Hideous deformities and misshapen features are the hallmarks of the Nosferatu, vampires reshaped by the Curse of Caine. Though they (usually) remain aware and intelligent, all Nosferatu are physically altered in some way by the blood of the Clan. Boils, growths, altered features, hairy spots, warts, odd skin colors, animalistic features and even scales sprout on the faces and bodies of these wretches. Little wonder, then, that the Nosferatu prefer to congregate in sewers and caverns, away from the judgmental eyes of others.

Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence

Clan Advantage: One free dot of the Stealth and Streetwise abilities. One free dot of the Contacts background (UnMasqued House Rule).

Clan Disadvantage: All Nosferatu are hideously deformed or ugly. Nosferatu must take the negative Social Traits Repugnant x3, which may never be bought off with XP. They are also forbidden from taking the appearance related traits Alluring, Gorgeous or Seductive.

ASH GENTLY

A.K.A.: AG

Player: Ivan

Appearance: Ash Gently's face was covered with a number of thick, hideous scars. He typically wore a rumpled dirty trenchcoat and hat and had an attitude as though the world had played some manner of cruel and unfunny joke at his expense.

Nature: Loner

Demeanor: Bravo

Sire: Isabella

In Play: 2007 - 2008

Theme Song(s): Tom Waits - Jockey Full of Bourbon; Cage the Elephant - Ain't No Rest for the Wicked; Magnetic Fields - Love is Like a Bottle of Gin; Andrew Bird - Heretics

Background: Ash grew up in a Catholic orphanage in Chicago during the 1930s, having been abandoned on the institution's steps as an infant. Quickly deciding that he was not fated for adoption, the stubborn boy did his best to make what he could of his life amidst the humorless nuns of St. Catherine's, befriending the orphanage's groundskeeper as a youth that he might gain access to a gardener's shed where he would come to deposit numerous pulp novels, containers of stolen brandy and decidedly un-Catholic teenage girls.

Eventually forced to leave the halls of St. Catherine's when he came of age, the unattached young Ash took on the surname of the orphanage's director, and made his living through what odd jobs he could obtain until he landed a position taking memos for a local private investigator. Caught up in the seeming romance of the profession, Ash would seek a license and eventually come to follow in his employer's footsteps, learning only later that much of his livelihood would involve waiting on adulterous couples leaving hotels.

Despite his disappointment in not living the silver screen life he had once envisioned, the man would manage to have one truly cinematic fling in his days as a mortal P.I. - becoming caught up in a whirlwind romance with an enigmatic woman in red known only as Anne, who contacted him in the hopes of leveraging protection against a "jealous ex." After a month-long tryst, however, Ash's lady in scarlet died of what the coroner would deem "accidental causes resulting from a fall." While the vengeful private eye did his best to rearrange the face of the man whom he suspected to be responsible for precipitating such a fall, the jaded investigator would eventually realize that seeking any legal recourse for Anne's death would prove an impossibility, and decided to do his best to move on from the matter.

Years later, another enigmatic lady would come knocking on his door - this time dressed in black. After an exceedingly strange interview, this mysterious woman (who gave her name as Isabella) would assault Ash with what seemed unnatural force, leaving him unconscious as she placed him under the Embrace. When he awoke, the pain-wracked Nosferatu would find a gallon milk jug full of blood and a note explaining the particulars of how to survive amongst the undead, ending in a cryptic clue which hinted that they would eventually meet again... after Ash was able to find her.

As a PC: Following one of Isabella's numerous clues which she had left dotted across the globe, Ash eventually found himself in New York city in early 2007, and immediately upon his arrival, found himself drafted into the service of the Sheriff Sam McCoy to fight members of the radical Catholic hunter group which had been plaguing the city. Gruff and continually annoyed by the absurdity that surrounded him, the bitter Cainite would spend much of his first year in the city running an assortment of unsavory or clandestine errands for various parties of the city's Camarilla, whilst he quietly befriended the gargantuan albino alligator that lived within the New York sewer system. Eventually, a brush with a wandering Gangrel would lead him to Isabella's next clue, and the sullen neonate would discover the remnants of the vast warrens under the Cloisters museum in Brooklyn, discovering the abandoned remains of the area that once saw the famed elite of the Clan of the Hidden who once sought to exult themselves under Calebros' rule.

Despite learning much of the city's history from what messages he found within the Cloisters, the travel weary Nosferatu found no indication as to where his next destination lay, and passed the time as best he could waiting for his Sire's next move. Eventually striking up something of a friendship with Sheriff Bojan Petrov, Ash endeavored to assist the young Brujah in at last attaining his revenge against former Prince Hadrian Evans, using his contacts on SchreckNET to procure the man's location. When Petrov eventually left to seek his vengeance, Ash was given the office of Sheriff in his place by the inexperienced Wright

His days in this position, however, were brief. Within a few weeks of being appointed to the post, the sullen Nosferatu witnessed a young girl in danger of being crushed by a collapsing piece of construction equipment, and instinctively did his best to shove her from the imminent danger. Crushed beneath the weight of an industrial crane, the mortally wounded man was rushed to a nearby hospital, where visitors would later find him locked in a coma - to all appearances exhibiting the signs of a living human. While many were skeptical of such an occurrence -claiming that Ash had cleverly falsified his own demise that he might leave New York peaceably- Scourge Reino Haldor had the opportunity to telepathically intereact with Ash's mind, and found a consciousness dwelling there much like the grizzled Cainite he had once known.

After persisting in a semi-vegetative state for nearly a year, Ash died. Hospital records indicate that he had a visitor on the evening of his demise, who initially the guest log with a single 'I."

Trivia:

• Ash's Sire was a woman who had been wed to his biological father in the days before the first World War. When her husband went missing in the course of service to the American navy, the bereft "Isabella" nevertheless waited for over a decade for him to return, only to learn later that he had survived the war and had gone on to return to the States - taking up with numerous mistresses along the way. Angered over her loss, she would feel robbed of her opportunity for a family - particularly in the days following her Embrace. Eventually, she would go on to track down her former spouse's assorted illegitimate children, Embracing them and plaguing them with assorted tests in the hopes of finding one ideal to be declared her progeny. (Ash, of course, had no intentions to join his Sire's company should he have eventually caught up with her, wishing instead to clock her in the face in recompense for the idiotic game she had led him through)
  
  
• Ash Gently moonlighted as a pimp to cement his connections to various street-saavy working girls whom he used to navigate the New York underworld. Obfuscating himself as the charming "Jack -The Kind Man- Ripper," Ash would tend to the safety of his assortment of young wards, intervening potently when any of their clients became ungentlemanly. This line of work would eventually bring him into contact with one Mistress Lisa, a dominatrix with a murderous sadistic streak when it came to dealing with unruly Johns.
  
  
• Ash Gently and Bojan Petrov became something of friends when the two discovered that both of their Street influences contained the same hobo - one Slimey Pete. They eventually had to meet to discuss the problems engendered by both parties trying to furnish the man with alcohol simultaneously.
  
  
• Ash would manage to secure the location of Evans on Bojan's behalf through means of a scandalous picture he had found of then-Sheriff Sam McCoy passed out with a penis on his face. As McCoy had managed to ruffle considerable feathers in Chicago during his inquiry into former Prince Darren West's death, an associate of the Brujah Whip Iljko Leskovar was willing to exchange a Minor Boon to obtain the photograph and place it in the hands of a Malkavian prankster. This Boon (which would be able to leverage a few hours of Primogen Critias' time) was eventually traded via SchreckNET to an academic scholar in Tunisia, who wished to speak to the Brujah elder about the various historic nicieties of his mortal days. In return, Ash's clanmate provided him with a photograph showing Hadrian Evans to be in Tangiers on the Christmas Eve of 2007, allowing the satisfied investigator to deliver the lead to Petrov.
  
  
• Ash Gently always kept a bottle of Klipdrift brandy in his office. It was Anne's favorite.

Documents of Import:

• Contents of a CD Left for Ash Gently by his Sire: An assortment of files given to Ash by Isabella. (A_History_Lesson.txt | Schreck-NET_FAQ.txt | Schreck-NET_FAQ.txt | ~08051805_0919_25152118_110525.txt | 011404_08051805_0919_1305.txt | A_Handy_Map.jpg) [September 10, 2007]
  
  
• The Last Will and Testament of Ash Gently: A document Ash drafted almost immediately after being made Sheriff of the Camarilla and almost immediately before "dying." Intructions for its delivery were outline in a note to his secretary, Stephen. [April 14, 2008]
  
  
• Thank You Mr. Gently!!!!: [IMG] An imaginative picture draw by Amanda Jenkins to thank Ash for saving her life. [May 2007]
  
  
• Ash Gently's Office: Pisces breaks into Ash Gently's office after his "death." [October 4 - 18, 2008]

DARIA XELA MATTHEWSON

Player: Danya

Appearance: Daria descended from the Parisian line of her Clan, and looked remarkably good for one of the Hidden. Her face was networked with a web of unsightly blue veins and she was by no means not ugly, but she nevertheless managed to pass for human. Her demeanor was virtually always "chill" and very little whcih happened ever fazed her.

Nature: Scientist

Demeanor: Deviant

Sire: Keith Richards

Birthdate: May 17, 1983 (Taurus)

In Play: 2007 - 2010

Theme Song(s): Les Misérables - Empty Chairs at Empty Tables; MC Chris - The Tussin (Robotussin)

Background: Daria Xela Matthewsom was born to a liberal-leaning middle class family in the 1980s, and what she considered to be a fairly typical American childhood until her early teens, at which point a cousin introduced her to heroin in the bathroom of a Red Lobster during a reunion. Daria would go on to struggle with the drug throughout her teenage years, but would remain a high-functioning user and would eventually go on to turn to less damaging substances - favoring hallucinogens and concoction that could be used for psychonautic discovery. An avid fan of chemical exploration, young Daria would grow proficient at chemistry as she experimented with a wide variety of substances, eventually dating her lab partner for a few years before taking off for college.

Shortly after graduating and acquiring a internship, Daria found herself the target of a Nosferatu Anarch seeking a childe to assist in his accumulation of lore. Embraced during a Dextromethorphan trip, Daria would retain the emotionally numb and dissociative sensations of being on the drug throughout her life amongst the undead, causing her to often feel herself to be a diteached observer, and allowing her to take a purely intellectual assessment of situations which others would be unable to remain objective in.

As a PC: Coming to New York in late 2007, Daria was for a long time the only Anarch in the city, and would remain aloof from Camarilla politics, coming to Elysium but ocassionally to engage in conversation with other Cainites. After the arrival of Discordian Malkavians, Cassandra and Pangloss (not actually a Malkavian, but Daria never discovered this), however, the chill and good-natured Nosferatu would find herself privy to all manner of misadventures involving her often trouble-seeking sectmates - becoming entangled in late 2008 in a delicate operation involving the rescue of a Tremere Archon from a small Sabbat pack. While generally more level-headed and less abraisive than her often trouble-seeking comrades, the trio would become fast friends in the largely Camarilla dominated city, with Cassandra gleefully assisting in Daria's work as a drug designer and dealer.

The Anarchs would grow in political prominence over the year that followed, even following Pangloss' abrupt departure from the city and Cassandra's seeming death at the hands of Alan Scott. Eventually, Daria would find herself the de facto Baron of the city, and as the Camarilla slowly faced collapse with the suicide of Prince Johnson, the neonate Nosferatu would rise to be the unlikely leader of what remained of the Kindred in the Domain.

Trivia:

• Daria's Sire would sate his childe's first hunger with a number of domesticated rabbits, and after the trauma of awakening to find herself surrounded by the mutilated corpses of these animals, Daria would develop a pronounced discomfort regarding the species.
  
  
• Daria would organize a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with Cassandra, Pangloss and the Ravnos Pisces, leading to an somewhat silly in character/out of character game played by their respective players.
  
  
• Daria's dissociation would break and give way to emotion once during play - when she cried over Cassandra's apparent death.
  
  
• Daria would become fast friends with the Malkavian Malachi Blackwell after a botched feeding left her high on methampetamines for an evening and extremely paranoid. Malachi, whose own fears of dark gods had reached a similarly anxious pitch, would join her in her irrational fears of nearly everything - and the two would bond over the experience.

EDWIN FERENTON

Player: Rick

Appearance: Edwin was a well-built man of indeterminate age. His wardrobe always consisted of a plain (if a bit archaic) Franciscan robe, a rosary and sandals.

Nature: Visionary

Demeanor: Pedagogue

In Play: 2006 - 2007

As a PC: Edwin Ferenton was a short-lived representative for Clan Nosferatu, who served on the Primogen Council briefly in the Fall of 2006. Edwin was characterized by a deep and abiding piety and seemingly fantatical dedication to the Catholic Church, in addition to a short and furious temper when questioned about his religion. He was known (much to his shame) to have fallen to the Beast in Elysium more than once when confronted about his religion, and to have been seen weeping openly in court when overcome with the spirit.

Edwin disappeared from the collective Kindred radar sometime back in the Spring of 2007, after a prolonged absence from court life that led to his position being usurped by Primogen Gently. Nobody thereafetr made many inquiries into what had happened to him, and he would go on to slowly fade frome public memory.

Trivia:

• It was implied that Edwin met his end at the hands of Catholic hunters, who came to suspect him of vampirism after Ash Gently embarked on several capers while disguised as his clanmate.

JAY GOLDMAN

Player: Josh

Appearance: Jay Goldman had a sallow, sunken-in appearance, and his body was covered in a series of scars. He tended toward simple utilitarian clothing, but reportedly took to wearing a suit briefly while serving as Primogen.

Nature: Martyr

Demeanor: Competitor

In Play: 2005 - 2006

Background: Born in early 19th century Texas, Jay was the son of a rural preacher, and lived a mortal life always assuming that he would someday following in his father's footsteps. An aimless and often uncertain youth, the young Goldman would go on to enlist and fight in the Mexican-American War, and would find himself mortally wounded in battle. Mistaken for dead by his comrades, the dying soldier would remain on the battlefield lapsing in and out of consciousness for several days, and would find himself frequently visited by a dog which would lick at his wounds at night.

In time, the animal would reveal itself to be a solitary Nosferatu, whose isolation had long given him over to madness. Dragging the barely alive youth back to an obscure grotto, the sadistic Cainite would revive and torture the man over a series of weeks, castrating and mutilating him horrifically before granting him the Embrace.

Following his eventual escape from the madman, Jay would return to the states, and for years would quietly watch over his family's estate - building their fortunes through his subtle manipulations of the cattle trade through Animalism. Deeply scarred by the events which had befallen him, the unwilling Kindred would come to regard vampirism with deep-seated loathing, and would often suicidally take actions which bordered on breaching the Masquerade. In time, he would come to join the ranks of the Camarilla despite his neuroses, and would venture to New York in the late winter of 2006.

As a PC: A friendly character, Goldman quickly climbed his way up to the rank of Primogen after his arrival, and had, for some brief portion of time, the ear of Hadrian Evans, who made him the Sect's financial advisor. Despite the standing granted him, however, the ancillae would often find himself conflicted regarding the Malkavian Prince, and would secretly grow to hate the cold man's abuses of mortal society.

Eventually called by former Prince Calebros to attend to matters concerning the Niktuku, Goldman would find himself rapidly losing favor as he made known his need to depart the Domain, and would find humself under attack by the sociopathic Sheriff Greer, who sought to undermine all close closer advisers to Evans outside of herself. Becoming flippant as the two Malkavians accused him of treasonous acts, Goldman would be publicly humiliated, stripped of status, and then, -behind closed doors- tortured at the hands of Greer, who would put out one of his eyes. He would depart soon after, and would not be seen in the city again.

Trivia:

• Goldman's deranged masochism would lead him to pull Greer's hand into his face as she put out his eye, and he would thank the shocked Malkavian after being blinded, chiding her underling Petrov for attempting to stop the woman's work. Storytellers would note that this scene allowed all three characters to fulfill their natures simultaneously: with Goldman as a Martyr, Greer as a Sociopath and Petrov as a Judge.

LEOPOLD DUSABLE

Player: Justin

Appearance: While DuSable still attempted to dress the part of the wealthy southern gentleman he had once been, his frightening visage, combined with his quick temper and often tactless interjections made him a hard man to understand or even respect at times. Nevertheless, the Nosferatu had a frank and blunt approach that many found refreshing, and he always carried himself with a measure of dignity.

Nature: Architect

Demeanor: Conniver

In Play: 2008

Background: Leopold DuSable had led a successful life as a businessman near Forth Worth, and had attracted the eye of a local Ventrue who intended him as a childe. However, the Caintie who would eventually Embrace Dusable would prove a member of the Clan of the Hidden - whose motivations were entirely grounded in snubbing the Kindred who had originally targeted the wealthy Texan.

Coping as best he could with his spite-driven entry into vampiric society, Leopold woudl due his utmost to defy the norms of Clan Nosferatu - admanatly refusing to sully himself by hiding in municipal sewage systems as he retreated to the isolation of his numerous properties.

As a PC: DuSable brought the conservative sensibilities of his home state to New York, and quickly made allies amongs the more politically right leaning Kindred of the city - namely Gordon Parker and Seth Samuel. Deeply opposed to the liberalism which infected the Domain, he managed to serve briefly as Keeper of Elysium before departing the city for reasons unknown.

Trivia:

• Despite his deeply conservative beliefs, DuSable was a staunch support of women's access to abortion, and helped to fund a small clinic near Fort Worth.

VINNY DAPAGLIA

A.K.A.: Yuri Velanov

Player: Ben

Appearance: Vinny was a fairly nondescript man of Russian descent, and long fooled the Camarilla into believing that his visage was a "Mask" typical of Clan Nosferatu.

Nature: Chameleon

Demeanor: Follower

Sire: Unknown (Shovelhead)

In Play: 2009-2010

Background: Yuri Velanov was

CALEBROS

Player: Canonical NPC (generally played by John)

Appearance: n/a

Description: The most influential Nosferatu in New York for the past 50 years since his Sire disappeared, Calebros is remarkably anonymous beyond his Clan, and that's the way he prefers it. He maintains order in his warren beneath Manhattan while also coordinating plans and information for his bretheren across the Americas and Europe. As the reluctant, temporary (and now former) Prince of New York, Calebros hasn't slept well since putting those duties behind him.

In being Prince Pro Tempore of New York City Calebros did what he felt he had to do -- he acted as a wartime figurehead for a siege that needed one. He harbors no illusions about this; he knows that he held the title only to give the Camarilla effort common cause to rally behind and the Sabbat an enemy upon whom to focus.

It was with great relief, then, that Calebros abdicated as Prince of the Domain. He never really wanted the position. He found himself thrust into it by Camarilla powers who wanted a Prince weak enough to acquiesce to their tactical needs but believable enough to give the siege effort a sense of credibility.

Calebros, has been tired of the whole affair for a while. While he still played the game as much as was expected of him for a while, he longed for the nights when he could put the whole political circus behind him and return to his warren beneath the streets. With the succession of Bromme Freidrich III back in 2002, his wishes seemed to have been granted. However, recent events involving his Clan seem to have set him stirring once again, and much curiosity has been aroused with his brief reappearance regarding the former Primogen Jay Goldman.

Bio extracted from the "New York by Night" City Sourcebook. Somewhat abridged and altered, based on the non-canonical developments of UnMasqued as a game.

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