Knight
of the Black Rose
I'll will try to keep composure for this is my story of pain and regret. I
believe the only place to truly start is one cool autumn night in the Rue
De Fleurs district of Nice. The beautiful city that I eternally long for,
once was my home. At that time, my life was that of a bachelor, enjoying my
the money I inherited from my families tragic boating accident in the Mediterranean
Sea, but despising my loneliness and solitude. Wandering the streets one evening
I found myself in a small seaside open-air casino. Finding a table on the
balcony with a view of the night sea, I sat amongst four repugnant degenerates
and begun to play. It wasn't the gambling that intrigued me, it was reading
people and predicting their next moves that pleased me. About two hours into
our game when I thought nothing could take my mind off the small straight
in my hands and the huge pot waiting, she walked into my life for the first
time. Noticing that the others were drooling over our new arrival, I decided
to give her a glance and to my surprise, standing before me was the most enchanting,
elegant and alluring woman I had ever laid eyes on. Her tight black, lace
on velvet dress complimented her perfect figure, and even though it was a
little risqué for the times, she wore it like a queen. I pretended not to
notice her and we delt her in as she cashed in for chips. The next hours were
filled with the others making horrible disgraces of themselves and basically
giving her their money to the enchantress. I can tell I started to get to
her, and the real game started to be not about cards, but about if she could
seduce me with her charms or if I could go on hiding my feelings. After a
few more hands I heard an odd voice that seemed to originate in my mind that
nobody else seemed to hear. It was her voice telling me that I could not hide
my lust for her, and that she would have me. Thoroughly bothered by what seemed
at the time to be an act of magic, I grabbed up my chips and headed for the
cashier to trade my evening's winnings to francs. In a daze of confusion I
decided to make a direct path to my loft just up the road, locking myself
within. Suddenly my keys dropped to the floor as I gazed at the image of the
raven hared beauty from the casino, silhouetted by the flowing sheer curtains,
and back dropped by the midnight sky reflecting off the tumbling waves. I
froze... something about her made it so I couldn't advance nor retreat from
her presence. She strode into the room with confidence and approached me,
looking over me as if she were making a purchase of a questionable item. She
told me then that she was going to ask me a series of questions, and she told
me I was to not answer them, for she would be greatly annoyed if I were to
lie to her. For what seemed to be hours she questioned me about my family,
my wealth, my outlook on life, my wants and desires. After much questioning
she placed her finger under my chin and led me to my Victorian canopy bed
and laid me down on the silken covers. The rest of the evening was an unforgettable
evening of sexual passion and the eternal fear from the embrace. We slept
through the day and when I awoken I was not as I was the evening before, things
had definitely changed. I walked up to the mirror and looked over my new body,
instead of my normal contours, my muscle structure seemed to be chiseled from
marble and overall appearance was enchanting and incredibly enhanced. Beyond
my naked form I saw three figures behind me and spun around in defense, to
see not three but five people lurking behind me. The woman from the previous
night, two inhuman looking females with what seemed to be tentacles from a
squid dragging out of the bottom of their dresses on the ground, and two sharply
dressed males who seemed to be blending halfway into the shadows around what
was definitely not my loft, but some castle type building. She tried to calm
me with her eyes, and told me that it was ten years since I last had a memory
that I could claim as my own. And she also told me that it was entirely necessary
that my training was to be kept a secret, so that I could learn everything
before having to make my all important choice. It all suddenly came rushing
to me, they must have erased my memory for I could now access ten years of
training, my becoming a Toreador, feeding, diplomacy, Sabbat law, scorn for
the Camarilla, everything they had taught me for that span. Searching my memory
I unearthed that I was trained to be a Warrior/Diplomat or some sort of sect
leader. I also knew the choice they wanted me to make, which explained why
they had shovels and digging picks with them. I looked upon them in horror
and they studied me back, and instantly knew there was only one way out of
this. They led me outside, while they were obviously speaking telepathically
to each other, and pretty sure I knew what it was they spoke of. In the following
hours they had me and the Lasombra's summoned shadow slaves dig a grave in
the moist earth. Scanning around at the exterior of the castle and the mist
filled forest the surrounded, I knew I had to escape. What she hadn't predicted
is that I would have foreseen my long life as a pawn to my Toreador sire,
my slavery to the Sabbat, and then the decision to fight back against those
who wish to enslave me became my only choice. Therefore they never predicted
my next move, and hatred fueled my anger. Climbing out of the grave, shovel
in hand, I glared at those who wished to entrap me into their society. I felt
her enter my mind to scout around, and pleasure overcame me to finally see
myself in control, as the life seemed to drain from her face when she knew
what I was to do. In a flash of speed I horizontally slashed the eyes out
of the closest Lasombra and back flipped over the grave as the second Lasombra
lunged for me falling into the hole. Gripping my blood covered shovel, I squinted
my eyes as a demonic gaze emitted from my soul that even forced the Tzimisce
to step back, and in the chaos blurred away into the forest. As I fled she
faintly spoke to my mind telling me, run now Devant, but remember that you
are mine and we will find you and we will never give up. To make a long story
short, when I finally made it to town I learned that I was in Germany. So
over the next 45 years I fled throughout France and southern Europe, thinking
that if I stopped in one place for too long they would show up like a bad
nightmare to snatch me away. In another attempt to flee I left all ties behind
and moved to the New World to study this Camarilla I was taught to despise.
And as you know I am now hiding out in the small oil boomtown called Beaumont
(which always tickled me for there isn't a Beautiful Mountain in sight). That
is the story of my becoming, maybe not what you wanted to hear, but this is
the only history we have. So you now know your heritage, and how I came to
become a Prince with Sabbat roots, what I must ask now is... do you believe
I've totally escaped?