Ellri

Roleplaying characters with Physical Disabilities

We've not tried a physical disability in any RP character, but we've seen one used in a fantasy setting that worked well. It was actually more or less what you used as example, Brovo. The character there had severely weakened legs. He wasn't much use on foot, basically requiring aid from others to walk any real distance. Not exactly useful for adventures or combat. Until you reveal the detail that his people were horse-riders. Stick him on a horse, and he was just as good as, if not better than, virtually every other warrior among his people. that character had not only come to terms with the disability, but had in fact conquered it.

For non-modern settings, using disabilities is a perfect opportunity to bring in misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Epileptic? Frequent leeching is clearly a treatment. Partially deaf? Bats hear well. Eat lots of fried bats to cure it. Not quite right in the head? Demonic possession. Cured by trepanning. etc.

Romance in Roleplays: Yes or No?

Done right, romance has a place, done wrong, it should be left out. The distinction? A very fine line, hard to see, harder yet to tread upon without crossing.

Considering the guild rules (due to google ads, we believe) concerning descriptive attempts at reproduction, romance can in some ways be harder to portray without blacking out bits or something like that. But in other ways it can be easier because of the same reasons. Rather than the descriptions like "He [redacted] her [redacted]", you might find ways to describe it without providing any against reasonable policy detail. After all, despite what some (simpler males especially) think, romance != Sex. There are a lot of ways to describe romance that do not require any form of blackout.

Like one style we've heard about a faction in a specific tabletop RP system... "you can't spell necromancer without romance". Using blackout level details there is doubly bad. Not only would it mean things normally done in a blackout, but it would quite probably involve necrophilia as well, which most civilized societies frown upon.

We think it would be fairly interesting to have a character of ours be part of a well-crafted romance. Especially since those characters generally turn out to be pretty inept socially. But if it would not add much to the story, we'd rather avoid such than to ruin it by including it.

Vampire: The Masquerade. Dance of the Damned

Faction Name: MK Solutions
Allegiance: (Camarilla or Anarch)

The haven:
Description:To the general public, the building that houses the haven used by Ráicháel/Rachel/Rae, Lori & Mesner is known as “Keller’s home for the touched”. It is a house for the insane, this includes both the regular insane and the criminally insane, so at least one section of it can be deemed “high-security”. They way this is achieved without massive fences and walls is through having that section deep underground.
Location: City of Los Angeles, 929 Academy Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90012, USA
This location is less than 300m away from the Los Angeles Police Academy, partially inside Elysian Park.
(OoC: in RL, the place is known as Elysian Therapeutic Recreation Center, but we repurposed it for WoD)
Details:
The facility has over the years been expanded deep underground, with the havens of the kindred that make up MK Solutions being located deep underneath the other facilities, possibly a bit out to the sides.
The close proximity to the Kine police academy means that most would even consider anything abnormal occurring here.

General Information:
MK Solutions is perhaps one of the most enigmatic factions out there. It is not part of the Camarilla, nor of the Sabbat or even the Anarchs. For any that have observed it for any real length of time, it is clear that there is some purpose to the faction, even if it is borderline impossible to say exactly what that purpose is, let alone the why of it.

Considering its core membership, this is not all that surprising. One ex-enforcer Tremere blood mage, one Malkavian dementation expert and one Malkavian Murderess. The two former of them Autarkis. One such in a city is generally rare enough. Two working together? virtually unimaginable.

The firm, if you can call the faction such, was founded sometime during the Interbellum, the decades between the Kine’s first and second world wars. Exactly when is hard to tell, for many records from that turbulent time are spotty or even gone altogether. Nosferatu Elders and their associates might know, but they are known to hoard all sorts of information, but knowing the information is one thing. Being aware of or caring about its relevance is quite another.

They are based out of an old home for the insane, publically known as “Keller’s home for the touched”, where many of the firm’s unknowing clients find their end, timely or untimely. Over the years, MK Solutions has disposed of countless people, both kindred and kine, from all walks of society. It is common enough knowledge that authorities, especially the mortal ones, generally do not search homes for the insane when someone shows up as missing. MK Solutions have, in fact, worked both for and against law enforcement agents.

While many of the clients have been Kine, there have been at least as many Kindred clients. While they are not part of the Camarilla, MK Solutions still sees fit to maintain at least some part of the masquerade. Kine are always more willing to blame a jarful of (placebo) pills over a more supernatural reason for someone going insane. The unique skills of the Tremere partner have generally proven to be better at affecting Kindred than Kine, though some of them have uses against kine too, of course.

If one kindred client should happen to pay more to have his rival removed than the rival pays to have him removed, the partners of MK solutions can often chose to remove the rival instead of the client. Or they could remove both. When things go bump in the night, “accidents” happen.

Character Sheets:

Rachel Keller

Name: Ráichéal Ciannait Kellër (Goes by Rachel Keller now)
Generation: Sixth
Clan: Malkavian
Disciplines: Dementation, Auspex, Obfuscate
Biography:
Keller’s personality is a construct. When she was embraced (around the spring of the year 1791), she gained the questionable gift of global amnesia. Afterwards, she still knew how to read and speak and all that, but she had no memories of her former life. Her Sire told her that her name was Ráichéal Ciannait, that she was now a vampire and that she should stay away from sunlight, mimes and cats. Then he left her to fend for herself.

With virtually no memories and no guide to help her, Ráichéal turned to the only source of information she could find. This happened to be the malkavian madness network, or cobweb for short. If she had any sanity left, that was quickly discarded. These earliest years, she did not interact much with other Cainites. While coming to terms with herself, she chose to stay away from people except when she needed to feed. There were plenty of wanderers, hermits and other loners to feed upon. The cobweb taught her what she needed to know.

After 7 or 8 years, she felt a strange urge to travel to a small town. On some level, she knew it came from the cobweb, but did not really mind. Of the voices making up the cobweb, that one made more sense than most. Disobedience to it was somehow unthinkable. In that town, or rather a short distance outside it lay an insane asylum, wherein she found the second Cainite of her life. Like the first, this was a malkavian. He taught her numerous things she did not know, as well as introducing her to the Camarilla. Ráichéal did not care much for or against them, after all, she had done perfectly well the past years without any rulers, but the moment she laid eyes upon a certain member of that particular group, she went into a trance of sorts. What she said is unknown, but when she came to herself, she was far away from the town. Ráichéal was pretty sure she had blacked out. It was the only logical explanation.

Rachel Keller does not remember anything before explaining to the Camarilla of a grave threat to their town. Werewolves, once perfectly happy with the forest to the east, wanted the town. Why she didn't know, but warn them she did. How did they react? They threw her out! The nerve of them!

Rae smiled to herself while outside the town. The warning had been delivered. Written in pure vitae. Just like father would have done, should he have seen fit to warn anyone of anything. She longed to speak with him again.

Over the following decades, Rachel Keller traveled throughout Europe, spreading warnings, both true and false, doing her best to steer the factions in the directions demanded by the cobweb. She was as blissfully unaware of her alternate personalities as they were of her. There were many shared memories, but some were willfully buried, replaced with constructs that fit each respective personality.

Aside from serving as an oracle of sorts, they also tried their best to become better at their disciplines. Of these, the one they proved best at, in part due to the strong cobweb connection, was dementation. Whenever someone proved a problem, driving them insane even temporarily tended to be an excellent solution. Far less trouble than killing could be.

While frequently staying with lone kindred, Keller rarely stayed long among camarilla groups. An oracle is not mystical if she is well-known in a place, some whisper had told her. Of the Kindred she spent time with, most were Malkavians. Of these, most tended to distance themselves whenever Rae made their sire's name known, though Keller never could figure out why.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Rae had the luck to once more encounter their sire. After, barely avoiding death, she received her instructions. Neither Rachel nor Ráichéal can say exactly what these instructions were. Both of them have buried the memories. The only thing that is certain, is that Rae went on a killing spree shortly afterwards, slaying kine and kindred alike.

As expected, it did not take long for the Camarilla to want her stopped. They sent first a kine to warn her. He spent the rest of his life talking to a flower pot he claimed answers. The second messenger, a ghoul, ended up spread out over a street much the same way manure is spread over a field. Rae did not care for their warnings. When they sent an enforcer, one belonging to an old Tremere clan based out of the belgian town of Louvain. For weeks nothing happened, then he returned without warning. Since the murders stopped after that, the Elders of Europe deemed that the message had been delivered. Rae knew better, of course. Even Rachel and Ráichéal knew better. They all thought they had unleashed the full strength of their dementation upon the enforcer. If anyone knows the truth, it has to be the victim himself.

Because she knew how the Camarilla of Europe would react if they realized the truth, they all made arrangements to leave Europe. Or rather, one did and the other two thought they did. Keller boarded a ship for Canada. While the United States might have been easier to get to, Canada offered sparse populations and fewer connections back to the Old World camarillas. Eventually she made her way into the western side of the continent and the city of angels, after a short detour by way of Greenland. She had not planned to go that way, but where the cobweb tells her to go, Ráicháel goes. She wandered deep into the wilder parts of Greenland, far away from the regions populated by people from the “Western world”, not that there were all that many of those in Greenland. The whispers led her to a small Inuit village, where she found a young woman that was pointed out to her by the cobweb. Even after a short time, it was obvious to Keller that the woman was both smarter than the rest and slowly breaking down because of it.

The woman was without friends or any close family, so in a fit of twisted mercy, Keller chose to embrace her. However, where her Sire left her to continue his life, she would not abandon her Childe. Traveling at night (obviously), they buried themselves in the snow by day. Having done as the whispers demanded, Ráicháel brought her Childe back to the mainland and steadily westwards, angling slightly to the south. While they traveled, Keller taught the woman, who answered to the name of Ulloriaq, everything she needed to know. As she had inherited Rae’s utter lack of higher emotions, some lessons were harder than others. Of course, the act of feeding was the one lesson that was no trouble at all. Being Sire and Childe, there was a certain level of blood bond present, but Keller saw no reason to make it complete. A blood-bound childe, while unshakably loyal, is not as effective as a freer childe.

Part II
The trip south-west through Canada was mostly uneventful. At first, she always traveled with her childe, teaching her all about what she had become. But as she learned, Keller saw the need for her childe to grow on her own. Thus, after nine months or so of travel, she sent her childe out on her own to see if she could survive. While she could have followed and observed, Rachel chose instead to only monitor through the slowly weakening partial blood bond. They met up again near the western coast.

Part III
Some five years after she embraced her childe, the pair arrived in Los Angeles, shortly after the Los Angeles Aqueduct was finished. They did not introduce themselves to the local kindred, instead setting up shop on the outskirts of the city, buying up a large plot of land and building a massive house there. For the first few years, they lived there alone, but eventually Lori suggested that it might be more convenient to have food in-house. Thus they remodeled the house into an insane asylum. The fact that such an asylum would also be a suitable place for studying Kine was not lost on them. They chose to name the place “Keller’s house for the touched”, taking the roles of a mother-and-daughter pair owning the place.

As is the case with any growing community, Los Angeles had its share of madmen (and madwomen). Some were, naturally, crazier than others. Others grew more insane during their stay, thanks to Keller’s practice of dementation. In fact, some few were quite sane while committed to Keller’s home for the touched. These individuals were inconvenient to some other party, but for whatever reason, that other party did not wish them dead. Or maybe they did, but wanted to shatter them first. Sure, virtually anyone can someone insane given sufficient time, but when you want it done right, you turn to a professional. That particular service has long been a favorite among certain criminal groups and unscrupulous people who would like to be first in line for inheritance.

Whenever corpses turn up, Kine authorities, police in particular, tend to look closer. Nobody looks closer when the local mad house gets a new resident. Most people do not want to consider whether the person chewing on the carpet might once have been a productive member of society. In fact, Keller has, over the years, occasionally helped Kine vigilante police officers dispose of criminals they simply couldn’t put away normally.

Following the establishment of her & Lori’s Asylum, Keller slowly spread her influence out into a nice buffer zone around it. Enough to feel fairly safe, but not enough to attract undue attention. She knew better than to bite off more than she could chew. Despite her residence in the city, she did not care much for the politics of the Kindred factions. She stayed out of their business, so for the most part they stayed out of hers.

Of the people Keller has any business relationship with, very few have any idea what she is. Fewer still know her clan, let alone her derangement. To her, fooling others into mistaking the truth is a game well worth playing. She knows very well that she in some ways is a bit insane. more than a century and a half of life experience has taught her that much. With some, she feigns the same lack of higher emotions as her childe, with others she acts as if she’s obsessed with the power of certain objects. With others yet again, she might fake other derangements, but those first two are her favorites. Rae on the other hand, couldn’t care less about appearances. If she dislikes someone, she simply kills them. Rae is a simple creature.

Neither Rachel, nor Ráicháel nor Rae have any fondness for those whose generation goes beyond a single digit. Anyone like that will have to work real hard to earn the Keller’s respect, if they can even get it at all. She does not associate herself directly with any of the sects, be they Sabbat, Camarilla or Anarch. If any definition fits her, it has to be Autarkis. She’s sent more than a few enforcer squads from various sects away considerably less sane than when they arrived.

between 1914 and 1930, the three main sects sent many such “recruiters”. The first few, she simply threw out to be nice. However, that did not work well, for they simply sent more. Thus Keller started giving them first temporary derangements, then permanent derangements when that too failed to stop them. After each sect had lost three to five enforcer squads each to insanity, they started getting the message. She left them alone, they let her be.

In the mid-autumn of 1933, an old associate she had originally not realized she would encounter again showed up. One of the enforcers sent up against her back in the old world, a low-generation Tremere. At first, she was not aware of his presence in the city. Unlike the nosferatu, she did not try to collect all the information in the city. Keller did not care about anything outside her narrow section of the city, so long as it did not affect her affairs. But when, on october the third, someone lit the Griffith Park on fire, killing several kindred and numerous kine in the process. At the urging of the whispers in her minds, Keller sought out the source of fire.

Though she disliked relying upon others, she knew well that there was no way she could find someone like him in a city this large without help. Thus she called upon one of the nosferatu, gaining the information she needed. She knew she would have to repay the debt one day, but denying the will of the whispers would not work out. When she got close to the area they claimed he was, she slowed her pace, but kept heading for him unerringly. Some use of her Auspex discipline made it easy enough to locate him. She did not try to hide her approach.

Keller continued her slow and measured approach, even when he first started to reach for a nearby weapon. However, before he grabbed it, he clearly reconsidered and got up to approach her. She halted some distance from him, waiting to see his reaction. Waiting to see if he recognized her from over twenty years earlier the way she recognized him. When he spoke the name she had laid claim to, she answered simply in the same fashion. “Mesner.” She did not make any further moves, simply waiting to see how he would react. For close to a quarter of an hour, they simply stared at each other, neither one speaking.

When he asked her what she wanted, she started by simply smiling. Ráicháel did not want anything in particular for herself. She could easily have driven him further insane, but she did not see any reason to do so. The whispers in her mind spoke of some sort of purpose, but it was hard to tell exactly what, for they were all jumbled together, all contradicting each other. “I want nothing and I want everything. You would not understand my wants even if you tried. The right question is what you want and what you plan to do now.” She did not let any emotions show when she added at the end. “It is also whether I will let you achieve that.” Whatever his answer and the rest of the conversation was, they ended up leaving together. As none but them were present, it is not known what they spoke of or agreed to do. But not much later, the company “MK solutions” was registered.

For the first few years of the existence of MK solutions, they did not take on any major jobs, spending a lot of time trying to learn each other without blatantly doing just that. Though neither of them was a direct threat to the other (despite being able to kill each other), true trust took a few years to build. Keller learned quite a bit about combat techniques from Mesner, as her skills from the past, especially Rae’s, were focused more on violent and effective killing than upon true combat. The serial killer in Keller benefited greatly from this training. In turn, Keller taught the Tremere more about how the mind works, trying to help him improve his skills in psychological warfare. Knowing how others think can be just as important as knowing effective means of killing, at least in Keller’s mind. But despite the training, he never got quite as skilled as her at it. Probably because he did not have the skills to drive others insane. His utter and complete dislike of blood bonds meant that she could not jump-start lessons into dementation. Considering the fact that, even if he did learn the discipline, he would not hear the whispers, she did not mind overmuch.

To Këller & Rae, killing comes naturally and is done utterly without remorse. Rachel on the other hand, will not admit to any killing. She buries any memory related to such cruelty. Of the three, she is the one least likely to drain anyone completely. But of course, nothing is impossible. The times Rachel kills, the does her best to bury the memories. The random switches between the three personalities make sure that, to most others, Keller is never predictable. Even to those, like Mesner and Lori, who know her best, she is still not possible to predict fully. Although The three parts of Keller are to some degree aware of each other, they do not see eye-to-eye and will never see any reason to inform others about the differences. If they can’t learn on their own, then they do not deserve to know.

When the Kine started their second world war, Keller did not involve herself directly. The wars of the Kine were of minimal interest to her. Once the United States entered that war, quite a few war protesters and such were considered by mortal authorities to be sick of the mind, so she had no trouble having many of them interred in her facility. They were an easy source of food and useful test subjects. The mainland US did not get affected by the war nearly so much as the rest of the world. In 1943, through working in the background, Keller helped bring about the establishment of the Anarch Free State in LA. Its establishment served her goals, keeping the local Camarilla from focusing solely upon ‘recruiting’ her, her childe or Mesner into its ranks. It also served as a place for studying kindred who were neither Camarilla nor Sabbat, yet were to some degree organized. There were other organized groups of Kindred, but they had even more purpose to their actions than the Camarilla or the Sabbat, so they weren’t interesting to study in the way the Anarchs were.

Following the establishment of the Anarch Free State, Keller continued working towards her goals, unifying them more and more with the goals of Mesner, who became somewhat of a true ally. As the 20th Century headed towards an end, she continued teaching her childe, helping bring her into the same purpose she herself held. Other than providing minor services to the Kine during these years (disposing of inconvenient individuals), she did not involve herself much in the affairs of the Kine.

The growth of the City of Los Angeles had early on ensured that she could not maintain quite so large a buffer area around the haven, but rather than sell off the land, she had rented out parts, especially to the city itself. The terms were good enough that the city eventually more or less forgot that it did not own much of that territory. While renting out territory for small amounts of money does not pay off in the short run, it will pay off when you budget it out over a century or more. In fact, this means that Keller owns several city blocks of Downtown LA.

When the years of the Final Nights came, Keller did her best to stay out of the whole situation. Any kindred to approach her haven were kept violently away. Or they were subtly redirected. Whatever means that ensured they did not stick around became the goal. After the end of the Final Nights (in LA), she continued advancing the same missions she had had before they started, the same mission as many other malkavians have shown to follow even if they don’t know it themselves.

Personality:
Ráicháel Këller is fairly emotionless. Not as emotionless as her childe, but still not one to show many emotions. She is pretty methodical, valuing self over most anything else. Having arisen right after the global amnesia, she lacks many traits most other people will have, simply because they did not appear in her early post-embrace interactions. Some might describe her somewhat like a sociopath. She listens quite a lot to the whispers of the cobweb and is wont to do her best to obey them.

Rachel Keller is more naïve than Ráicháel. She cares more than the others, but won’t bother with niceties when push comes to shove. She is the only one of her that will believe in any inherent good in anyone. Anything truly bad, like cold-blooded murder, she will generally do her utmost to forget, even if her memories have gaping holes because of it. She is an idealist.

Rae, unlike the other two, is a pure psychopath, a cold-blooded serial killer. Other lives, be they Kindred or Kine, have virtually no value to her. She detests those of blood below a certain thickness (generation ten or higher), and will not need any excuse at all to kill such, but can be averted from doing so if it is more expedient not to kill them. Similarly, like her “sisters” she embodies a hate for all females who wear high-heeled shoes. Unlike her middle sister (Rachel), she is perfectly willing to kill such if given a clean chance.

Appearance:
Keller stands at 163 cm tall and is neither thick nor scrawny. Physically, she looks to be in her mid-to-late twenties. When it comes to clothes, Keller will wear normal clothes, striving most of all to not stand out. She doesn’t paint her face, nor put on any flashy clothes. Only when Rae is in dominance and in no mood for maintaining appearances is it that Keller looks anything other than perfectly normal.

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Lothar Mesner

Name: Lothar Mesner
Generation: Sixth
Clan: Tremere
Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate and Thaumaturgy
Personality:
Biography:
Lothar Mesner’s life before the embrace was a largely insignificant one. All that needs to be said of it is that he managed to impress a Tremere enforcer looking for new recruits, entirely without realising what he had done of course. Unlike many modern kindred, Mesner was embraced with a distinct purpose already cut out for him. In that time before the final nights, Thaumaturgy was far easier than it is now, and the Tremere ruled their own with a far heavier, more obvious touch. Enforcers roamed the streets keeping blood mages in check, often by force. In the minds of the Tremere leaders, it was better to be hated by the younger and weaker among them than to risk a breach of the masquerade, or to allow any other Tremere the chance to gain power like unto that of the Elders. Tremere leadership is not so different now compared to then of course, but that no longer matters to this story. Mesner was embraced for the express purpose of becoming an enforcer for the Tremere, a kindred both young and low generation, and easily indoctrinated into Tremere ways, as they were the first he would see of his new unlife.

The first several years of his unlife were spent learning of the world that had been hidden from his mortal eyes, as well as Tremere knowledge, propaganda and useful lore. He was trained in the use of the weapons of the time as well as the basics of his vampiric abilities, the better to serve his purpose. Throughout this time, as part of his ‘training’ he was unknowingly forced into blood bonds with a number of Tremere clan leaders - a practice not uncommon within the clan, but all the more crucial given he was being trained specifically to take down other Tremere.

Once he possessed sufficient basic knowledge, he was assigned to a senior enforcer to learn in the field, where he swiftly began to excel, following orders without question and rapidly learning new and more potent techniques to carry out his duty. When he was deemed sufficiently skilled, he was raised to the position where he would operate alone, occasionally serving the needs of the Camarilla as well as the will of the Tremere. Everything from hunting down and capturing or killing Kindred his masters ordered him too to the tiniest memory rewrite for wayward Kine. Though not the only one, he was among the order that served as the right hand of the Tremere. Throughout this, he enjoyed his duty, truly believing in the cause and the ideals the leaders of the Tremere extolled. Few were his quirks during this time, especially as a thirst for knowledge is considered normal among Tremere. The only one that his superiors ever finding unfitting of one of their enforcers being that he always kept an eye trained on the affairs of the Kine. Europe was a tumultuous place after all, territories changing and wars being waged all the time.

It was approaching the beginning of the twentieth century when events began to conspire that would send Mesner spiralling away from the Tremere. The first event would have been innocuous without the others, but with them proved one of the most important moments of Mesner’s Unlife. During the course of a mission to eliminate a troublesome anarch, Mesner ran across a book by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Having heard of the man and the growing popularity of his writings, Mesner decided to take the book and see for himself what had so many Kine enthralled. For a short time nothing came of this, it merely being another piece of information to store away.

Through an unfortunate set of circumstances during his researches, the second event occurred. He discovered the blood bonds that he had been forcibly subjected to. Unfortunately for the Tremere leaders, the creation of an effective enforcer requires them to have a certain degree of capacity for analytical thought, and it wasn’t long before he determined the purpose of the bonds. Though he understood why they would do such a thing, his belief in his superiors immediately began to erode as he saw them for the selfish and ruthless people they were, little better than those he was regularly tasked to remove. Had he time to think on the matter, events might’ve turned out very differently. As fate would have it, however, he never got the chance to plot against his masters.

His very next task, one from the Camarilla, was to hunt a then-unknown to him Kindred serial killer, or, more specifically, clean up after several messy kills of hers and reprimand her for the fact. During the chase Mesner was not entirely focused, the matter of his superiors and what to do about them still on his mind, and he was not attentive to his quarry. He paid for such distraction by receiving a blast of Dementation from Keller. Though it did not slow him down at the time, it would have far reaching effects on his unlife, even once the effect had worn off. Though this was the first time he met Keller, he learned nothing of her other than her name.

Following the completion of that task, Mesner’s beliefs changed rapidly. Between his already tumultuous thoughts and the madness brought on by Kellers Dementation attack, his tortured mind turned to the closest non-kindred based belief to which he could dedicate himself too. In Mesner’s case, this happened to be the philosophies of Nietzsche. Amazingly, this did not cause any major change in the things he did, merely why he did them, at least not for a time. Not only was he only beginning to properly comprehend the philosophy, but the most basic aspect of it, survival at almost all costs, meant that he did not stir up any trouble or act as though anything was wrong.

That all changed when the Kine of Europe began to beat the drums of war. Mesner had been watching Kine activities long enough to know when war was becoming inevitable, and as the twentieth century began, the signs were stronger than ever. Not only that, but the cities in which Mesner primarily operated were right on in the firing line between some of the most militant countries, and Mesner quickly came to the conclusion that his continued survival depended on him no longer being there, as the killing machines the Kine had created for this new war where a threat to Kindred as well. He thought about trying to warn the Tremere, but with their betrayal of his trust and belief in Kindred superiority, he knew he would be wasting his breath.

Mesner used the resources available to him to arrange transport out of Europe in 1910, selecting the new world of America as his destination. It was far from any battle lines, and now a united force unlikely to tear itself apart as Europe regularly did. It was at this point he truly became absorbed by Nietzschean ideals, restructuring his unlife to live by them. Of the many tenets of Nietzsche, the ones he took most to heart were to survive at all costs, and that the greatest enjoyment in life was gained by living dangerously.

Despite the very self motivated decision to flee Europe, carried out quickly so those he was blood bound too would not stop him, Mesner was not quite entirely ready to exist without superiors giving him orders, as he had for the last century of unlife. At first he mostly took jobs from local princes and occasionally Tremere, though he was always careful to avoid close association with the Tremere. He travelled between a small number of cities and towns in this time, going back and forth between them much like he had in europe. His willingness to take the most dangerous jobs let him make friends quickly in the city where he landed, and for a time he was content. Several years passed, and in the world of the Kine War drums were beating so loud that no voice of reason could be heard in Europe, and the slightest spark would ignite the whole situation.

The year the Kine’s ‘Great War’ began was the year Mesner finally became fed up with taking orders from people for more than the occasional job, a feeling spurred on when someone he had worked for regularly attempted to force another blood bond on him. After killing the Kindred in question for the audacity, he left the city in which it had occurred for good, vowing never to become a ‘valued asset’ for any one being. As his experience had told him, such ‘assets’ were kept on short, tight leashes by their masters, and he would not be a slave to anyone again.

Mesner left the small number of cities he frequented on the east coast to travel roughly west, working with a similar but changed modus operandi. He would still take the most dangerous jobs offered in any civilised area whether they be offered by Camarilla or Anarch, only he maintained no loyalty to any side and never stayed in any one place for more than a few months at most. The jobs kept him wealthy enough to continue traveling and live with a modicum of luxury, as well as honing his skills and challenging him. He maintained few rules now, refusing to work directly for the Sabbat, though from time to time Sabbat goals were furthered by his actions inadvertently. He usually knew when such a thing was happening but if it gave enough of a challenge and enough of an advantage to him it didn’t matter too much, especially as he furthered Camarilla goals just as often.

He maintained this lifestyle until eventually he reached the West Coast in late 1932, well after the Great War of the Kine was decided. He arrived in Los Angeles proper in 1933, and very shortly discovered that he’d finally been tracked down by an agent of the Old World Tremere, who did not want to lose such a major investment or powerful being as him, especially not to the new world of America where their influence was practically non existent. Mesner was quick to act when he discovered the Old World agent. He spread word that he would be meeting an anonymous ally in Griffith Park. When the agent arrived to apprehend him, it was a simple task to set the entire Park ablaze. While not normally so brazen in his dealing with problems, this one warranted an effective and showy display, as it was not only an effective and largely untraceable murder, but a message as well, saying that he would not bow to his old masters.

When another of the Kindred sought him out and approached the structure in which he was staying, his first thought was that it was another enforcer, or maybe an assassin, sent to deal with him despite his warning. He prepared his defences, but rather than simply shoot on sight, he decided to confront this anonymous person. She seemed not to be approaching aggressively or stealthily, and that meant he might be able to gain more than simply a satisfying kill. Satisfying kills were common enough, but situations where negotiation brought advantage were fewer and to be taken at every opportunity. though certainly not unarmed, he approached the newcomer in the apparent peace she did.

Though he did not immediately recognise the source of his beliefs, and certainly not as the source of his beliefs, when she got close Mesner saw Keller for who she was. He had never expected to see the crazy Malkavian that had been one of his final official marks from Europe. The world was a big place after all. He remained on guard, greeting her with one word, simply saying “Keller.” For the first time in a long time he had no idea how to proceed. What advantage, if any, could be gleaned from this woman was unclear. For quite some time they simply stared at each other, Mesner for once in his life having no idea how to proceed. Eventually, against his sense of style, he simply asked. “What do you want?”

While normally quick to dismiss Malkavian nonsense, Mesner was not so swift with Keller. Whether she knew it or not, there had to be a reason this madwoman had sought him out. It all seemed too convenient, and he would play along with her until he knew. They talked for a while before leaving together. What they spoke of, only the most inquisitive of Nosferatu know, and they are not telling. A short time after, a new company was formed, led by Mesner and Keller.

For Mesner, the company served to continue his way of life, testing himself against dangerous situations for improvement and enjoyment, while allowing for somewhat more safety from both association with an equally dangerous Kindred and the advantage of getting to know the terrain more intimately. Within the company, Mesner forms the most direct part of any contract. His considerable combat and magical experience meant that the pair quickly decided he would be the spearhead. He leaves much of the negotiation and directly political aspects to his partner, not for a lack of capability, though she is better than him at such, but because if they were perceived as a group they would also be perceived as more powerful and harder to control.

On a more personal level, he took it upon himself to form an understanding of Keller’s particular madness, or at least a sufficient working knowledge for him to be safe with her no matter what the circumstances. Understanding a Malkavian, especially one as extreme as Keller, is no small task, and despite his best observations, it was an incredibly, frustratingly, slow process. Fortunately, Mesner had grown to very much enjoy the danger, as Nietzsche had taught, and the time living and working with Keller in which he did not understand her proved quite exhilarating.

Keller’s childe however, proved to be quite the different challenge. At first she simply attacked him, but nowhere near effectively enough to endanger him. He politely responded by redirecting attacks and generally proving that she was wasting her time. He could understand the desire to test ones skills against a superior opponent in the name of self improvement, and though he realised that probably wasn’t her initial intent, he chose to think it was. In his observation of her, he quickly saw through the farce of emotion she projected to the far less emotional and ethical person she was, telling her as much just to demonstrate that once again, she was wasting her time with deception.

As the years passed and Mesner worked and lived with Keller and Lori, his opinions of them changed. No longer curiosities to be studied before moving on, they became powerful tools and allies in the grand game that was his survival and enjoyment. He was keenly aware of exactly how little control he had over them, but that was part of the fun. Trusted allies left one complacent and open to exploitation. Unpredictable allies made life easier while keeping him on his toes.

Soon enough, the Kine launched into their second World War, proving the claim that the first was ‘the war to end all wars’ quite false, just as Mesner had expected. Though America proved far less safe from the ever growing levels of devastation the Kine were capable of causing this time round, it was thankfully spared the direct effects of the war, the ones he was most worried about. The end of this war also brought glad tidings to Mesner. News reached him that the last of the Tremere Elders he had been bound to had been killed in the war at the hands of the devastating Kine war-machine.

The arrival of the Anarch Free State in 1943 was not entirely a surprise to Mesner due to his close working association with Keller, though his reaction was predictably Nietzschean. Holding no particular like or dislike for the Camarilla, he simply welcomed the chance for a more dangerous and tumultuous environment. While the anarchy was hardly a good thing for Kindred society, the ousting of the ancient and fossilized ideas of Camarilla hardliners was sufficient good to balance out in his mind.

During the following years, much of Mesner’s time outside of working was spent adapting to the new weapons that World War II had brought into the kine, and quickly following that the Kindred society. Alongside this, he was perfecting some of the less used of his magical techniques, the better to defend himself and his allies. With the increasing rate of Kine development, his weaponry studies have never really stopped. Because of the wide variety of weapons he is familiar with, his arsenal usually consists of a curious mix of old-fashioned favourites and bleeding edge weapons, often with anti-kindred modifications.

The advent of the Cold War and the proliferation of Nuclear weaponry struck a strong chord in Mesner however. He knew what Nuclear weapons could do after seeing them used in the second World War, and his prediction from long ago was coming horrifyingly more real with every passing day. The Kine now possessed, on the global scale, a power that no Kindred short of the first ones could hope to match. They could wipe cities off the map forever with a button press. In order to ensure his survival in a world with such weapons, he altered the path of his magical studies. Rather than ever finer refinement of his existing paths, he embarked on the incredibly difficult process of experimentation that is the creation of a new Path of Thaumaturgy. There has been little progress on this over the years with the many other things taking his time, but it is his pet project when he has the time.

The Final Nights and the chaotic mess that they have turned LA into have arrived entirely without Mesner’s aid. Though he has continued to work under the capacity of MK Solutions, the company and thus Mesner have stayed largely out of the more major events taking place in the city. For all that he enjoys danger, he is capable of realising when something is not worth the risk, usually when the risk is a high chance of his death. Events seem to be leading quickly to a situation he cannot avoid however, and it will likely not be long before Mesner becomes as embroiled in the mess as everyone else.

---

Lori Keller

Name: Ulloriaq "Lori" Keller
Generation: Seven
Age: 18ish (physical), 125ish (years since birth)
Clan: Malkavian
Disciplines: Dementation, Protean, Obfuscate
Personality: Lori is, as can be expected, insane. She also sufferers from (or thrives with) desensitization. It is pretty hard to tell which, seeing as she feels no strong emotions at all. Prior to her embrace, Ulloriaq had what could have measured to genius-level intellect, which is the reason she attracted the attention of the malkavians in the first place. She is very fond of experiments, and doesn’t even have the concept of ethics when it comes to dealing with Kine. Like Rae she kills, but she is more of a hands-on killer.

Biography:
Born in the year 1890, Ulloriaq called a small village near the Nares strait in Greenland home for the first fifteen years of her life. As small as it was, the village did not feature on most maps of the region, let alone larger maps. Even to her parents, it was obvious that she was smarter than the average inuit, learning almost everything she was taught without need for repetition. Nonetheless, her family were traditionalists. There was no question asked about whether to send her somewhere else to learn to use her intellect. That was unthinkable. As such, she was forced to remain, straining against the simplicity of the life therein. She badgered her elders with questions, always trying to understand everything.

When they either couldn’t or wouldn’t answer her, she started experimenting on her own. Because her elders had quickly gotten tired of her questions, few kept any attention upon what sort of experiments she conducted, let alone whether they were “right”. At first, her experiments were harmless, dealing mostly into snow and ice, but there is of course only so much you can do with that, so she soon turned to animals. Those experiments kept her entertained for years. As she matured, she started staying more and more away from the village, especially when her experiments started giving her interest into the study of other people. But however much they disliked her experiments, they would not shun her completely, let alone wish her dead. Primarily because they had no idea she was responsible.

Her experiments slowly brought her towards the brink of insanity. Had she been any more emotional, she would have gone insane long ago. However she attracted the attention of the malkavians is hard to say, but she did. The cobweb has been known to have nearly prophetic abilities at times, so it could have been that. Whatever the means and reason, someone was dispatched to bring her into the fold. That someone happened to be the one sometimes known as Rachel Keller.

As it often is, she was not asked whether she wanted to join. Ulloriaq had never had much interest in social life or interaction with those her age, especially since she knew they are all dumber than her. While that view isn’t unusual in many youths, in her case and position it was actually true.

When Keller arrived at Ulloriaq’s village, the polar night had fallen three weeks earlier and the region was entering the state of nautical polar night. However, even with no sun, it did not mean that she could travel constantly. The need for rest asserts itself even when the sun doesn't shine.

The villagers were all shocked at the appearance of a stranger, especially a foreigner. Nobody thereabouts traveled much that deep into the winter. Ulloriaq saw immediately how foreign she was, for where her own hair was pure black, the stranger’s hair was tinged with both red and brown. Her clothes were roughly made, uncured furs from wild animals. Even more shocking, she spoke their language perfectly, though with a faint accent.

It was quickly apparent to Ulloriaq that the stranger was considerably more intelligent than most others, and she showed considerable interest in her. There was something about the stranger that unnerved most of her tribe, but the prospect of a real friend made her ignore any warnings from them. She liked the stranger.

For weeks, nothing special happened. The people started accepting the stranger, even if none of them other than Ulloriaq ever got close to her. After a month or so, using a night hunt as an excuse, she lured the stranger out of the village, little knowing she was being hunted herself. The weather was good and fresh meat would do everyone good.

To her surprise, and great satisfaction, the stranger agreed to the hunt. They left shortly afterwards, heading out towards the coast, where it would be possible to catch Harp seals. As they trekked, the stranger seemed tireless. So far as Ulloriaq could determine, she did not even eat. She found that strange, but thought it a quirk of foreigners. The first evening, if anything could be called such during nautical polar night, they built a quick shelter, rapidly digging a small cave into the thick snowpack. Again, the stranger was tireless. They spoke very little while working, so Ulloriaq did not really get to know the stranger any better. After two hours of digging, the cave was complete and soon enough after entering, it warmed up. The stranger spoke of far off places, telling her interesting stories before she fell asleep. After what had to be several hours of sleep, she felt a warm trickle down her throat, but she could not understand what it was. As it was utterly dark, she could not see anything. All she remembers was that the feeling was wonderful.

The morning after she had asked the stranger if anything had happened during the night, but the stranger seemed oblivious to anything like that. They continued their hunt, reaching the coast early on and following it northeast in the hopes of locating a migrating congregation. When it grew late without any finding, they once more built a snow cave, proceeding with stories and Ulloriaq’s pestering questions till well after full dark. Shortly after she fell asleep, she woke with a jolt to twin stabbing pains in her neck. She tried to flail, but something held her down with inhuman strength. Within minutes, her body grew increasingly lethargic, her heart first beating quicker and quicker to compensate for the blood loss, then slower and slower as her body shut down. The last memory from that time was the thought that she would have wished to at least see what killed her…

It could have been seconds later, it could have been hours or days later. Ulloriaq had no idea. She once more felt the warm trickle down her throat. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She felt something above her mouth, snapping her arms up and pulling it down, sucking in deeply. As suddenly as it started, it stopped when the source was pulled away firmly. Her body felt like it was on fire as the mysterious elixir spread. Had she been able to see herself, she would have seen her scars fading, her thin spread of freckles fade as her skin turned even paler. Her hair, usually kept braided back, now unbraided for sleep, grew slightly longer, taking on the appearance of ebony-black whips of fine gossamer. She started to feel stronger, raising her hand, she gazed at it as the nails visibly hardened, becoming crystalline and faintly sharper. Not enough to stand out with a casual look, but more than enough to be apparent with a close inspection.

Only after that did the raw, unabiding hunger set in. She had not felt anything like it before. There was something she just simply needed. She jumped to her feet, leaping straight up and shooting through the roof of the snow cave, running straight out to the nearby coast. She smelled something edible there. Just knew it was out there. Within minutes, she had sunk her fangs into a Harp seal, sucking greedily. It sated the hunger, but left her with a feeling that something was missing. In the distance, she heard the baying of the other seals as they fled, some overland, others leaping into the ocean.

Ulloriaq sat there in silence, staring at the twin holes in the neck of the drained seal, perplexed by all that had happened. Reaching up, she felt the tips of her fangs. Her hunger sated, she managed to focus enough to actually think. It was then she heard the first whispers. She spun around, but could not see anything. She could not quite make out what they said, but they were there. Just as suddenly, she felt a curious presence behind her. She twisted about again, spotting the stranger, Ráicháel Këller. She felt a sudden urge to do anything to please her. It was inexplicable. The stranger simply smiled, indicating that she should follow, which she did gladly.

Part II
Over the next few months, Keller taught her everything about what she was. The whispers, once unclear, quickly cleared up, letting her know all sorts of things, but Ulloriaq found she could not care. She liked no longer being alone, but found it impossible to muster any strong emotions about anything. Her sire, as she had learned Keller was, did not mind. She continued teaching, and Ulloriaq continued absorbing the knowledge. They never returned to her village after the hunt, instead crossing the strait and traveling into Canada. She quickly realized that a lot of her ideas, both about her sire and about the world in general, were terribly wrong.

They continued traveling through Canada, feeding on animals and Kine alike, depending on what was available. The further south-west they got, the more light was available. Shortly after crossing the arctic circle, they first had to take shelter from the sun, even if it was just for a couple of hours. Feeding often, they could without any trouble travel the entire night through. If it had not been for the sun, they could have traveled constantly. Ulloriaq found she had no trouble feeding on Kine. Any feelings she had once held for their kind were now utterly gone, like most higher emotions. Traveling as they did, no mortals could keep up with them. They were left alone.

About nine months into their journey, Keller suggested that she needed to learn to survive on her own. She had been taught enough for Keller to deem her ready for such. She quickly realized the suggestion was basically a command, and though the partial blood bond was no longer quite as strong as it once had been, she still couldn’t quite shake commands from her sire off without considerable effort. They would once more meet up near the western coast of the continent, that was the only thing her sire told her before departing.

Ulloriaq continued moving west south-west as best as she could, resting during the day and moving at night. For the first couple of weeks, nothing interesting ever happened. She struggled a bit with finding prey, made a few wrong turns and so forth, but nothing major. Then, not long into one night, while running along a deer trail, she suddenly found herself hitting what felt like a wall of ice. That wall turned out, when she woke back up a few seconds later, to be a massive Gangrel. He had apparently smelled her coming and sought to identify her. He claimed she stood out in the forest like “an elephant in a puddle”, whatever that meant.

As the first kindred that wasn’t her sire, she found him more than a little intriguing, so she questioned him in return. After a bit, she suggested they get moving, as she had a place she needed to go. He suggested he could join her, as he did not have any place to be, and he did not mind having company in his journeying. Thus, for the next many weeks and months, they traveled together. She quickly noted that he resembled a bear more than a man, with long claws at the ends of his fingers and more than a few hints of fur. Compared to her slightly-stronger-than-human fingernails, they were pretty impressive. Thus she started pestering him to teach her the discipline of Protean, without much effect. For the first couple of months, he resisted. But after that, he started to give in, if only to shut up her pestering. Her sire had already taught her the basics of both Dementation and Obfuscate, so Protean fit nicely in with it. It took her a long time to even learn the basics, seeing as how it was not one of her classic clan disciplines, but in time she started to figure it out from his instructions. However, even when she showed progress, she did not revel in any joy, claiming there was so much more she had to learn and finding it impossible to muster much of any emotion about anything.

They made steady pace forwards, taking the instructions on the go. She repaid him primarily in tales from her homeland, as well as some of the basics of Obfuscate. As large as he was, the lowest levels of that discipline were of questionable benefit to him, but she thought that he could in time find a use for it. When they finally got close to the coast, he turned back, not wanting to go there. Neither of them knew if they would ever meet again. He had, after these several years of travel, taught her how to summon feral claws. They were, naturally, not as strong as his own, but they were far more than the default vampiric nails. After a few more weeks, where she searched far and wide, she met back up with Keller. Or rather, Keller met up with her, having tracked her down through the remnants of the blood bond. Together they made their way down the coast.

Part III
Early in 1914 they arrived in the city of Los Angeles. It wasn’t all that large yet, but it was greater than any settlement Ulloriaq had passed through before. Using some unknown source of funds, Keller bought up a plot of land somewhat outside the city, whereupon they built a great house. Initially, they stayed there alone, keeping out of any kindred politics. Some kindred were undoubtedly aware of their presence, but after they made it abundantly clear they were not interested in any interaction. Keller’s habit of driving messengers insane both temporarily and permanently left few doubts on that front. Still, eventually as more kindred claimed parts of the town, finding prey became more difficult, which is when Ulloriaq suggested they expand the house and convert it into a home for the insane. Because that also meant they had to fit into society, Ulloriaq took on the name of Lori Keller, claiming to the mortals to be Rachel’s daughter.

Through these years, she continued her research into how various creatures were made up, favoring more and more the art of dissecting people. Together with Rae, Lori became infamous for their sporadic murders, but they were never caught, for in time the Kellers built up a bit of a connection to both the local mob and the kine authorities, being the go-to location for disposing of the unwanted. Beside her studies of anatomy and practice of cold-blooded murder, Lori also continued her studies into the three disciplines she had initially started learning. Her sire did not care overmuch for her lack of interest in learning Auspex, but Lori ignored any such feelings as she did so many other things.

In 1933, when Keller returned to their haven with the Tremere Mesner, Lori was not quick to trust him. In fact, she tried on several occasions to kill him. Not because she disliked him, but because he was a potential threat. The one trait that rules her actions has always been logic. Spreading trust out has always been something she is careful about. The first time she needlessly trusted a stranger, she ended up a vampire. She doesn’t mind that now, but the lesson stuck with her. The only real loyalty she has is to her Sire, mostly as a remnant of the 2/3rds blood bond that was set up around the time she was embraced. With all the input from the first year of her embrace, she has quite forgotten about the blood bond.

For the first several years, Lori frequently attempted to kill Mesner. Not out of hate or anything like that, but simply because he was a potential weakness and threat. She never got close to succeeding, but he proved to be a valuable means of improving her skills, especially since he in turn did not kill her. In effect, her attempts to kill him were a complex means of training. On some deep level she was compelled to always become a better killer. She did not know it, but that particular compulsion hailed back to her grandsire, whom she had never met. For a decade or more, she tried to mimic stronger emotions to everyone, but neither her sire nor Mesner had any trouble seeing through the act, so while in the presence of either or both of those alone, she generally doesn’t bother with the act. However, if she is in the presence of any other kindred (or Kine) she will act more emotional.

Lori did not focus on much of anything other than improving her skills during the mid decades of the 20th Century. When asked to, she helped her sire and mesner in their goals, but did not have too many goals of her own. It was only towards the end of the 20th Century with her skills at dementation growing in strength that she started to tune more into the cobweb and attain goals of her own.

Beside the studies of Dementation, Lori also kept up her studies of the other two of her prime disciplines up, slowly improving them both. It was not so easy to improve Protean without a teacher, but she managed it. She too did not involve herself much in the Final Nights, listening to her Sire’s demand that they stay out of it. After that upheaval ended in LA, she once again followed in the footsteps of her Sire, working towards the same goals as her.

Other information:
She has over the years been partially blood-bound to at least two kindred. A level two blood bond to her sire from the time she was embraced and a single-step blood bond to the gangrel that taught her Protean. The latter was mandatory to let her learn that discipline, which is naturally accessible to Malkavians. As neither of these blood bonds have been strengthened over the years, they have mostly faded by modern time.

---

Other faction members:
There may be a few ghouls and such as part of the faction, but they are all considered highly disposable and not worth naming here. There are no other Kindred currently part of the faction. At least not who are known to anyone outside it.

Hi everyone

If the two posts you have here are any indication, you should have no trouble keeping up with Casual. We could not spot any errors in them.

While there are probably quite a few in the Free section that have good english, there are also quite a few there that have a somewhat lacking grasp of grammar and vocabulary.

Of course, if you're the sort that likes checking over own posts and want a real challenge, you could always try Advanced.

Vampire: The Masquerade. Dance of the Damned

heh. nice one.

we did in one RP write the CS as an IC post. That was pretty fun.

The IRC is pretty quiet, we've noticed. Mostly us sitting there observing, with the occasional appearance of a wild Zed.

Vampire: The Masquerade. Dance of the Damned

If all goes well, the sheet should be finished tomorrow. We finally got past the barrier where the sheet was starting to look half-way like a collab.

Hey I'm kinda new to this

madskills435 said 1. Can anyone just post on the ooc?

Yes. Per now, such threads are open to everyone.

madskills435 said 2. If not how do I allow specific others to post on it?

There have been discussions about implementing restriction systems, but no more than that. See the Feature Requests & Bugs section. Stickied topic therein.

madskills435 said 3. Can anyone post on the Ic?

Yes.

madskills435 said 4. If not how do i allow specific others to post on it?

See answer to question #2. It is the same for this one.

madskills435 said 5.How do i search for specific role plays?

Search function, alas, has yet to be implemented. It is either a Work In Progress or on the list of things to be done, though. So to find specific RPs, you either have to dig through the forums, or dig through recent user posts. You might try using google to search, but not 100% sure on parameters to use there.

madskills435 said 6. How do i link people to role plays?

open roleplay you want to link.
Select the URL. Copy it.
paste it into this thing, right after the equals sign:
[url=]link to the RP[/url]
or if you just want an url without descriptive text on the link, just paste it into this:
[url=]

Stargate - Alliances

post what feels natural to the character you've imagined.

Vampire: The Masquerade. Dance of the Damned

Guild has had considerable downtime the past couple of days, Ruby. It ain't just you.

We hope to get most of what remains of the CS done tomorrow. We're nearing satisfaction with our concept now.

Star Wars: Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

Excellent to hear, hopefully Leon5431's sheet will come in soon so that events can move again.