Hostewicks

“Very good, sir.” The first Hostewicks were servants of a powerful English Kindred of Quality — some say the Prince of York — even in life. Hostewicks tend to reside in pairs (whether that means siblings, spouses, simple friends or any combination thereof) within the same Kindred haven.  

The Invictus
The Hostewick line has always served the vampires of the First Estate and always will. Though even the existence of Hostewick ghouls is unknown to most Kindred, those who know of the Valets think of them as members of the Invictus. Historically, a few Hostewicks have been “loaned out” to allied Kindred of the Sanctified cloth, but these gestures of generosity are exceptions to the rule. A Valet outside of an Invictus household thinks of himself as being “away,” and longs to return home to work.

Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths: All Hostewicks enjoy an uncanny perceptiveness and knack for understanding the behavior of humans and vampires alike that comes from many years of watching others’ lives. Whenever a Valet makes a Perception roll to observe, spy on or scrutinize a human, ghoul or vampire, she gains the benefits of the 9-again rule (see p. 134 of the World of Darkness Rulebook). This rule does not come into play observing animals, objects or any other subjects. All Valets have two automatic dots in Composure and no automatic dots in Presence as new characters. A Valet pays only four times the target dots in experience points when raising his Composure Attribute. In contrast, it costs a Valet six times the target dots in experience points to purchase a new dot of Presence. Weaknesses: All Hostewicks, since the first Valet daughter born all those years ago, have weak and deformed vocal chords. A Hostewick cannot speak any words at all during a scene without spending a Willpower point to do so. Even then, the Valet’s broken, shallow voice is an unsettling thing to hear.