“ | “They will ask you for the impossible, and you will deliver it.
You will show them the Magisters are sincere and devoted to forming a new Camarilla.” |
” |
— Talley the Amici Noctis Legate |
Talley, born as Edmund Fitzhenry, but famously known as "the Hound", is a Lasombra elder of great renown. He was educated by his great-grand sire, the methuselah Boukephos, and was described as a powerful, determined, and efficient individual.
Biography[]
“ | “Our clan is all about survival and victory, old boy. I aim to survive. I aim to win.” | ” |
— Talley the Black Knight |
Mortal Days[]
Talley was born as kin to Lupines, from a family of aberrant and foul werewolves dedicated to despoilment and savagery. Though his blood was that of shapeshifters, he never possessed such a gift. In fact, he was adopted by the human side of his family, a cadet house in service to King Edward II of England.
He was raised to learn the language of battle, of noble service, and the art of diplomacy. Though a bastard, the young Talley — named Edmund Fitzhenry at the time — was well-regarded as a loyal warrior and accomplished hunter. When not fighting in England’s many battles with the House of Valois, he took men into the wildest of rural areas to hunt fierce game, purportedly including Lupines, which he trapped and slew with relish.
Sir Edmund served the House of Plantagenet as a decorated knight, fighting for King Edward III in the Hundred Years’ War. He excelled at his craft, commanding foot soldiers and bowmen, accomplishing great victories for his king, razing French towns, killing their men, and claiming their territory. His name was recorded in history books as one of the most tactically brilliant soldiers of his age, but according to those same history books, he succumbed to the Black Death in France and his body was lost.
Kindred Nights[]
Valdemar was seeking a childe capable of marshaling men and commanding ghouls, and Talley seemed an obvious choice. He never gave the knight an option, stealing him from life as he slept and feeding him sufficient vitae to set him on a bloody purge of an inn’s occupants. Talley awoke into lucidity as a vampire and found it a state of being with which he was eminently comfortable.
From that point on, the vampire that would be known as Talley acted as bodyguard to many notable Lasombra, including his ancient ancestor Boukephos. He followed the clan in its journey to the Sabbat, and even served Archbishops and Cardinals in whichever vile and inhumane ways they directed. Talley never questioned; Talley served until his master fell, his contract concluded, or he was stolen by a more powerful Keeper.
Some underestimated him for this reason. They asked, “What is Talley, a man or a hound?” He wryly adopted the nickname “the Hound” from that point on, only dropping it when it entered into parlance as a Camarilla title. When his sire Valdemar died in a grab of power, Talley was content to serve another patron and, after some timewithed the nickname “the Hound” as a sneer at those who underestimated him.
The reason behind Talley’s centuries of servitude was one of pragmatism: he saw what happened when vampires claimed thrones - within months or years, someone inevitably came to steal their position, while by serving, he could also have anything he wanted, with the perk of not having a target on his back. He dodged positions of power and influence for as long as he could, but given his brilliant work record, the Amici Noctis pressed him into the role of a Sabbat Templar in order to root out all failures and embarrassments from within the clan.
At the end of the 20th century, the Hound was still under orders of Cardinal Monçada, who had already commanded him in several assignments. Lucita recalls having met Talley in 1920 in the city of New York, when Monçada sent him to rid the night of a troublesome vampire named Karl who had been noisily disrupting a few of the archbishop's long-range plans. Unfortunately, Karl was also the kindred responsible for much of Lucita's amusement at the time, and she took exception to the attempt to remove him before she was finished.
Their duel was long and bloody, sparking a brawl in the tenements and speakeasies to rival the infamous Dead Rabbit Riot. At the heart of it, the two ancient children of shadow had torn at each other with unimaginable fury, cloaking an entire city block in impenetrable darkness. The newspaper reports talked of broken power lines as an explanation, but in truth, it had been Lucita and Talley hunting each other in the dark, fueling themselves with the lives of the hundreds trapped within their battlefield.
Lucita won, barely. Karl had been wounded but slipped away during the fury of her counterattack. She had later learned that he had fled the country, and had been destroyed by Talley in Vancouver, in 1934. By that time, of course, she had long since ceased to care. Talley himself had left the scene exhausted but relatively unscathed, leaving her with a mocking bow and an expression of regards for her sire. And she had stumbled out of the tenements, weary but more or less triumphant, and thoroughly convinced that Talley was, if not her equal, then at least one of the more frightening opponents she had ever faced.
In 1999, Cardinal Monçada once again commanded Talley on a mission, but this time to protect Sascha Vykos, Borges, and Francisco Domingo de Polonia from an assassination attempt to be performed by his own childe, Lucita de Aragón, as well as protect them from each other during the siege of the East Coast of America. In fact, Talley was not there to safeguard the unlives of the Archbishops, but to search for the traitor who was pulling those strings – he was not supposed to destroy Lucita, but the Cardinal said nothing about a beating.
At that opportunity, Talley took the exact opposite role – a bodyguard, while Lucita would play the assassin. The childe of Monçada eventually succeeded in her attempt against Archbishop Borges, after taking advantage of a little opening created by Sascha Vykos. However, despite Talley himself being ashamed of his performance, Cardinal Monçada considered that the Templar's mission goals had been completely fulfilled. Most of the Lasombra do not know enough about the encounter to assess it, but they conclude that circumstances of which they are unaware of kept Talley from being a sufficient challenge for Lucita, since the elder still holds a position of honor and the Amici Noctis find his conduct satisfactory.
After Monçada's Final Death, Talley appears to have had a temporary crisis of faith, wondering why he put up with serving those he despised instead of using his power for personal gain. To ask for insights on this matter, he sought out Camarilla archon Theo Bell, whom he believed to be in a similar situation due to his hatred for his own superior, Justicar Jaroslav Pascek. Bell told Talley that he simply did his job because he had decided, for himself, that it was worth doing. Talley, dissatisfied with the answer, deliberately broke the Masquerade to test Bell. He was impressed when Bell decided to put his personal desire to strike Talley down aside in favor of preserving the Masquerade by chasing after a witness. Later, Talley appeared once more to Bell to admit that Bell had been right. Afterwards, the Hound soon returned to service, becoming a Bishop of the Sabbat.
He Embraced when he wanted to, claimed vessels when he needed to, and spent as much coin as he had to. Talley was one of the Sword of Caine’s most honored and revered blades, known for his ruthless ability on the battlefield and in close quarters. He would have made a fine soldier in the Gehenna Crusade.
That’s where things changed. In the early 21st century, Talley entered the service of Marcus Vitel, the Lasombra ruler of Washington, D.C. who wasn’t interested in the Gehenna Crusade and cautioned Talley to remain aloof from Sabbat politics. Under the Amici Noctis instructions, Talley defended a select few Lasombra powerbases around the world, and furthered his clan's more arcane plans while many of his clanmates fell to slaughter in North Africa and the Middle East. Only in 2018 did Talley receive a new assignment from the Friends of the Night: selecting Lasombra delegates to parley with the Camarilla and negotiate the clan's entry into that sect.
He was the man possessing the greatest familiarity with North American Lasombra activities and personalities, and he would be the one responsible for planning out their offerings, even if it required the spilling of blood. Some Lasombra would have rebuked the instruction, declared their elders traitors to the Blood, and rallied a new clan rebellion. Not Talley.
Steady despite the enormous task before him, Talley followed his instructions to the latter by handpicking his childer, Sierra and Malenkov, for the task in Chicago, and also choosing a dozen other Magisters for domains including L.A., Seattle, Houston, and Philadelphia.
He feels unrattled by the news that he will soon belong to a new sect.
Talley serves. He serves with a smile. He intends for his clan to survive all others and for him to win, and he has an unerring sense for the way the tide is rolling. The Hound, being able to make Lasombra vampires accepted in at least half of the domains to which he was assigned, became known as the peacemaker between the Lasombra and the The Clan of Kings. At this point, anything he asks of the Amici Noctis will likely become a reality.
He strives to make the deals a success, going so far as to sabotage domains to make the Night Clan seem more vital to the Camarilla cause. Already, he leaks words to law enforcement agencies regarding Kindred havens and activities. He cares little for their fates, except to highlight that even the subtlest of vampires isn’t safe from the Second Inquisition.
On the back of this, he encourages his Legates — the title his diplomats use — to emphasize how effective the Lasombra could be at strangling or deflecting scrutiny from the Church or the government.
Talley intends to stay on the periphery of Chicago affairs while his childer do the legwork, but he knows there’s a largely subdued sept of werewolves in the city.
It’s been some time since he went hunting, and the anarchic part of his soul pushes him to rile them up with a murdered Lupine here, a tortured kinfolk there, and maybe a wolf pelt displayed somewhere vulgar. Hunting has always been his vice. Talley’s never been able to say no to the chance of a challenging fight.
Him hasn’t stopped serving Vitel, though Vitel does not serve the Amici Noctis. Talley is playing a dangerous game, weighing up the threat of betraying either party. He’s not given to breaking a contract, but is aware of how Vitel is successfully plugged into many mortal intelligence agencies, while the Amici Noctis concern themselves more with Kindred affairs. Talley needs to decide whether it’s possible to continue serving both and who it benefits to move one way or the other.
Description[]
Cold, professional, and possessing a rare specialty in both bodyguarding and murdering, the Lasombra idolize Talley, while most vampires outside the Night Clan despise him. To hear him tell it, Talley was among the first Lasombra to join the Sabbat as a way of breaking the elders’ chains. Now that he’s an elder, his view hasn’t changed much. He feels a vampire can never stop punching up at unworthy masters, and these nights, it just so happens the Camarilla are better placed to do so than the degenerated Sabbat and the chaotic Anarch Movement. Representing an assortment of powerful Lasombra, Talley participates in talks tonight permitting Keepers into the Camarilla’s ranks. Word is, he put the flame to Lucita at the Camarilla’s command and did so without hesitation. Unfortunately for Talley, it seems he’s soon to be hung out to dry by the very masters he’s served so diligently for centuries.
Loresheet[]
Recognize the Signs: Like Talley, you have a sense of when danger approaches, and it’s time to change allegiance or flee a domain. Once per story, if an action is likely to cause a severe social backlash, the Storyteller will tell you at your request.
Secret Communications: Talley’s mastery over the sub-channels of Kindred communication allows him to operate as a highly successful assassin, existing outside the Camarilla hierarchical chain. You know of these channels and can claim a prominent member of the Camarilla (such as a Prince) as a three-dot Mawla for use in a single session per chronicle. How you treat this contact is up to you, but blackmail or warm relations will produce different results.
Tangled Strings: You do not fight the elders like the Sabbat or the Anarchs. Instead, you seek to manipulate the masters from beneath. Gain two bonus dice to Intelligence and Wits dice pools when seeking to determine whether you’re being manipulated. Gain two additional bonus dice to your Social dice pool if you ever attempt to directly manipulate the person attempting to control you.
Trained Killer: Talley acts as your mentor in the art of killing, either because his current master requested it or because you paid his high price yourself. Once per chronicle, Talley counts as a Mawla (••••) and can supply you with access to his transportable armory on the same night. This armory allows you to purchase automatic weapons, explosives, blades, and even flamethrowers, provided you have the cash.
Personal Defender: Talley is your bodyguard. You have already arranged payment, whether in cash, favors, or blood, and for the time being, Talley is your loyal defender. He will accompany you anywhere, casting no judgment and offering no counsel unless you request it. Once the contract ends at the end of the session, Talley will speak of no sins he witnessed you perpetrate.
Appearance[]
Talley’s a slender, white male appearing in his early 30s. His short, thin white-gray hair complements his pale skin and blue eyes. The most striking thing about Talley is the tattoo on the top of his head, visible through his hair. This spiraling sigil is in fact a brand. Soot was rubbed into the wound to make it scar and turn a vivid black.
Talley still considers himself nobility on some level, and so always dresses to impress. One of his rare indulgences comes in the form of designer suits, shoes, and watches. He has a tailor on retainer but has yet to summon this ghoul to Chicago.
Talley speaks in a cultured British accent, which is affected. He often laces sentences with warm familiarities, such as “old boy” or “dear woman,” just to offset his cold appearance. His general manner is one of charm and sarcasm, concealing his ability to kill with just about any apparatus.
Talley’s sense of humor leads him to don several Masks made from the identities of deceased serial killers. He’s used identities such as Herman Mudgett, Carl Panzram, and Fred West. His current epithet is Hawley Crippen, pharmacist, and he carries a case of drug samples to back it up.
Sheet[]
Backgrounds Sheet[]
Motel 46
(Allies 4, Contacts 3, Haven 1, Herd 2)
Talley stays in a motel near Midway Airport and has quickly gotten into the heads of staff and guests to ensure he is not disturbed unless in case of an emergency, in which case they are to serve as his human shields. He has no issues regarding his squalid accommodation.
(Retainers 3)
Talley liberated a handful of ghouls from a vampire pack that once inhabited a strip club in D.C. He keeps these bouncers and bodyguards armed but at a distance, and has no desire to speak with any of them except in the form of orders.
Vitel’s Credit
(Resources 4)
Talley has access to a credit line from Marcus Vitel, along with a plane under Vitel’s ownership currently kept in a hangar at Midway Airport. His main reticence against spending too much money is that he doesn’t like Vitel to know everywhere he’s been.
Washington, D.C.
(Allies 4, Contacts 3, Haven 5, Herd 4, Influence 2)
Though distant from his home base, Talley represents not only his clan but also the domain of Washington, D.C. Where he goes, most government agents look the other way. Such is the power of his patron, the capital’s Emperor. He doesn’t have access to all his materiel, vessels, and allies immediately, but if his existence was compromised and he couldn’t handle the situation personally, he’d call in the big guns and say, “fuck Chicago.”
Trivia[]
- Talley possesses a real affection for his childe, Sierra. He admires the way she grew in an adverse environment, her choices of when to strike out, and her loyalty to the clan. If she was in danger, he would feel inclined to step in.
- Talley feels an odd sense of kinship with the Sheriff, Damien. The sense of obligation the Brujah feels to serve is similar to what Talley feels, only from the outside looking in, Talley can see how easily such blind servitude erodes morality and free will.
- Talley doesn’t like the cultist Keeper one bit. In his groundwork for the diplomatic mission, he personally scoured Chicago clean of Lasombra who might cast his Legates in a bad light, but the Amici Noctis specifically said to keep Basaras around, without clarification as to why.
- Vitel told Talley of a pair of warring ancients in Chicago, and he’s followed the clues back to Helena. He has no issue with the Toreador demigoddess, but is conscious she may attempt to interfere with his plans.
- There’s something admirable about Jackson, but Talley struggles to find it beneath his coat of slime. Talley’s frank about his intent in most things, but finds Jackson’s “appeal to the Camarilla, execute those who don’t appeal to me” philosophy disappointing.
- They say Jackson’s appointed a new Hound, this one from Clan Lasombra.
- Talley is older than Francisco Domingo de Polonia, the former Archbishop of New York.
- The Hound likes to hunt Lupines in the Black Forest during his vacations.
- It is said that even Fatima al-Faqadi respects Talley's abilities, and Fatima had little respect for any Franj.
- Talley regularly expresses his distaste for intrigue and his frustration at the Sabbat's disunity. Combined with his apparently high self-control and dedication to duty, it is possible that he once followed the Path of Honorable Accord, especially considering his final encounter with Bell.
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: Clan Novel Saga
- VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary, p. 50-53, 59, 184-196, 200, etc.
- VTM: Chicago by Night 5th Edition, p. 134-137