Rein Voss
An African-American in his late sixties, Rein cultivates two looks. When he is expecting to interact with Kindred outside his coterie, he wears a brown and red bespoke suit, matching oxfords and goes about with a cane. When expecting to spent the night in or around only his coterie mates, Rein favors his habitual, shabby 'working clothes', an oversized brown shirt and gray sweatpants stained with dirt and animal hair. Smelling ever so slightly of urine and -far more acutely- traces of blood both old and new.Step 1: Find like minds.
Rein Voss/Gangrel/Ordo Dracul
In a coterie with Grace/Miles Leicester/Gregory Howlett/MrInsecure.
Step 2: Who you were.
In the late 19th century, Rein Voss was a simple German immigrant who came to the United States looking for the promised land of opportunity. Instead, the simple farmer worked for most his years only to be driven to the depths of poverty by sharecropping and exhausted farmlands. His landowner rewarded his unflagging loyalty, integrity and hard-working nature (AKA easily manipulated stupidity and poor negotiation skills) with a position as groundskeeper. Rein never got the wealth he sought, dying at the ripe age of 64 with calluses on his hand.
Step 3: Why they took you.
Rein was Embraced by a Kindred who'd been a slave in life and decided Rein had nearly been used as a slave for all his adult life. In his sire's mind, the parasitic landowner deserved death and Rein's Embrace would make him an "instrument of balance". Jane Goedkoop killed Rein that night and offered him the landowner's riches if he would but strike the man down. In the feeding frenzy that gripped him when he rose from his deathbed, Rein slaughtered most of the staff too. Jane was equal parts impressed and disturbed by Rein's ferocity, the Embrace had awoken a far darker Spirit within him than in most, she confided in him.
Jane told him of his brothers and sisters of the Gangrel clan and how they were fighting for the enslaved and underprivileged. Rein would manage the landowners estate and see to it that the sharecropping would now be conducted not with profit but fairness in mind. Rein did so for nearly a decade before his poor business acumen had ruined the once great holdings of the landowner. Rein traveled with the quasi-nomadic Gangrel for three years before wandering off during one of their hunts. Their strange rituals and emphasis on female power did not sit well with him. So he quit the Mother's Army and did not look back. None of the Gangrel in general, nor Jane specifically ever came looking for him. Freedom was what they were all about. As far as Rein and if they are still a part of the Masquerade. Out there, somewhere, dancing, cackling and killing in the name of freedom and their Goddesses.
Step 4: How you survived.
Afterwards, Rein was tainted by his experiences as a nomad and Acolyte. He settled in Chicago and lived in isolation for almost a decade until he happened upon another Kindred. He had attempted to refine himself as a Man and a Beast equally over the years and while no longer the ignorant farmer his views and experiences were quite backwards. He was recruited into the Ordo Dracul as cannon fodder in a local skirmish between a Sworn and a Priscus but showed more promise and initiative than expected and was fully inducted after several successful strikes against the Order's enemies.
Rein definitely appeared to be a Junkie, stopping at nothing to push past his own limitations with zeal and indulging in the thrill of the hunt whenever he could. His brusque manners and simple-mindedness earned him no few enemies, as did his quick successes at aligning himself with Wyrm's Nests and the philosophy of the Coils. Rein traveled far and wide during WWI, visiting other cities whenever his abrasiveness proved more than the local Order would tolerate or the Dragons ran out of enemies for Rein to distract in payment for his studies. Rein greatly disliked traveling about, he felt he lost too much time and effort as he continually had to start building a report from scratch and he had no talent for such things, but was used to it.
It wasn't until the 1950s, however, that Rein's piss-poor behavior fully caught up with him. Faced with nearly as many enemies within as without and no worthwhile allies to speak of, Rein had to lay low. He chose torpor and slept in the earth of Belle Isle Park.
To be continued
Step 5: Who you are now.
This is the stage where you talk about what function your character serves now. What is your roll in the Masquerade, within your coterie? Create two to five paragraphs where you talk about who you are. This includes territory for the Hunting Grounds merit and your home for the Safe Place merit. Be sure to include backstory involving Allies, Contacts, Retainers, and most importantly Status that you intend to take.
This is also the step where you list your Dirge.
Step 6: What you will become.
This is where you discuss your character's goals and plans, spending no more than a paragraph or two on it. This should include your Coterie's shared goals, as well as any Status you intend to eventually acquire down the road.
This is also the step where you list your three current Aspirations.
Step 7: Personal descriptions.
Kick on over to the Character Details tab. Make a one to three paragraph post describing your character's looks, dress, and mannerisms. When that is done, finish it with another paragraph or three describing your character's personality and quirks.
Step 8: Stat it out.
Finally, once your background has been approved, go over to your character sheet and stat out your character. All new characters will start the game with 20 bonus XP on top of the standard character creation process. If this game is successful, keep in mind that this means that long term players might end up with significantly more XP then new comers. We will cross that bridge if we come to it.
