Dr Charles Black

Born in 1745 to wealthy parents, Charles grew up with everything he could have wanted. As he could have anything he wanted, he was often picking up new hobbies and dropping old ones. Eventually, he found things that were fun for him and pursued them more. He went to school and the Oxford University. He graduated with a PhD in Classics in 1772 specialising in History.

He spent some time enjoying himself. After a couple of years, he found a job at the British Museum in 1774 where he put his history degree to good use researching the artifacts that came across his desk.

In 1779 whilst working on some piece of pottery from Greece, he discovered some hidden and strangely preserved parchments that held clues to some hidden treasure in Alexandria.

Being a bachelor for too long, he eventually bowed to pressure from his parents to get married. It was not a happy marriage, however, in 1784 they had a child. Unfortunately, Dr. Black’s wife did not survive child birth. Not knowing how to raise a child, he hired a nursemaid to take care of his daughter.

After spending years trying to work out the full meaning of the parchments he found, in 1785 he cracked the puzzle. It led him to a specific location in Alexandria. Excited and impatient, he Mounted a solo expedition to look for the hidden treasure.

At the location he had deciphered, Dr. Black found a hidden tomb. He worked his way inside, bypassing traps and puzzles put there to keep people out, or something inside? Eventually he found a sarcophagus. Thinking that this could be the container of treasure, he opened it. The lid was very heavy and in the process of pushing it to the side, he managed to cut his hand open.

Instead of treasure, all he found a corpse. From his cut hand, blood dropped into the husk, and awoke. The corpse leapt forward. Thirsty from a long sleep, it drank Dr. Black dry. Noticing the clothes were very unfamiliar, the walking corpse realising it wanted up-to-date information about the era. Intrigued about how Dr. Black had found the tomb, the corpse gave back some of the blood.

The corpse introduced herself as Kiya. She explained that she was a follower of Set, an immortal creature created by the blood of Set. She was impressed that he was able to find and gain access to the tomb, so she offered him a chance to learn what being a Follower of Set means in exchange for information on the current times. He agreed and explained that he was from London, in England. She explained that she would like to return to London, however, they must now go by night as the day is not safe for their kind.

They started travelling back to London. This was very difficult for Dr. Black. In the past he had enjoyed the feel of the sun on his skin and taking part in daytime activities. Now he was finding himself confined to the night. Once they arrived on the docks of Alexandria, Kiya took the lead in negotiating passage back to England. The more he heard her speak the more unusual he found her dialect of Turkish. Some of the words had fallen out of fashion many years ago, and some of the time he was convinced she was speaking Arabic instead. She quickly managed to find her feet with the local language.

There was no luxury on the ship back. They travelled in the hold this time. She explained that the upper-class cabins had too much light and they couldn’t risk being exposed. The ship would also probably dock during the day, and down with the luggage they could easily hide and wait for night before disembarking.

Once they arrived in London, Kiya called in (and offering some new) boons from her contacts. Hesitantly the council agreed that Kiya would be allowed to stay in London, though she may not bring any more Setites (what other clans 'politely' call us) to reside there whilst she did so. Dr. Black spent the following years, learning about her, the Followers of Set, the race of Kindred, and her teachings of Echidna. He found what she said fascinating, and kept journals of the things she taught him locked up in the basement of his house.

While he was not learning from Kiya, Dr. Black spent time pursuing new interests around the city. One of which was to join an amateur dramatics group known as The Terrific Troupe of Talented Thespians. He gained acceptance by the group and used it as an opportunity to feed.

Thinking about the treasure he had found in Alexandria from the parchments acquired in the artifacts, he thought that there could be other things hidden for him to find. He sought texts in artifacts in all places that he could. He read as many books he could get on ancient history, the occult, and long unsolved puzzles looking for clues to his next big find. He built up quite a selection in his residence. Some of the items in his collection were not liberated through completely legitimate means. Through his work he met a young police officer called Reginald Green. Together they worked out they could help each other out. Dr. Black could use his investigative skills to further Reginald’s career. In exchange, he would look the other way when Dr. Black was liberating his finds.

In 1817 the time had come to announce Dr. Black to the court of London. They reminded her that only one Setite may reside in London. Either she went or he would have to leave. After thinking, about how Dr. Black had studied and learned what he did in finding her tomb, Kiya chose to move to Oxford in hope of finding more followers. There she set up a haven and regularly communicates with her childe.

Fearing the same fate to befall his daughter as his wife, Dr. Black did not allow her to marry. In some way Miss Black accepted this and remained a spinster. After his acceptance in court, and being allowed to take on a ghoul, Dr. Black went further and made his daughter a ghoul in order to prevent her becoming sick or age.

Over the next few years, Dr. Black took advantage of his neonate status and started talking to the Kindred of the city. He met a Nosferatu that offered his services in finding new artifacts and texts for a price. After a couple of dealings that went smoothly, they started to trust each other (as far as a Follower of Set and Nosferatu can).

Character Sheet
Sire:Kiya

Clan: Follower of Set

Nature:Bon Vivant

Demeanour:Architect

Concept:Archeologist

Generation:12th

Embraced:1788

Apparent Age: 43

Allegiance:Camarilla

Attributes
Physical: Strength 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2

Social: Charisma 4, Manipulation 4, Appearance 2

Mental: Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 4

Abilities
Talents: Alertness 1, Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Brawl 1, Empathy 0, Expression 0, Intimidation 1, Leadership 0, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 3

Skills: Animal Ken 0, Crafts 0, Etiquette 1, Firearms 0, Larceny 1, Melee 0, Performance [Acting] 1, Ride 1, Stealth 1, Survival 0

Knowledges: Academics [History] 4 (Egyptology), Enigmas 3, Finance 1, Investigation 3, Law 0, Medicine 0, Occult 4, Politics 0, Science 0, Technology 0

Disciplines
Clan: Obfuscate 2, Setite Sorcery 4, Serpentis 2

Paths: Potestas Tempestatum 4

Rituals: Defence of the Sacred Haven, Domino of Life, Commune with Cainite, Bind the Familiar, Scry

Background
Backgrounds: Allies 1, Contacts 1, Domain 1, Domain Security 3, Generation 0, Herd 1, Mentor 1, Resources 3, Retainers 2

Merits / Flaws: Postulant of Echidna, Lucky (2), Grand Library (Academics, Enigmas, Occult), Impatient, Tic/Twitch, Territorial, Literacy

Virtues: Conscience 1, Self-Control 4, Courage 5

Morality: Humanity 3

Willpower: 8

Languages: English, Latin, French, Turkish, Greek (poorly)

Allies

 * Sergeant Reginald Green.
 * Charles Smyth

Contacts

 * Jameson, A Nosferatu that provides information on antiquities moving around or rumours of new "treasure troves"

Herd
Small Amateur Dramatics group called "The Terrific Troupe of Talented Thespians" that Dr. Black indulges in from time to time.

Retainers

 * Miss Black - Dr. Black's Daughter.
 * Nicholas "Nick" Reeky - Gang Leader
 * Marian Denison - Investigator
 * Sphinxy - Cat Familiar