Karsh

Karsh is an elder Gangrel who held the unique title of Warlord of the Camarilla from the inception of the Camarilla until the Final Nights.

Originally a Janissary named Hassan al-Samhir in the court of Sultan Murad, he participated in the Janissaries' coup against the Sultan. He resented the peace that followed, and gladly took his sire's offer of the Embrace. He rapidly rose in the ranks of the Camarilla, becoming the right-hand man of Hardestadt and the Inner Circle. Unlike most Gangrel, he remained with the Camarilla even after their clan departed the sect en masse under the leadership of Justicar Xaviar. This continued loyalty brought Karsh and Xaviar into direct conflict after the Archon Theo Bell went rogue &mdash; a conflict that ended with Karsh staked and thrown into the Atlantic Ocean. He has not been seen since, and may still remain in torpor on the ocean floor.

One common theory holds that Karsh and Jalan-Aajav, his counterpart in the Seraphim of the Sabbat, are actually different identities used by the same individual, who was originally known as Qarakh during the Dark Ages. Karsh and Jalan-Aajav have identical game statistics in their respective profiles in Children of the Night, and both would feasibly have access to the high-level Protean Discipline that allows a vampire to physically split into two semi-independent bodies. If this theory is true, then Karsh's origin among the Janissaries must be a cover identity, as the origins of both Qarakh and Jalan-Aajav are verifiably dated centuries earlier, to the time of the Mongols' invasion of Europe. It is possible that "Hassan al-Samhir" existed, and that his identity was usurped by Qarakh through subterfuge or diablerie.

See also:


 * Qarakh
 * Jalan-Aajav
 * Aajav

Biography
Much as they might wish it otherwise, the Camarilla has its monsters.

The first and only postulant to hold the title of warlord rarely  speaks  of  his  past. From  what  little  can  be  pieced together, he is believed to be the Seljuk Hassan al-Samhir, conqueror of Manzikert, greatest of generals, who served two sultans of the fledgling Ottoman Empire, he whom the Turks exalted in the verse “Samhir, great Samhir, inexorable Samhir, mightiest of warriors beneath the ancient blue sky.” Although undefeated and unswervingly faithful, Hassan’s pride was his single, unforgivable shortcoming. His heroic standing among the people, coupled with his lust for battle, earned him the mistrust of Murad, his second lord, who was not  half  the  man  his  predecessor  had  been. This  friction, fueled by the general’s incessant protests against the corruption for which the sultan’s reign became known, ultimately exploded  into  enmity  —  Hassan  was  branded  a  traitor, sentenced to death, and forced to stand before the empire he once protected for confession and eventual execution.

But the warrior did not die easily. Calling upon Allah to defend  his  innocence,  Hassan  met  the  sultan’s  torturous trials. Stoned, subjected to single combat, even pitted against the fangs and talons of animals — all these tests and more he endured in the name of Murad’s “justice.” At length the ruler, who could no longer continue his persecution against a hero of the Turkish nation, condemned his once-enforcer as “no man, but a savage creature wearing flesh as does a man, lean and  hungry  as  are  the  beasts  of  the  wild  for  the  blood  of children and innocents.” With this final curse, Hassan al-Samhir was exiled, left without shelter or sustenance in the great erg, there to find his death.

Death found him first.

Virtually  nothing  is  known  of  the  fledgling’s  whereabouts or activities in those early nights. Some believe he simply wandered for a time, grappling with the uncertainties of his new existence and brethren; others point to Eastern accounts of a semi-mythical figure called the Khayyim, a warborn  creature  roaming  the  desert  sands  in  search  of  the adversary who could end its unnatural existence. Still other sources  maintain  it  was  none  other  than  Hassan,  riding westward by night with the Tatar hordes, whose hand rose to crush his once-beloved homeland decades later.

Speculation  aside,  Cainite  historians  tell  tales  of  an auspicious meeting immediately preceding the close of the 15th century between undead hand and unbroken will. It was there  that  Hassan  al-Samhir  pledged  eternal  fealty  to  an immortal calling himself Hardestadt of Ventrue, leader of men and monsters, a being whose words swayed nations — and bearer of an uncanny intellect, who knew words would not always be enough.

Thus was the Warlord of the Camarilla born.

Tonight, Karsh presides over a dedicated body of rapid-response teams from a decommissioned military fortress in a North American mountain range as guardian of Raphael de Corazon’s dream. Although dismissed by allies and enemies alike as a dangerous, mindless juggernaut, he is cognizant of the fact that war must be fought on many fronts and strives to keep abreast of the tactics and technologies of this century.

Unbeknownst to all but a select few, the Warlord has retaken more than one Sabbat-held city through covert political and paramilitary methods, rather than the brute force for which he is typically known; he is possessed of and equally proficient with  a  wide  variety  of  weapons,  ranging  from  traditional counter-guerilla warfare to contained “industrial accidents,” inner-city police death squads, and quarantines fronted by the Fort Collins Center for Disease Control.

Background
Image: A towering mass of strength and sinew — a lionmaned colossus, broad-featured, dusky-skinned, crisscrossed from head to toe with the scars of a thousand battles.

Roleplaying Hints: You are brooding and silent, due to either the ennui of immortality or the sheer self-assurance cultivated through centuries of solitude. It suits your purposes to be perceived as simple; when you speak, however, your words are curt and carefully chosen. The stoic silence into which you retreat is interrupted only by the killing machine you let loose whenever you take the field. This bloodthirsty side, unconquered and uncontrolled, leads many to whisper that you are becoming that which you most despise.

Character Sheet
Clan: Gangrel Demeanor: Fanatic Generation: 5th Embrace: Early 13th century (judging from historical cues) Apparent Age: indeterminate (perhaps a haggard, weathered 30) Physical: Karsh swings his sword and enemies fall; persons who  have  touched  him  claim  his  skin  has  acquired  the strength of diamonds. Social: Charisma 6, Manipulation 5, Appearance 4 Mental: Perception 7, Intelligence 6, Wits 7 Talents: Alertness 6, Athletics 5, Brawl 7, Dodge 6, Instruction  4,  Interrogation  4,  Intimidation  6,  Leadership  6, Streetwise 4, Subterfuge 4 Skills: Animal Ken 4, Archery 4, Demolitions 3, Drive 3, Etiquette  2,  Firearms  4,  Meditation  3,  Melee  8,  Ride  5, Stealth 4, Survival 5 Knowledges: Black Hand Lore 4, Camarilla Lore 5, Expert Knowledge: Tactics 5, Investigation 4, Linguistics (a broad selection of languages both spoken and dead) 5, Medicine 3, Occult 4, Sabbat Lore 5 Disciplines: Animalism 4, Auspex 1, Celerity 7, Dominate 1, Fortitude 7, Potence 6, Presence 2, Protean 8 Backgrounds:  Allies  (Inner  Circle)  8,  Herd  4,  Influence (Military) 4, Resources 5, Retainers 8, Status 7 Virtues: Conviction 4, Self-Control 5, Courage 5 Morality: Path of the Feral Heart 6 Derangements: Gluttony Willpower: 9

NOTE: Take a look at his character sheet.