From January, 2010
Know Your Kindred – Melinda Galbraith
Name: Melinda Galbraith
Clan: Toreador antitribu
Generation: 5th
Embraced: 1143 BC
Melinda Galraith is considered to be one of the most dangerous vampires in the world, notorious for her cruelty. Melinda is a stunning woman with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. She is always dressed in the finest clothes money can buy. Once the Cardinal of Mexico City, she later became the Regent of the Sabbat.
Although Melinda was really a Toreador, she claims to be a Lasombra for purely political reasons, since traditionally the Regent comes from the Lasombra clan. Only the Seraphim of the Black Hand know Melinda’s true lineage.
In life, Melinda was a slave girl in Europe working for the Toreador, Helena. Melinda hated being a slave and promised herself that she wouldn’t let that happen to her again. Later she was Embraced by Helena and forced into a Blood Bond – another form of slavery.
Melinda traveled to Mexico with Helena and the Conquistadors, where they waged war against the Aztecs. Then without a word of warning Helena abandoned Melinda. But Melinda’s memories may not be accurate, as she’s been under the influence of the demon Baali known as Hitzilopoctli. He slumbers beneath her city and slowly twisted her mind. She is under the belief that Helena betrayed her. Hitzilopoctli prepared to make Melinda believe he was her sire and lover. Melinda still has feelings of love for Helena, but also of hatred for what she did to her.
Melinda went missing for months after a major unexplained disaster in Mexico City that killed thousands. Hitzilopoctli was the force behind the disaster. Melinda was trying to help him awaken from hundreds of years spent in torpor, but other vampires from the Camarilla interfered and a major earthquake and explosion erupted, devastating the Mexico City region. Hitzilopoctli disappeared, having either been destroyed or returned to his unending sleep. And Melinda vanished.
But before the Sabbat could replace her as Regent, Melinda returned and reaffirmed her position of power. But it was not Melinda who reappeared after the disaster. It was an entity known as the Red Death, a being who could make itself look like anyone it comes in contact with. While the Red Death can copy appearances, it cannot capture memories and this false Melinda was exposed as an impostor and killed before the Seraphim.
*Note: The Red Death Trilogy is now considered to be non-canon. Here is another account of Melinda’s disappearance:
Since the 2001 Palla Grande, Melinda has kept a terrible secret – she is actually Zachary Sikorsky, a Tzimisce impostor. Zachary was scheduled to meet Melinda and present her a “costume” for the big ball that night. But upon entering the room he found her crumbling body on the floor and a strange sign painted in blood on the wall of her dressing room.
Fearing the elders would accuse him of her murder, or atleast make him the scapegoat, Zachary quickly changed his appearance and took her place inorder to save his own life.
He intended to only impersonate her until the festivities were over and he would simply slip away into the night. But weeks and then months went by and Zachary never found a chance to escape from the Regent’s retinue of bodyguards, aides, supplicants and cronies.
– Source: Chaos Factor, pg 54-55. Unholy Allies, pg 131. Unbeholden, pg 3-4, 80, 174, 335-339. Mexico City by Night, pg. 95-96
Know Your Kindred – Toy
Name: Toy
Clan: Samedi
Generation: Unknown
Embraced: 1800
Imagine a rage-driven, decomposing monster without the capacity to express his fury due to missing limbs. Toy is much, much worse.
The Samedi known as “Toy” was most likely Embraced as a joke. Born with no arms or legs, he failed his Creation Rites and lay in torpor in his grave from 1800 to 1852. When the old cemetery was dug up and moved in 1852, the Sabbat exhumed the vampires who failed their creation rites. When Toy was found the Archbishop decided to put him in a toy chest with another vampire to undergo another test. After an hour the chest was opened and they found Toy in a pool of blood. They declared him the winner (and thus the nickname “Toy” stuck).
Toy is kept sealed in his box every night until feeding time. Sometimes they use him to send neonates through their Creation Rites, but none have survived.
Toy is a quadriplegic. Filth, blood, grime and chunks of flesh cake his face. His mouth is filled with razor-like teeth.
– Source: Montreal by Night, pg. 113
Know your Kindred – Jacob the Glitch
Name: Jacob the Glitch
Clan: Tremere antitribu
Generation: 7th
Embraced: 1880
Jacob is a pawn under the control of the demon Metathiax; being used as a sensory conduit to spy on the vampires of Montreal. Wiping Jacob’s memory to prevent him from learning about his past, Metathiax released him into the city and cursed him with monthly episodes of complete amnesia, preventing him from ever advancing to a point where he could break free from the demon’s control.
Unknown to Metathiax is that the connection works in reverse; Jacob became aware of the subconscious fears of his demon master.
Jacob retains his memories for a single month before they vanish and he awakens the next night rambling in English, Greek, Russian, Latin and a multitude of other languages known to Metathiax.
For the most part Jacob is unintelligible, but there are moments of divine lucidity when he spouts off riddles, fragments of information and knowledge about Metathiax’s fears. The only thing Jacob can remember are potent Thaumaturgical rituals that no one can account for.
In 1998, Jacob, known for his amnesia and incoherent ramblings, became strangely lucid. He spent most of his time conferring with Noddist scholars and rumors said that he even offered to tech Thaumaturgy to anyone willing to listen to his incessant babbling. Then early one morning he met with his clanmate Yasmin, the Black and simply said “And so it is” and walked into the dawn sunlight. Some took this as a sign that Gehenna was coming and the Tremere antitribu of Montreal packed up and left.
Jacob was a small mousy Afro-Caribbean in disheveled clothes. He always looked confused and befuddled.
– Sources: Montreal By Night, pg. 91-92. Nights of Prophecy, pg. 136.
Know Your Kindred – Ezekiel, Lord of Montreal
Name: Ezekiel, Lord of Montreal
Clan: Serpent of Light
Generation: 8th (Raised from 9th through diablerie)
Embraced: 1981
Ezekiel made a name for himself as a shrewd leader and ruthless fighter for the Sabbat. He and his Black Hand circle were responsible for destroying many Chicago elders during the Sabbat-Lupine-Camarilla War in the early 90s.
Since his Creation Rites, Ezekiel has possessed a dark intensity with an unnatural ambition and adoration for the Sabbat. After his sire was found guilty of infernalism and destroyed, Ezekiel committed himself to rid the Sabbat of weakness.
Ezekiel wants to be the Archbishop of Montreal, but for now he stepped aside and allowed Alfred Benezri to take the position.
Ezekiel is a strong 16 year old boy with dark eyes and childhood innocence.
– Source: Montreal by Night, pg. 100-101. Nights of Prophecy, pg 130.
Know Your Kindred – Agaitas, The Scholar of Antiquities
Name: Agaitas, The Scholar of Antiquities
Clan: Harbingers of Skull
Generation: 8th
Embraced: Unknown
Agaitas has a thirst for vengeance unparalleled by anyone outside the Harbingers of Skulls. Agaitas did not meet the Cappadocian’s standards of worth, something that greatly angered him. To see a proud heritage be destroyed by the Giovanni, clan of second-rate usurpers and grave robbers was an ironic – if not a just – death for the Cappadocians.
Agaitas survived hellish unlifetimes in the rapidly unpredictable Shadowlands and now has returned to the realm of the living. Since his return, Agaitas has taken charge of protecting the Harbingers’ secrets. He euphemistically calls himself a “Scholar of Antiquities,” an elaborate title for a simple enforcer. Agaitas visits Montreal frequently, consulting with the Sabbat scholars there, as they have the finest occult and historical database accessible to the Sabbat.
Agaitas gives off a cold sensation, like a numbing chill. When questioning others his presence can cower the uncooperative.
Agaitas has round black eyes, like a shark’s. He wears a mask of stretched skin pulled tight around his own skull-like head. His hair is frail and dried like a corpse. He almost looks like a scarecrow.
– Source: Nights of Prophecy, pg. 140, 145. 154, 157-158.
Know Your Kindred – Toby
Name: Toby
Clan: Nosferatu
Generation: 10th
Embraced: 1988
Toby was a crack computer whiz, who prided himself on being able to hack his way into any network. Toby was too good infact. His talents attracted the attention of a Nosferatu named Oswald, who contacted Toby online and paid him to perform various illegal tasks. Toby was unaware of Oswald’s true nature and often did not know whose computer Oswald was paying him to hack into.
It all came to an end when Toby was attacked in his home by the Melanesian Liberation Army, someone Oswald had paid him to hack. As Toby laid dying on the floor Oswald appeared and Embraced Toby.
The transformation was horrific, but nothing compared to Toby’s new looks. He was a monster. He broke all the mirrors in his home and moved his equipment to a warehouse near the open sewer ducts. He could not stand for anyone to see him now.
The Nosferatu of the city were good to Toby, but Toby felt they only stopped by to feel better about themselves. There was only one visitor who Toby liked. He we a Brujah anarch named “Honest Abe” and unlike the others, Toby’s looks did not concern him. Toby started working for the anarchs in secret, often hacking into government computers for Abe.
Toby is fearful that the local prince will find out, so Toby takes special precautions not to be discovered. He has used his computer to change the city’s records so his warehouse is untouched.
Toby is a chubby person; fat hangs off him like multiple balloons growing from his flesh. He cannot wear a shirt and will not get one tailored for fear of letting someone measure him. His face is a wasteland of acne scars and his pimples ooze continually. He wipes his face with old rags, which he then throws into the sewers, as he is unable to clean them.
– Source: The Anarch Cookbook, pg 82-83. DC By Night, pg 63-64.
Know Your Kindred – Viktor, The Night General
Name: Viktor, General of the Army of the Night
Clan: Gangrel
Generation: 6th
Embraced: 3 BC
When the legendary Nosferatu Baba Yaga awoke from torpor, she declared war on the rest of the world and summoned back her immortal minions to her side.
Viktor is the leader of Baba Yaga’s Army of the Night. The Army is composed of 25 vampires, including Viktor.
Viktor had served Baba Yaga a thousand years before she entered torpor and his loyalty earned him a special place in her eyes. Although he is old and tired, he serves the Hag with a zeal reserved for fanatics. Rumor has it he ripped apart his own childe for not showing proper respect to the Hag.
The only thing that rivals his love for Baba Yaga is his respect for the Garou. In another life he could have befriended them. He sometimes shows leniency to the Garou in battle, something Baba Yaga does not know and would be very displeased with if she found out.
But Viktor’s respect for the Garou would be his undoing. While on a mission in St. Petersburg, the White Nights began – an annual event each June when the Sun shines day and night in Northern Russia for three weeks straight. To avoid the Sun, Viktor ordered his men to Earth Meld into the land. There was a worry that the Garou would discover them sleeping and take advantage of the situation. But Viktor believed the Garou were too honorable to attack a sleeping foe – He was wrong.
About a dozen local Lupines sensed the enemy in the land and they unearthed and destroyed Viktor and most of the Hag’s army. When Viktor awoke he flew into a wild frenzy, killing three Garou before the rest took him down. As they tore his head from his body he screamed obscenities at them and cursed them, “You have no nobility to attack a sleeping foe!” Even after his body crumbled to dust his disembodied head could be heard muttering “Forgive me Little Mother. I could not find it.” The event was thereafter known as the White Nights Massacre.
Viktor was a tall, dark man in perfect shape. His glare was intense and commanding.
– Source: Rage Across Russia, pg 91. Nights of Prophecy, pg 88-90.
Know Your Kindred – Reginald Moore
Name: Reginald Moore
Clan: Brujah (but really Ventrue)
Generation: 8th
Embraced: 1840
In life, Reginald was an intelligent boy from a lower class family. He was a dedicated student who taught himself Latin and Greek. Unable to find a career to support himself, Reginald spent his nights drinking and roaming the streets in sadness.
Reginald’s Embrace was the result of a feeding gone wrong. He was attacked by a starved Ventrue named Donal, who was in the midst of a frenzy. The attack nearly killed Reginald, so to cover up his folly the Ventrue tried to turn Reginald into a ghoul, but then on impulse decided to Embrace him instead.
One of Donal’s rivals, an elder Brujah, witnessed the whole event and intervened, killing Donal. Reginald has no memory of the event, but the Brujah took him under his wing and claimed him as his own childe.
Reginald knew little about the vampire world, but he took it upon himself to sharpen his wits and soon he found himself welcomed within the ranks of the Brujah clan, where knowledge and debate skills were respected. Reginald finally achieved the status he wanted his whole life and he eventually became London’s Brujah primogen.
Since London was run by the Ventrue, Reginald had no interest in rocking the boat. He favored intellectual gatherings over physical fights. Since Reginald never intended to become a combative Brujah, he never learned Celerity or Potence, focusing exclusively on Presence only.
Reginald’s true linage could be discovered if it was ever investigated or by a simple act of Thaumaturgy. Such a revelation would destroy Reginald and greatly humiliate the Brujah. Just to be safe, Reginald’s “sire” has instilled in him an absolute terror of Thaumaturgy, which manifests as a hatred and distrust of all Tremere.
Reginald is in his early 20s, with curly black hair and pale skin. He tries to look like a businessman, but he is rough around the edges both physically and socially. His lack of funds result in a small wardrobe of ill-fitting suits. He tries to relax when he’s with other Brujah, but he is still uncomfortable around them, just as they are typically uncomfortable with him.
– Source: London By Night, pg. 67-68.
Know Your Kindred – The Unnamed
Name: The unnamed
Clan: Baali
Generation: 4th
Embraced: “A time before it all.”
Few mysteries plagued Cainite scholars with such persistence and urgency as the details of the origins of the Baali. It is a popular belief that Saulot may have created the bloodline in one of his attempts to sire a brood of vampires. This endeavor backfired and produced an evil that all Kindred have tried to wipe out.
As the story goes, a powerful Cainite (most likely Saulot) discovered a large cult that had worshiped faceless entities for many generations. The cultists would sacrifice prisoners, slaves, children and livestock, then throw their bodies into a great stone well. The Cainite had seen their rituals and wished to show these people that their depravities and atrocities were nothing.
The priests rose up against him, but their incantations proved useless. The power of his voice struck them dumb and silenced their cries. His gaze struck down the weak minded and feeble. He ripped the strong ones limb from limb and commanded the others to rend each other’s flesh with their knives. He tossed their bodies into their own pit and dropped some of his own vitae into the well when he was done.
The result: Out of hundreds slaughtered that night, only three survived. They lapped up the vitae and clawed their way out of the organ pit the following evening. They were filthy with gore, caked in blood and howling with unquenched fury and madness. They were mad and hateful and thirsty for death. The Baali had been born.
Three Baali arose from the well, each equal to the others in power. The first was Nergal, the terror behind the Babylonian deity. The second was Moloch, who sired progeny until the Baali were like a plague of locusts spread across the Phoenician Empire. The name of the third, and even its gender are a mystery. Nergal and Moloch rarely spoke of their sibling, but each would wroth at the mention of the third.
Some claim the third Baali was the lover of one or the other, or both. Others claim it was infact a pair of lovers merged together at the organ pit, thus explaining the presence of hermaphroditic deities in various ancient societies.
The most popular theory is that the third Baali is female. Some support the notion that the third is Zillah; others claim it’s Lilith. Still others say she has no name and is simply called the Crone.
– Source: Clanbook: Baali, pg 16-18.
Know Your Kindred – Byzar
Name: Byzar
Clan: Cappadocian
Generation: 4th
Embraced: Unknown
Note: It is probably true that Byzar is also known under the name Mahatma, a Cappadocian who studied the path to Golconda closely under the tutelage of Saulot.
Byzar founded the colony of Byzantium around 550 BC. The colony grew to be the leading port and trading city between the Greek city-states and Asia.
A beautiful older woman named Alexia Theusa traveled through Byzantium while in search of her long lost lover, Andreas. Byzar fell deeply in love with Alexia and was impressed with the woman’s knowledge of death. On her final night in Byzantium, Byzar offered her the Embrace, telling her that with immortality she could wait for her lover until the end of time. Byzar hoped that the Embrace would make Alexia fall in love with him and cause her to forget about Adreas. Unfortunately the Embrace had the opposite affect on Alexia and her love for Adreas was strengthened.
One night she had a vision of Byzantium in ashes and a new golden city being built in its place upon where Adreas would return. Alexia interpreted her vision to mean Byzantium must be destroyed if her lover would ever find her. So one night she incapacitated Byzar and his followers. Using her powers she placed them in torpor and laid their bodies in a crypt in the deepest recesses of the city.
Byzar never shows his true appearance to others. He often appears as a young man of great beauty, a physically perfect specimen almost akin to Michelangelo’s “David” come to life. He has alabaster skin and long, dark hair, which falls straight down his back. When he feels penitent, he looks like a particularly hideous Nosferatu, with lice, ticks and other unsavory creatures crawling on him and dressed in the stinking rags of a leper.
– Sources: Constantinople by Night, pg. 91-92. Children of the Night, pg. 98-99.