew, buying up controlling interests in the emerging industries to make his fortune. As time passed he turned his children to Ghouls as an introduction into the realm of the Kindred, refusing to embrace them until they had achieved a worthy success. As time passed, the family grew to the score or so of Archers there are today simply because the family was loyal to itself. Indeed, the first feeding of a family member is from a chalice filled with the vitae of all the family. Beyond long apprentice Ghoulships for the family members, the Archers also maintain a family line of ghoul servants that came over to the new world with Richard, the Mallory family.
While the Archers might be considered nominally Independent by some with a family complex in Brooklyn, the majority of the family make their home in Manhattan with the family supportive of the prince, having answered the Camarilla's call in the past.[/sblock]
Blackrat
He Who Lurks Beyond The Veil
Okay. I've made my decision. Besides Isnaard and the other friend I invited those in are:
Festy_Dog with malkavian
Blood with assamite
Ambrus with the nosferatu
Shalimar with lasombra
Delusion. Now I still haven't heard from the other friend of mine and if it happens so that she isn't interested or someone drops out, then you're in too.
I'm pretty busy right now but I'll get back answering those question later.
Festy_Dog with malkavian
Blood with assamite
Ambrus with the nosferatu
Shalimar with lasombra
Delusion. Now I still haven't heard from the other friend of mine and if it happens so that she isn't interested or someone drops out, then you're in too.
I'm pretty busy right now but I'll get back answering those question later.
Bloodweaver1
First Post
Would it be ok for my character to be Assamite antitribu? And when would like final concepts and character sheets submitted?
-Blood
-Blood
Blackrat
He Who Lurks Beyond The Veil
The starting year will be 1926. So the great depression isn't a worry yet. You aren't a coterie per se, but you know eachother and know that you can trust the others as much as any vampire can be trusted. You are all still neonetes or ancillae and thus have something in common that you can't feel around the elders.Shalimar said:
The difference is subtle but it wouldn't be redundant.Festy_Dog said:
Not antitribu since those are all sabbat members. But if you mean a character who is not part of the clan hierarchy those are called dispossessed by other assamite and is perhaps the best option since they have the same weakness as modern day assamite and not the earlier.Bloodweaver1 said:
Take your time making your characters, I'll post a rogues gallery thread sometime this week and after that you can start posting sheets.
Shalimar
First Post
I just figured I'd mention that Gwen has yet to be formally presented, though that could happen at any time now since its been 6 months of training since her embrace. Once she has been presented it'll be easy enough for her to mix with the others.
Out of curiosity how long has this prince been in charge of the city?
Out of curiosity how long has this prince been in charge of the city?
Ambrus
Explorer
I'm trying to track down a copy of the Nosferatu revised Clanbook to flesh out my character properly. Hopefully I'll find one soon.
On another note, is anyone here knowledgeable about early twentieth century New York history? It'd be nice to work out a brief timeline of significant recent events for the city. What were the issues of the day? Who were the significant mortal figures of the time?
For instance, by 1926 New York's subway has been in operation for 22 years and is constantly being expanded. Completed in 1913, New York's Woolworth Building is the world's tallest building at fifty-seven stories (The Chrysler and Empire State buildings are only a short five years away though). John Calvin Coolidge Jr. is the current President of the United States. James J. Walker, a democrat, is the mayor of New York. The Great War, the war to end all wars, ended only eight short years earlier, roughly at the same time that the great Influenza Pandemic swept around the world; killing more people than the war itself. During the 20s, the population of the Greater New-York area is roughly five and a half million people. "The Gold Rush" is a popular silent film comedy staring the much loved Charlie Chaplin. Rumors are starting to circulate however that "talkies", movies with sound are being developed and will soon be screened. In October of the present year, news will break that the great Harry Houdini died suddenly while touring in Montreal. Prohibition has been in effect since the beginning of the decade, and consequently, secret Speakeasies are flourishing all over the city, along with the organized crime and police corruption neccessary to supply them.
Perhaps of most relevance to the kindred however is the resent release of the damning german-made film "Nosferatu" only four short years ago. It is to date the most accurate portrayal of modern vampires to be presented to the world's masses...
I find this kind of stuff helps put the era in context.
Edit: Blackrat, would you allow the 4-pt Physical merit Flyfingers? It allows one to naturally cling and climb surfaces a la Spiderman.
On another note, is anyone here knowledgeable about early twentieth century New York history? It'd be nice to work out a brief timeline of significant recent events for the city. What were the issues of the day? Who were the significant mortal figures of the time?
For instance, by 1926 New York's subway has been in operation for 22 years and is constantly being expanded. Completed in 1913, New York's Woolworth Building is the world's tallest building at fifty-seven stories (The Chrysler and Empire State buildings are only a short five years away though). John Calvin Coolidge Jr. is the current President of the United States. James J. Walker, a democrat, is the mayor of New York. The Great War, the war to end all wars, ended only eight short years earlier, roughly at the same time that the great Influenza Pandemic swept around the world; killing more people than the war itself. During the 20s, the population of the Greater New-York area is roughly five and a half million people. "The Gold Rush" is a popular silent film comedy staring the much loved Charlie Chaplin. Rumors are starting to circulate however that "talkies", movies with sound are being developed and will soon be screened. In October of the present year, news will break that the great Harry Houdini died suddenly while touring in Montreal. Prohibition has been in effect since the beginning of the decade, and consequently, secret Speakeasies are flourishing all over the city, along with the organized crime and police corruption neccessary to supply them.
Perhaps of most relevance to the kindred however is the resent release of the damning german-made film "Nosferatu" only four short years ago. It is to date the most accurate portrayal of modern vampires to be presented to the world's masses...
I find this kind of stuff helps put the era in context.
Edit: Blackrat, would you allow the 4-pt Physical merit Flyfingers? It allows one to naturally cling and climb surfaces a la Spiderman.
Last edited:
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