Cocceius was a Roman Brujah active in Aix-la-Chapelle during the Dark Medieval period.
Biography[]
Cocceius was born as the son of a slave and a Roman senator. His mother raised him to hate the Romans for enslaving her and after her death, Cocceius asked to be transferred to the arena to fight as a gladiator. During the training, Cocceius met with a Greek slave named Yorgos, who became his mentor and tutored him in several languages. When Yorgos was slain in combat, Cocceius doubled his efforts and after forty years of service in the circus, he had enough money to buy his freedom. As a freedman, Cocceius worked to enter politics to reach his former master. To his misfortune, the senator had received the Embrace, and after an intrigue of Cocceius to take his life had failed, the vampire visited and drained him. Cocceius was saved by a political rival of his, a Brujah named Dysos. The two left Rome and traveled to Carthage, until the Punic Wars reached the city. Cocceius fought in its defense, but was forced to flee. He hunted the senator to the city of Aquis (which would be later known as Aachen and Aix-la-Chapelle), where he undertook the work of undermining his influence by supporting Charlemagne and the Merovingians. When the Roman vampires tried to leave Aquis, Cocceius was ready and killed his former master.
Cocceius resided in the city until the coming of the Messianic Voices. Reacting to the presence of the magi within the city, the Brujah mobilized several Cainites against them, but found that he could not stand against their magic. Cocceius was sent into Torpor, in which he rested until two hundred years later. Using his influence, he undermined the ruling Trinity of Cainites and installed himself as Prince.
Final Death[]
Reichsgold: Aachen bei Nacht and Encyclopedia Vampirica agree that Cocceius ruled as Prince until his Final Death, but disagree on when exactly that was. Reichsgold describes him being killed by rivals circa 1647, during the chaos of the Thirty Years' War (though it has also previously established these rivals, Nikolai von Tresckow and Wolfram von Stolberg, as dying in 1149 and when Cocceius seized praxis, respectively). Encyclopedia Vampirica, however, mentions him making Gottfried his seneschal in 1875, indicating he ruled well into the 19th century.
References[]
- VTM: Reichsgold: Aachen bei Nacht, p. 34-38
- VTM: Encyclopaedia Vampirica, p. 52-53