by Matthew Hickey (13 Sep 1994)
"Listen as the Wind blows, from across the Great Divide.
Voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time.
The Night is my Companion, and Solitude my Guide
Would I spend forever here, and not be satisfied...
Onto the sea of waking dreams I follow without pride,
Because nothing stands between us here,
and I won't be denied"
- S.McLachlan Possession
name: unknown ("Matthew")
Clan: Outcast (Malkavian Antitribu) Generation: 8th
Nature: Visionary/Survivor Demeanor: Curmudgeon
Concept: Outcast/Pariah Haven: the Barrens, Chicago
Age: ?? Apparant Age: early twenties
Born: ?? RIP: Aug 16, 1993
Physical Description: A young man of light, underweight build (5'10", 121 lbs.) with faint scars on his forehead and chin. His eyes slowly but constantly shift colours, appearing dark blue, green or grey, making them hard to look at. His hair is dirty blond and falls only to the nape of his neck. His skin is like black- veined white marble.
--Attributes--
Strength 2 Dexterity 2 Stamina 2
Charisma 4 Manipulation 3 Appearance 2
Perception 4 Intelligence 3 Wits 3
--Abilities--
Talents: Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Dodge 3, Intimidation 3
Leadership 2
Skills: Firearms 2, Melee 3, Stealth 3
Knowledges: Linguistics 1, Occult 3, Sabbat Lore 2, Kindred Lore 5
(Gehenna)
Languages: English (native), French
--Advantages--
Disciplines: Auspex 2, Dementate 3, Obfuscate 3, Obtenebration 1
Backgrounds: Status 2 (Feared, Tenacious, Pariah)
Callousness 2 Instincts 4 Courage 3
Path of Harmony 6 Willpower 9 Blood Pool 15/3
Merits: Dual Nature, Blase, Silence, Medium, Spirit Mentor, Mystic
Ability, Other Memory, Charmed Existance, Magical Ability
(Shroud of the Dead), True Love (Kathryn), Early Riser,
Catlike Balance, Mystical Item (Heartwood Spear)
Flaws: Driving Goal (Gehenna), Hatred (servants of Oblivion/Wyrm),
Confused, Amnesia, Cursed (Diablerie physically visible),
Eerie Presence, Light Sensitive, Social Outcast, Hunted,
Noteriety, Diabolist, Secret Friendship (Tammille Obertus),
Extremely Pale Skin
--Misc.--
Equipment: Spear, Hooded robes (several layers, with protective
gloves, boots, and facial wrappings- only his eyes are
visible), Class II body armour, straight razor, Ruger
Super Redhawk (manstopper bullets), hand taser (difficulty
4, use melee instead of firearms), Glock 22 or Fianchi
shotgun.
Stage of Malkavian Development: Lunatic
Derangements: Cynicism, Delusions of Grandeur
Not much is known about the Harbinger, he does not remember his mortal life. He was embraced by Poor Sarah (the photo of the girl is in the Malkavian's Clanbook). During his embrace, he claims, a three- eyed ghost came to him and told him of the coming of the end, and his role to play within it. When we emerged from the ruins (alternate, 'unofficial' creation rites were used), he bore a spear made of Rowan wood and wisdom. He could quote passages from the Book of Nod, adding parts, speaking in a first-person persepctive (he claims to have seen and lived these events during his vision). He came to the attention of the Bishop of Quebec (herself a follower of the Path of Caine). She pronounced him a heretic (by Sabbat code, the only recognized 'harbinger' of Gehenna is Caine re-awakened). He fled the Sabbat's Wild Hunt, killing many of it's members.
From there he travelled along the Saint Lawrence seaway towards the Great Lakes, hunting and killing Nomadic Packs and luckless travellers. He began to remember bits of the vision, spirits began to speak to him of the Dark Powers and their servants on this world. These sought to disrupt the Time of Change (Gehenna). They sought to destroy the world by not allowing the Last Daughter (mentioned in the Book of Nod) to choose the fate of Man and Kindred. They spoke to him of the Ba'ali, of the Wyrm, of Nephandi and of the Infernalists. He began to search for these being within the packs he attacked for survival. Once, as he diablerized a Lasombra, a dark-haired girl spat out a curse that his sin be forever marked opon his body (the girl was a Baali Infernalist travelling with the Pack).
He eventually found his way to Toronto (he wasn't aware of why he needed to come here, only that this felt like his destination). Here he met a Pack putting a group of recruits through their Initiation Rites, a hunt of a Garou. Among the neonates there was a young woman who seemed somewhat familiar. Desperate for any snippet of his past life, and in particular, how he had known her and why he had come here, he shadowed the group. He protected her against the Garou who turned out (unfortunately for the Sabbat) to be a Bone Gnawer from Toronto, leading the Garou back to the waiting Founding Pack. There was a great battle, where for the first time the Harbinger made his presence known. The woman called out for 'Matthew' and the Harbinger instinctively looked up.
After the battle, the woman identified herself as Kathryn. She had met Matthew only two years ago at an academic competition. She told him that he was from New Brunswick, Canada and that he and his baby sister were all that remained of their family after a car crash a year before their meeting. They had shared correspondance up till a few months ago, when he wrote her saying that he was going to go to University in Montreal, but was stopping off in Quebec to see the Medieval Festival. None of this reminded the Harbinger of the past, though thereafter he began to have dreams of a little girl, standing amidst a car wreckage, crying out for her mother, who lay dead just a few feet away. It soon became apparant as to the reason why he had been drawn here. Kathryn said that he had once told her that strange things had always happened to him, that he saw things others didn't and that in the middle of polite conversation would drop a few words that would later come true. He also recognized that he felt a deep sense of belonging when he met her. Later she confided that she felt the same way, and that they had skated around the subject when they were mortal, due to mutual shyness. Together they left Toronto for safer ground. They fled to the Camarilla city of Chicago...
RolePlaying Notes: The Harbinger beleives that he is the bringer of Gehenna and that he is also the protector of the Last Daughter as soon as she is born, and found. He is calm and silent, speaking little and then only to Kathryn unless he is speaking to authority. His words should always carry some enigmatic bit of prescience (for example, he calls Lodin, "The Dead Prince" and predicts the death of Lodin during a 'time of strife between us and the spirit-wolves') Although reluctant, he finds himself sometimes in roles of leadership. During Kathryn's disappearance (see Kathryn), he is more sullen and withdrawn, and his hunting is erratic and extremely violent (think Predator 2). Above all, he is an indepedant, and is fiercely protective of that. He wears the social title of Autarkis as a shield to ward off undue manipulation.
Notes: He is the Harbinger of Gehenna. His primary haven is unknown, even to the Nosferatu of Chicago, although he claims all the graveyards in the Barrens and Rockafeller Chapel on the university campus as his private domain. He rarely interacts with other Kindred, and is widly believed to be everything from Caine or Malkav to a Black Hand Seraph, to a spirit of some sort or a Mage masquerading as a vampire. His loyalties are always circumspect.
The Spear: the Heartwood spear is a 6 foot long double-ended spear made of dark stained rowan heartwood. It inflicts aggrevated damage against all targets and if broken, will reform by expending a Blood Point. The Spear is as much a part of the Harbinger as his protective robes- he is never without it.
Other Memory: This is an unique supernatural merit that duplicates the merit Jack-Of-All-Trades. The Harbinger is a Jocastian Diabolist, which means to say that all the memories of those he has killed can be called upon. It also represents the help he receives from the other side of the Shroud from various wraiths and spectres.
Shroud of the Dead: this is actually two uses of the Innate Magical Ability merit and represents the Harbinger's affinity with the Shadowlands and the Tempest. First, he has all the powers listed under the art of Pandemonium 3 (Substitute Blood points for Pathos and he has three dice to add to his Manipulation). The other power is more akin to his material form. Treat it as a Fortitude of 3, but describe it in terms of Wraith. IE. He seems to turn insubstantial as the bullet hits him, or he doesn't fall quite as fast from the top of the building.