Gabriella is a Nosferatu neonate of the London Kindred. Najma Elmi worked as her spy in Southall. She survives Operation Antigen, working for Oskar Anasov and other Kindred who can pay her for information.
She is an excellent hacker, though she finds doing lengthy hacks into government records dull as hell. Jackson and Damien believe she’s the vanguard of what a Hound needs to be in the modern nights, so she does as they ask: hunt down risks to the Masquerade online, then point the actual killers like Alexa after the target.
Gabriella’s maintained a small presence online, despite her month or so in the wilderness, but she’s aiming to make her stream profitable again. She’s considering whether to wear a mask or find some other way of representing herself to her audience. Though her life has been twisted out of proportion, Gabriella is determined to set it back on the path it was originally following, with a few modifications.
Biography[]
“ | “That was a fun hunt. GG.” | ” |
Mortal Days[]
Gabriella was a shy girl, far more comfortable in front of her PC than she ever was in front of people. It wasn’t that she didn’t like people, it’s just she found that without the build-up of getting to know someone through the internet — whether through social media or, ideally, through shooting them, blowing them up, or razing their city in online games — she was a terrible read on personalities.
Her parents weren’t worried; her grades were good. Besides, her mom was a computer programmer who met her husband while playing Clash of Steel, a grand strategy game in the early 1990s. They knew the kind of girl she was and approved. After all, it worked out for them.
Gabriella’s time spent online was lucrative to boot. Her streaming service brought her a regular income from the age of 16. When it came to playing Dota 2, she was ranked in the top ten internationally — she took top prize at the 2015 knockout tournament held in Chicago.
While she waited at the bus terminal for her ride back to Milwaukee, a fan approached her pledging eternal love and wouldn’t leave her alone. Worried, she kept checking her phone to see when the bus was due to arrive. For some reason, this set the fan off on a tirade.
“How dare you keep checking your phone?”
“I was only being nice.”
“God, you’re as entitled as they all say.”
“I just wanted to talk with you.”
“I’m not that bad.”
“Frigid bitch.”
“Stop looking away.”
“Look at me.”
Look at me.
Kindred Nights[]
Gabriella doesn’t know if the “fan” Embraced her, but she remembers hearing footsteps behind her just before everything went black, waking feeling sated, which she now understands is unusual for most fledglings. The fan was gone, and she was alone at the bus terminal. Just a smear of blood on the sidewalk marked the events of her Embrace. She saw her reflection in the dark glass of a window and touched her face to realize the distortion was real. Whatever had happened to her had mutilated her.
Gabriella never left Chicago. She called her parents, and they were easygoing and understanding — perhaps a little too much so — when she explained she’d met someone in the city and was going to live with him for a while.
She spent a month on the streets, feeding on rats and dogs, but never finding the confidence to tackle a full-grown adult. She contemplated finding someone younger, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
A month into her existence as a vampire, she was caught feeding in an alley beside the Blue Velvet, unaware of its status as a Kindred hangout. It was her good fortune that Horatio Ballard discovered her, instead of someone like Bronwyn or Nathaniel Bordruff, allowing her to escape destruction for her misstep.
Typically, the Ventrue was a vile bully, but he did something that created a place for her in Kindred society: he asked her what she was good at. Realizing this was a job interview and trial all at once, Gabriella ignored her gaming credentials and emphasized her skills as a programmer, modder, and — at a push — cybersecurity expert.
Ballard privately recruited her and kept her on his books for a year before introducing her to the rest of the city’s Kindred. With his blessing, she moved into the role of Hound for the Prince.
Gabriella usually hangs out at downtown internet cafés at night, where she always has her own dedicated corner. She plays games for the most part but, when asked, will perform security tasks for Ballard, Jackson, and the Sheriff. She doesn’t mind, so long as she has access to the best gaming machines and enough money to buy the hottest releases (and all the expansions).
Appearance[]
Gabriella wears oversized hoodies and often has a gaming headset over her ears. A glimpse at her face reveals the left half of it is covered in twisted scar tissue, with her left eyelid no longer functioning and all the hair on that side of her body apparently seared off. Her right side is flawless, her braided red hair draped down over her shoulder.
The Nosferatu speaks quietly, sometimes with a shake to her voice when she’s not happy. If engaged on a subject close to her heart, such as games, she becomes loud, enthusiastic, and can speak for hours on gaming strategy and design.
Gabriella has a strong online presence as Sugary Popcorn, but it isn’t a Mask in the normal sense. She can’t uphold this disguise in a normal face-to-face setting. Until she develops her Disciplines further, she remains out of sight.
Sheet[]
References[]
- VTM: Fall of London
- VTM: The Chicago Folios, p. 30
- VTM: Let the Streets Run Red, p. 194-196