Ven
Mostly I'm looking for Ven's various Drakor-Ka. I'd love to find someone to play Kismet, his right hand man, but that's a role I'd need to know someone well for, since he plays a pretty major part of Ven's past. I'm also looking to fill general roles around the grove, which are all pretty open.
The New BloodVen hasn't turned anyone since ancient Egypt. He still blames himself for what happened to many of the Suntouched at the hands of the Romans. I'd love to work out a slow burn plot where he gets close to someone again, and something terrible eventually happens that forces his hand in making them one of his fledges. Leading a baby vampire through their first steps should be fun, but I'm not looking for personality types that have to be babied on everything else here. They shouldn't be timid or unable to hold their own.
The actual turning probably wouldn't happen until we have at least a few more players floating around.
Some tropes that would work well for the kind of character I'm looking for would be, Badass Bookworm, Deadpan Snarker, The Comically Serious, Plucky Comic Relief, Apron Matron, Kicking Ass in All Her Finery, Team Mom, Absent-Minded Professor, Cultured Badass, A Father to His Men, Bruiser with a Soft Center, Reluctant Monster, Hardboiled Detective, Knight in Shining Armor, or Mad Scientist.
Some of these tropes use gendered language, but the actual gender of this character can be anything, I'm not particular there, but I would like them to be an older character, no younger than twenty-five.
The PriestsThe Suntouched priests served both as caretakers and protectors of the temples, and likely would have a similar role with the Suntouched today. When not tending to the temple and the grounds around it, or those who have made the Bargain, they likely have a role in tracking down and dealing with various problems outside of or within the temple that would put it and its people at risk. It's usually the priests that deal with unwanted intruders.
Just to make it fun, I'll list some Tarot cards as potential character prompts. I think these would all make interesting jumping off points for a Suntouched Priest.
❂ The Magician ❂ The Empress ❂ The World ❂ The Chariot ❂ The Hermit ❂ Death ❂
The HealersThough hygiene really isn't the problem today that is was back in the golden age of the Suntouched, Ven still believes in tending to a garden that's healthy, so to speak, is for the best of all those who take from it. The Healers of the Suntouched use their gifts and skills to tend to the ills of the group, but also to those mortal lot who find themselves at the temple. The Suntouched's healers may be in greater demand than they know in the near future...
The Strange
I would also love to add some non-vampires, or non-traditional vampires to Ven's menagerie of players. One notable temple once had a Minotaur in residence. The stranger, the better! I'd love to see some obscure folklore and mythology here! (But remember to be respectful. Not every story should be used for play.)
Specific Characters
*These characters have existing ties to Ven's story, so unless we specifically agree to otherwise, they stay in Barbary Grove. If you drop them, or you are inactive with them for more than a month without a heads up (breaks are fine, I just want to know you didn't ghost), then I reserve the right to pass them onto someone else.
If you'd like to pick one of these characters up, I may ask you for a sample post try-out for them written from their perspective if I haven't gotten a chance to play with you for very long yet.
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Kismet El-Seifi He/Him - Drakon-ka - Egypt (Click to Expand)
Backstory Kismet is one of Ven's oldest acolytes, and was once very close to Ven. He long ago left behind his birth name, and has had many names since, but his current name roughly means, "Fate of the Sun". In the few times when Ven was injured enough that he was forced to hibernate, it was Kismet who watched over his resting places, sometimes for years on end. Ven trusted a great deal of personal knowledge to Kismet as well, and it is quite possible that they have had on and off again relationships over the millennia. He was frequently referred to as, 'The Serpent's Shrike'. Take that as you will. Like many of Ven's surviving acolytes, Kismet is from Egypt, though a much older one than we know today. Kismet is one of the Drakon-ka. He was once a temple priest, but was cast out and left for dead when he stumbled across something that he wasn't meant to see. Ven came across him, or what was left of him, and offered him a chance to live and seek justice for his own murder as one of his creatures. Kismet took the offer, and Ven turned him, making him, at the time, one of only three others. There were many mortal and vampiric followers that Ven claimed as his people in those times, but he was often very reluctant to turn others himself outside of dire circumstances. Becoming one of the Suntouched changed a person irrevocably, both in body and soul, far more than a turning by any typical vampire. But as far as Kismet is concerned, the man he once was died in the desert that night anyway. He took on a new name, and swore his life to the creature who gave him a second chance at his, rarely leaving Ven's side after that. When Rome brought war to Egypt, and Ven lost many of his followers to its hunger, Kismet was one of the vampires he forced into hibernation for their own safety before falling into a many centuries long sleep himself. Unbeknownst to Ven, when he woke in 1870, so did Kismet, though they were many miles apart when it happened. Fearing Ven might try and place him back into sleep to protect him, Kismet opted to follow Ven at a distance instead, watching and guarding his old friend from the shadows in secret, sometimes even from himself. When the last Walker came into her power around 2017, and revealed herself as a bearer of the Dragon, the piece of himself that Ven long thought lost to the void called to him, and for the first time in a very long time, Kismet saw hope rise within his sire. Kismet still has yet to approach either Ven or Krepta, but continues to operate from the shadows to reunite Ven with that lost piece of himself. What this means for the last Walker herself, remains to be seen. Appearance Kismet is bronze skinned and dark eyed, with dark hair that falls in tight waves just above his shoulders. Though it was somewhat looked down upon in his own time, he has also picked up a full beard over time, though that may well be a deliberate thumb at some of the aspects of society he was forced to endure during his younger years. He keeps it relatively neat and close to his face. Personality Kismet is serious, no-nonsense, and quietly intense, though he isn't without his dry sort of humor. He is crafty and determined in how he pursues his goals, and he isn't above manipulation or sabotage to get there, though he does prefer to try more above the table methods first if he thinks they'll have a chance. Like Ven, and many of the other Drakon-ka, Kismet isn't quite on the same moral wavelength as much of humanity. He isn't evil, but what he considers good and just may skew from the norm. Ardea Pharos She/Her - Drakon-ka - Phocaea (Click to Expand)
Backstory Ardea was the second person that Ven ever turned. Their relationship was tumultuous before that, and remains tumultuous to this day. It started way back in Phocaea, which was a coastal trading city, and thus prone to pirates. When Ardea's husband died and left her with a young stepson to care for, Ardea became one of those pirates rather than risking her child in scraping out a meager living on land. At first it was for survival, a means to an end, but piracy, it turned out, suited Ardea, and she quickly grew in power and infamy in the area. Part of her success was that Ardea had developed a clever trick for ensuring loyalty among her crew. In those times, as in many others, slavery was rampant, particularly where pirates were concerned. If you were captured by pirates, you were almost guaranteed to be sold off into slavery. Ardea developed a habit of ambushing those slaving ships, taking their captives and offering the would-be slaves a place on her ship instead, and a chance at revenge and riches. She became enough of a problem to trading vessels eventually that Ven's own explorations of the area, which were primarily done by hitching rides with traders to other ports, frequently became compromised. Annoyed, Ven began to purposefully place himself on ships he knew were likely to be attacked, managing to chase off the wily pirate several times, but never quite capture her. Over time, what started as a hunt morphed into a more playful game between the pair, and even the times that Ven came close to capturing Ardea, he always let her go, and in return, she began to spare the ships that she knew he was on. From that, Ven's reputation as a good luck symbol of almost supernatural prowess arose among the local fishermen and traders, though ironically his actual gifts had little to do with most of that luck. Ardea and Ven's somewhat playful relationship of cat and mouse continued until near the fall of Phocaea itself, when soldiers with far more might and prowess flooded into the city. Ardea managed to raid several of their ships, and stirred up the hornet's nest by killing one of their officials before they ambushed her early one morning near her home and left her for dead. Ven, having already sensed that things were getting dangerous, had been tracking her himself, and came across Ardea before the last of the life left her body. He offered her The Choice, and when she woke, they were already well on their way out of the city, leaving her old life and all that she had ever known far behind. She was with Ven when Egypt fell too, but she managed to escape him when he tried to force all of his acolytes into hibernation to protect them. She resents him trying to take that choice from her, and has somewhat kept her distance since, but Ven and she are bound by more than just their pasts, and she feels that tug between them at all times, as all of the Drakon-ka do. Appearance Ardea is somewhat on the shorter side, with fierce brown eyes and curly, auburn hair that she tends to wear short. She has a straight nose, almond shaped eyes, and a stern expression that she wears on her face almost everywhere she goes. She has light olive colored skin and is missing her right index finger. Sometimes she wears a prosthetic for it, but just as often she leaves it off. Personality Ardea has a commanding, fiercesome presence. She's a competent fighter and an impressive tactician, and ambush is her favorite method of attack. She carries herself in a fairly no-nonsense manner in much of her day to day business, but she blossoms during a fight, genuinely seeming to enjoy the challenge. It's not quite bloodlust, but there's a certain sort of grin the woman wears only ever when in the middle of a fight that certainly make most people think twice before facing her in combat. Her banter game is next to none. |
Parvaneh Sham'e They/Them - Drakon-ka - Persia (Click to Expand)
*A Note on this character's name, and a request to anyone who speaks the language, lol: I picked this name because, to my understanding, it equates to the butterfly and the candle, which felt appropriate for this character. I don't speak the language though, and my attempts at deep research were not helpful, so please, if it's extremely wonky grammatically or doesn't mean what I think it does, do tell me.  Backstory In the tradition of many of the Drakon-ka, Parvaneh was not the original name of this acolyte. Many choose new names when they wake, as they feel markedly different from the people they were before they were turned. But Parvaneh had more reason than most to take on a new identity for themselves... Azad and Setare were what they were once called, one among the Nightborn, and the other mortal, both souls in Ven's care among the Suntouched. They were very much in love and spent nearly every waking hour together. Unfortunately, when one of Ven's temples was raided by marauders calling themselves monster hunters, the pair and Ven himself were captured. Azad was staked out to meet the rising sun, with Ven and Setare forced to watch. Ven managed to free himself, and Setare, but by the time they overcame their captors, the sun was almost upon them, far too close to help Azad seek shelter. Death was inevitable. Ven had the choice to end Azad's life quickly and kindly, let him burn up in a terrible death beneath the unforgiving sun, or to attempt something that he had never done before, something that he wasn't entirely sure wouldn't drive the pair mad. Ven couldn't turn Azad, as he was already one of the Nightborn, and thus he couldn't give him immunity from the sun, and his injuries were already too grievous for Ven’s blood to cure, but he could turn Setare, and in doing so, make her mind and body strong enough to accept Azad's energies when he pulled Azad's soul from his current body to place it within Setare's. Both parties agreed to the offer, accepting that if they couldn't be together in life and this failed, then at least they would remain with each other in death. As the last of Setare's mortal life drained from her veins, and the lover's minds intertwined now and forever more, they watched Azad's body turn to ash in the breeze, and closed their eyes on their old lives to awaken as something new. Appearance Parvaneh is somewhat androgynous looking. They have long, dark hair that falls in soft waves to about their mid-back, dark olive skin, and expressive brown eyes. They usually remain clean shaven, but have been known to grow some light scruff from time to time. They tend to dress nicely, but very rarely observe any gender norms unless forced to, which depending on where they traveled, could be more of a problem or less, both in the ancient world and the modern era. They are not particularly drawn to jewelry or expensive things, but do have a considerable collection of both that they were buried with, given to them by Ven at an alarmingly frequent rate after they were turned in an attempt to assuage his guilt, though neither party blamed him for what happened. Personality Parvaneh is often seen talking quietly with themselves, and they do so whether it's socially acceptable or not. They can communicate with one another inside their own head, but they claim it feels nice to physically hear the other's voice. Azad and Setare are not exactly separate within Parvaneh's head, in many ways they have merged as one being, but they are different spirits enough still that talking like this helps them sort their thoughts. Aside from this little tick, Parvaneh is an overall fairly agreeable person. They are a gentle soul with a smidge of a trickster's streak, and while they are the very model of confidence, they don't usually come across as arrogant. They tend to keep their own council on things if they think their words will be wasted, and tend to enjoy more solitary or one on one company than crowds. |
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