Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar - El Cid's page

About Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar - El Cid

Nature - Rebel
Demeanor - Fanatic
Generation 7
Sire - Elijah Ahmed

Max Blood Pool 20/Current 20
Max Trait Tating - 6
Blood points Per Turn - 4

Derangement - Sanguinary Animism (Main Book), Compulsive Invisibility (Low Clans p. 149)

XP Earned - 0
XP Spent - 0

Attributes:

Physical - Strength 5 (Powerful Arms) - Dexterity 3 - Stamina 5 (Tough as Nails)

Social - Charisma 2 - Manipulation 4 (Persuasive) - Appearance 2

Mental - Perception 5 (Experienced) - Intelligence 2 - Wits 3

Abilities:

Talents - Alertness 5 (Hidden Weapons) - Athletics 4 (Acrobatics) - Brawl 2 - Dodge 5 (Sidestep) - Subterfuge 4 (Impeccable Lies)

Skills - Melee 5 (Swords)- Stealth 4 (Silent Movement), Survival 3

Knowledge: Linguistics 5 (Ciphers) - Occult 3

Disciplines:

Celerity - 2

Fortitude - 1

Obfuscate - 6 (Purchased 2, 6th level powers)

I – Cloak of Shadows – The vampire may remain unnoticed as long as he stays silent, still, and under some degree of cover. No roll necessary.

II – Unseen Presence – The vampire can now move around without being seen. No roll is necessary but if he speaks or otherwise draws attention to himself he must make a Wits + Stealth roll to determine if he reveals himself (difficulty set by the Storyteller).

III – Mask of a Thousand Faces – A vampire can choose to appear as someone other than himself. Manipulation + Performance (difficulty 7) to determine how well the disguise works.

IV – Vanish from the Mind’s Eye – The vampire may disappear from the plain view. Charisma + Stealth versus the targets Wits + Alertness to vanish, four or more successes are required to disappear completely otherwise the vampire becomes an indistinct ghostlike figure. Scoring more successes than the target’s willpower causes them to forget the vampire was ever there. Tracking a ghostlike appearing vampire requires a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 8). A person witnessing a vanishing must make a Wits + Courage roll (difficulty 5 for vampires and 9 for mortals) or stand uncomprehending for two turns.

V – Cloak the Gathering – A vampire may use obfuscate to conceal one extra individual per dot of stealth.

VI – Diastasis – The vampire appears somewhere other than their actual location. Wits + Subterfuge (difficulty 8) to activate. If successful the vampire fades from view and a false image of the user appears. The distance of the false image depends on the number of successes:

1 Success - 1 Yard
2 Successes – 2 Yards
3 Successes – 5 Yards
4 Successes – 10 Yards
5 Successes – 30 Yards

The character can attempt other actions as an additional difficulty. If the vampire interacts physically with anything those able to notice make a contested Perception + Alertness versus the user’s Wits + Subterfuge (difficulty 6). If the target wins the contest they figure out the vampire’s general position and can attack him though rolls are made at a +2 difficulty.

Those attacking the false image can make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 4) when they strike and with two or more successes realize that the image is just that, an image. This does not disrupt the image nor does it reveal the vampire’s true location.

(Power found in Dark Ages Companion)

VI - Soul Mask - The user creates a second aura different from the one that represents their actual condition. A wielder in Auspex may attempt to pierce the aura with an opposed Perception + Subterfuge vs. Manipulation + Subterfuge.

[El Cid projects a White aura which is NOT pale].

Obtenebration - 2

Note: Users of Obtenebration can see through darkness that they control.

I – Shadow Play – Grants the vampire a limited control over shadows and other ambient darkness. A blood point must be spent to activate the power which lasts for one scene and requires no active concentration. Cloaking oneself in shadow grants one extra die to stealth dice pools and increases the difficulty of using ranged attacks against them by one. A vampire may use the darkness to make themselves more terrifying adding one die to intimidation dice pools.

Opponents plagued by flapping shadows and strangling darkness subtract one die from soak and stamina pools though only one target may be affected by this use at a time. Mortals reduced to zero stamina using this power begin to asphyxiate.

If a mortal views this power the individual must make a Courage roll (difficulty 8) or suffer a one die penalty to all dice pools.

II – Shroud of Night – The vampire can create a cloud of inky blackness which obscures light and distorts sound. The cloud can move though this requires the vampire concentrate on moving it.

Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 7) success on the roll generates darkness roughly 10 feet in diameter and each additional success doubles the diameter of the cloud though the vampire may reduce the area they wish to cover. The cloud may be invoked up to 50 feet away, invoking it out of line of sight increases the difficulty by two and requires the expenditure of one blood point.

Those within the pitch lose all sense of sight and feel and even those who possess Heightened Senses of Eyes of the Beast suffer a +2 penalty for most actions. Being surrounded by the shroud reduces stamina based dice pools by two dice.

This power creates the same effect in mortals as shadow play above.

Potence - 1

Quietus - 5

I – Silence of Death – Power costs one blood point to activate which maintains a 20 foot radius of utter silence around the Assamite for one hour.

II – Scorpion’s Touch – The vampire may create a powerful venom to weaken foes. The vampire must spend one blood point and roll Willpower (difficulty 6), if this roll is successful and the Assamite contacts their foe the target loses a number of Stamina points equal to the number of blood points converted into poison. The victim may resist with a Stamina + Fortitude roll (difficulty 8).

The maximum number of points a vampire may convert at one time is equal to her Stamina. The length of time the opponents Stamina is reduced equals the number of successes the vampire receives on their Willpower roll.

1 Success - 1 Turn
2 Successes – 1 Hour
3 Successes – 1 Day
4 Successes – 1 Month
5 Successes – Permanently

If a mortals Stamina is reduced to zero they become terminally ill. If a vampires Stamina is permanently reduced to zero they fall into torpor and may recover only through mystical means.

To affect the target the vampire must strike the victim’s flesh or hit the target with something that carries the blood (ie. a sword). Vampire may also spit at their target Stamina + Athletics (difficulty 6) though no more than two blood points can be used in this manner. The distance on the spit is ten feet for each point of Strength and Potence the vampire possesses.

Assamites are immune to their own poison but not the poison of other Assamites.

III – Dagon’s Call – A vampire may drown the target in their own blood. A vampire must touch their victim prior to using the power and within the hour must activate the power. Activating the power costs one point of Willpower. The vampire then makes a contested Stamina versus Stamina roll the difficulty is the opponents’ permanent Willpower score. The number of success achieved by the vampire above the victim’s successes are the number of health levels inflicted on the victim. The vampire may spend an additional Willpower point to continue using Dagon’s Call on successive turns.

IV – Baal’s Carress – This power may be used to augment any bladed weapon with their own blood creating a virulent ichor to damage opponents. Damage dealt by the weapon will cause aggravated damage. One blood point must be used to coat the sword per hit they wish to cause aggravated damage. Missing with the weapon does not cause any of the “hits” to be consumed.

V – Taste of Death – This power allows a vampire to spit caustic blood at an opponent. The vampire may spit for up to ten feet per dot of Strength and Potence they possess. Hitting the target requires a Stamina + Athletics roll (difficulty 6). Each blood point spewed inflicts two points of aggravated damage. The maximum amount of blood that can be spent on the power is the user’s blood capacity per round.

Combo Powers -

Shadow Feint [Celerity 2/Obtenebration 2] The vampire spends one blood point at the beginning of a turn in which Celerity is active and the characters first action for the turn must be an evasive movement (ie. a Dodge).

For the rest of the turn all attack rolls made against the character have their difficulty increased by two to a maximum difficulty of ten. The power is considered an Obfuscate power for purposes of negation.

(Power found in Clanbook Assamite Revised)

Backgrounds:
Age 3,
Allies 5,
Arcane 2,
Clan Status 3,
Contacts 5,
Elder Generation 3.

Virtues: Conscience 3, Self Control 1, Courage 5

Path of Honorable Accord 5 - Willpower 7

Merits - Charmed Existence (Ignore a single botch on each roll)

Flaws - Permanent Fangs, Paranoid - Extreme (Elysium)

Appearance -

Dark skin and bald of head Rodrigo looks non-threatening and quite average. He dresses in a way that does not draw much attention to himself, preferring greys and darks with muted colors (dark green or dark blue) for a change. He aged well and appears in his late forties though his hands look old.

He wears a two handed sword on his back Obfuscated at all times. He does not get out much as the new world he has arisen to is confusing for him. Moridin provides him with Herd if he wishes to feed.

History -

I have been known as many things. History has told the take of my mortal life. From what I am told by the youngest of the Court of Moridin books and movies have been made about it. I will not address what was false and what was truth. I am here to discuss my shadow life, what happened to me after the veil of death covered my eyes and brought me to the realm of eternal night.

Dying at the age of 56, bleeding out on the wall of Valencia in the Year of Our Lord 1099 it was a dark hand that rescued me. The man had been one of my trusted advisors. A lieutenant who gave me the advice to carve out my own realm from the Moors and Christians alike it was fitting then that he would be the one to bring me to where I should lay to rest for the final time. He was a Moor Elijah Ahmed and an Assamite. I was led to believe that this term meant that he was an assassin a deadly sect from the east. I found the tale laughable as I had never seen Elijah slay a single man in the seven years I had known him.

I was soon to learn that what I saw and what had happened were two very different things. I awoke later that evening beneath the stars and exhaled my last breath. Sitting up I saw Elijah smiling at me with blood down his chin. “Welcome to the Long Night Rodrigo”. He wished me to continue what I had done as a mysterious figure head turning up as “El Cid”, a shadow to frighten Moor and Christian alike into believing I was still alive.

Even then I knew what I was and what he was. I had heard the tales but now I truly believed them. I did not see my own breath or feel my own pulse. I lunged for him for robbing me of my very soul but he backhanded me like a small child who was disobedient. I had a role to play and I would play it or I would suffer the consequences. Knowing that I would need to bide my time I played his game and stayed in Valencia though the tales of my death overshadowed the tales of my mysterious sightings. Indeed too many had seen me fall to believe that I was still alive.

From the shadows I manipulated and assassinated those who were a threat to my new kingdom and my wife. Without me there to rally my men though the burgeoning kingdom I sought to carve out could not stand. After three years of continual fighting the Christian Alfonso my enemy and ally burned my beloved city and crushed the hope of a kingdom in my name. He left ashes to the Moors but he also gave me a new beginning. Elijah believed I had perished in the fire leaving me free to move where I would. Born a Christian I decided to side with my birthright after all was it not a Moor who manipulated me and eventually caused my death?

I fought for the human Prince of burgeoning Aragon in his stronghold of Huesca. I was his shadow guard, uncovering plots and slaying those who threatened him my interactions with others of my kind were few and far between. I made sure of that with prodigious use of Quietus and Obfuscate. When the Capital moved to Zaragoza I moved as well continuing my role as shadow protector. Where I could I slew my clan brethren after all they were not truly my brethren. My skill though became my undoing. Elijah a crafty and elder Assamite recognized that someone with the abilities of the blood was required to slay those who he was losing in Aragon. Elijah sent another of my kin against me though I was far more worthy than he suspected and slew the clan mate sent against me. To Elijah’s dismay he was now barred from coming after me again using a similar tactic, after all I had survived a contracted killing. Of course due to the circumstances of my embrace I was not aware of the fact that I could no longer be hunted by my fellow clanmates. I believed I was anathema to the clan.

As a mortal I was no fool nor was I as an “immortal”. I fled. Though weaker in blood the Lasombra Prince of Compostela, Reinaldo de Rubio, in the Year of Our Lord 1126 I swore fealty to him and the Shadow Reconquista. He was more than happy to fight fire with fire. The die was cast I would aid the Christians in driving the Moors from our soil.

Badr, the Caliph of Granada and staunch enemy of Reinaldo, recognized that Reinaldo having an Assamite who answered only to him was a danger to the Moors. He placed a number of contracts on my head. Assamites who were easily swayed by the Prince’s lies or those who believed that the rewards would outweigh punishment by the clan came after me hoping for glory and for the rewards they were promised by the Caliph. For over a century I spilled the blood of my clan mates and his. With so many members of my clan coming against me surely I must have been anathema as I suspected.

Goaded into believing this was the case by Badr’s contracts, I slew other members of my clan who came near me believing they were sent to slay me. By 1220 I had slain many “innocents” of my clan. In another misunderstanding I did battle with an Assamite closer to my own age who informed me that I was not anathema. At that point I realized I had been played the fool. Badr was more aware of the traditions of my clan than I was and he used them against me. My belief at being anathema became a self fulfilling prophecy, what before was a dispute between sire and childe became my truly being anathema.

Enraged I wished to strike at Badr at once but the Assamite, Bajazet, convinced me that I should instead journey with him to Alamut and answer for my crimes even if it should mean my final death. I agreed and submitted my existence to the Old Man on the Mountain. I testified that I slew those who had come after me in blood contracts enraged that they should attack me when I had proven myself worthy of the blood. I also confessed to slaying those who I had encountered with no provocation. Instead of the Old Man on the Mountain, I was judged by Moridin. He appeared to be practical in his approach, “Those who broke the solemn vows of the clan fell to your blade and you did great service to our clan my giving the final death to those who dishonored the blood. However, you have also slain those who were not traitors. They were weaker than yourself thinning out those who are not worthy though this is no excuse. Your punishment will be twofold. First you must serve Alamut for 14 years as is the tradition of the clan. You will serve as a ghoul and then as a neonate, your sire broke with tradition for his own schemes. Had you been raised properly you would have known better and much of the blood of Hakim would not have been spilled. Once that time is over you will reclaim the blood of Caliph Badr for the clan, none can be yours to have. Do these things and I will absolve you of your crimes”.

I accepted the terms and was assigned to Bajazet who instructed me in the proper ways of the clan. My humanity though clung to me despite his attempts to force me down the Path of Blood. Perhaps I was too set in my ways or still retained too much of my humanity to give it up. The first several years were difficult the humiliation of being treated as a mere ghoul though I was fully blooded was a worse punishment than I had believed it would be. By the end of my time my anger was shaped into the single minded purpose of claiming Badr for what he had done to me. On the final day of my apprenticeship Bajazet turned to me and gave me parting advice, “You see the actions of Badr as a slight against you. You were a Godly man I ask you to see the actions of this Lasombra in a different way. Because of him you are returned to the fold of the clan. This Badr was the instrument of God used to return you to us, He works in mysterious ways Rodrigo. Remember that the Shadow Reconquista is a tool of the Lasombra for their games of power, while your sires’ methods were wrong his message was wise you must find your own way”.

Taking that advice with me I was able to channel my anger and successfully capture and bring Badr to Alamut where his blood was reclaimed by Moridin. He fully pardoned me for my crimes and sent me to follow whatever destiny I would follow. “Know that if you raise your swords in anger against the clan again, I will hunt you down myself and reclaim your blood El Cid”.

By the Year of Our Lord 1238 James the Ist, the Conqueror, had gained a stranglehold on the mortal reconquista. The Lasombra Prince who shadowed James was such a Master of his shadowcraft that even his name was unknown. Whoever he was, he had reclaimed my Valencia and I was intent on returning to the place where my life had come to an end. With Aragon in control of the north so firmly I returned. Within the year I was the Prince of Valencia, its undisputed master I had found my own way.

From the Year of Our Lord 1240 until the Year of Reckoning I held sway in my realm as Prince. Indeed the Long Night had been a long struggle in the end though the Christians had overtaken Iberia. As one of the few Assamites left on the peninsula I commanded great respect and fear. I was an elder and proud of the things I had achieved. Pride comes before the fall and the time of the fall was upon us, we simply did not know it.

In the Year of Our Lord 1395 a Brujah named Tyler attacked a Ventrue elder named Hardestadt. I heard of the strike but thought little of it. Even now I laugh when I think how inconsequential the apparent death of a German Ventrue Elder should have been versus what it had become. It was a symbol a movement. Much as I was a symbol in my time as a mortal. Soon thereafter the Shadowmaster himself perished at the hands of his own Childe and the Anarch revolt was in full swing.

Yes it had spread to the south, to Sicily but what did that matter to me? Vampires were burned by humans in France and Italy but again what did it matter to me? I was master of my domain I would not fall prey to such things. Would that I could still weep I would as two of my childer rose up against me in the same fashion. I wish that I did not have to slay them but it was necessary to go on. I was enraged!

What had happened to the Long Night? Vampire fought Vampire clan versus clan as if the wars of Christians and Muslims were not bad enough for dividing us along clan lines now we fought for control and blood. As the war raged on I realized that I would need to slay the rest of my childer as well lest they plot against me. I have not sired since nor do I intend to breed a viper in my lair again.

I fought against these anarchs with vigor. I was enflamed further when I realized that my own clan had thrown in their lot with these upstarts. I forgot what it was to rebel against authority as I had done as a mortal. As an elder I saw all that I had built threatened and the humanity that in my youth may have given me judgment the beast within was more than happy to kill and then kill again. Besides that many of the Lasombra elders that I had suffered through the reconquista with had been slain by their childer and their childer’s childer.

I had so many reasons to hate! I joined the elders who believed it was time to form a more overarching form of government especially now that the mortals had uncovered us and were rooting us out with even greater efficacy than we hunted each other. Rafael de Corazon called for the silence of the blood that it should be enforced at penalty of death. This was a rule long in theory but never very much kept in practice. I saw the wisdom in his words and latched onto him as a supporter. I followed him where he needed me to go. While many of the elders had their own powers to protect them or gangrel mongrels Rafael appreciated my sophistication and quite frankly my pedigree.

Obviously at this time I abandoned my post as Prince of Valencia with the assurance that I would receive a much greater title when the anarchs were finally brought to heel. Perhaps I am a better warrior than politician as I failed to see the fear in his eyes whenever he looked upon me. El Cid becamse the angel of death for the enemies of Corazon. No doubt the Camarilla has forgotten the deeds that I accomplished for them. Their Warlord Karsh receives praise for many of the feats that I accomplished. Of course it would not due for the truth of that to be known and so it is not.

By the Year of Our Lord 1492 the children had been indeed brought to heel as were my clan brethren. All that was left to do was to settle on terms. The Masquerade had been working the fires of the inquisition found less and less of us and more of the other supernaturals’ that we laid trails to. In the end scavengers and manipulators like ourselves are able to turn every disadvantage to an advantage if we think on it long enough. The Inner Circle in their wisdom decided that Assamites, all Assamites, we a threat and that a blood curse should be laid upon us. I was furious, Corazon discussed the decision with me calmly and rationally while Karsh looked on to make sure I would “behave”.

Indeed I did, if only because I knew that alone I could not defeat the Warlord and the rest of the Camarilla members who were freed, I had no other friends here. I agreed to the ritual and begged away to pray. During my sojourn I located Vashatanesa, the Malkavian who spoke so eloquently for the anarch. I agreed then and there to aid her in freeing the anarchs who were deemed “too dangerous” to leave without a blood oath. My rebellious nature had flared. I should have known better than to trust politicians.

That night Thorns burned and the nascent leaders of what would form the Sabbat gained the Death Angel of Corazon as an ally. I laughed at my clan brethren who had submitted to the will of the Inner Circle. I found these anarchs to be very different than they were portrayed, driven by a desire for freedom not power. I was taken up by the very propaganda I should have been avoiding. I did not realize what a tyrant I had become though a young anarch did attest to it. He thought that my place here was as a plant and a spy. His head I am sure looked lovely the next sunrise though I was not there to see it.

I threw myself into the war against the Camarilla as I had never done even during the wars of the reconquista. My humanity waned as the beast took control of me more and more. Indeed I had seen a number of the leadership degenerate during this time. I do not know if it was the mix of so many different clans together or the taking of the viniculum which made us more, inhuman. It was suggested that the Roads that had been walked my so many of us no longer suited the modern nights. Those paths were for Kindred, those who wished to hide among mortals. We were masters of the night it was claimed, mortals were our cattle.

The beast liked the sound of that though Rodrigo knew the truth of it, silence of the blood was always a rule to be obeyed. Blood Gods never lasted very long or at least they had not since the earliest tales of humanity. I did not care for such philosophical debates. I had a hole in my soul that had to be consumed by more death. Though I had laid claim to Corazon’s blood and the blood of his childer it was not to be.

It should have been obvious to me then as it is now that wild as we were we never had a chance. It was all aggression and anger and vengeance which drove us. Here was no long term planning or strategy as the elders had on their side. As I am told it lasted no more than two centuries. In the Year of Our Lord 1526 my fight though was over. Having lost a great deal of blood in a fight against a pack of gangrel I was staked by an obfuscated nosferatu and dropped. My beast cried out but I was immobile.

Darkness closed in and for a long time darkness was all I knew. In Basel I finally rose, hungry and carving blood. I was to participate in an experiment Vykos informed me after I was sated. “For you to be effective El Maestro you will need to master your Beast”. “I am no gangrel I spat back”. “Nor am I asking you to be one mighty Assamite but you must realize that you have been down for quite some time, would you like to lose another century and a half?” Vykos always had a way with words. Reluctantly I agreed to this experiment. In the Black Monastery of Basel some of the elders of the Sabbat were creating new “Paths” for us to walk. Most of these elders were mere pups, neonates when the Sabbat was formed all except for the Brujah Lady Meridie.

“What happened to the elders I knew?” “We lost and they perished”, replied Vykos. I stayed there for some time looking for a new voice to quell my beast. Lady Meridie sought to curry my favor with the path of Caine asking me to join the Sword of Caine, the Black hand she called it. I laughed at her. Caine was no God and I would follow no false God to quell my Beast. Even as a rebel I was a man of honor, I respected Master Frazier the Ventrue, indeed I had even almost given him the final death once in a battle though the mists of war parted us after his skin broke my sword.

The Path of Honorable Accord he called his way. I did chuckle at a Ventrue pretending at being honorable at anything but it was my best hope to reclaim my soul so I clung to it. Once I had mastered the tenets, though by no means have I yet mastered the Path itself, I was sent out to spread the word of Honorable Accord. I consulted with Gratiano who was a Priscus at this time as to where I could do the most good. Looking back I find it strange that it was the highest he had excelled after all did he not have the blood of an antediluvian coursing through his veins.

He and Vykos kept watch over the black monastery without the other “elders” knowing. So recently arisen and disoriented I agreed to say nothing. Gratioano believed that my talents would be best served with Cardinal Moncada of Madrid. It was my homeland and I had been a devout Christian in life. I readily agreed being happy to see my homelands once again.

I became a member of Moncada’s pack and took the viniculum with him. He was delighted to have a true elder of the Sabbat in his lair. We would have to ward off many Camarilla incursions and my sword would be needed in the shadows of Madrid. He dubbed me the Blade of Christ. Though I followed the Path of Honorable Accord Moncada took my confession daily. In many ways it was like being a neonate all over again. Perhaps I should have been embraced as Lasombra but that ship sailed centuries ago.

To increase my overall effectiveness he taught me minor secrets of Obtenebration, he believed that the ability to cloak multiple foes in darkness would make me much more effective. He was correct. I further enhanced my mastery over Obfuscate though the confessions of Moncada becamse more important to me as the power of God over me began to seep though my victims. Rarely do I kill any longer. Indeed it is a blessing in disguise as it forced me to become close to mortals again by retaining a herd.

My powers of shadow and celerity enhanced my already formidable combat prowess. The Blade of Christ was terror for any Camarilla who crossed Moncada’s invisible fence as he called it. For nearly a century I was his tool of destruction. He did once send me out to find his wayward childe Lucita though I must confess the girl eluded my best efforts to entrap her.

Little did I know my least successful venture for Moncada would be my last. A Bishop quickly rising in the ranks of the Sabbat called for a more powerful Vampire than the ones that kept breaking against the threats of the new world. A revolution was at hand and El Cid would be there to see its birth. In the Year of Our Lord 1774 I was sent in a secret crate to the new world to meet this new Bishop. Before I left though Moncada did have one final task. “I wish to keep an eye on this upstart. That is the only reason I agreed to send you my most trusted ally. This Polonia bears careful scrutiny”.

I readily agreed to the task. Again my sword arm was more quick than my political astuteness. I did not see that the Sabbat was becoming much like the Camarilla only without the compassion for humanity. Wheels within wheels within wheels.

When I arrived in New York I was amazed to see the city, so much different than what I had known in the old world! Bishop Domingo de Polonia was more than happy to receive the Blade of Christ and swing it at his weak Camarilla foes for the Camarilla had sent anacillae where the Sabbat had sent elders to rule. I joined the viniculum of Polonia though I never fully trusted him as I did Moncada. With so much woodland territory I asked Polonia’s dog to teach me the art of sleeping in the ground but unfortunately it was a gift not given.

I did not much like digging holes and moving about as a roving pack to slay Camarilla threats but that was how Polonia saw his fastest way to power. Slowly the political machine that was Polonia grinded his opponents and the Camarilla into dust. Perhaps if I knew then what I knew now I could have stopped the war that would come. Not a war with the enemy but a war with ourselves. Perhaps not.

In the Year of Our Lord 1832 we were in the Nation’s capital Washington DC driving the Brujah “anarch” Prince Arthur Carroll to ground. We did not catch him and the city was so small that Polonia decided to move on assuming that the capital Washington DC would not long be the capital. It was during this crucial moment that I made a mistake. Somehow Polonia discovered that I was working for Moncada and feeding secrets to him. I assume that the nosferatu I hired to send my message sold me out but I cannot be sure.

We moved north to the Sabbat stronghold of New York City and it was there that Polonia entrapped me. I awoke to the stinging pain of something beneath my skin. As I tore to get at it shadowy arms wrapped around me holding me down Polonia stepped out of the shadows to mock me along with his Tremere Antitribu lapdog. If I did not hate Tremere then I certainly hate them now. “The Shaft of Belated Quiesence. Do you like it? Can you feel the wood move closer to your heart El Cid?” I tried to struggle but in vain as the rest of his pack leapt upon me.

“Kill me and be done with it Polonia”, I murmured. “You? A symbol of rebellion and defiance? No we need martyrs not ashes. You have fallen defending me against a Camarilla assassin. If you die it will be investigated. If you fall into torpor though Moncada will suspect mush less. This Shaft is a coward’s tool, a tool of the enemy no one will ever suspect and you will never wake from this “torpor” with the stake in your chest”. Thus in the Year of Our Lord 1835 “El Cid” was martyred by Polonia.

Soon darkness took me in again. “He wakes”. “Give him blood”, the cold voice answered. I ate my fill and stood up still ravenous. Vefore me was a beautiful woman and a fearsome looking specimen. I knew him at once for a clan mate just by the way he stood. “Greetings El Cid. The mystery of your torpor has been solved. I am Moridin and I have need for you”. “Are you Archbishop of this city?” “I am Prince. I am neither Camarilla nor Sabbat. Much like you were as a mortal I am my own master”. “I see”, I replied. “You will want vengeance for what was done to you. Perhaps you will have it but not now Rodrigo. For now you will be my Blade should I ever have need of one. It has been a long time since we have crossed path El Cid all that you have and all that you are is because of my leniency”, his eyes flared a dark blue as his voice rose. I bowed from the waist, “I have not forgotten. I am yours Prince Moridin until my boon is repaid then I shall seek my vengeance”. “Just so”, replied the Prince. Now I wait upon the pleasure of Moridin, I owe him a boon and as the Path dictates I shall see that boon repaid.