Josef Zvi was a Nosferatu elder and Prince of Prague from 1199 CE until the late 1930s.
Biography[]
Josef was born and raised in the Jewish Quarter of Prague. The son of a rabbi, he expected to follow in his father's footsteps. When he was twelve, his father grew ill and died. His dreams of scholarship died with him as he was apprenticed to a butcher to support his family.
Violence against Jews was not uncommon, and Josef suffered most brutally one night when a gang of Christian boys crushed half his head in, broke and smashed his nose, and dislocated his jaw. He would have died if not for his Embrace by the Nosferatu Yehuda. The Cainite asked Josef, still on the brink of death, if he desired revenge, but Josef said he did not. Yehuda asked if Josef would defend others from such brutality to which Josef could only squeeze the Nosferatu's hand in response.
After Yehuda taught Josef what he needed to know of Cainite existence, the Nosferatu elder headed east, leaving his childe behind. Josef took up the cause of the ghetto, protecting its rabbi and people. Violence against Jews was ecked out in turn by the Nosferatu avenger. The other Cainites of Prague largely ignored the ghetto, so Josef was able to claim it as de facto domain.
His great shame was, however, that he was partially responsible for the violence against his people. He was cursed with an irresistible desire for the blood of children and so he feeds exclusively from Christian and pagan youth. He cannot help himself, though he regrets the death of children when it inevitably occurs. In the late 12th century, Josef assisted the Promethean Brujah to reach a sanctified reliquary beneath the Cathedral of St. Vitus, by leading them through the underground tunnels home to several hostile Nosferatu.
Constant power struggles between Prince Rudolf Brandl and Josef over his domain eventually led to an ultimatum. Open the Jewish Quarter to Brandl's allies to feed or face destruction. Josef stood his ground and faced the Final Death that night by the minions of the Ventrue Prince of Prague. Instead, Josef fled into the catacombs under Prague Castle, which was Brandl's haven, and waited until the sunrise. Then, under cover of day he crept out from the tunnels and slayed the prince while he slept.
In the ensuing power vacuum, Josef was able to gain sufficient allies from the Brujah Ecaterina the Wise, and Garinol the Cappadocian, to secure Prague for himself, This ensured Prague would remain a safe haven for Jews in Europe for the next 740 years of his reign. The other deciding factor in Josef's claim to Prague was his unholy alliance with Shaagra the Destroyer, though few knew of this affiliation with the Tzimisce Methuselah. Shaagra thought that Zvi was its pawn, but in secret, the Nosferatu fed the Tzimisce distorted information to keep it asleep.
Little is known of Josef's long rule of Prague until modern nights, nor if his taste for Christian and Pagan children abated or ceased. What is known is that he fell to Final Death by Nazi flamethrowers even as he led local resistance against their regime in the 1930s.
Character Sheet[]
Image: Josef is of medium height and build. His head is lopsided, crushed in on the left side, and part of his jaw is missing, revealing rotten teeth on the right side. His nose is little more than a flattened blob, and his whole body is bent forward and twisted. Josef’s skin hangs loosely on his frame and has a peculiar yellow-gray coloration with splotches of brown on it. Ironically, his hair remains dark and wavy and his eyes are a translucent green. He prefers to wear long cloaks and hoods that conceal as much of him as possible.
Roleplaying Hints: You are the avenger. As the hope for your people’s survival in the face of Christian persecution, you are charged with protecting the ghetto and exacting punishment on those who harm your charges. Despite your noble intentions, however, you are addicted to the blood of Christian children. You must satisfy that thirst, even though you realize that Christians are beginning to blame the Jews for your depredations. Somehow, you must find a way to stop yourself. Until you do, you comfort yourself by rationalizing that the ones you kill will not grow up to victimize your people.
Haven: Josef’s haven is beneath the Jewish Cemetery in an unmarked, forgotten grave.
Secrets: Josef knows that Rabbi ben Judah is the creator of the golem that patrols the Jewish Quarter. He also knows how to destroy the golem. He has moved unseen through the lower reaches of Vysehrad and knows that a Methuselah sleeps somewhere within the cave system. Furthermore, he has spent much time seeking out and memorizing the secret passages in Prague Castle.
Influence: Josef has great influence in the ghetto and among the university teachers, though most of this influence is wielded through correspondence. He spends many hours writing long letters (as if from a scholar living elsewhere) to teachers, letters in which he postulates theories and discusses the Torah, the Kabbalah and other esoteric knowledge.
Destiny: Rudolf Brandl tires of Josef’s isolationist stance, ordering the Nosferatu to open the ghetto and allow Brandl’s allies to feed there. Josef refuses. Brandl sends a chosen group of ghouls to rout Josef from his hiding place during the day, but they arrive to find Josef gone. That evening Josef attacks Brandl in his chambers in Prague Castle, having gained entry through the secret passageways the Nosferatu long ago memorized. Killing Brandl, he reaches an accommodation with the Premysls and becomes the new Prince of Prague. He falls to Nazi flamethrowers as a member of a local resistance group in the late 1930s.
Gallery[]
References[]
- DAV: Dark Ages Europe, p. 66-68
- VTDA: Transylvania by Night, p. 85-86
- VTDA/VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption