In his life David had rather been a dull, colourless person. One of the many young good-for-nothing who think themselves to be cool. Always hanging around at the same places, talking a lot of trash, the usual BS that youths do. Sure he had a lot of potential, he was smart, charismatic and handsome, but he chose to make nothing of that. To his parents he was a disappointment, to others he was simply a waste of space.
All that changed when the cruel world of the vampire wars hit him in the guise of a shovel. To the present day he can't recall more than his buddies and him hanging around infront of the supermarket when suddenly those creepy looking fellas jumped out of that van and started whacking people with shovels...
His next memory is total and pure blackness. Crushing confinment rested on his chest and he could feel his friends next to him. He was buried alive! Terror flooded his whole body. He had to get out. Somehow. With all means necessary. His hands clawed together like Talons he dug his way up, up and up, always up. Like moles others were with him on their way up, partly touching him and then disapperaing beneath him, stuck in the cold ground or simply crushed in an unfortunate way as an air bubble collapsed and several hundred pounds of earth came at them from all sides. And finally he reached the surface. Cold moonlight shone down on him as the strange figures around him chanted and welcomed him into his new life. Cruel hands tore himm out of the earth and performed hasty birth rituals at him before they hurled himm at their Camarilla foes.
The next two months were a blur of fight, killing and even more horrible things. All of this was new to him. Hitting people with shovels like he was "recruited", jumping centuries old vampires, stuff like that. But he adapted. For the first time in his life he had some purpose. He enjoyed all that too much to die now. With determinationa nd sheer brutality he climbed up the ladder till he was the boss of the shovelheads. In the end he was one of three survivors. His introduction into the "Bloody Hands" pack was his goal into the Sabbat. And from there on he rose to infamy with his brutal tactics until the Cardinal Francisco Domingo Polonia himself took an interest in him and charged himm with the responsibility of a crusade in a Camarila city.
This is his final test. If he succeeds great things and a career unseen in the Sabbat that surpasses even several century old elders will await him. If he fails he will be too dead to care...
POWERS AND ABILITIES:
Vampiric qualities:
Being a descendant of Cain in the 8 generation David of course inherited the usual benefits and drawbacks such an ancestry brings with it. First and foremost his body is far harder to damage than a normal human’s. Clubs, fists and even guns as long as they are not aiming at his head are a mere inconvenience to him though strikes with superhuman strength can still knock him unconscious. Blades are dangerous to him but still they simply damage him not as much as they would a human. Fire and sunlight are near deadly to him like they are to all Cainites. His pain tolerance is also greatly heightened. His physical attributes are not much better than to his life times which means those of a mildly trained man but using the power of vampire vitae he can enhance them to slightly superhuman levels. He does need blood to exist and use most of his disciplines and the beast inside that haunts all vampires descended from Cain constantly urges him to drink more. Of course he has no problem with that. Contrary to common believe he is only vulnerable to religious symbols if the person truly believes in them, he can cross fluent water, is neither vulnerable to silver nor garlic, casts a shadow and can enter rooms and houses without being invited. Ironically he does not have a mirror image as the clan curse of the Lasombra prevents that. Like all Cainites he can fall into a beast-induced frenzy if too hungry or being provoked too much.
Disciplines:
The vampiric blood in his veins enables David to use the arcane gifts that Cain bestowed upon his descendants in times before history was written. He is far from having mastered all of them but for such a young Cainite he has already learned an impressive amount of them. Among those that he had the opportunity to learn rank:
Animalism: David picked up this discipline rather accidentally while diablerizing a Gangrel elder and has not developed it beyond the most rudimentary basics. Animalism is rumoured to be the source of the legends of vampires’ rule over animals giving them the actual ability to call and command them. Due to his despising of this discipline David has not trained it at all and is only able to speak to animals and understand what they say. Theoretically if he found a tutor he could enhance it to be powerful enough to control and even possess animals but he chooses not to and dedicate his attention to more pressing matters.
Rank: 1/5
Auspex: David has not progressed far on this path so he is only able to enhance his natural senses to a level that is comparable to proverbial animals like the bloodhound, the falcon or the hawk. Through the use of Auspex he is also able to see normally in any condition, be it mist or total darkness. The secrets of this discipline were taught to him by his very short lived Malkavian packmate Mala who suffered from severe schizophrenia that finally drove her into the sunlight.
Rank: 1/5
Celerity: Legend has it that vampires are faster than mortals by far. Though it deploys his blood resources quickly David can tap into this discipline to prove this legend. Although he is far inferior to Persephone, the Brujah domina who taught him this discipline and one of the two survivors of his original pack, David can become twice as fast as a normal man.
Rank: 1/5
Dominate: Inherent to the blood of the Lasombra clan it was easy for David to learn the art of dominating others. So far only a few things divide him from true mastery of it like his mentor who taught it to him. Using this discipline he can force people to do his will and plant hidden commands as well as implant them with false memories or even eradicate unwanted ones. Usually only the strongest of will can resist becoming his puppets. For this power to work eye contact is needed.
Rank: 4/5
Fortitude: Before she left the pack to roam the wilderness due to her numerous obvious animal traits that she had inevitably acquired through many frenzies in battle his Native American Gangrel pack mate Won Apa Ma Lei showed David the secrets of vampiric Fortitude. He may only possess limited amounts of it this discipline but it comes in very handy. With it David is more resilient than usual vampires as it does not only give him protection against normal damage but even against supernatural damage from fire, sunlight and Lupine claws. Still he is not immune to it, only far more resistant than most vampires.
Rank: 2 /5
Obtenebration: Although this clan Lasombra inherent discipline is the only one he has mastered so far his elders were very shocked to see a youngling wunderkind had achieved such a surprising control of their unique discipline. Apparently especially shocking to them was that he had achieved that by himself, guided only by an inner instinct. It eats insane amounts of vitae but for David the most powerful weapon in his arsenal is worth every drop. Utilizing this gift of Caine he can not only control the shadows but also create darkness where it should not be possible. Furthermore he can force it to materialize and build complex shapes like tentacles or even furniture out of it. If the need should arise he can even become part of the shadows themselves (thus being intangible) and travel through them like with teleportation though he seldomely chooses to do so for the high cost of blood.
Rank: 6/5 (yes, he is exceptional there)
Potence: The third clan discipline of the Lasombra David earned through many nights of battles using things that were originally not thought to kill vampires to do exactly that. Potence is the source of the legendary strength of vampires and with it David can accomplish feats of strength that seem ridiculous for a person of his height and built. With it he can roughly lift 2 tons.
Rank: 3/5
Presence: Another reminder of his long time pack mate Persephone who is now a bishop on the east coast is David’s ability to appear stunningly fascinating. More so than owed to his already exceptional charisma. When he evokes the effects of Presence David usually appears mystically enticing drawing all of the people’s attention to him but he can also enhance the effects to appear either incredibly terrifying forcing the victim to flee or make that person a willing slave who serves him with loving intensity. Again only the most strong willed can shake of this almost hypnotizing effect.
Rank: 3 /5
Skills and Talents:
The brutal cruelty of his first nights taught David that he could not rely on his vampiric gifts alone to save his hide and so he quickly learned some impressing skills to ensure his survival.
Hand to hand: David never learnt any of those fancy martial arts but forged in the fires of nightly nocturnal conflict he became a mean brawler not afraid to use dirty tricks to win, be it hurled sand, torn out street sign posts, kicks to the lower body, okes into the eyes or simple bites. He may not be the best fighter of all times but he knows how to throw a good punch and where to place it. Combined with his other vampiric qualities it makes him quite a threat.
Armed: Pretty much the same that has already been said for his hand to hand skills goes for his armed combat as well. The only exception is that it happens more often than the latter since David tends to use his environment a lot to get improvised weapons. And when one is able to rip out street sign posts and pick up compact cars it is not really difficult to find something around. The only exception wit which he has really a lot of skill are his swords Kingslayer and Shadowstab (see there).
Marksmanship: Though he took quite some time to finally get some firearms David cherishes his Dual Cal.50 Desert Eagles a lot. He is no expert sharpshooter but usually tends to hit what he aims at if it is not too small or the circumstances are too unfavourable. With other words he can hold himself in a fire fight. He is not really used to anything but his pistols but should be able to somehow shoot it when he comes across it.
Leadership and tactical skills: Maybe he does not look like it or even act like it most of the time but David is highly socially adept. If he wants he can change his usually arrogant behaviour to become almost anything, be it someone’s best buddy, a seductive enticer or a commander the troops either look up to or fear. A long time it has been theorized if this was rather another variant of his Presence discipline but that discipline only enhances a previous unused talent. Furthermore David proved time after time to possess a cunning tactical kind. He can device simple but at the same time terribly effective plans that even the most bestial vampire can carry out while he is able to recognize and counter the complex battle plans and feints of enemies. Theoretically he could come up with very complex intrigues and maneuvers but normally he does not do this as he dislikes them and thinks they are bound to fail due to the inability of people to carry them out.
Equipment:
David does not carry or own a lot of possessions as he believes he can find anything he needs or preferably take it from others but there are a few things he always has an eye on.
Kingslayer
Shadowstab Kingslayer and Shadowstab: This rapier and fitting short sword were given to him by his mentor and patron Cardinal Francisco Domingo Polonia and thus David treasures them above else. They are almost two hundred years old and in a perfect condition any collector would kill for. Among the Sabbath it is rumoured that the have magical properties but they are as worldly as it gets. David even honours them that much that he does not take them with him in battle and instead prefers to keep them as pure duel weapons. In the end they are more of status weapons than tools of blood shed but still they are sharp enough to shave with. David extensively trained with those two blades and they are probably the only weapons he can be seen as an expert with.
Dual Cal.50 Desert Eagles: David refers to them by several names from his “babies” over “death and vengeance” and “poison and gall” to “damn pieces of junk” but he really likes the high amount of firepower that these pistols provide him with.
Log in to comment