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"Sin is a slippery concept. But do not worry yourself. I am a slippery man."
Name: Victor Forane
Age: 151
Sex: Male
Clan: Lasombra (6th Generation)
Sect: Camarilla
Location: Paris, France
Appearance: See picture. Victor tends to dress as a priest, with dark clothes, a white dog collar and a single purple vestment. He is rather average in most respects, in terms of height and build, leading many to underestimate him. Not that he minds, of course. He is showing very little of the Beast so far - his skin is pale and his eyes yellowed, but otherwise seems quite human. As a Lasombra, he does not cast reflections and so he avoids shiny, reflective ornaments.
Biography: Victor Forane sits in the shadows of Paris, squatting like a spider and pulling all the strings. But it was not without something of a struggle.
Like most Lasombra antitribu, he publically presents himself more as a Ventrue and only uses his Obtenebration discipline around those he either trusts with his life, or don't expect to survive the encounter. His sire, a Czech noble named Wojciech (pronounced 'voy-check') Damaskinos, defected to the Camarilla centuries ago and has served quietly but with distinction, given the title of "Primogen" largely as a formality and out of respect for his age - Damaskinos was supposedly older than the Camarilla and sure to go into Torpor at any time. Damaskinos had three childer, of whom Victor is the youngest. He does not particularly get on with his siblings.
Victor was raised by the Catholic church, having been abandoned as a child and given over to an orphanage on the outskirts of the city. He grew up and entered a seminary, perhaps afraid to enter the wider world. He was not a particularly fervent believer, but the Church had raised him and he knew its language, its infrastructure, and he knew he could use that to find himself a place in the world. When he became Father Victor, he was moved to a small church that ran various charitable efforts for the local community, most notably a women's shelter. Under Father Forane, the women's home became a discrete brothel for people who didn't want to be known to be frequenting whorehouses - politicians, other priests and so on. When one of his clients got a bit aggressive, Victor began to blackmail the man as punishment, prompting a visit from Damaskinos - to whom the man was blood bonded.
Victor and Damaskinos had a long, sit-down discussion about many things. The nature of man, the role of sin in the world, the writings of Machiavelli. One predator recognised another. By the time Damaskinos left, it was decided. Victor would become Lasombra. Once inducted into Kindred society, Victor became Damaskinos' agent in Camarilla society, carrying out small errands to curry goodwill with the Prince and keep the Lasombra antitribu safe. All the while, he kept his herd of whores safe and well-looked after, in turn using their business to put the squeeze on influential humans. As both a Catholic and a Lasombra, he knew sin and damnation were in the hearts of men and that to deny it was impossible; the better path was to understand sin and thus transcend it. Case in point, Victor has never actually used the services of any of his girls - even when he was mortal - and is still technically a virgin.
Victor has always punched above his weight for his age, due to his comparatively low generation owing to a quite ancient and powerful sire as well as his natural abilities. His abilities of domination, potence and obtenebration are great and practiced, but almost never used publically. His disciplines are like a quiet, secret blade he only uses when he is absolutely sure his opponent will not see it coming. There are whispers of diablerie about him, given his shocking rise for one so young, but no Toreador has been able to find a trace of such in his aura.
When the Ventrue patron of the Lasombra was killed by an Assamite firebomb, Victor seized the power vacuum to manipulate his way into the position of Seneschal of all Paris - a position higher than any Lasombra antitribu could have hoped for within the Camarilla power structure, made even more surprising by his relative youth. Exactly how he got there is between him and the Prince, of course, since all others who stood between him and the position he'd been vying for ... well, they're not there any more. But by the time he became Seneschal, Victor had shown himself to be one of the most capable and thus dangerous individuals in Paris, manipulating significantly older and more powerful Kindred like toys and then disposing of them when they ceased to be useful - but disposing of them in such a way that no-one's been able to pin a criminal charge on him. Neither Prince nor Sheriff particularly like Victor, but they know he's the best man for the position - otherwise he wouldn't have survived the journey there - and certainly don't want him where they can't see him.
As Seneschal of Paris, Victor is somewhat a "man behind the throne" figure, whose public duties involve handling administrational matters for the day-to-day of the Prince, though he also acts as a kind of deputy by handling those claims and grievances too petty to bother the Prince with personally. Finally, the role also has the duties of a kind of 'royal spymaster' and Victor plays that role extremely well, with an extensive network of informants, assassins and other operatives Kindred, ghoul and Kine who ensure Victor is never left in the dark - metaphorically speaking, at least - nor a door he cannot have opened for him. To say nothing of the many figures in Kine society that Victor has incriminating photographs of. His pull in mortal society is.. well, let's just say that the profit margins are quite high when you're getting paid NOT to do something..
Victor's domain is St. Jude's; a small compound ringed by tall, thick stone walls, containing a Catholic church and a seperate building that publically appears to be a shelter for abused women. In fact, St Jude's is one of the most discrete - and expensive - brothels in Paris. In fact, its nature as a brothel is only know to a comparative handful, even among such circles as usually know these things. Even most vampires assume Victor simply keeps the women around as a regular food supply. It is from the stone cellar of St. Jude's that Victor runs his daily operations, though he regularly travels to the Prince's domain to advise them and carry out Camarilla business. The domain is staffed with ghouls and filled by secrets. Victor is constantly flanked by Anne, a ghoul who serves as his personal assistant, driver and bodyguard.
