Darkness Unvailed

Vampire Duluth – Character

Name: Tina Baker

Clan: Daeva

Apparent Age: Early 20’s

Tina Baker was raised in a small town in rural Minnesota. She was a bright, athletic child, spending plenty of time outdoors. Her favorite things in the world were skiing and ice skating in the winter; she would spend long summer days swimming and hiking. A basically optimistic person, she was voted best smile in her high school class. She led her cross country team to several regional championships, and was ecstatic the day she got her award letter for a scholorship that would send her to the University of Minnesota for track and field.

She arrived in Minneapolis with the world on a string. The rush of the big city was a heady drug. Unfortunately, few of her friends from her hometown ended up going to college, and the ones who did almost all went to the University in Duluth. Never one to let such things get her down, she immediately began talking to people in her classes. Through this, she discovered that one girl from her high school did indeed end up in the U of M, but it wasn’t someone she would have associated with all that much in school. Ashley was one of the party girls, and was initiated into a sorority. Undaunted by Ashley’s wild girl reputation, Tina joined her in applying to the sorority as a pledge. They both made it through pledge week, and so began a long standing friendship. Not long after being made full members by the sorority, Tina and Ashley were invited to a party being held at a nearby fraternity. Psyched out of their minds, they dressed in their best skirts, and carefully did their hair and makeup. Looking far older than their 18 years, Tina and Ashley set out to take their college by storm. They walked with some of the older girls from the sorority, and kept hearing them giggle about one of the frat jocks.

Eric Jorgenson, the Scandinavian god. Tall and blonde, Eric was the goal of many a sorority girl, and one look made Tina understand why. He had the looks of some Norse deity, and a smile that could melt a fjord in December. At the party, Tina made up her mind. She had never let a goal pass out of her reach, and Eric seemed worthy of the attempt. She sauntered up to him, swaying her hips and putting on her best sexy smile.

“Hi there. I’m Tina,” her voice practically sizzled. “Would you like to dance?”

Eric smiled and led her out onto the dancing area. All night, he flirted and danced, refilling her drink when it was empty. By about one o’clock, Tina was having a hard time standing.

“Here, why don’t you come lay down in my room for a while?” he asked. Tina, unable to do much but accept, went with. Some small voice in the pit of her stomach was whispering, “no,” But she quieted it and put her arm around his neck. Eric laid her down on the bed, and then he lay next to her. Minutes ticked by, stretched into eternities. Tina felt the room begin to dance and sway. Eric put his hand on her leg.

“No, Eric, I don’t feel well. Maybe I should just go home.” The sounds of the party continued unabated below.

“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll like it.” He began to move his hand up. Tina panicked. That small voice became louder. “Eric, I mean it. I’m getting up.” As she tried to stand, the world tilted crazily. “What’s wrong with me?” she whimpered.

“Don’t worry, just relax,” said a voice she recognized as Eric’s, but somehow not Eric’s. It was silky and smooth, a serpent’s hiss. Panic exploded in the pit of her stomach, and she reacted on sheer instinct. Her hand shaped into a claw, she screamed as she swiped at him. Just as she reached up and scraped her nails across his chiseled jaw, her world sank into blackness.

Tina awoke with Ashley standing over her in a hospital bed. She learned that Ashley had heard her scream, and with the help of a couple of younger frat boys, she had burst into Eric’s room. He was expelled from his fraternity the next day, but Tina hadn’t awoke for another twenty four hours. She had been given a mix of several rather potent drugs in small doses over several hours, and it took a long time for them to wear off. Tina could do nothing but shudder at the violation she felt. If it weren’t for the intervention of a great friend, she could have been made a victim surrounded by people. Victim. The word was sour in her mouth. Victim. How she despised the very thought. No, she decided. She would never be a victim.

From that day on, she shaped her life to never be in that situation again. Ashley would sometimes laugh at her for getting her own drinks at parties, or for turning down guys whose only mistake was to find her attractive. Nevertheless, Tina prevailed. She took up a physical education minor, along with her major, sports medicine. She began boxing lessons, and was taught the fine art of brawling by one of the frat boys that helped rescue her that fateful night. Her days were filled with learning, and her nights with physical training. Finally, she made it to her senior year. This was the year of all her hopes. She would be going to grad school soon, away from the watchful eyes of her newfound friends. The thought terrified her and excited her at the same time. She hadn’t been away from Ashley in four long years. She sat all night one night talking about it with Ash, and they decided she should take a trip. She would go on vacation somewhere she had always wanted to go, and she would come back perfectly fine. She decided on New Orleans because while still in the US, and therefore still in the safer parts of the world, it held distinct possibility for adventure.

And so she set out, with only a backpack, her purse, and some basic essentials. If only she had known…………….

Vampire: Duluth – Character

Name: Cecelia Harrigan

Clan: Daeva

Apparent Age:

Cecelia Harrigan was born to rich parents and a priviledged life. Her parents are both from old money families in New Orleans. Being beautiful, polite and well-mannered were the focus of her upbringing.

She did well in prep school and that led her to college. Her general lack of interest in the simpler parts of life lead her to the white collar pursuit of the legal profession. Being of above average intelligence, her studies came easily to her, but she got little satisfaction from her learning.

The level of social interaction involved in her job is the only thing she likes about it. She enjoys the game, and the dance of words in the courtroom. Cecelia depends on the money from her job to keep her in the lifestyle to which she is accustomed.

She has been rising up the ladder in her firm fairly quickly more out of her greed then her skill or sense of professional pride.

Her personal life is empty of any real attachments. Her apartment is beautifully kept and furnished but feels unlived in.

Becoming a vampire pulled her into a new world, where the rules seem to be the same as the old. Power is there to be earned. If she correctly plays the game.

Jack was never exactly handsome, thin of build and very pale. He usually wore simple slacks and shirts usually in earth tones. However, he always wears expensive running shoes when he’s working.

The Embrace has made his features even starker. Where he used to be described as thin, he is now skeletal. He used to be described as pale; now he would be described as extremely, disturbingly lifeless looking, especially under fluorescent lights.

It wasn’t a glamorous work, but until last night Jack McCandless made a good living running envelopes and packages all over New Orleans, and was damned good at it. He knows the city inside and backwards, all the good thing about the French Quarter (which of course is a nightmare to drive through), and the neighborhoods best left alone.

He thinks he strayed into one of those neighborhoods last night, but he doesn’t remember for sure which is very disconcerting to him as he possesses a razor-keen memory. All he remembered was a last minute delivery, and that he was looking forward to going home, having a beer when he saw a really good-looking hooker on the sidewalk…

He still has his van, though, and that’s a big comfort. The package, however is gone, and that worries him for some reason.

This is a new character backgrounds for the Duluth game.

Player Character
Kaspian Corvin

Kaspian Corvin was born Jason Corvin in a map dot town in southern Ohio. His mother and father had been rather… ill-equipped to raise children when he was born, and as such, he spent most of his childhood left to his own devices. If anything had been different about his starting point, were it more involvement with his family, a different locale, or something as simple as a few more friends, then he likely would have remained Jason Corvin, and his story would have no reason to be told.

As he aged, the boy’s mind turned to books to fill gaps in his time. And, like any other addiction, his hunger for more only grew. After years, many of them where he was more or less part of the background, Jason officially adopted his name Kaspian, after a very old mariner he’d read about. Although the two of them didn’t have much in common, they did share a bond that mattered. A hunger for knowledge, and to know things that common men and women never even cared to learn.

When he went to college, after making his name change legal, Kaspian discovered one of the greatest puzzles of all. People. He’d never appreciated just how complex or deep (shallow too) that people could be. Unfortunately, though, staying in one place and learning from the pages of his old companions anymore couldn’t satisfy Kaspian. So, after a little bit of thought and time to decide, he packed up shop and rode down south, ending up in a permanent residence a hop, skip, & a jump from the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Ever the resourceful cully. Kaspian managed to get by his first year, when he turned 22, on a combination of looks and luck. So much time spent observing the human condition made him aware of how to judge what he saw, and how to deal with what he still considered to be one of the collective puzzles that was never truly solved.

Unaccustomed, or maybe just not fit for standard work, Kaspian had to get creative. As such, he made due. Genealogy chars made as a free lancer, occasional gossip columns that he’d contribute to, in addition to a few problems solved helped him scrape by. After years of residence, and exploring dozens of avenues that at least helped keep his mind sharp, and which sometimes netted him a consultants fee with the cops, Kaspian finds himself in yet another set of unusual circumstances. No more sunrises, no more front doors, and no more pizza, as he’s want to say with a particularly bitter grin that shows all of his teeth.

Always adaptable, Kaspian accepts things and moves on. He doesn’t know how he got like this, nor does he really care, but things change. Perhaps, once the novelty has worn off, he’ll realize just how royally fucked he is. Then he will try to solve the next of his pet mysteries. Whose fault is this?