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dunmurderinFor comparison, the more or less original version of the character, before the ex-cop background was thought up.
WALTER SKLAVE:
Nature: Survivor
Demeanor: Loner
Concept: Independent ghoul/Stalker
Dominator: Vorlagenhaut (Master Skin)
Duties: Szlachta
Humanity: 3
Willpower: 4
Blood Pool: 10/1
Physical: Strength 5/Dexterity 4/Stamina 5
Social: Charisma 1/Manipulation 1/Appearance 0
Mental: Perception 5/Intelligence 2/Wits 3
Talents: Athletics 2/Brawl 3/Dodge 2/Streetwise 3
Skills: Drive 1/Firearms 3/Melee 2/Security 2/Stealth 3
Knowledges: Computer 1/Investigation 1/Linguistics 1*/Medicine 1
Disciplines: Potence 1/Fortitude 1
Backgrounds: Allies 1/Contacts 4/Resources 2
Virtues: Conscience 3/Self-control 4/Courage 3
Other Traits: Masquerade 2/Vampire Lore 2
Merits:
Berzerker
Light Sleeper
Acute Hearing/Sense of Smell/Vision
Flaws:
Shy
Dark SEcret**
Disfigured***
Absent-Minded
* Walter has a vocabulary of about 50-100 words in German, most of which are command words like "sit," "stay," etc.
**Deep down in his heart of hearts, Walter sometimes misses his days as a szlachta. Even he's not sure if he'd go back if he had the chance.
***A side effect of both his szlachta days and his transition back to a more human form, most of his disfigurements are limited to areas covered by clothes, though his most visible disfigurement are two fingers on his left hand that are fuzed together. Also, his face is kind of like Odo’s from Deep Space Nine, only slightly better sculpted. To most mundane folks, he probably looks as though he were in an accident.
BACKGROUND: Walter Sklave is the public name of the ghoul formerly known as Wächter. Walter has little to no concrete recollection of his life before he was ghouled by Vorlagenhaut, a powerful but reckless 12th generation Tzimisce. Estimates put Walter's current age at somewhere in his late 20s-early 30s; the extensive fleshcrafting he has experienced makes it difficult to determine much about Walter's true physical nature. There is the possibility nothing about his current incarnation is an accurate representation of the being he used to be. About the only thing anyone is concretely sure of is his gender.
As near as anyone can tell, Walter was ghouled in his mid to late teens or possibly early 20s. Vorlagenhaut was well known as a crafter of szlachta and vozhd, Tzimisce guardian and war ghouls. Many within the local Sabbat boast of owning an original Vorlagenhaut creation in the same way a Toreador might brag about their latest Donna Karan or Calvin Klein. Walter was crafted into a szlachta, his sensory organs, particularly his ears, eyes and sense of smell, were improved, his face crafted into a hideous war mask meant to instill fear in his enemies (mostly Camarilla ghouls and neonates), his hands crafted into sharp claws and his body strengthened to allow him to take the kind of abuse that ghouls and neonates could inflict in hand to hand combat. His mind was also reshaped, wiping out much of his memories of his non-ghoul existence and instilling a sense of loyalty and devotion through the Tzimisce mastery of the blood bond.
Walter served his master well over the next 4-5 years of his ghouldom. Most of his duties consisted of keeping watch on Vorlagenhaut's various havens, though occasionally he was thrown into combat with other ghouls from his master's pack against the pack’s Camarilla (and occasionally Sabbat, Shh! Don’t tell the Black Hand!) enemies. The fact he managed to survive five years of this life points not only to Walter's sheer tenacity but also to the strength of Vorlagenhaut's craftsmanship.
But still, all good things must come to an end. During a raid on a Camarilla extension into Sabbat territory, Walter was heavily wounded and taken prisoner. There are those among the Sabbat who speculate that perhaps the Camarilla deliberately violated Sabbat territory to force a confrontation.
Walter was taken to a safe house in another city* where he was entrusted to the care of Tzimisce antitribu. The idea was to see if they could undo what Vorlagenhaut had done. Of course the Tzimisce antitribu knew they could do it, it was just a question of compiling the data for the Camarilla who hired them. They were largely successful, at least in that they managed to make him look human again, though he is still heavily disfigured (they could probably have made him fully human again, but their skills weren’t as great as they made them out to be and, well, they did a half assed job. USA! USA!). Heavy scars and odd keloid-type patches on his arms, legs and torso make him look as though he were badly burned. Luckily, when he is wearing clothes, his most visible disfigurement is two fused fingers on his left hand. A careful observer might also note that Walter's face has a limited range of expression, as though he has difficulty moving his facial muscles. Those not in the know tend to chalk this up to a stroke or neurological damage.
What sets Walter apart even more than his physical differences is his behavior. Walter has very poor social skills**. He’s painfully shy, especially in crowds. He tends to stick to the edges of large groups and sits in corners in restaurants. Loud noises startle him, making him shy like a horse would. When he’s tired or angry, he tends to grunt and growl rather than talk. Among those he knows well, he tends to be painfully eager to please, hating to make folks angry, especially with him.
When the experiments were done, there was the question of what to do with Walter now. He was useless as far as his original function was concerned and while they'd been largely successful in returning him to normal physically, mentally Walter was still little more than an animal in human form. The Tzimisce antitribu who'd been working on him saw no need to keep a broken toy around and let Walter loose on the streets. This of course really cheesed off
Walter was on the streets, alone and unsupervised for nearly six months. It wasn't an easy transition for him, especially since he went through vitae-withdrawal during this period. The cravings lasted for nearly two weeks and Walter frequently woke up with the taste of human blood in his mouth. Reports of a series of vicious attacks on the city's homeless coincide with this period.
Also during this period, someone was looking for Walter. Reynard Scarpacci, a ghoul formerly of the Giovanni clan, was doing a favor for an 'employer' of his, one Morgan Castrucci, a Giovanni vampire. Morgan had heard of Walter's release and decided that even a former szlachta might be interesting. If nothing else, perhaps she could sell him to members of her own clan, either as a candidate for the Proxy Kiss or for dissection purposes.
By the time Scarpacci found Walter, he had passed through the worst of his withdrawal and was well on his way to becoming a normal human again. Scarpacci, a ghoul himself, used vitae as bait to catch him. Walter was still enough of a junkie to approach the scent and fall into the trap Scarpacci'd set. (Well, okay, it wasn't a great trap, more of a 2x4 to the back of the head than anything else, but it worked!)
Walter was brought to one of Morgan's safehouses to be examined. Other than his physical deformities, he was found to be in good health, at least as good as could be expected.
# # # #
*Details about Walter’s home city and such deliberately left vague, so the ST can feel free to stick us where he will. {Not like that ya perv! Though…if it gets me XP…let’s talk! 8)}
** Okay, he’s probably better off than some MUSHers, but only by a leetle bit.
WALTER SKLAVE:
Nature: Survivor
Demeanor: Loner
Concept: Independent ghoul/Stalker
Dominator: Vorlagenhaut (Master Skin)
Duties: Szlachta
Humanity: 3
Willpower: 4
Blood Pool: 10/1
Physical: Strength 5/Dexterity 4/Stamina 5
Social: Charisma 1/Manipulation 1/Appearance 0
Mental: Perception 5/Intelligence 2/Wits 3
Talents: Athletics 2/Brawl 3/Dodge 2/Streetwise 3
Skills: Drive 1/Firearms 3/Melee 2/Security 2/Stealth 3
Knowledges: Computer 1/Investigation 1/Linguistics 1*/Medicine 1
Disciplines: Potence 1/Fortitude 1
Backgrounds: Allies 1/Contacts 4/Resources 2
Virtues: Conscience 3/Self-control 4/Courage 3
Other Traits: Masquerade 2/Vampire Lore 2
Merits:
Berzerker
Light Sleeper
Acute Hearing/Sense of Smell/Vision
Flaws:
Shy
Dark SEcret**
Disfigured***
Absent-Minded
* Walter has a vocabulary of about 50-100 words in German, most of which are command words like "sit," "stay," etc.
**Deep down in his heart of hearts, Walter sometimes misses his days as a szlachta. Even he's not sure if he'd go back if he had the chance.
***A side effect of both his szlachta days and his transition back to a more human form, most of his disfigurements are limited to areas covered by clothes, though his most visible disfigurement are two fingers on his left hand that are fuzed together. Also, his face is kind of like Odo’s from Deep Space Nine, only slightly better sculpted. To most mundane folks, he probably looks as though he were in an accident.
BACKGROUND: Walter Sklave is the public name of the ghoul formerly known as Wächter. Walter has little to no concrete recollection of his life before he was ghouled by Vorlagenhaut, a powerful but reckless 12th generation Tzimisce. Estimates put Walter's current age at somewhere in his late 20s-early 30s; the extensive fleshcrafting he has experienced makes it difficult to determine much about Walter's true physical nature. There is the possibility nothing about his current incarnation is an accurate representation of the being he used to be. About the only thing anyone is concretely sure of is his gender.
As near as anyone can tell, Walter was ghouled in his mid to late teens or possibly early 20s. Vorlagenhaut was well known as a crafter of szlachta and vozhd, Tzimisce guardian and war ghouls. Many within the local Sabbat boast of owning an original Vorlagenhaut creation in the same way a Toreador might brag about their latest Donna Karan or Calvin Klein. Walter was crafted into a szlachta, his sensory organs, particularly his ears, eyes and sense of smell, were improved, his face crafted into a hideous war mask meant to instill fear in his enemies (mostly Camarilla ghouls and neonates), his hands crafted into sharp claws and his body strengthened to allow him to take the kind of abuse that ghouls and neonates could inflict in hand to hand combat. His mind was also reshaped, wiping out much of his memories of his non-ghoul existence and instilling a sense of loyalty and devotion through the Tzimisce mastery of the blood bond.
Walter served his master well over the next 4-5 years of his ghouldom. Most of his duties consisted of keeping watch on Vorlagenhaut's various havens, though occasionally he was thrown into combat with other ghouls from his master's pack against the pack’s Camarilla (and occasionally Sabbat, Shh! Don’t tell the Black Hand!) enemies. The fact he managed to survive five years of this life points not only to Walter's sheer tenacity but also to the strength of Vorlagenhaut's craftsmanship.
But still, all good things must come to an end. During a raid on a Camarilla extension into Sabbat territory, Walter was heavily wounded and taken prisoner. There are those among the Sabbat who speculate that perhaps the Camarilla deliberately violated Sabbat territory to force a confrontation.
Walter was taken to a safe house in another city* where he was entrusted to the care of Tzimisce antitribu. The idea was to see if they could undo what Vorlagenhaut had done. Of course the Tzimisce antitribu knew they could do it, it was just a question of compiling the data for the Camarilla who hired them. They were largely successful, at least in that they managed to make him look human again, though he is still heavily disfigured (they could probably have made him fully human again, but their skills weren’t as great as they made them out to be and, well, they did a half assed job. USA! USA!). Heavy scars and odd keloid-type patches on his arms, legs and torso make him look as though he were badly burned. Luckily, when he is wearing clothes, his most visible disfigurement is two fused fingers on his left hand. A careful observer might also note that Walter's face has a limited range of expression, as though he has difficulty moving his facial muscles. Those not in the know tend to chalk this up to a stroke or neurological damage.
What sets Walter apart even more than his physical differences is his behavior. Walter has very poor social skills**. He’s painfully shy, especially in crowds. He tends to stick to the edges of large groups and sits in corners in restaurants. Loud noises startle him, making him shy like a horse would. When he’s tired or angry, he tends to grunt and growl rather than talk. Among those he knows well, he tends to be painfully eager to please, hating to make folks angry, especially with him.
When the experiments were done, there was the question of what to do with Walter now. He was useless as far as his original function was concerned and while they'd been largely successful in returning him to normal physically, mentally Walter was still little more than an animal in human form. The Tzimisce antitribu who'd been working on him saw no need to keep a broken toy around and let Walter loose on the streets. This of course really cheesed off
Walter was on the streets, alone and unsupervised for nearly six months. It wasn't an easy transition for him, especially since he went through vitae-withdrawal during this period. The cravings lasted for nearly two weeks and Walter frequently woke up with the taste of human blood in his mouth. Reports of a series of vicious attacks on the city's homeless coincide with this period.
Also during this period, someone was looking for Walter. Reynard Scarpacci, a ghoul formerly of the Giovanni clan, was doing a favor for an 'employer' of his, one Morgan Castrucci, a Giovanni vampire. Morgan had heard of Walter's release and decided that even a former szlachta might be interesting. If nothing else, perhaps she could sell him to members of her own clan, either as a candidate for the Proxy Kiss or for dissection purposes.
By the time Scarpacci found Walter, he had passed through the worst of his withdrawal and was well on his way to becoming a normal human again. Scarpacci, a ghoul himself, used vitae as bait to catch him. Walter was still enough of a junkie to approach the scent and fall into the trap Scarpacci'd set. (Well, okay, it wasn't a great trap, more of a 2x4 to the back of the head than anything else, but it worked!)
Walter was brought to one of Morgan's safehouses to be examined. Other than his physical deformities, he was found to be in good health, at least as good as could be expected.
# # # #
*Details about Walter’s home city and such deliberately left vague, so the ST can feel free to stick us where he will. {Not like that ya perv! Though…if it gets me XP…let’s talk! 8)}
** Okay, he’s probably better off than some MUSHers, but only by a leetle bit.
