Name: Ezekiel "Zeke" Kristoff, takes up the modern pseudonym of Malakai Faustus
Age; (300+/32)
Species: Kindred, 9th Generation Tremere
Appearance:
Personality: Arrogant and imperious, even in undeath, Zeke embodies many of the stereotypes of old wizards when it comes to personality. Confident in his abilities, a curmudgeon about change even at his relatively "young" age, and highly interested in knowledge of all kinds, especially that of the arcane as is his research. He likes the adoration of his "disciples", glares at those who give him looks for his style of dress, and is mostly ambivalent towards Kindred and Kine who treat him with respect.
Biography: Born in the village of Salem, Massachusetts in 1678, Ezekiel was raised by a family of God-fearing, clean-living Christians who worked to make a good name of their family and raise their children to be upstanding members of British Colonial Society, like most others at the time. As a child, Ezekiel was taught the Commandments and Scriptures, Original Sin, and to be watchful of the Devil's machinations to tempt humans and damn their eternal souls through his various agents, the Witches and Heretics.
Such a stringent upbringing, a total lack of exposure to any such socially unseemly elements only heightened Zeke's curiosity of them as he grew older. Why, pray tell, were these people so bad? What were they doing to make people fear and revile them so much? When he was 14, the infamous Salem Witch Trials occurred, and though the public hysteria around Witches and any practitioners of the dark arts were becoming increasingly more taboo than they already were, Zeke's fascination with them only increased. Surely there must be something truly fearful to these people that others would devote so much effort to hunting and rooting them out of society, and if it was true, then were the dark arts, magic itself, real?
Eventually leaving Salem to Boston proper to become a dock worker with what meagre funds he had, his family not having enough money to afford studies as a scholar, he spent his spare earnings he saved on purchasing books on the occult and supernatural, or borrowing the more publicly "decent" and available ones from libraries both private and public. He made his inquiries quietly, knowing full well the danger he ran in delving into forbidden studies.
For years he worked in Boston, slowly building up his store of arcane lore and assumptions on it, though he knew he had no way of knowing if any of them were remotely correct. Eventually a travelling circus came to town in 1710, when Zeke was 30, and among their cadre of freaks was a man who claimed to be a genuine magician, he performed shows at night, and the man himself, Zaroff the Magnificent, was supposedly never seen during the day, spending the whole time in his tent with his assistants keeping all manner of visitors away. The Ring Leader apparently had no problem with the magician's strange behaviours, since he always sold out crowds with his acts. Zeke attended a sold-out performance one night, and like much of the crowd was amazed by some of the spectacular tricks and performances that he could hardly believe they were illusions.
Zeke pestered Zaroff after the show, begging to be shown how he could do what he showed him, or to explain how he knew what he knew as a magician. Zaroff tried to shoo off the pestering labourer, but Zeke's persistence and evident primary but crude interests and knowledge of the arcane which he wasted in time in expounding upon the tired magician caught his interest. He told him to meet him again within a moon's turn, a month away at the end of the circus' time in Boston proper and if he was willing, maybe he'd show him some tricks of his trade.
In reality, "Zaroff" merely needed the time to seek permission from his Elders in the Camarilla to sire a childe, and to see if Zeke was actually serious and not just some idiot. A month later, Zeke appeared before his tent again, as resolute as ever, and that night, Zaroff took Zeke in the embrace, and made him into a Vampire of the Tremere Bloodline. That night, Zaroff, now revealing his true name of Georg Atterdag, explained the rules of unlife from now on. Zeke would come with him back to Europe, to take the Oath of Tremere and partake in the blood of the Inner Council of Seven, and thence forth he would apprentice under him as Magus and as Childe, from whom he would learn how to wield the art of Thaumaturgy (the true magic, not the parlour tricks Georg plied to please and fascinate the Kine), and learn all of the Traditions of Cainite society.
For 290 years, Zeke has wandered through Europe and North America with the times, avoiding and partaking in conflicts, seeking greater knowledge and power, and enjoying his unlife. Serving Clan Tremere long after he became free to make his own destiny out from the responsibility of his sire, Georg, and learning more and more about how to manipulate Thaumaturgy to slowly grow in power. A fierce supporter of the Camarilla and his clan, he rose to the rank of Magister, and accompanied Georg, now a Regent, to Washington D.C. to found a Chantry there.
Things didn't go too well on that venture. The Camarilla faced attacks by the Sabbat over control of the city in Modern Nights, and the Tremere being their second strongest supporters were prime targets when they setup a Chantry within the city limits. When the Sabbat came in force to take the city from the hands of the Camarilla, the Chantry was hit among the hardest. Georg died defending his Chantry, and numerous other Apprentices and Acolytes died or were taken by the Sabbat that Night, and Zeke did the only pragmatic thing, he fled and sped out of town as fast as his car could take him. Jumping from Camarilla Chantry to another, he resolved to make his own path somewhere far from The Sabbat and his now shattered past on the East Coast and try to serve the interests of Kindred and Clan on the West Coast, a new frontier for the Camarilla and Sabbat, but long stomping grounds for the Anarchs and many others.
Thus, he sought the City of Angels 2 years ago to make a new unlife for himself, and start a new chapter in his ambitions. Not having the authority or even seeking to make something so open as a Chantry in Los Angeles, especially since there was no official Prince or Regent anymore, none that were aligned with the Camarilla, thanks to the ongoing conflict there that was supposedly decimating the Elder Kindred there. Thus, he decided to start very simply, he set up his own cult, The Followers of Nodens, making the name after the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.
He made it to appeal to the New-Age Yuppie-kids crowd that sought a way to rebel against their parents, "the system", or were striving to find their own individual identity, the usual suckers. It was a two-part operation, the first being the more widely known organization that sold punk apparel, ran a tattoo and piercing shop, did hairstyling, sold heavy metal and punk music of all kinds, under the counter drugs and light weapons, and dabbled in selling Satanist edgy "dark magic" manuals and paraphernalia, all of which were bullshit knock-offs to get money out of said suckers. The second part was for the more serious, and was located in the backrooms and basement of his property, where the actual cult practiced and attended to Zeke as akin to a God himself. All of its members were Ghouls of Zeke's, his servants to move about and do tasks in his name where he could not in the light of the day, and whom were his main "herd" to feed off of and so were carefully chosen for their ability as much as their pedigree from being mere employees to actual Cult members. The exclusivity only made his cult more mysterious and sought-after by the young crowd. He never taught them any magic, as the Tremere Code forbade it, but with their bounds as Ghouls that didn't matter to any of them, they saw his powers in action and were bound to him absolutely.
Zeke's current ambitions revolve around projecting his presence into the ring of LA formally now that he had established himself, and to potentially sire his first childe, if he could find a suitable and worthy apprentice. More than anything, like all Tremere, Zeke seeks to find greater power and schemes to advance himself and the Clan's interests, and his business in the city of Angels is no exception.
NPCs:
Name: Gideon Haines
Species: Human
Position: "Prospect" (marking his unknowing observation by Zeke as a potential new addition to his inner cohort), Young Adult Rebel
Appearance:
Name: Julienne "Juli" Grace
Species: Ghoul
Position: Cultist, "Left Hand of Faustus", Former Satanic Cultist
Appearance:
Name: Charles "Charlie" Markham
Species: Ghoul
Position: Cultist, "Right Hand of Faustus", Punk
Appearance:
