Lady Cornelia is a long time inhabitant of San Cortia, owning a rather obscure art gallery on the richer side of downtown. She is an open assistant to the Prince, James Marwood, as well as a more reluctant aide to Ido. Specializing in etiquette and torture, she has her purposes in most all underhanded dealings in the city.

She has also been known to clean up a few messesin her day.

Pang Kung was born in the poor end of Hong Kong. Poor, yet an adept acrobat, climber, and naturally dexterous, he soon found a meager living as a burglar and information gatherer for the underworld of Hong Kong. Unfortunately for Pang, his life was cut short when someone thought he learned something (regardless of whether he did or not), and he was shot in the chest as he snuck into a window.

Arising as a newly undead Keui-Jin, he found his Dharma in the Song of the Shadows, and followed its path. He soon caught a ride to the Americas, and began an unlife there, as an information broker and spy in the San Cortia Chinatown.

Zencho Mokushi as a mortal was exiled from Hong Kong. A hit man by profession, he found a new niche for himself in the United States. In a quirk of fate, he and his brother, also hiding out in the USA were sent to kill each other without the other knowing. His brother won and Mokushi paid for it with his life. Rising again he changed his name to Mark Shin and began where he left off, now a hit man for hire in San Cortia.

Duncan Quinn was a police officer for ten years before he finally became sick of the city, life. He had no family and nothing to hold him to the city so he took a job as a park ranger. Duncan found that he truly enjoyed the woods, especially at night. As he wandered the deep woods one night he began to feel that he was being followed. When he turned around he saw a large wolf like form speeding toward him. The next thing Duncan remembered was waking up and feeling very different. He found the thought of being outside when the sun rose to be one of the most terrifying things he could imagine. Over the next few nights he came to understand that if he were to find the answers to his questions he would need to find what attacked him. He tracked the creature over the next few nights and eventually found its lair. The creature seemed surprised to see him, then began to explain what had happened. Duncan was a vampire. Duncan took to the woods after hearing this and wandered for weeks. Eventually he sought out a friend of his whom he had met shortly after becoming a ranger. Bill, his friend, had grown tired of the woods and had taken a position as a police officer. Bill helped Duncan get back on his feet and never asked him what had happened, which turned out to be a good thing for Duncan. Shortly after he returned to the city he was found feeding by a vampire who introduced himself as Folke. Folke gave Duncan a choice, to come with him or die where he stood; Duncan chose to go with him. Folke introduced Duncan to the Prince of the city, Marwood, who knew of Duncan's sire. Marwood offered Duncan a position as part of his security force. Duncan leapt at the chance, as this was something he knew how to do and he would be among those who understood, and indeed shared, his condition. Over time Duncan became fanatically loyal to the prince and the Camarilla in the city. Though Duncan could feel his humanity slipping away as he hunted the Sabbat with Folke, he found that he didn't mind so much any more; he was part of a team. Duncan struck up a friendship with Pang, and the two of them found that they made an excellent team. Between the two of them, they managed to further Marwood's interests throughout the city, until the unfortunate night when Duncan's hunt went bad. He was jumped by a Sabbat vampire wanting revenge for his brother's death (and diablerie) at Duncan's hands. Duncan fought him off, then chased him into a bar where he got into a fight with the vampire and four of his friends. Duncan, being too stubborn to run, met his final death.

Fug Sai Ha, an orphan from Hong Kong ran away from his orphanage at the age of 13 after being beaten severely by the Americans who ran the place. A rowdy bunch of teenagers who, regretting their decision to join the mission corps, drank and frequented the local opium house. After his flight along with a few hundred dollars in CD's and stolen goods, he ran to the seedier side of town. The next few years were spent in male prostitution and running errands for drug lords. He was soon noticed for his speed and skill at avoiding the cops not to mention his mastery of both English and Mandarin. written and spoken. Fug was given the position of front desk clerk at an opium house front, selling pots and pans. He quickly moved up the ranks and actually met his boss once. His position of authority drew notice from enemies who thought Fug might prove a good example, and slit his throat before throwing him into the river. Fug's Hun and P'o were outraged and refused to die. After a slow swim back through the water, he came to the opium house and drank the clients and murderer dry. Eating their flesh as well as drinking their blood afterwards, Fug was a murdering monster until his stomach was sated, ripping people apart then eating others alive while their friends watched. Hunger appeased, Fug's Hun soon took over. He realized somebody had tried to kill him, but not who. Feeling like a monster who had betrayed his boss (a bad idea in itself) and afraid for his life, he jumped the first shipment of opium to America, drinking from the crew and shooting up during the trip. He quickly got another job in an opium house, using the regulars to suck a little blood from occasionally and keeping low. That's when he was contacted by Ido(ee-doh) and given his first assignment.

Persia was born to an affluent family in San Diego, California, and was raised in a fairly liberal household, though she did attend Catholic School for a time. Upon graduation her high grades allowed her to attend UCLA, where she pursued child psychology. However, being fiercely independent, she didn't want to accept money for college from her family. So, she got a job. Well, it was a semblance of a job - her father would have been very displeased if he found out she was dancing at a topless bar. She maintained the illusion of a legitimate job for a couple of years, but finally tragedy struck. Persia's beauty coupled with her lustrous personality got her into trouble - a Setite by the name of Simeon saw her dancing one night, and became obsessed with her. He decided he had to have her, and would Blood Bond her to him before he Embraced her, so that they could spend eternity together. This provided Simeon's archenemy, a politically-minded Brujah named Perrin, with a way to put a thorn in the Setite's side. Before Simeon could completely bond Persia, Perrin kidnapped her and Blood Bonded her to him over the course of three nights. During those three nights Simeon went mad with rage, expending all of his resources to find her, but it was too late.

When Persia finally emerged, she was of the Brujah clan, and bound to Perrin. This, of course, angered Simeon to no end, and now the only thing he wants more than seeing Perrin die the final death, is Persia. Perrin flaunted his victory over Simeon for a few short days and then took Persia and left town, knowing that eventually the Setite would bring all his resources to bear against Perrin. Persia had become a pawn in a larger power struggle, and secretly desired to become human again. She never fully accepted the change, and as a symbol of this she made her stage name, "Persia," into her real name (also as an effort to protect her family from Simeon). They headed north to Seattle for a time. Here Persia learned about the world of the undead, and it was in a short run-in with the Tremere that she learned how truly evil other Kindred could be. Eventually Perrin decided it was time to pay a visit to an old friend, Prince Marwood of San Cortia, and to another of his childer, Folke. Persia and Perrin arrived in San Cortia and were given asylum by the Prince, after which Perrin went into hiding and Persia was left under the guard of her "brother," Folke. She has grown much more cynical since her days in LA, but every now and then the old Persia shows up, but the one constant is that she tries her best to hide her great beauty, and she usually feels guilty after using Presence to entrance some unknowing (and lucky) guy.

Cassandra was a singer in San Cortia; she played the nightclubs and occasionally played the patrons too. She let one of her favorite fans take her home one night and things got strange. The fan turned out to be a vampire and brought her into the Toreador clan. She couldn't have been happier; she always loved the night and the effect she had when she played. Now she could truly inflame her audience with the power that undeath brought her. She enjoyed Marwood's company and when he asked her to help out Persia and the rest of the crew she gladly agreed. After the incident in the nightclub when the Italians attacked she decided that that life really wasn't for her. She went to Marwood and politely informed him that she would be unable to help the group any more and went back to her life of singing.

Elspeth MacJager was born in the highlands of Scotland in the 14th century. Her mother had died in childbirth and Elspeth grew up in a household of mostly men. Her father was Laird of the Clan MacJager, and he doted all of his time and affection on her older brother Malcolm. The only female companionship that she had growing up was an old hag, Carey, who lived outside the castle. It was whispered that Carey was more animal than human and thought to be strange because no one saw her within daylight hours. When Elspeth was fifteen she was handfasted to the son of the Laird of a rival clan. It was hoped that the marriage would unite the two clans, but her husband was cruel and took to beating her. After a year, Elspeth returned to her family to find that her father had died and that her brother Malcolm had been injured in battle, and was unable to sire an heir. A month later, Elspeth learned that she was pregnant. Under the handfasting, the child belonged to her former husband, but her brother adopted her son and he then become Malcom's heir. Six months after she returned, she gave birth to a strong son. But for Elspeth the labor was difficult and she almost died of fever. The midwife decided it best to shave off Elspeth's knee-length red-brown hair.

When Elspeth was in her twentieth year she had an encounter that would change her life forever. One night when she came across a fight between Carey and a strange man. Elspeth pulled her sword and jumped in to help Carey. The fight was chaotic and when she awoke Elspeth felt different. Carey said that she didn't mean for "it " to happen but she was glad it did; now she would have some company. Elspeth demanded that Carey explain what had happened and Carey explained about the Embrace. Elspeth stayed around the castle watching her son grow up. The people of the castle suspected that Elspeth had become like Carey, and her brother demanded that his people keep Elspeth fed in her newly acquired taste for blood.

Over the years Elspeth watched her son grow up, marry, and sire children of his own. And as the years passed, the people of the keep began to whisper of Elspeth like they had of Carey, who had since gone away. Her son and his family had become strangers to her, but yet Elspeth could not leave. One day, all was thrown awry when one of her son's allies came with his men to her son's castle. Bearing a banner of truce they gained entrance to the castle where, during the night, they slaughtered the clan. Elspeth came and tried to protect her young grandchildren. Elspeth was quickly injured, her grandchildren slaughtered and left for dead. Before dawn, Elspeth awoke and saw that no member of Clan McJager lived: nobles, servants, not even the beasts of burden. Elspeth vowed to avenge her family as she gathered up the clan treasures, collected over the century, and hid them from the looters that she new would come with the dawn. At the rising sun, Elspeth fell into an exhausted slumber that lasted far longer than it should have.

When Elspeth awoke to the early 1980's, she found a very different world. Laughter filled the family's castle, but it was the cold laughter of strangers, tourists. Elspeth escaped with the first group of vampires she found, a pack of Sabbat that taught her some things about the modern world. Hearing rumors of Sabbat activity in the United States, the pack traveled there, where they came to San Cortia. Something about this city was familiar to Elspeth, a name.... A name associated with the clan that murdered her family. After the pack moved on she stayed behind...

Born in 1828 in the northern province of Shandog in China, Sung Hi was a rebellious instructor in the Chinese operas. Trained in various martial arts styles, singing, poetry, and acting, Sung Hi lived his life watching the encroachment of western powers into the land of China, and the slow decay of the traditional imperial powers. Believing that the Ch'ing (Qing) Dynasty was to blame for the splitting up of the empire into western spheres of influence, Sung joined the Fists of Righteous Harmony late in his life, deciding to rebel against the current state, and to expel the foreign devils from China. In 1900, however, Empress Dowager Tsung Hsi used the rebels, and through her ministers drew support from them, turning them more against the western influences, and the Boxer Rebellion began.

Sung followed much of the Boxers creed, from the belief that Spirit Soldiers would rise from the dead to aid their cause, to the belief that bullets couldn't harm one of pure body and mind. Unfortunately for Sung, the last part didn't work out, and he was brutally cut down at the end of the siege of the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1900. Angry, and dishonored, Sung Hi's Hun nature in the moments of death felt that rebellion and infighting brought the end of China, and in doing so, he had dishonored his family, friends, school, and himself. His P'o nature, on the other hand, rebelled against himself, and decided that he'd be better off joining the western powers, for they obviously had more power, strength, and riches.

Torn, Sung Hi then bodily rose from the grave as a Kuei-jin, ironically becoming one of the Spirit Soldiers the Fists of Righteous Harmony believed in. Running mad for a while in his hungry larval stage, Sung Hi ran rampant, eating the flesh of others in the wilderness of China for a few years, becoming a tiny ghost story or legend in the countryside. Eventually, he was found, and groomed out of that stage by another Kuei-jin, and led to a Kingdom within China. There he began to follow the Path of the Resplendent Crane, still remembering the dishonor brought by rebellion, and became a judge and emissary for the court. There he stayed until 1997, when he was sent to San Cortia to do his work.

Jon is a Caucasian male about 5' 9", weighing in at about 220 pounds and, all humility aside, is pretty buff. His hair is jet black and his eyes cold blue. The clean-shaven dude was actually an orphaned kid, growing up in a circus. He never even had the chance to know who his parents were or if he had any siblings. One of the midget clowns told Jon that he was left in a bundled blanket near the snake pits. That was the extent of Jon's heritage, a blank page and a sack of serpents. His main acts were knife-tricks and minor acrobatic feats. Danger was his middle name, first and last sometimes. The ringmaster discouraged him from combining his acts, but he was damned sure to try. But even in a society of freaks and outcasts he was a loner, a rebel, an outcast even among outcasts. Generally a troublemaker, finding high risk forms of personal pleasure, he was a regular at local jails for misdemeanors and whatnot. But when you're in a circus, the scenery always changes and the next town is never prepared for what you may have for them.

Around the age of 24, the circus ran out of money and was disbanded. Jon didn't have anything to do with that though. Jon decided to go cross country to the East Coast in search of an old ex-circus buddy who was rumored to deal with more illicit trades out of the back of an antique shop. His friend had been in hiding for the last few years, but that couldn't cause any problems for someone like Jon. Anyway, while traveling cross country, hitchhiking and hobo-ing; robbing the occasional convenience store/gas-station, he found himself in the middle of the desert. The lights of Vegas glowing on the horizon struck a fierce memory of the circus lights in the haunting corners of his mind. But Vegas was the last place Jon had heard about that fat bastard, and that's where Jon was headed. Then the asshole of this tale made his entrance. The asshole was a truck driver picking up hitchhikers for his own personal enjoyment. And when that truck driver tried to get fresh with Jon he found his nose broken and his ass kissing the asphalt highway at 60 mph.

So now Jon had a truck but the truck ran out of gas and Jon had to hitchhike out of the desert. Finally though, days later, Jon felt like he might be getting lucky again. He had found good rides, good food and was getting close to home. He looked to the future and the bright lights of a new city on the horizon. At least he tried to, until a car ran him over; dragged him for 100 yards or so. When he awoke, his only wealth in the world was torn to shreds, he felt a phobic reaction to any automobile and a strange thirst he couldn't quite quench...

Born July 4, 1976, Victoria Whitley often felt her birth was more a planned political strategy than any desire of her parents to nurture new life. She grew up as just another overachiever in her Washington, D.C. private school, joining and excelling in one academic or athletic club after another in a vain attempt to garner some parental affection. As she reached her teen years, embittered by her father's inattentiveness, Victoria rebelled.

Her first attempt to lash out at her father was through politics, joining any cause that challenged his conservative views. When this failed to get her the attention she wanted, Victoria began taking more extreme measures. Instead of just burning the flag, she had a burning flag tattooed on her ass. She also had her nose and belly pierced. She was arrested several times when rallies or protests got out of hand. On graduating high school, she moved out of the house and began living with friends or on the streets. It was then that she picked up the nickname Torn. She continued her political activities until one of her protests landed her in jail again, and a particularly unforgiving judge sentenced her to a short stay in the county jail. A journalist did a story on Republican Whitley's little girl serving time, and Torn finally had her father's full attention. After a rather lengthy argument, they came to an agreement. She would stay out of the newspapers, and he would provide her with whatever money she needed to find her calling in life-- so long as it was not politics. Torn hated politics almost as much as she hated her father, so this was no big sacrifice.

With her father's money she had enrolled in a few classes at the local college and become a regular at the local night clubs. It was at one of these clubs that she met Professor Doyle. He seemed a bit old to be out partying, but he had a funny sense of humor and would listen to her rant about her father and the corrupt political system for hours. One night he seemed particularly restless and asked Torn to take him to see her father's house. When she asked why, he told her there was a revolution going on which she knew nothing about. He told her if she joined, she would never have to worry about finding a place to sleep at night again. She thought there was something odd about the way he laughed after he said that, but then he asked her to take him to her father's house again, and this time it seemed urgent that she do so.

Things went surprisingly quickly after that... the Embrace, the blinding hunger. Her mother was first, sucked dry without a thought other than the need for blood. Her father, she killed with as much homicidal pleasure as hunger. Doyle had disappeared sometime during her frenzy, but Torn didn't notice. Looking down at the dead bodies, Torn felt no guilt, and a satisfactory smile curved her lips. Now it was time to find the revolution...

Quinn Alexander was born in 1905 and lived a life of pampered luxury. His family was one of the most wealthy in San Cortia, and they enjoyed their wealth. Quinn went on safaris to Africa and traveled Europe extensively. This life continued until the stock market crash that led to the Depression. Quinn's father, unable to take the loss of his family's fortune, threw himself out of a window. The family estate was sold off to pay their debts. Quinn was able to salvage his father's personal library and nothing else. As Quinn worked to keep his family together and afloat during the depression, he began to read the books that he had salvaged. They spoke of rites and rituals of magick, and Quinn found that he could make some of them work. He began asking questions at some of the old, dusty bookstores that were holding on in San Cortia. His inquiries brought attention from two different branches.

The Order of Hermes, looking for the son of one of their more prominent members, and the Tremere, looking for a new recruit. The Tremere got to Quinn first and offered him a deal. He could choose to join them and they would make sure that his family was taken care of financially. Though they would not live at their former level of luxury, they would not have to scrape by to survive. Quinn agreed and was Embraced shortly thereafter. The Order of Hermes decided that they could wait for another child of the Alexander line.

Quinn took to the Tremere fairly well after he made the adjustment to unlife. He told his family that he had found work overseas, but he only moved across town to the Chantry of the Tremere. He came to know Marwood and the two became friends; Quinn admired Marwood's talent and Marwood respected Quinn's intelligence and learning. Marwood also felt the certain ruthlessness and opportunistic streak that he saw in Quinn might prove useful later on. When Marwood called Quinn and asked him to help a group of vampires in an investigation, Quinn accepted the position, though he was moderately annoyed that he would be pulled away from his occult studies. Quinn's opportunism would prove to be troubling to the group in the long run, but in the short term investigation his skills might just prove useful.

Zander is of clan Nosferatu. His body is covered in small green scales of varying shades, and his mouth is filled with many needle sharp teeth. He looks to be more lizard than anything else. He stands about 5'3" and is fairly muscular. His eyes are about the only thing on him that still looks truly human, and even they are a deep emerald green.

Zander is old, so old that he doesn't remember any of his human life and only vague snippetts of his early unlife. His earliest memories are those of a plague that swept through a town he was hunting in at the time. He remembers that the town was in Europe somewhere, thought nothing more specific than that. As near as he can tell, he is almost a thousand years old, and has forgotten more in his unlife than most people ever bother learning. During the years that he remembers he has done much, traveled the world and lived with various groups of Nosferatu in different lands. He learned ancient arts, then forgot them as the times changed. He has learned rare disciplines, just to let them wither into nothingness through disuse.

He eventually found his way to the New World, the Americas. By this point he had become very jaded about life, and felt little but contempt for those he hunted. He became more and more bestial, eventually ending up in the swamps of Florida and Louisiana. He lived with the alligators and became more and more like them... spending his nights lounging in the water and his days sleeping on the bottom. He preyed on anything that came through the swamps and would often tuck whatever possessions he found on them somewhere he considered safe - under houses, in hollow trees, etc. He lived this way for about 150 years, content with his existence, no longer human enough to really question it.

Then one day in the 1960's, someone came running through the swamp that would change his life. He smelled something odd moving through the swamp and decided to go investigate. He saw two people running through the swamp; the one in front looked like something straight out of a detective novel. The person chasing him was a large Cajun. Zander chose the larger meal to start with; besides the little guy up front just didn't smell quite right. Zander rose up out of the swamp and grabbed the Cajun and drug him under the water. Zander decided to track the person who had been chased and see where he went. Zander followed this person into New Orleans and tracked him for days. What truly surprised Zander was when his prey snuck up on him and demanded to know why he was being followed. Thus was the first meeting of Zander and Fletcher Nightstalker.

Over the next few year Zander and Fletcher became close friends. Zander realized that there was more comfortable living outside the swamp and truly took to it. He also became Fletcher's shadow, moving unseen at his side most of the time, living through whatever Fletcher did. Fletcher was able to re-instill some of the humanity that had become lost to Zander. And with the belongings he had stowed, including a chest of Spanish Doubloons, Zander was able to help Fletcher set up a private investigation business. They now operate out of San Cortia working mainly for the Prince.

No information is yet available on Fletcher Nightstalker of Nightstalker Investigations as the player has not yet submitted a detailed background. If you are interetested in learning more about Mr. Nightstalker, please email his player, Julian, and request that his background be completed and submitted.

It's stronger than you would think. The hunger comes on you like an animalistic urge. It is completely undeniable. My first feeling of the transformation was that of pure ecstasy, which led into a craving of the human blood I had lost just moments before. My inner beast came out in a way that night I hope to never see again. Looking back on it is truly a depressing experience, for that hunger led to the actions that will damn my soul forever.

Perhaps I should explain for those of you that are left in the dark (being everyone except the few people that have heard this as I reminisce). My name is, or was, George Kennedy. Now I'm simply known as Grinder. In that first night of passion following my Embrace, the only blood to be found was that of my sleeping parents in the room next door. That should pretty well set you up for why that night was a night of damning actions. With my new found life, or unlife as I should say, came that undeniable thirst of a newborn into a world of seemingly limitless wonders. I went into a savage frenzy and no one was spared, including my parents.

I hate looking back on that eve, but it is hard to forget with the constant reminder of my parents' souls haunting me. I still do not completely understand why they did not pass to the other side, but I feel that perhaps a mixture of the shock of their own son attacking them like a savage animal and the fact that my rage quite literally ripped their lives away from them kept them stuck here in some sort of afterlife, haunting me.

Let me regress a bit and hopefully sort some things out for you. As I said, prematurely, my name is, or was, George Kennedy. I lived the average life of a grown up kid that refused to leave the easy life found in my parents' house. How can you deny that is the way to live? No bills, no rent, no shopping for groceries. It truly was the good life.

It started out as a normal night of club-hopping with my friends until we came to one certain club called Ground Xero that seemed to stand out from the others. There was something really different about this place. It had an air of insanity to it that I had not found in any other place I had been to. Yet somehow I could sense this was not a pure madness. More like that of a mad scientist that just learned he could travel through time. You know the "wise madness."

It was there I met Juliana. She was a goddess sent to Earth, or so it seemed to me at the time. Although Juliana did not add to the sense of insanity in the place she did not take away from it either. Her odd off-the-wall comments were not something I had expected from a woman on the prowl for a man; that meant nothing to me at that time however. She still was truly and wholly enticing me from her innermost being. We hung out there together for quite a while, and I unknowingly lost track of my friends. This was no bother to me, since Juliana had already invited to give me a ride home. We stayed there for a little longer just drinking and chatting after which we left en route to my house. I kind of forgot to inform her that I still lived with my parents, but I figured what she doesn't know won't hurt her. When we pulled into the driveway, she became much more aggressive than I had observed at the club, pushing herself onto me with intense strength. I decided maybe I could wind up with someone that night after all, and invited her in for a drink. Once we got into my room the conversation turned really weird.

"Do you ever think about what it would be like to live forever?"
"Sometimes."
"If you had the chance would you want to?"
"I would have to think about it."
"Well, I'm asking you now. Do you want to live forever? Because I can make it happen."
"Look Juliana I like you a lot but with you going mental on me I'm gonna have to ask you to go on home."
"I'll take that as a yes."

With that she lunged on top of me and kissed my neck harder and more passionate than I had ever been kissed before. It felt as though she was reaching into the deepest, darkest part of my soul with her lips. I quickly lost consciousness. A while later I awoke in a completely different world. I was in my room but at the same time it was not the room I had been living in for the last twenty-eight years. All of my senses had been enhanced. I could see things on my wall that I had never seen before and my hearing was so much stronger that I could hear my dad breathing in the room next door. I truly felt alive like I had never felt before. And so we arrive again at the beginning.