Darkness Unvailed

My name is Victoria Trammel and this is my story. Well part of it anyway. I was raised by my Aunt Judy and Uncle Charlie in Charleston. My parents died in a car crash in Switzerland when I was a few months old. They had left me in the care of my aunt and uncle that year. Dad was driving when he lost control of the car and sent them plummeting to their deaths at the bottom of a mountain.
Judy doesn’t talk much about it, because my mother was her favorite baby sister. The other sister, Daise, is a black sheep and so Judy doesn’t talk about her either. I did find an old picture of Daise in Judy’s things. She looked beautiful. I envied her being able to get away from here and see new things.
I was an only child and so was doted upon but never spoiled. I strove to be the best in my class so I could follow Daise’s footsteps and get out of this town. I wanted to travel the world. When I was done with high school I went to Yale and got a doctorate in business. I figured that would be helpful to my goal.
A couple of years after I started working in my uncle’s consulting firm he retired and turned over the business to me. Oh how I hated him that day. He had effectively shut down all my plans to travel. I was stuck running the business. When I confronted him he just looked at me with eyes full of innocence and told me that I was the only one he could trust to not run the business into the ground. My relationship with Judy and Charlie grew distant as I threw myself into work to keep from killing someone.
I seemed to have an instinct for knowing when to sell and when to hold, so make money I did. The employees started joking about magic and witches telling me about the investments, but I paid them little heed as I tried to figure out how to get out of this town. I got the idea to expand my business and so set about trying to figure out good locations. I knew that I would have to run each new office for about 6 months to make sure it was not going to collapse so my dreams of leaving Charleston would come true at last. Over the next few years I opened offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Tampa, Denver, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Chicago and New York.
It was while I was in Chicago that I ran into Daise. Well to tell the truth, she hunted me down. She was standing outside my building one night when I got off work. She invited me for a couple of drinks to catch up. I told her I would meet her at the bar and went back to my hotel to change. I got to the bar and went inside. It was dark, but quieter than most bars. It seemed to me the kind of place people did serious drinking, without a lot to distract them. I spotted my aunt at a table and walked over. On my way I saw several couples making out. It seemed that everyone was having a neck nuzzled by someone else and I felt myself blushing.
I got to the table and sat down and my aunt pushed a drink towards me. I took a sip while waiting for her to speak. We talked long into the night and I told her about my business. She suggested New York for my next office. She even knew someone who could help me get started. I liked the idea from the start. I had been told that New York had everything and it sounded perfect.
I told her it would be about a month before I could leave the Chicago area. She laughed and said that time was of no importance. I glanced at my watch and realized it was 4am. I told her I had to go and stood up. She said that she would find me again before I left town to make arrangements. I agreed and headed towards the door calling a cab on my cell phone.
A week before I could leave, Daise found me again and gave me the name of a bar in New York that I could find her when I arrived. I asked her to fly with me and she said that she had her own arrangements and just to meet her at the bar in ten days at midnight.
After I got everything taken care of in Chicago I flew out to New York and checked into a hotel. That first night I slept like a baby. The next day I headed around trying to find a place to set up office. I worked day and night, but couldn’t find a good spot. The night I was supposed to meet with Daise came and so I went to the bar. My aunt walked in and sat down at the table. I asked where the guy I was supposed to meet was and she said he would be in tomorrow night at midnight. She told me to be here then she got up and left. I stared after her in surprised that she would be so rude. I had second thoughts at that time, but I was having such a hard time finding a place that I figured it couldn’t hurt to meet this guy at least.
The next night I was seated in the back corner of the bar when I saw them walk in. My aunt pointed at me and then left. The guy started walking towards me. Watching him move towards my table I was reminded of a predator stalking its prey and I shivered. When he got to the table he sat down across from me. He had the most striking eyes I had ever seen. When I met his gaze it was as if he could read my every thought and was gazing right into my soul.
“So you’re Victoria”

A few nights ago [see PrefaceHugh], Hugh awakened in his room to find his Sire, Stacy there, rambling on about how things didn’t turn out the way they were supposed to and things would be different “if only Jacob were stronger”. She indicated that Vern needed to be taken out of power and pleeded hugh to help her, saying, “you have to do something”. So, Hugh decided he would do, well… Something.
Hugh has been given a task, in his eyes, by his Sire and he needs your help to accomplish this. Actually, I need your help. Hugh is capable of much more than my feeble, mortal mind can imagine, and, therein, lies the dilema. Hugh has taken it upon himself to destroy the prince by any means necessary. I am having trouble creating the means. Therefore, I implore you for any ideas you might have for him to accomplish this task. Please note that Hugh is not suicidal, at least not yet (I am having fun playing this character and am not yet ready to create another:)
Thank you
Ken

You awake to find your sire in your place. After she notices that you are awake she just starts to ramble about how this is all Jacob’s fault, if he would have been stronger, more watchful, stopped Vern when he had the chance, not let that happen to Joan and now to Thomas, should have stopped it, should have been able to do something, will you help her do something, I need your kind of help right now. None of it make much sense, but she has been a good sire, so there is no reason not to.

You awake to find yourself and Sarah in a small room that doesn’t look at all familiar to either of you. The walls appear to be steel as is the door. A small camera in the corner and a speaker on the ceiling seem to be the only other things in the room. You hear a voice come over the speaker, “Now that you are both awake maybe one of you can tell me how you managed to have some of my files in your procession.”

You find yourself waking on the couch in Judy’s office. Judy is behind her desk peering at you as you awake. “So you have made some friends I see.” “Your gallivanting around this city has been interesting to watch.” “Do you even know what to do next, have you any clue what has been happening around you?” “With all of your resent travels have you stopped to notice that Vern is trying to push us all out of the city, or are your new friends just that much more important.”

You awake in your study, but not in the position that you are used to being in. As the master of this domain you are not the one who should be chained to the wall. The one bad part of this is knowing that these chains can take anything you mite try to do to them. Dianna has out one of your more favorite toys, a ten foot long whip. As you hear the first crack in the air by you head you remember that she does know how to use it. “This past week you have been causing more trouble then normal.” “You have started to lead some other down a path that they should not take as they have at lest shown some respect to their sires.” “Are your just trying to have me removed from what I have worked so hard to get?” “Are you trying to corrupt even more to your ill-conceived movement?” “Or do I just need to convince you that the Invictus is were you belong.”

You awake to find yourself not in your normal resting place, but in a storage room at one of Donald’s clubs just not sure which one. Donald is sitting on a chair in front of the door out. You feel the other two vampires that are just outside the door. The music from the club seems to be quite, so the walls in this room are almost certainly to thick to get through fast enough to get out of here. Donald asks, “What kind of plans do you have for your near future?” “Ever since that meeting last week you seem to be running away from same thing, or have you been trying to get to some thing.”

The next night you awake to find your sire has taken you from your normal resting place and locked you into a small room. You see that you are being watched from a far. You hear Robert’s voice come over a lousy speaker. “What is your goal?”, “What do you think you will find?”

Carthian Mekhat

My name is Paul Betrand…Well that is what my parents named me at least. I was born in 1980, May 7th to be precise. I do not know if me being born in the same year as Ronald Reagan is why I feel the way I do about so many things but it could, and we will get to that a bit later…
I stand about six foot one and weigh about one hundred and ninety five pounds. I have reddish blond hair and green eyes. I guess I am attractive… Never any trouble getting laid at least… I am pretty fit and pride myself on staying in shape physically and mentally… My training in Kung Fu has gone quite a ways in both those areas…
I was raised by ex-hippie parents. They are sell outs. They taught me all of these things about protest and collectivism and civil rights and equality and that the capitalistic principals of our nation make for poverty and racism (do not even get me started on Republicans) but as soon as a chance to live the “GOOD LIFE” came around….. Never mind that…. Let it be that they now live in a very nice home in the Hamptons…. But I played their politics against their guilt and rode the money all the way through school, college and Law School. You know they never hurt me or neglected. They gave me all that I deserved and then some. I never suffered any tragedies (despite the abandonment of my parents’ core principals). I am the epitome of the normal 90’s school kid. And according to one prof. I had, with the right influence I could have been the next Ted Bundy. (If he could only see me now huh?)
I finished dead centre of my class from the NYU law school. I probably could have finished higher but I spent way too much time rubbing elbows and schmoozing. Got me what I wanted though. I made some nice connections and right after I graduated and landed a job with a firm associated with the ACLU. (The true protector of freedom if you ask me.) I took almost all of my cases on Separation of Church and State and the rest on gay discrimination cases. Rumor has it that the Right-Wingers call me the “Pretty Boy Persecutor”. Supposedly I am a bit to rabid for their taste. Well hey the guilty hate the facts do they not?
I must admit that I have a propensity to be a bit of a mad dog. And demanding. An ex of mine has called me sadistic, ego-centric, and possessed of a streak of self involvement. You would think she could narrow it done a bit. A friend of mine once told me that he thinks I am gay. I am not (not that there is anything wrong with being gay) I maybe a metro sexual but not gay. I am very hetro in my tastes if you follow me there. I like my women. Yes my women. If you want to be involved with me you had better be ok with being my woman. If you come expecting hugging and kissing you are in for a bit of a surprise. I like my play rough and my sex even rougher.
I have a hard time with loyalty. It never gets me anything. If I ever do become loyal to some one though it is forever. If I call you friend…..You Are My Friend, count on it!
I do not want to say too much about my embrace or my sire Dianna. Suffice it to say we do not always see eye to eye on many issues. But damn she is hot and knows how to work that body if you know what I mean.
If you had to ask I am a Carthian and Mekhat. Mekhat by default and Carthian because the rest of the lot are too committed to old ideas of domination by tradition. Fuck that and fuck them. To Hades with the status quo. I want power in the hands of those who deserve it. The people!

Ventrue Invictus

Gracey was born and raised in Queens, NY. She had it pretty good growing up. She has always had a lot of friends. When she was 17, she went to Italy to visit her grandparents for the summer between her junior and senior year in high school. When she was 20, she moved to Minneapolis, MN going to work at the Mall of America for a glamour shot studio. After about a year and a half in Minnesota she moved back home to Queens. She worked to save up for college, eventually gets her money saved, and moves to San Francisco, CA where she goes to college. She majored in photography, and was a cheerleader for the 49ers. She also had a job working for a Catholic church taking pictures of weddings, funerals, and other church functions. She belonged to a Pentecostal church though. She has very high morals, and to this day, she is still a virgin.

Mekhat Invictus

Thomas finds himself using the time that he has been given to indulge in what ever project that currently hold his fascination. He has always searched for the truth in religion as he holds that there must be something greater out there. He has already been proven right once in his life when he was brought into the darkness. Spending all of his time within books has had some draw backs as he does get much respect from those around him and with the error of bring Hannah over he has had to try twice as hard to show his usefulness to the new order in New York so as to keep himself and her safe. This has lead him to make some very bad deals with the “wrong” crowd. This is not the first time this has happen to Thomas as for a long time he was a member of the Carthian Movement and only left after he found that the movement would no longer let him look into what his heart really wanted. The Invictus leader at the time told him that this was the main problem with those rebels; they could never chose a direction and stay with it. This made Thomas uneasy with them and started the move to the Invictus for him. Those shortly after her left the Carthians he found that the rules of the Invictus were harder to follow but at lest they did not change decade to decade. Though this move left him with out much support in the city it also left his estranged from his only other passion Stacy. He had brought her of into the night a short time after himself to have some to share his thoughts with and help him move forward in his research. They did have many years in which they both flourished, he had to keep moving in on his goals and she got more and more into the movement.

Makhat Carthian

The first chide of Thomas Huntly she has not had an easy time of it. As soon as she was embraced Thomas found a calling in the Invictus and left the Carthian movement and Stacey. This never set right with her and thus left them leading very different lives. Stacey has continued with the Carthians although she can not seem to get very far into the movement after many years of work. Many in the movement remember Thomas leaving and don’t want to have Stacey repeat his history. She tries hard to show her commitment to the cause by bring in new members at every chance, but her failure to bring in her own chide has made even this seem to be a wasted effort. Though Hugh was not turned to become a member as his talents are not condoned by the movement they have always seen the need for such people in the company. Her first chide was the perfect choice to add to the movement though a bit on the unstable side after the embrace. Joan was very good at what she did. Mainly getting the attention of everyone around her and not letting go. This served the movement well until the old prince took a liking to her and decide to have her for himself. Taking her away from the movement took a few years, but Jacob got the job done. This alone would have been enough to make Stacey go off the deep end but, to have Joan spy one the movement though their relationship was too much. Shortly after the defection Joan got a suntan and though no one could be blamed on the record Stacey knew who she blamed. Hugh and Stacey got a free pass do to the power change in the city. Though this change was something Stacey thought would be a good thing as it brought Jacob down a peg what could be so bad. Soon her resentment of Jacob waned as she started to see what Vern was about as he started to show just how much he hated the Carthians in the city. Stacey doesn’t see Hugh too much as this would only make things harder for him she does make sure that he stays with in the rules and does not make too much of a trouble for the rest of the kindred in the city. Even at this many of the elders in the city see him as something to be squashed to keep from having more of his kind show up.

Donald has become fond for Christian’s little trips out to the local bars. He sees the potential in the contacts that he makes there, but he wishes that Christian would forget about his old life as it seems to be holding him back from the bigger things. Though Christian has taken to the Invictus, he does not seem to be a fervent member. The first year has gone by now and he doesn’t seem to have moved on that far. The more time he spends in these places the less time Donald has to show him the business. This may start to be a problem if he does not find a spot in the business he will not have anything to stand on while Donald is away, but being young and unconcerned with the long time ahead. That is very attractive way of “living.” Christian has not always seemed to be such a good choice for Donald. Christian when he first was brought over, wanted to go back to his old life and try to keep others from finding out. He is after all, the owner, so if he sleeps all day and is working all night no one would get suspicious of him. That was Donald’s first hurtle, to show him that going back was not a wise idea. Christian got the message, but still missed all of the interaction that being in a bar gave him. Now he is a frequent visitor to many of the clubs that Donald owns. Donald was not sure about Christian doing this until Christian started to make suggestions about how to make the places bring in more people. After that Donald saw that Christian was going to be useful and tried to make watching over the club Christian’s job. Christian was not going to have that as he already knows it loses it appeal after it became that only thing in your life. Donald continued to look for a place for Christian in his business and still does not know were to fit him in. Without knowing were to place Christian, Donald does not want to give him too much access to the rest of the business.

Mekhat Unaligned

Hugh was born and raised in a small town in Alabama. His mother, Stephanie, died due to complications during childbirth. He was an only child. Because of this, Bubba feared he would never find true love, so he simply gave up hope. Instead, he concentrated on making others as unhappy as he was. He bullied his way through school, later becoming one of the finest patrons of “Uncle Larry’s Timber Tavern” (the local bar). While having made several visits to the county correctional facility for numerous minor felonies to include, but not limited to OUI, public intoxication, public urination, criminal trespassing, minor theft, and J-walking; sometimes all in the same night.
He is now in his forties and lives alone with his beloved dog, Cuddles, a pure-bred, registered pit-bull. His hobbies include studying firearms and explosives, building bombs, and blowing shit up.

I’ll never forget what my daddy said to me that day. I was three years old when he told me, “Never let anyone push you around!” or was it, “When push comes to shove, hit back?” Anyway, WHAT he said wasn’t as important as how he said it. My daddy wasn’t a brilliant man, but he never took any shit from any body. He passed away soon afterwards in an accident involving a chicken, a farm tractor, and an empty bottle of beer. [Trust me – you DON’T want to know!] After that, I was forced to move out of the trailer, by the Dept. of Human Resources, was placed in a group home and put in school.

School? School was a fuckin’ joke! After several years, I was kicked off the rugby team for unnecessary roughness. Apparently, there was some confusion about a pass I caught and ran into the end zone. They said they never found the ball in the end-zone, but they rushed my teammate to the emergency room for severe head trauma after they removed him from the end-zone. I still don’t understand what the fuss is all about – he’s been eating solid food for the last three months, now. It’s all good.

Several years after that, I found myself working in an Army surplus/gun shop. I learned all I could about firearms and explosives. It was there that I found my deep passion – Demolition! I found a lot of work in the “Big City,” blowing up buildings, setting charges in the quarry just to the north and anything else I could find to blow the shit out of.

Since then, I’ve spent most of my time in the gun shop. Oh! Did I forget to mention Bob Finley, the owner of the gun shop, was killed in a controversial accident when his propane tank exploded and he was burned alive inside his house? I am comforted to know that he probably died of smoke breathing before the skin melted off his bones by the 2000+ degree heat of the flames. At least he didn’t suffer.

When the fire was put out, they found his Last Will and Testament in a fireproof safe that stated that he was leaving all his belongings to me, because I was the only family he had. Boy, did that ever piss off his sister in New York. He also left me the code to his hidden underground vault, where he kept all of his “special” firearms. So, I rebuilt the house with some of the money he “left” me and have lived there ever since.

Mekhat Carthian

I am a rather unassuming figure. As you see me, I stand about 5’11 with short brown hair kept neatly dressed and clean shaven, and can usually be found wearing a dress shirt of some sort and a pair of pressed khaki pants. I think my figure is one of reasonable shape, roughly 175 pounds, and athletic to some degree, some people just call me a techno geek.

I should be just about 35 by now, but there was a flaw in the design, or maybe it’s going accordingly. At one time I was a graduate student pursuing my Masters in Political Science in upstate New York. That came to an end as well, a story for another time perhaps.

I spent several years traveling the world, seeing the sights and sounds of the world’s political stage, also developing a deep satisfaction and respect for the freedoms that America gives, but also a festering hatred for the political structure of the Mekhet I had been made.

One night last fall, I found myself in New York City. A whirlwind of activity was being planned in preparation for the 2004 Republican National Convention. I had always felt that Republicans held true to my belief system, and if GWB had more of a spine, and not just tried to finish what Daddy couldn’t do, we would have more respect, but what do I know. Being a rebellious liberal I was prowling the back edges of the crowd looking more for some companionship of another kind than a discussion on socialist humanitarianism.

I found myself in the arms of an absolutely gorgeous blond named Judy Lone, and we found ourselves a dark corner off the end of the stage. Before I knew it we were wrapped in a heated embrace. Little did I know that the word embrace would come back to haunt me forever.

I awoke the next morning with a very strange ache in my chest, and an empty feeling all at once. I realized that I was not at home almost immediately, but it took me a few minutes to become aware of my surroundings and that I was not at my hotel either. I padded barefoot around the apartment, looking for anyone to tell me what was going on. I came across Judy in her study, and was relieved at first, until I caught the bits of her phone conversation about havens, sires, a prince?!?, and I think she said Mekhet, whatever the hell that is.

She sat me down, and through the door appeared a rather brutish looking fellow she only referred to as Hank, who didn’t speak but his body said a lot. I looked at her quizzically, and she began a long and complicated tale, explaining that I had been made a vampire, a creature of the night in the strictest sense of the word. Needless to say I was in shock.

As the night wore on I came to understand the political structure of a completely different world, in particular the Mekhet.

Jumping forward through the past year I have become familiar with my surroundings and am now a driving force for change in the clan, a Carthian Movement poster child of sorts. I see room for change, good ones too.

Ventrue Invictus

Background story

After his parent died in a car accident when he was 16, Christian dropped out of school and ran with a local street gang for a year. When he held his best friend in his arms watching him die from multiple gunshot wounds after a fight with a rival gang. He decided it was time to go back to school and straighten his life out.

He left California and moved in with his grandparents in Carson City Nevada to finish high school. In his senior year he met and fell in love with Violet Price, a girl born into money. After graduating, they married and moved to Lansing Michigan where Christian found what work he could for four years while Violet attended MSU to get a business degree.

From there they moved to Minneapolis Minnesota to live the life they’d always dreamed. They opened a dance club and named it “Lost in the Mist.” The club was a big hit and drew a large crowd nearly every night. A year later, their twin daughters, Jennifer and Stacy were born.

Five more years passed before Violet decided to leave Christian for a lawyer she met at the club. After the divorce, she moved with her new boyfriend to Texas and left Christian with nothing but “Lost in the Mist.” He converted a storeroom into a small living space for himself and now he struggles just to keep the place open.

Ventrue Invictus

Background Story

I never knew my parents. They died in a car crash when I was under a year old. My aunt and uncle raised me. Although my parents were dead, I had a very loving family environment. My aunt and uncle were childless, so doted on me. They sent me to the best private schools and then to Yale, where I majored it business.
My parents vacationed every year in Europe and had left me with my aunt that fateful year. They were in Switzerland when my dad lost control of the car sending them over the side of a mountain. My aunt doesn’t talk about my mother very often, as she was my aunt’s favorite sister.
We haven’t heard from the oldest sister since the day or the funeral, oh so many years ago. When I got out of collage I got a job with the firm of an old family friend. I don’t hate it, but I can’t wait until I can get out of it. I am not sure what I want to do, but I know my heart lay elsewhere.

Testing one two