Sylvester Marlowe

Sylvester Marlowe, the "Ticktock Man", is a True Brujah and member of the Tal'mahe'Ra.

Biography
In life as well as death, Sylvester Marlowe has epitomized the criminal mastermind. During his living days, Marlowe operated a crime ring spanning the Atlantic; his associates ranging between Manchester, Le Havre, and Bridgeport. Marlowe's agency was instrumental in the operation of illegal gambling fronts, or more specifically, the altering of odds swayed in the favor of his clients and their interests.

Murder was not beyond Marlowe's purview. If a profit was to be made, he would set up the dominoes to fall in a way causing the greatest payoff, casualties be damned. The rich and powerful were willing to put a wager on anything from the mundane to the sublime. His admirers maintain his instrumentality in King 's untimely death. At the exact point the eccentric monarch left Berg Castle on 13 June 1886, it is said that Marlowe, half a world away in New Haven, snapped shut his gold pocket watch and announced it was time for those who placed bets on Ludwig's survival to pay up. A few gentlemen, Marlowe included, became very wealthy on that day.

His skill in predicting, planning, and orchestrating sometime catastrophic events drew the attention of his eventual sire, the True Brujah known as Al-Muntathir. Such ability was already closely aligned with the goals of many Sages within the Tal'Mahe'Ra, so with permission from his sect the elder vampire stalked the mortal for years to gauge whether becoming a ghoul or a vampire would be the preferred course.

Al-Muntathir was surprised to find he was being observed in turn. Marlowe's network was more capable than even the True Black Hand suspected. Almost as soon as Al-Muntathir had begun his watch, Marlowe's own agents had started picking apart the covers of this impossibly old observer. Not one story added up, but Marlowe's historical dealings with an Egyptian claiming to worship the dread god Sutekh allowed him to piece the puzzle together. Al-Muntathir returned to his haven in Manchester one night to find Marlowe already there. Marlowe was Embraced soon after.

In the last century, Marlowe has calculated with mathematical precision some of the most devastating changes in Kindred society. The Third Sabbat Civil War, the fall of Prince Mithras of London, and the rise of the Anarch Free States were all predicted by Marlowe, with this information being fed back to his peers in Enoch. The commands returned by the Hand were to initiate whatever was required to ensure these predictions came true. They did so, perhaps due to Marlowe's gift of foresight, or more likely as a result of his pulling the levers and activating the pulleys set up so that whatever events he envisages become reality.

Marlowe creates his own portents. If he wants to see something happen, he will make it so. He then takes credit for predicting said event. Marlowe has a high success rate in his manipulations, working through agents both unknowing and informed, or on occasion with his own hands. Marlowe believes in the tenets of the Tal'Mahe'Ra as a means to his ends. He thrives on the chaos of others and feels strongly that the world exists to service his whims. His megalomania is matched only by his ability in reinforcing such a god complex with the results he desires. Through his actions, he has occasionally garnered allies among Followers of Set and Sabbat Lasombra alike, but where they see him as a supporter, he views them as dupes.