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Abraham DuSable is a Tremere and Regent of Chicago Chantry. DuSable believes in getting his own clan in order before everything else, by transforming it from the politically compromised arm of a now-dead international chain of command into an autonomous organization which must be respected for its capabilities. Of course, there is no power that isn’t tested, but with House Carna so close, Chicago provides many opportunities for instructive conflict.

Biography[]

Mortal Days[]

In 1943, the child-vampire Nicolai was the sole Tremere permanently resident in Chicago. Nicolai wanted a power base, a true Tremere Chantry, and most importantly, the credibility he believed had been denied him by his youthful appearance. After surveying the minds and habits of several notable Chicagoans, he selected 60-year-old Abraham DuSable, an African-American lawyer, to satisfy these practical goals. DuSable was the right age, and Nicolai read in his mind frustration at the racist limits imposed on the man’s career and social ambitions. DuSable also feared death. The vampire didn’t even need to control his mind; Abraham DuSable submitted to the Embrace out of informed free will.

Of course, Nicolai was blinded by his own biases — something not even telepathy could counter. Nicolai saw a simple fear of death in the man’s mind, but DuSable actually felt the complex frustrations of someone who’d realized one life was not enough to learn everything he wanted to know.

DuSable’s career in law and his social position, between the contractually regulated industrial elite and a multicultural Chicago governed by handshakes and nods, revealed secret patterns in the world beyond acknowledged history. DuSable recognized Nicolai as one of the weavers of those patterns.

Kindred Nights[]

After the Embrace, DuSable felt no fear when Nicolai brought him to Vienna, the Prime Chantry, before the burning gazes of the Councilors present — and the empty chair, with its ancient sigil, reserved for the Primus. DuSable rapidly mastered the Art, approaching his sire’s ability in a score of years. He was liberated from mortal and vampire distractions. Kine society and its bigotry-flavored desperation bored him. Nor was he especially enamored of Kindred culture, with its determination to reproduce mortal flaws and superstitions.

DuSable believed immortality provided a way to destroy bias and impulsiveness. With occult insights, myths could be tested. Where legends were true, they could be harvested for power. Where they were false, they could be discarded, burned in the fire of precise intellect.

Meanwhile, Nicolai wasted his time with political games, stagnated as a magus, and, in moments of weakness, treated DuSable as a father figure. DuSable’s sire had never truly abandoned a child’s habits. He was eager to please and easily influenced by DuSable’s surrogate parenting.

DuSable would never betray his sire within the Tremere hierarchy, but he felt his advancement hampered by this relationship. Soon, the throne of Chicago was on his mind. He began preparations and took secret pride in his ability to delay gratification.

Thus, 1980 was his most shameful year. Jazz was one of his few remaining human indulgences, and he exercised it discreetly. The club wasn’t a popular one, and the band wasn’t even any good. Perhaps that denied him a reverie he might have sunk into, instead of noticing Carol Davis, a beautiful woman, and descendant of his.

A glance and smile — and an unexpected result. She recognized him from family photos as a great-uncle who’d supposedly been killed by the Ku Klux Klan. He dragged her out the door. His discipline shattered against his fear. It led to a wild, irrational moment, and her Embrace.

In time, she called herself “Maldavis,” an obvious parody of some occult craft-name. He remains ashamed but still desires her and wonders how much she realizes her early survival depended on a few small moves of his against the Anarchs he sabotaged.

Once she made her bid for power in the ‘90s, he followed suit, long before the time he selected for himself. They both lost. The Primogen Council prevented anyone from snatching the throne, at least until Peterson made his way onto it in a chance grab for power. As punishment, Nicolai sidelined him by sending him to war.

DuSable endured the horrors of his station. He saw neonates consumed by incomprehensible entities, driven mad by the impossible words in strange tomes, mutilated by inhuman monstrosities, and more. DuSable had always placed his morality beneath personal discipline, but his experiences stole something vital and pleasant in his heart nonetheless.

Then it was done. The letter had Grimgroth’s sigil and said nothing more than: Go home.

In Chicago, the Chantry stood empty. Erichtho had done nothing to advance the clan and had been “demoted” to Anarch status. Nicolai had been called to Vienna just in time for the Prime Chantry to somehow have its wards and obfuscations fall, revealing it to the Second Inquisition.

He was welcomed in Elysium, but he was told that, “most regrettably,” the Tremere could no longer count themselves among Chicago’s Primogen.

During his time at war, he studied the old lore of the House Militant, the Tremere as they had been before the Camarilla, when, beset by enemies, they formed well-ordered cells and mastered martial aspects of the Art.

He doesn’t need to be Prince anymore. The clan is enough.

Appearence[]

Abraham favors a slim-cut modern maroon suit these nights. He doesn’t wear glasses anymore and moves more vigorously than he used to, scanning rooms with a frown as he enters. He still carries a silver-tipped ebony walking stick. His one concession to Elysium finery is a triangular silver amulet engraved with sigils, which he wears around his neck when there’s no need to pretend he’s mortal.

Since returning from his travels, Abraham’s left arm seems to have healed, though he always wears a leather glove on his hand.

Character Sheet[]

Chicago by Night applicable stats
†† Chicago by Night Second Edition applicable stats

Image: A tall and noble-looking man with gray-specked hair and glasses. Always dresses sharply- if a bit out of date - and carries a heavy silver-topped ebony walking s ti ck (his melee weapon).
Roleplaying Hints: Speak very softly unless what you're saying is important. Then speak with the very boom of thunder.
Haven: The Chantry
Secrets: A-
Influence: DuSable still knows the darkest secrets of some of the most influential figures in the legal establishment of the city. He holds the dirt on judges, lawyers and politicians. From time to time he u ses this information to blackmail these individuals in pursuit of a desired aim, and sometimes he does it simp ly out of spite. If the characters ever need the h eat turned off, the best person to tum to is DuSable- though his price might be high.

Gallery[]

References[]

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