Inyanga is a Gangrel elder and a former member of the Chicago primogen.
Biography[]
As a mortal, she was a shaman who lived among the African nation that would later become the Zulus. Her exact sorcerous powers are uncertain, but she was capable of shapeshifting and was well-versed in knowledge of the ways of the spirits. In the 5th century, a vampire called "The Egyptian" began feeding on her people. She attacked the creature with her sorcery, and the two fought to the point where each was nearly finished by the other. The struggle finally ended when her foe, barely stronger than her, Embraced her as she was near death. Over the next week, Inyanga and the Egyptian taught one another their respective secrets; at the end of the week, when her sire sought to return to her people and make them his herd, Inyanga impaled him through the heart with a spear, and watched him burn in the sunrise.
In a battle with a rogue Malkavian in 1537, Inyanga was forced into torpor. She had her loyal retainer ship her torpid form to the Americas, where she lay in the care of her retainer's mortal descendants for two centuries. Upon awakening in Baltimore, her hunger caused her to slay her last remaining caretaker in a Frenzy, and she fled the city in shame. Inyanga thus traveled to Chicago, seemingly out of curiosity towards the rise of Prince Maxwell, the first black Prince of any American city. She arrived in 1852, and soon joined the city's primogen. Inyanga retained her seat in the primogen after Maxwell was ousted by Lodin in 1871, and became a recurring thorn in Lodin's side. During the aftermath of the War of Chicago in 1993, in which Lodin was destroyed by either Kindred or Garou, Inyanga acted alone to negotiate a temporary and fragile peace accord with the Garou, though she presented herself to the Garou as the representative of the city's Kindred. On the opportunity that her clanmate, Beckett, traveled to Chicago in 2001, Inyanga and other members of the primogen spoke with him about the new breed of hunters, though she was the only one not to treat him with overt suspicion or to impede his investigation.
Although the Gangrel clan withdrew from the Camarilla in 1999, Inyanga retained both her position in the primogen and her somewhat nominal ties to the sect. But when Xaviar approached Inyanga to describe the creature he had seen and explain why he had chosen to leave his post as Justicar, he found an interested ear and a tentative ally. Inyanga took her leave of the Chicago primogen quietly. Of that group only the Nosferatu Khalid knows that she has left the sect, while the others imagine that she has undertaken another tour of the Americas and go about their business. The Gangrel of Chicago are aware that Inyanga has left the Camarilla, though she left them to make their own decisions in that regard. The Wolf Pack coterie remains staunchly part of the Camarilla; most others in the city have chosen the independent's path.
Later, in 2003, Inyanga and a number of her most renowned clanmates assisted the ex-Justicar Xaviar and ex-Archon Theo Bell in the destruction of an infernal slave ring that had been preying on the vulnerability of the newly-independent Gangrel.
Trivia[]
- The word Inyanga means "herb-doctor" in Zulu.
- In the Beckett's Jyhad Diary it is heavily implied that Inyanga is Laibon, not Gangrel[1].
Character Sheet[]
CbN 1st & 2nd Edition[]
Note: Leopard Form: All Physical Attributes rise to 7. This form grants a Celerity of 3. Inyanga may use all Disciplines except Protean while in this form, and the leopard claws act as Protean Wolf's Claws. Inyanga must spend several hours preparing for this change. She could teach anyone to transform (though the proper preparation, herbs, and totems are always needed), but the feat would take years to learn.
Inyanga's sixth level of Protean allows her to excrete an adhesive that sticks to anything it touches (effective Strength 8). The adhesive can be exuded from any part of her body she desires.
Her extra level of Auspex allows her limited precognitive powers, and her Necromancy Discipline enables her to summon the spirits of the dead.
Image:When in human form, as she usually is, Inyanga looks like a middle-aged woman with extremely dark and wrinkled skin. She wears her hair high on her head and generally wears loose dresses with a smattering of ancient, handcrafted jewelry. She nearly always goes barefoot, even in winter.
Roleplaying Hints: Speak with conviction and determination about almost anything. Look at people for a long time before speaking, and speak softly, slowly, and deliberately.
Haven:She has no haven, preferring to sleep in the earth of Chicago's various parks. She especially likes Graceland.
Secrets: A -
Influence: She has no influence among the mortal political powers, nor does she desire any. However, she does maintain contact with a number of Gypsy families who use Chicago as their hub of operations (indeed, a number of families live in Chicago full-time). She also has ties to the city's Garou and was instrumental in arranging the truce that ended their attacks.
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: Chicago by Night, p. 80-83
- VTM: Chicago by Night Second Edition, p. 84-86
- VTM: Clanbook: Gangrel Revised, p. 39, 92-93
- VTM: Encyclopaedia Vampirica, p. 92
- VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary, p. 28-30
- ↑ VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary, p. 30