Martin is a Nosferatu with Avondale, Chicago as his domain. He acts as a confidant for the city's vampires.
Biography[]
| “ | Be at ease, you are welcome here. Perhaps your troubles might lessen if you shared them with me. Please, it is truly no bother. | ” |
| — Martin | ||
Mortal Days: Between the Great Wars[]
In the small, Polish-Jewish town of Będzin, Poland, Martin was born a few days before the end of the First World War, a mere few days before his country regained independence after over a century of captivity. These were hard times, full of violence, corruption, and mutual animosity between different peoples. Martin grew up between two cultures. Early on, he learned to read people, to take on their viewpoint and, in turn, shift theirs. In 1936, Martin began his studies in Jagiellonian University in Cracow. There he pursued his fascination with history and medicine. A new fascination surprised Martin, sculpting. More surprising still, he discovered he had some talent for it. Blissfully, he remained unaware of the tragedies to come.
Martin would have surely completed his studies had he not been born in the breath between two great wars. In 1939, the Nazi Germans invaded Poland. The fascist occupants quickly dealt with Polish intelligentsia by taking most of the professors from the University to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Martin joined the Union of Armed Struggle, an underground army formed by the Polish resistance.
It became quickly apparent Martin was not a good soldier, so he found a more indirect way to fight. He taught secret lessons in the Polish language and in history. Martin spent the war hiding from the enemy, looking over his shoulder, and occasionally starving — yet he survived.
The joy of the Allied victory did not last. Poland traded the occupation of fascism for the occupation of communism. Martin did not have the strength for another fight, so he traveled to the United States of America, to Chicago, and joined the largest Polish community outside of Poland.
Kindred Nights: The Empathetic Confidant[]
The Embrace was a blur. Martin cannot say how long he was down there. He never saw his sire, not really. His creator existed only as a voice and figure of indistinct outline in the dark. The voice tutored Martin in the particulars of undeath. The voice summoned food for Martin until he too could perform the trick. The voice too came to this country from faraway lands. The voice could be frightful, but admired Martin’s desire to help others. Eventually, the voice vanished, melting into mystery, and Martin emerged.
Martin continues much as he had in life. He knows how to read people, be they kine or Kindred, to take on their point of view and perhaps sway it. He offers his help when he can. Martin has a knack for easing the troubled hearts of the living and soothing the Beast in the still chests of the hungry dead. His empathy is not completely altruistic. Every soul he helps unburden is another piece of information, another grateful individual. Over decades, the links of this web gradually form. Martin knows how to do things indirectly, from the underground.
This is how Martin has built his modest kingdom — gradually, brick by brick. Rejected Kindred can find sanctuary here. If you have a problem, they say to go to Avondale. Find Martin, they say. He can help you.
Appearance[]
Martin is a lean man, apparently 31 years of age, with black hair and gray eyes. His clan’s curse stretched and distorted his face and hands. He looks like the product of a mad impressionist painter, the painting having been left out in the rain to warp with water damage.
Martin always goes smartly dressed in a variety of three-piece suits. His hands are hidden in leather gloves. High collars and wide hat brims obscure his face.
Character Sheet[]
Martin
Sire: Unknown
Embraced: 1949 (Born 1918)
Ambition: To be a fair judge in Kindred society
Convictions: Courage is the highest virtue
Touchstones: Paul and Paul Jr. — friends from Martin’s mortal life, father and son (kept alive with vitae)
Humanity: 6
Generation: 9th
Blood Potency: 2
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3; Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Composure 2; Intelligence 4, Wits 3, Resolve 3
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 5
Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Craft (Sculpting) 2, Drive 1, Melee 2, Stealth 2, Survival 2; Animal Ken 3, Insight (Empathy) 2, Intimidation 2, Persuasion 3, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 1; Academics (History) 3, Awareness 2, Medicine 3, Occult 2, Politics (Diplomacy) 1
Disciplines: Animalism 5, Obfuscate 3
References[]
- VTM: The Chicago Folios, p. 131-133
