[b]Faction Name:[/b] The Palm Springs Crew [b]Allegiance:[/b] Independent [b]Location:[/b] Palm Springs [b]General Information:[/b] The Palm Springs Crew is a faction that has been around for a considerable length of time and it is a faction that has been forced to hide its nature in almost all interactions. As one of the few if not the only old Tzimisce domain in the new world the vampires who run the town have long been incredibly secretive and cautious. Most dealings with outsiders are done through ghoul emissaries or through the member of the crew known as the Emissary who is of unknown bloodline. The leaders of the crew were never seen by outsiders for nearly 60 years since they first took up dominion over the small resort town. However in the last two years things have changed slightly. During the chaos that followed the assassination of many anarch and camarilla leaders several groups attempted to seize the town, viewing it as a sign of weakness that the vampires in charge had hidden behind ghouls. This belief was mistaken and the incursions were smashed but the force and means used to suppress the incursions have led to the rumor mills churning and some of the veil of secrecy was damaged. [b]Character Sheets:[/b] [hider= Chag Ha Ander] [b]Name:[/b] Chag Ha Ander (The Pale Man) [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]http://www.smallvilleph.com/site/wp-content/uploads/Smallville-Season-2-Promo-208.jpg[/img] [b]Generation:[/b] 6th [b]Clan:[/b] Old Tzimisce [b]Disciplines:[/b] Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude [b]Personality:[/b] Chag Ha Ander is in some ways the typical Tzimisce, describing him as a sadist will only make him laugh and then proceed to show you just how inferior your understanding of true sadism is. He has sampled of the endless buffet of screams and agony, has devised countless ways to torture those who he judges to be his enemies and in that way is similar to what you might well expect. He is also old fashioned and a proud being still claiming for himself the title of Voivode that he once held in his heyday before his holdings in Eastern Europe fell. His identity as one of the old Fiends is one of the strongest elements that hold the old vampire’s sense of self together and as such things like the hospitality rituals are held in the highest regard. However he does differ from many of his ilk as he is not so frozen into a single mindset that he cannot adjust at least to some extent. While most of his kind would be unable to conceive of the possibility of relocation he has done so several times. His mind is still somewhat fluid and he has been able to learn things and adjust to the modern era better than most of his kind. That is not to say that he accepts the modern era as that is far from the truth, his hatred for modernity and the restrictions that it puts on him burns hot and it is only self-preservation that keeps him from acting on the old desires. [b]Biography:[/b] Chag Ha Ander like most of the Tzimisce views what occurred in the years of his life prior to his embrace as rather insignificant, however there is still some pride to be had in the memories of the feats that allowed him to be chosen for immortality. In the 1200s the Mongol hordes swept into Eastern Europe bringing death and destruction on their drive to conquer. Chag Ha Ander was a man of power in the army, a commander of men and he was detached from the main forces to lead a raid into a portion of what is now known as Hungary. It was ill fate for the invasion force, but ultimately good fortune for Chag Ha Ander when his men stumbled across the residence of what reports said was the lord of the region. With confidence born of his years of command he ordered the attack and fate was set in motion. He led the assault personally and was shocked when his men encountered terrifying creatures of twisted flesh and bone, monsters that seemed to have been shaped from human into something else entirely. His forces were outmatched but he continued to fight, demonstrating ruthlessness and strategy learned in his years of life. He even sacrificed groups of his own men to gain temporary advantages. It even appeared that his strategies were working until the lord of the castle unleashed something more terrifying. A massive beast that simply shrugged off anything that came for it and that destroyed his men utterly. He prepared to meet death himself when the creature was stopped. Instead the lord of the land impressed with the ruthlessness and battlefield skill of the man descended himself and after defeating Chag Ha Ander with the greatest of ease, embraced him to begin his long period of unlife. For many years he existed as a pawn of his sire, an ancient Tzimisce methuselah who sought to protect himself through the creation of loyal vassals who would surround his own holdings to serve as shields. Eventually with the bond established and confidence that his new servant would not betray him Chag Ha Ander’s sire granted him land. He set up his own domain there and for a time things went according to plan. But things would change when the anarch revolt swept into the lands of the Tzimisce. His sire’s plan to surround himself with loyal vassals as a line of defense was not sufficient. First the anarchs had come for Chag Ha Ander and he fought them and lost. He was believed slain, suffering a wound that would have killed most and left for dead in the wreckage of his lands. Then the anarchs went after his sire and successfully slew the ancient vampire in a great battle. But such was a hollow victory for when the old one died his vozhd was freed from all control and the beast rampaged through the anarch ranks, destroying most of the group before being slain itself. Ultimately Chag Ha Ander awoke and free of the bond for the first time moved into the holdings that his sire had previously occupied and during the chaos that was the aftermath of the anarch revolt managed to establish himself and gain the recognition of the other remaining old Tzimisce who had weathered the storm. It was soon after he claimed his sire’s former territory that he embraced his first childe and in time he would choose others. His rule over the land would endure for another four hundred years before the changing times brought him down along with many of the others who had managed to weather the earlier storms. It is a subject that is seldom discussed and that he does not mention save in moment of rage how his fall ultimately came at the hands of the pathetic kine who had long been his food and nothing more. Times had changed and industry had flourished, the veil of fear and superstition that had long kept his kind enthroned began to fade away. Peasant revolts began, and while the first several were put down with bloody ease eventually there was one that forced him to retreat into his own fortress. Trusting in the strength of his walls and planning to destroy the revolting peasants when the next night fell he and his childer slumbered. But the rule of fear was not perfect and a servant that he believed firmly cowed betrayed him, opening a gate to allow the besiegers access. He was roused by the conflict and in an act of supreme will forcibly flesh crafted one of his childe into his likeness before dragging his consort along with him in a flight to the very bowels of his fortress. There they escaped the rampage of the rebels but when night had fallen and they emerged the castle was in ruins and his forces had been mostly destroyed. With the rebels still at large and his own forces shattered there did not appear to be a good solution. The other Voivodes would not help and he was too proud to ask for their help. To move appeared to be the only option and as hated as it was this seemed to offer the best chance of survival. Europe was hostile, with many ancients entrenched in various places and so he turned his eyes to the new world. With the last few servants and what wealth remained to him, he arranged passage to the Americas and attempted to establish a new domain for himself there. The first attempt was moderately successful at first as he managed to purchase a sizeable expanse of land in Texas and established himself there. While it was not so fine as his old land in Europe the aristocratic society of the pre civil war south was somewhat tolerable and the slave system provided a ready source of food as well as easy targets for his appetites. It was here that he embraced another of his few surviving childer, one of the overseers in his plantations attracted his attention through the clever cruelty and torture of various forms that the man inflicted upon the slaves. Unfortunately for Chag Ha Ander his new domain would prove short lived as the Civil War broke out a mere 20 years after his arrival and the system that had proved so accommodating to his needs was obliterated. He would linger on in the south for almost another hundred years before it had changed to the point that very little of what had attracted him to the region still remained. In the 1950s, following the outbreak of violence and the overthrowing of the Camarilla rulership of Los Angeles he relocated a final time to the town of Palm Springs, wiping out the previous anarch gang that had claimed the town and establishing it as his own domain. Since then he has ruled over the town with an iron if by necessity subtle fist. In the chaos of the conflict that erupted two years prior Chag Ha Ander and his childer attempted to avoid becoming involved though several incidents forced the ancient vampire to take action himself to destroy those who sought to press into his territory. The very decisive way in which the incursions were smashed has reinforced the impression that the Palm Springs vampires were not easy pickings but has also made a delicate situation more volatile. While his appearances were brief some wonder at the power of this leader and question why so powerful a being leads what is supposedly an independent anarch splinter group. And there are rumors of things unleashed in those encounters that sound like the stuff of old stories from lands half a world away. [/hider] [hider= His Childer] [b]Name:[/b] Svetlana Ference [b]Generation:[/b] 7th [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]http://cdn.bloody-disgusting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jaime-Murray.jpg[/img] [b]Clan:[/b] Old Tzimisce [b]Disciplines:[/b] Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude [b]Personality:[/b] Svetlana was embraced almost 600 years ago and for 600 years Chag Ha Ander has had the opportunity to mold her mind and body, sculpting her like clay to suite his own desires. Her emotions towards him are those of extreme devotion and she simply cannot conceive of acting against him, even subtly. To others on the other hand she is casually cruel and manipulative specializing in twisting the feelings of others to suit her own desires and the desires of her Sire which she equates or even holds superior to her own goals. She is a creature who has been crafted by her master rather than her own will and is twisted to the point that she cannot truly see the difference between the two anymore. Despite this much of her original personality still remains intact as Chag Ha Ander approved of it, her grace and naturally refined nature have been kept and tempered with cruelty and spite. [b]Biography:[/b] A child of nobility in one of the many families of human nobles who served beneath the Tzimisce at the height of their dark power Svetlana was expected to grow up and be married off to secure political ties to another family. It was something of a fluke that the girl caught the eye of the family's overlord instead and his demands were granted without hesitation, the family knowing well the power of the ire of one of the elder fiends. Chag Ha Ander tested her, first to see if she was worthy of the embrace, which she was found to be and then with the test of his own devising to ensure that all his childer would possess his own gift for survival. Her first experience after embrace was one that would have killed most kindred and kine alike as the ancient vampire thrust the blade of a sword through her head and then removed it, critically damaging her brain. When it became apparent that she unlike his previous attempts was not expiring her sire went to work and began the process of shaping her into what he desired her to be. She next awakened changed and with a devotion to her sire that pushed all other desires to the sidelines. For nearly 600 years she has served him, playing the role that he designed and shaped her for. [b]Name:[/b] Randall Bishop [b]Generation:[/b] 7th [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/fp/Robert+Carlyle+Robert+Carlyle+Set+Once+Upon+kLCgFT64Qy_l.jpg [/img] [b]Clan:[/b] Old Tzimisce [b]Disciplines:[/b] Vicissitude, Auspex, Dominate [b]Personality:[/b] A vain, cruel, and innovative man in life Randall Bishop has retained these qualities in his undeath. The man is cruel, fond of inflicting tortures upon the mortals merely for the sake of his twisted pleasures, he takes special pleasure in torturing people of particular ethnicity and his tendencies in that direction survived the transfer from mortal to vampire. His creative genius for cruelty however appears to be at the cost of his overall intellect as while the man is quite capable he seems to lack independence in many areas. While this makes him ideal in some respects as he is easy to keep in line by virtue of the blood bond and he would never go against his sire the fact that his genius is so limited makes him an irritation at times. [b]Biography:[/b] Randall Bishop was an overseer of slaves, a man known for his brutality and cruelty to the point where he had actually been fired for being overly brutal several times by former employers. He could not understand why the people he worked for continued to reprimand him for actions that were wholly justified and reasonable and this led to his repeated firings. He was surprised when a man who was starting up a new plantation contacted him and said he was the perfect choice to run roughshod over the slave population there, surprised but pleased. With his job prospects seeming poor he accepted and for a few years looked the other way at the strange ways of the master, the fact that the man and his 'wife' never seemed to be around during the day, or how they would summon slaves to the mansion who would never leave again, simply doing his job and enjoying the freedom allowed to him. After those few years though he was called before Chag Ha Ander and forcibly embraced. He became more than human and things changed. His mind was molded by the will of his new sire and his loyalty was cemented through the application of a blood bond to the point where he cannot even think about betraying the master. He proved difficult to reconcile after the civil war ended in a defeat for the south and with the approval of Chag Ha Ander, who also wished for the servile population of free meals to be kept in their place he was involved in certain evening activities designed with that express purpose of spreading fear to keep the ex-slaves in what he considered the proper mindset. Since the move to Palm Springs the former overseer has proven to still be useful, and his genius for torture has continued to amuse his sire but the man's rage means that the ancient vampire has to keep a tight grip that even he normally does on this particular childe. [b]Name:[/b] Roger Wilson [b]Generation:[/b] 7th [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]http://i2.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article5839417.ece/alternates/s927b/cillian-murphy-peaky-blinders.jpg[/img] [b]Clan:[/b] Old Tzimisce [b]Disciplines: [/b] Vicissitude, Animalism, Auspex [b]Personality:[/b] Roger Wilson is relatively new to his unlife and his psyche has not yet had time to recover from the the process by which he has been molded and then cast as seen appropriate by his sire. He is largely uncertain of his own actions, frequently guided more by the detailed commands given to him by the other more experienced members of Chag Ha Ander's 'family' that by his own insights. Still he was clever in life and his intelligence still exists in death further his knowledge of modern day criminal enterprise has proven useful in combating the kine servants of other influential kindred in the LA region. [b]Biography:[/b]Roger was a man who tried and ultimately was somewhat successful in organized criminal enterprises. Like most Tzimisce his life prior to the embrace is dismissed as rather unimportant though he was chosen specifically for the more modern skill set that he possessed. He would be able to deal with problems in ways that the others had a more difficult time grasping as they were more rooted in the past while his criminal skills were from the present. As he was only embraced approximately 8 years ago there is not much to tell of his story so far. [/hider] The others will be added soon. Working on getting them written up again.