Nothing is True. Everything is Connected.
Category: <span>Character Introduction</span>

Sylum Inspiration: Jonathan Quayle Higgins III

Oceania: Caretaker

Jonathan Quayle Higgins III was a damn good caretaker and manservant. His father was one before him, as his father. He was trained in the Royal households and was able to cater to anyone’s needs.

So when he ended up in Australia, he wasn’t sure what had happened. He had been pointed towards a Manor home that was rumored to home the undead. He rolled his eyes at the dramatics and did his own research.

He learned that those who worked there were loyal and if the people or place was spoken against, they would give a tongue lashing. Not to be shy, he walked up and demanded a job, stating he was well qualified.

He found himself in the kitchen.

Drinking tea.

When the Head Butler, Herbert Westminster came back, he was told everything about the Manor and the people who lived there. Then mentioned Mates.

He asked what that would entail for him.

Sylum Inspiration: Bruce Banner

Serenity: Member

 

Bruce refuses to talk about his childhood or his past.

The one thing known is that he is a scientist, a doctor. All he wanted in life was to do good. He was hired by Stark Industries to work on gamma radiation, for medicine, only to discover that Obediah Stane was using his research to build weapons.

He set out to destroy all of his research refusing any of it to be used to destroy or hurt others, but Stane’s men cornered him and everything went to shit.

He escaped with his life, but ended up killing innocent people in the process. His guilt and anger with himself for not seeing what Stane was up to, had him ‘Hulk’ out. He learned quickly to calm himself down … but his own fears, guilt and anger became a viscous cycle.

He escaped Stane for a few years, not even taking the chance to get a hold of Tony Stark, even after he heard about his kidnapping.

He let his guard down once and ended up captured by Magneto.

A mutant set out to duplicate his ‘mutation’.

He didn’t have the heart to tell him it wasn’t one.

Bruce was rescued when the Vampires raided the lab, looking for one of theirs. Realizing he may finally find true help, he ended up working with them. It was during this time he was reunited with Tony.

He smirked when he found out that Tony kicked Stane out of Stark Industries, but was heartened by the fact Stane was a Vampire and still out there.

After the war with the Mutants, Bruce took Mal up on his offer to settle in Alaska, away from everyone, and the ability to work and find a cure. Tony made sure he was fully supplied with anything he needed.

He knows the two of them will have to talk, and tell their stories.

Bruce has settled in Alaska, finding it calming and relaxing. He’s made friends with Robert Neville and his Mate Jack. He’s discovered interestingly that Sam, the dog, is very tuned with his emotions, and if he starts to get to agitated the dog works to calm him down.

He’s still not sure if he can cure himself, but he’s determined to cut the cycle of rage.

Though his therapist Niles Crane sometimes drives him batshit, he’s very good at listening and suggesting ways to stay calm.

With the ‘Hulk’ in the background – it’s very unlikely Bruce can be Turned.  At the moment, they aren’t willing to find out.

Sylum Inspiration: Jack Harmon

Serenity/Sanctuary: Member

 

Jack worked for IMF until a mission went bad and he was almost killed. Ethan Hunt got him out of the country and a new life as Peter Cooper. From there he became a cameraman specializing in Documentaries.

Bruce Wayne got him a job working on the show Crab Hunting, and Frank Hurley. After the tense situation with James Harrison’s death, he stayed with the Crab Fleet, keeping an eye on RJ O’Brian. He didn’t mention that he knew about Vampires or the fact he was Ethan’s Chosen One.
When all went to hell and he along with RJ was almost killed, he was Turned and his secret that he knew about Vampires finally came out.

Sylum Inspiration: Robert Neville

Serenity: Scientist

 

Robert Neville was born in New York, his parents always telling him that he could do whatever he wanted. Made sure he got a good education, to stand against prejudices and racism.

His ambition got him into the University of New York, where he earned a degree in biology and physics. He later was recruited into the US Army, moving up ranks while working in the labs to come up with new ways to defeat the Vietcong.

When he transferred to a secured location in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness he knew something was wrong. His new commanding officer, Colonel William Striker, made sure he understood that he worked for him now.

Sylum Inspiration: John McClane

Serenity: Head of Security

John grew up in New York, and the moment he graduated high school he joined the police academy. While on a patrol he met Holly Gennaro, who had witnessed a crime at her college. The two started dating, and soon were married.

Two years later they had a son, then two years after that a daughter.

John figured they were pretty settled until Holly informed him that she got a job offer in Los Angeles.

He stated he couldn’t just leave, due to the fact he had cases pending.  She informed him, they needed some time apart, that she was having a difficult time with him being a cop, especially one who ended up always in the middle of any dangerous situation.

John let her go, banking that she would change her mind.  Weeks turned to Months until it was almost a year. Wanting to see his wife and kids for Christmas, John traveled out to Los Angeles.

It all went to shit.

Hanz Gruber had taken the building hostage, including John’s wife. McClane refused to play ball and set out to take down the terrorist, only to find that they weren’t simple thieves. In the end he saved his wife, and watched in shock and triumph as Hanz fell to his death.

(Dilios Note: You might have seen the movie? Bruce Wayne made franchise series a while back much to McLane’s dismay)

Afterwards John moved to Los Angeles, joining the LAPD, settling back with his family.

Until he started seeing Hanz where ever he went. Holly worried about his eradicate behavior left him, and took the kids.  He ended up suspended from the force. It was then he was at his lowest that Hanz confronted him and Turned him.

Sylum Inspiration: Carl Cox

Sanguen: Member (India)

 

Carl was born in Ohio to a typical family. He was blessed to be able to attend school, and when the teacher realized how smart he was, encouraged the family to allow Carl to continue with his education and go to University.

It was his teacher’s influence that got him into MIT, receiving an Engineering degree. When the Second World War broke out, he found himself assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers. He was on a boat on his way to India to build bridges.

He fell in love with India the moment he set foot on her soil. He learned the language, the culture and religion. The years he was there he embraced it all. Carl was introduced to Masrani (Ashoka), an influential business man who wanted Carl to build more than bridges after the war.

When Carl came down with malaria, Masrani took matters into his own hands and Turned him.

Sylum Inspiration: Aryabhata

Sanguen: Member (India)

 

Aryabhata was the first of the major mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His works include the Aryabhatiya (499 CE, when he was 23 years old) and the Arya-siddhanta.

Aryabhata mentions in the Aryabhatiya that it was composed 3,600 years into the Kali Yuga, when he was 23 years old. This corresponds to 499 CE, and implies that he was born in 476.

Aryabhata provides no information about his place of birth. The only information comes from Bhaskara I, who describes Aryabhata as asmakiya, “one belonging to the asmaka country.” During the Buddha’s time, a branch of the Asmaka people settled in the region between the Narmada and Godavari rivers in central India; Aryabhata is believed to have been born there.

It is fairly certain that, at some point, he went to Kusumapura for advanced studies and lived there for some time. Both Hindu and Buddhist tradition, as well as Bhaskara I (CE 629), identify Kusumapura as Paaliputra, modern Patna. A verse mentions that Aryabhata was the head of an institution (kulapa) at Kusumapura, and, because the university of Nalanda was in Pataliputra at the time and had an astronomical observatory, it is speculated that Aryabhata might have been the head of the Nalanda university as well. Aryabhata is also reputed to have set up an observatory at the Sun temple in Taregana, Bihar

For More Information Contact Vampire Council Library

Archimedes had traveled with Marsani in areas of India, and when he had heard of Aryabhata, he went to speak to the young man, impressed with his ideas. He sat down to talk with him on many things, finally giving him the option he was given.

Sylum Inspiration: Jayadeep Mir

Sanguen: Hunter (India)

 

Jayadeep doesn’t know anything about his birth father, and has vague memories of his mother who was always sad.  And as far as Jayadeep is concerned his father is Arbaaz Mir, the man who saved him from a life of slavery.

Arbaaz raised him since he was eight years old, making sure he had an education and a future.  He knew from a young age, that his ‘father’ was a Vampire, and had been introduced to Alexander The Great and his Mate.   He would sit at their feet and listen to many of their stories, learning history from the men who forged it.

It wasn’t until he was a teenager he understood the physical training Arbaaz had put him through.  He was introduced to Dastan, and told about the Assassins.

He knew then this is what he was destined to be.

When he was in his mid-twenties he was introduced to Ashoka.  The two had looked at each other and laughed.  Ashoka, had claimed him as family, though knew Jayadeep’s loyalty was to his father.

Azbaar understood how hatred could fester in oneself if one don’t look beyond the pain and hurt.  Jayadeep wanted the English to pay for what they did to his people, so to teach him a lesson he was sent to London to train with the Frye siblings.

He stared at the two of them in shock.  Jake had slapped him on the shoulder, welcoming him to the Rooks, while Evie had rolled her eyes and dared him to keep up.

In the ten years he spent with them, he learned more about life than he thought he would have.

It was during the fourth year of being in England a mission went to hell, and he had been mortally wounded.

Evie didn’t hesitate.

Sylum Inspiration: Arbaaz Mir

Sanguen: Hunter (India)

 

Arbaaz Mir was born in Kashmir in northwestern India during the early 19th century to a Muslim family. His home region was conquered by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire in 1819, leading to the death of numerous Muslims in Kashmir, including some of Arbaaz’s kin.  This led Arbaaz to grow up with a resentment towards Singh, considering him a cold-blooded killer.

His revenge led him to go after Singh only to be thwarted by the Assassins. He was taken from India and handed over to Dastan and Altaïr. Both saw potential in him, but also his anger.  They worked to train him, and in time they watched him grow into a steady Assassin.

Dastan escorted him back to India, hearing rumors about his old enemy, the Hassassin. When they arrived he discovered that Templars were using the British Government to influence the Maharaja so they could control the land and wealth.

Arbaaz had to face his own emotions when he came face to face with Singh.

He realized they were trying to poison the Maharaja, and knocked the tea out of his hand, instead of watching him die – but it was already too late.  The Templar escaped but Arbaaz stayed with the Singh, and told him he forgave him.

Ranjit smiled and died peacefully.

Arbaaz barely had time to react when the Templar returned.  He defected the blow, but ended up with a mortal wound before he gave the killing blow.

Sylum Inspiration: Celephas

Sanguen: Member

 

Celephas was born in Syracuse and settled in Athens in the Paraeus section that catered to Artisans and Market was located.

His skills were in building shields and weapons. The quality was so good, that at one point he had 120 slaves working on a variety of workshops, building/crafting high quality shields, each unique to the artist they were.

It was Perseus who noticed his workmanship and went to see some of his work. The skill used was one that Perseus felt shouldn’t be diminished. He talked with him, becoming friends. He pointed out that Celephas’ son though would be famous in history, he himself shouldn’t be forgotten.

Sylum Inspiration: Alexander

Sanguen: Clan Leader

 

Alexander as a king of Macedon, a state in northern ancient Greece. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history’s most successful commanders.

Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II of Macedon, to the throne in 336 BC after Philip was assassinated. Upon Philip’s death, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He had been awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his father’s military expansion plans. In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid empire, ruled Asia Minor, and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela. He subsequently overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire. At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.

Seeking to reach the “ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea”, he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back at the demand of his troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexander’s surviving generals and heirs.

Alexander’s legacy includes the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander’s settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics.

After Alexander traveled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure, his closest friend and possible lover, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning. Hephaestion’s death devastated Alexander, and he ordered the preparation of an expensive funeral pyre in Babylon, as well as a decree for public mourning. Back in Babylon, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia, but he would not have a chance to realize them, as he died shortly thereafter.

For more information contact the Vampire Council Library

Alexander had developed a fever and succumbed to his bed unable to even talk.

When he laid in bed he was visited by emissaries from Egypt, Ardeth Bey and Rick. It was Ardeth that told him he had too much to live for, and Turned him.

Sylum Inspiration: Nicolaus Meridius

Sylum: Clan Leader

 

Born Nicolaus Valerius Meridius in 399 AD, Rome, Italy, youngest son of Vitus Crescentius Meridius, he was the younger brother to Artorius Flavius Meridius.

He followed in his brother’s footsteps and entered the Army, where his dedication and strategic mind moved him quickly up the ranks. At the age of eighteen he bought a Persian slave, Sofya, from the market and made her his wife. His father had at first forbid the match, but Sofya’s sweet nature and charming smile won him over. Julia, wife to his brother Artorius, took her in and taught her how to be a proper Roman wife. On their wedding night she became with child, much to the delight to the Meridius household since Julia had not yet been able to conceive.

Meridia was the first born daughter of Nicolaus Valerius Meridius and she was the apple of her father’s eye. She had her mother’s olive skin and eyes that would pierce your very soul. She had the household wrapped around her little finger and knew it.

Nico had gone to visit his father, leaving Sofya and Meridia at their villa in the city of Rome. As Nico and Artorius made the way back to Nico’s home, they heard shouts and saw smoke billowing into the sky. Fear clutching their hearts, they ran the rest of the way only to find the building engulfed in flames. Nico and Artorius moved to the back of the house, but the fire was hot and the smoke thick, but through it he could make out his wife’s body lying on the floor, and he could hear Meridia’s screams. It took all his brother’s strength to keep him from running into the burning home. He collapsed to his knees when his child’s cries stopped, and his own scream echoed through the surrounding buildings as the roof of the villa collapsed.

No one knew who had attacked his young wife. Rumors spread that people were angered that Nico had taken a Persian slave as a wife. Others said it was retribution for perceived past injustices.

Nico left Rome and returned to the Army with his brother, throwing himself into his career, hoping to forget the screams of his little girl, but it wasn’t long before tragedy struck the Meridius family again. Artorius was killed in battle, and upon hearing of his oldest son’s death, their father’s heart gave out and he followed his son and grandchild to Elysium.

Nico found himself Patriarch of the family Meridii, and he took Julia as his wife to maintain her ties with the Meridius line. They had a good, strong marriage. She gave him four children: Elena, Antonio, Gloria, and Theodosis. He lost Julia in childbirth with Theo, her loss a further devastation to him, for she had become a good wife and faithful friend. It was the companionship of his lover Razi, a former Gladiator, and his handful of children that made life joyous.

Two years later devastation hit the Meridius family once again. His military Second in Command, Marcus, consumed by anger and jealousy of Nico’s position and power, rode straight into the villa with troops. Razi fought by his Master’s side, only to be cut down along with the family tutor, Cyrus. Marcus slit Antonio and Gloria’s throats in front of Nico. As the soldiers Nico had once commanded beat him to the ground, he was forced to listen to Elena’s screams as she was beaten and raped. A young soldier, who was himself betrothed to Elena, died trying to save her. Their blood mingled as they laid dead at Nico’s feet.

Nico was stripped and crucified, with the bodies of his family laid out at his feet, and in one final act of defiance, Marcus stole Theo from his family to raise him as his own son.

Sylum Inspiration: Ben Wade

Serenity: Lead Hunter

Ben doesn’t talk much about his childhood. He was nine years old when he was left behind on a dock in Plymouth England, by his mother. Ben realizing he’s been abandoned sneaks onto the next boat heading to the New World. He stays hidden for three months, only having the family bible to read.

When he arrives in New York, he sets out to find his mother, only to get swept up by officers and sent to an Orphanage. He plays the game and stay’s out of trouble.

Reading about new opportunity in California, he sets out with other seeking a new life. He found some gold during the ‘Gold Rush’ enough to sustain himself.

Ben moved around the frontiers area, riding just above the law. It’s not until he finds himself in Boulder, Colorado. He found himself a saloon, settled in for a game of cards, flashed some gold around.

His only memory of that night is the green eyed girl.

Sylum Inspiration: Perseus

Vampire Council: Hunter

 

There is a lot of myth and legend surrounding Perseus’ life.

Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë, who by her very name, was the archetype of all the Danaans. Danaë was the daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos. Disappointed by his lack of luck in having a son, Acrisius consulted the oracle at Delphi, who warned him that he would one day be killed by his daughter’s son with Zeus. In order to keep Danaë childless, Acrisius imprisoned her in a bronze chamber, open to the sky, in the courtyard of his palace:   This mytheme is also connected to Ares, Oenopion, Eurystheus, etc. Zeus came to her in the form of a shower of gold, and impregnated her. Soon after, their child was born; Perseus—”Perseus Eurymedon, for his mother gave him this name as well” (Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica IV).

Fearful for his future, but unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods by killing the offspring of Zeus and his daughter, Acrisius cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest. Danaë’s fearful prayer, made while afloat in the darkness, has been expressed by the poet Simonides of Ceos. Mother and child washed ashore on the island of Serifos, where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys (“fishing net”), who raised the boy to manhood. The brother of Dictys was Polydectes (“he who receives/welcomes many”), the king of the island.

More on the Myth see the

Some of the myth is true, his mother was Danaë; his father though is unknown.  Her husband Acrisius threw mother and son into the sea, and they were found by Dictys, and only Perseus survived.  He was raised to be a fisherman, content with life, until the war between two kingdoms destroyed his home, killing his family.

He made his way to Aethiopia, where he fell in love with Andromeda.  The king offered his daughter’s hand if he was to slay the rival king, and bring back the queen’s head.  The journey faced many challenges, but when he returned he discovered that Andromeda had married another.  Legend has it he tossed the queen’s head at the family’s feet, turning them to stone.<

The truth is he pretty much destroyed the city on his way out.

He set out to take up his father’s craft when he met Methos, who offered him another opportunity.

Sylum Inspiration: Edward Morgan Blake

Vampire Council: Spy. Network

 

Born in New York, 1923AD.

Raised by an alcoholic father and a strict Catholic mother, Edward was a restless and violent young man with anger issues who was listed in his High School Year Book as being ‘most likely to end up in prison’.

Joining the army after graduation saved him from such a fate and he served in Korea with considerable distinction as a highly skilled sniper with more than twenty-one confirmed kills, showing such aptitude for intelligence gathering that he was labelled by his commander as an ‘incredibly sneaky sonofabitch’ and quickly recruited into the CIA in 1953.

His activities between 1953 and his reported death at the US Embassy in Moscow on May 19, 1964 are the stuff of conjecture, rumor and innuendo with almost nothing confirmed by any sources whatsoever.

He is ‘buried’ in New York