Xaviar was an influential elder of the Gangrel and the last Justicar of his clan. He served from 1712 up until 1999, when he withdrew the Gangrel from the Camarilla.
Biography[]
Early Unlife[]
The fabled “son of the night” began the long, winding path through life, death, and what lay beyond as a sergeant in the army of Edward the Black Prince. A conscripted yeoman commoner of the hotly contested Loire northlands, Xavier de Calais was already well-acquainted with the manner in which the ends might be played against the middle.[1]
Instinct and acumen served him well in those early years. He survived numerous skirmishes and strategically positioned himself as an outwardly subservient adjunct to several lesser contenders, even as he rose slowly in rank and repute.
At Maupertuis near Poitiers, the turning point of what historians would later name the Hundred Years War, Xavier rode with Denis de Morbeke and half a hundred disinherited French footmen. The two vassals led the press and stormed the French gates to secure the English claim and take John the Good prisoner.
Xavier’s valor was rewarded that very evening by two august benefactors: James Lord Audley, who imparted to him a knighthood and some minor coastal holdings, and an unnamed wanderer posing as a jongleur from far-off lands, who inducted the commoner into a ruling class of a very different nature.
It is a sometime tradition of the Gangrel clan to leave its fledglings for a while to roam the world, driven by their self-loathing, some insatiable wanderlust born of the Blood, and perhaps other motivations. Xaviar-born-Xavier received just such an Embrace.
After several hellish nights during which the newly knighted noble learned firsthand the Hunger and the folly of monsters mimicking mortal lives, he fled north to the frozen wastes. There, he learned the thrill of the hunt, the inexpressible desire to pit flesh against flesh until one emerged strongest, the uncertainty that preceded each new battle, and the anticipation of the coming night in which the cycle would begin anew.
Beasts, men, nameless man-monsters fabled to walk the northernmost bergs and ridges — all these and more fell before his fangs.
Xavier might have spent an eternity of nights in that half-human existence, but something awoke inside him. An atavism in his unbeating heart harked back to earlier times — to a game more challenging than the flesh-and-blood variety. This dark, hungry current bid him return to the world of men at the close of the 15th century.
The no-longer-young fledgling journeyed south and collected not a few pelts from the man-wolves that frequented the depths of the Black Forest. (To this night, Xaviar is an insatiable Lupine hunter — his very presence stresses whatever tenuous relations might exist between the werewolves and Kindred in any given province, and it is said that the Lupines remember him in their songs and stories as “Kills-Our-Brothers.”)
For the first time in decades, he encountered others of his kind in the Rhineland, where he learned the importance of recognition, territory, and the centuries-old subterfuge the Camarilla vampires called their Masquerade. He tarried there for some years and listened to their Traditions, their tales of the New World — until the Beast awoke again to stir his soul.
This time, Xaviar’s travels took him into the cursed lands of Eastern Europe and beyond, through the forested Balkans and Turkish tributaries, into the Sudan and southern lands. Some believe that, while the Kanem-Bornu and Songhai empires clashed for control of the nascent nation, Xaviar seated himself deep within the heart of the unexplored southernmost wilderness and enjoyed veneration as a god-king by a people who had never before seen white flesh.
Others insist he sired a score of bastards in that span, many of whom survive to this night — that more Gangrel blood stems from Xaviar than from any other member of the line. Still other accounts maintain that he ran with the lost children of Laibon, gazed upon their burning sands and lightless jungles to learn their secrets, make their forbidden magics.
The truth may well never be known; the patriarch dismisses all such inquiries with a condescending smirk.
It is known, however, that the wanderer’s African sojourn came to an end near the dawn of the 18th century. Xaviar crossed the Atlantic amidst the Puritan incursion and stormed into the first American Conclave (held in 1704 in the port city of Boston).
There, he laid his greatest trophy to date at the feet of the Inner Circle: Elijah, Gangrel Justicar, lost to his own inner demons, at last hunted down like the Beast he had become and destroyed by his kinsman. The Circle of Six provisionally accepted the newcomer into its ranks as an archon, and Xaviar assumed Elijah’s seat on the Justicar Council seven years later.
After that auspicious evening, Xaviar served the Camarilla as justicar from his fortified New Orleans domain (although he leans decidedly toward looking out for his own interests).[1],[1] Unlike so many of his clanmates, the justicar struggled to keep abreast of the changing times.[2][3]
In many ways, his involvement in mortal society was more reminiscent of Ventrue lineage than Gangrel; his command of sociopolitical and technological advancement was remarkable for one so old, and he cultivated an impressive network of contacts during his stay on the continent. (Aksinya Daclau, Gangrel antitribu and heretic Sabbat, is believed to be one of Rhun the Minstrel’s brood, and therefore Xaviar’s “sister” by blood. Neither, however, comments on any such familial or political relationship.)
As with so many of his station, Xaviar’s term as justicar was plagued by detractors. Rumors surrounding Xaviar’s activities and whereabouts ranged from accounts of ultra-high-tech mortal hit squads to would-be witnesses of diablerie and infernal practices to fantastic allegations concerning some “unholy bond with the beasts,” the only source from which Xaviar can still feed following his African excursions.
A handful of questionable affairs and accusations aside, Xaviar’s combination of information brokerage, opportunistic double-dealing, and now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t politicking served him well in the completion of his duties over the past 300 years.
All of which makes recent developments all the more confusing. In 1999, not long after a search-and-destroy operation in which the renegade Smiling Jack was hunted down and brought to justice, Xaviar resigned his commission as justicar and disappeared from Kindred society.
Scant nights later, the Gangrel clan followed suit, renouncing Camarilla membership almost to a vampire. Only Warlord Karsh (who Xaviar openly calls traitor) and a handful of fringe elements remain.
Those few Kindred who have any information (or inclination to speak) on the subject name Xaviar’s testimony concerning the existence of timeless ancients — the Antediluvians of lore — as responsible for the withdrawal.
Eye of Hazimel[]
In 1999[1] (or, alternately, shortly before the Conclave in 1998[4]), Xaviar led a war party of Gangrel in an assault on a bizarre creature that slaughtered and deformed nearly all of the kindred it fought.[5] Xaviar came to believe that the creature was an Antediluvian; when he brought his concerns to the Camarilla, he was rebuffed, with the Camarilla's leadership repeating their claim that the Antediluvians were merely a legend. Incensed, Xaviar announced that his clan was, as of that point, no longer a part of the sect.[6]
He became confident that the Antediluvians of myth exist, and that some of them may once again stalk the night time world. Once again he began to act as sergeant, coordinating packs of Gangrel who stand by his cause. He insisted that they remain mobile, for a moving vampire would be a harder meal for the Antediluvians than one who remains in the city, and he periodically required them to provide "scouting reports" of territory through which they have recently passed. Slowly, Xaviar was amassing an enormous database of supernatural activity. Of course, this database was only in his head; Xaviar would not know a computer if an enemy dropped one on him. But he used to spend hours each night attempting to correlate disparate reports from packs under his command.[7]
Xaviar unsuccessfully attempted to sway the Camarilla's Gangrel warlord Karsh to his side by reminding him of the clan's history and of the portents that their legends held for their future.[8] Karsh and Xaviar came into conflict when Xaviar backed the rogue Brujah Archon Theo Bell in his investigation into a network of Kindred slave traders that was targeting the now-solitary Gangrel clan.[9] Together, Xaviar and Bell surprised and staked the Camarilla Warlord, Karsh, and threw his body into the Atlantic Ocean.
Since leaving the Camarilla, former Justicar Xaviar preached word of the rising Antediluvians to any who listen. He lied low in the Midwest, convincing Gangrel to abandon their meaningless Sects. In the northwest suburbs of Chicago, he assembled a coterie of Gangrel from all banners. These disparate Gangrel worked together to battle the ancients and stem the coming season of Gehenna. Their first mission was to deal with whatever was sleeping beneath the dark waters of Volo Bog—known as the Shadow-sleepers. Later, Xaviar met with Inyanga and the Noddist Cuthbert Beckett to discuss these recent events.
Final Death[]
Xaviar soon gathered a number of prominent Gangrel – including both the Chicago primogen Inyanga, and Mark Decker, the prince of Milwaukee – to ally against the slavers' diabolist Brujah puppet-masters. The small Gangrel "army" they assembled backed them in their assault on the slavers' main compound. Although the slavers were broken and their leaders destroyed, an ancient True Brujah infernalist was able to kill Xaviar using balefire, subsequently ripping out his heart and eating it at the culmination of the battle.[9]
Description[]
Nobody, even fellow Gangrel, listened to Xaviar the first time he spoke. It took marching into a convocation of the Camarilla's biggest players for other Kindred to take notice of him. Though he pulled his Clan out of the sect, it took some time for individual Gangrel to leave as the Clan has little hierarchy and lacks an effective communication network. Some became Autarkis, while many more joined the Anarchs.
Gangrel now share a communal guilt for their initial disbelief of Xaviar's claims and slow reaction to his proclamation, as he met Final Death soon after. Few know if the Camarilla or some other agency slew the mighty Gangrel, but all know their ancestor was wronged. Now they take up his torch and attempt to bring the Gangrel into truth's flickering light.
Loresheet[]
Martyred Ancestor: Other Gangrel treat you with the respect they took too long to afford Xaviar. Despite any personal grievances, you can always find sanctuary with other Gangrel, if any are present in your current domain, at least until you insult them grievously. With them, you have two dots of Status (••).- Where the Bodies Are Buried: Xaviar's experiences with melding through earth, blood, and vitae left a mark on his lineage. Gangrel of his line can make a Resolve + Awareness test to detect whether a vampire has merged with the earth or lays torpid beneath the soil. Difficulty depends on the area you have to search.
- Loyal Hound: You resisted the winds of change, remaining with the Camarilla despite your clan's actions. For your loyalty, the local Camarilla Prince awarded you status, feeding rights, and territory, amounting to four dots you can distribute among Domain, Herd, and Status. Non-Camarilla Gangrel despise you, and even Camarilla vampires of other clans pity your solitude, but you guarantee yourself a voice among the Primogen, should any rebel Gangrel pass through your domain.
- Monstrous Bat: Xaviar's preferred bestial form was once that of a bat, but following his encounter with the Antediluvian, he found his form capable of changing into a hybrid between human and bat. Once per story when the moon is just right, you can take the same form. This man-sized bat has an extra dot in all Physical Attributes and can glide in the air from any height. Biting in this form adds +1 Aggravated damage to mortals and vampires alike.
- Experienced the Antediluvian: Xaviar was not the only Gangrel to sink into the ground and find himself inside his clan founder's vast, inhuman form. You have done the same, and the experience changed you. You are now a little mad, likely suffering from paranoia or claustrophobia. Whenever you call your encounter to mind, you feel your veins rooted to the ground, connecting to every other Gangrel in the world. Once per story, you can sense any Gangrel's location and drain a thimbleful of vitae from them to reset your Hunger level to 2. You must be touching open ground, not concrete, to use this ability.
Appearance[]
Xaviar considers himself one of the noble beasts of the night. As such he only wears clothes when dealing with people – even so he wears loose, comfortable travel clothes; jeans, jackets, T-shirts and other anonymous trappings. Embraced in the field as he was, Xaviar displays a perpetual three days' growth of beard, which he sometimes shaves but usually does not.
His many nights of predation have given rise to many Frenzies, and he has acquired some facial features of a bat. Xaviar moves soundlessly, suggesting that perhaps he has picked up a few other proclivities of bats as well. His hands have become hooked claws, and short, rude spurs protrude from his spine. Despite his bestial appearance, however, Xaviar exudes an aura of majesty appropriate to one of the great creatures of legend about which his sire once sang.
However, the ill-tempered exterior he shows the world conceals both voracious intellect and ruthless ambition. Some of his contemporaries swear by old-fashioned, fairy-tale concepts such as honor, solitude, and stoicism. But not Xaviar! He craves the weapons they would not dare use. He is a climber first and foremost – a competitor, a challenger, a consummate conniver. Whereas others of his kind would prevail through forthright superiority and flowery speeches, he has mastered exploiting weaknesses through the slow, steady erosion of confidence that follows in the wake of chaos. The well-placed word behind the scenes that softens an opponent in preparation for his inevitable strike.
Version differences[]
According to the Guide to the Camarilla and Clanbook: Gangrel Revised,[10] Xaviar pulled the Gangrel out of the Camarilla at the Conclave of 1998, and his reasons for doing so were left purposefully vague. However, in the Clan Novel Saga, this instead occurred at an emergency Conclave that was called in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday, August 7th, 1999, and the event that prompted this action was specifically the slaughter of numerous Gangrel by the Eye of Hazimel.
Character Sheet[]
Image: Considering himself one of the noble beasts of the night, Xaviar has little use for clothes. Still, he finds clothes make it easier to deal with people, so he wears loose, comfortable travel clothes, jeans, jackets, T-shirts and other anonymous trappings when he must. Embraced in the field as he was, Xaviar displays a perpetual three days’ growth of beard, which he sometimes shaves but usually does not. His many nights of predation have given rise to many frenzies, and he has acquired the nose, inky eyes and protruding ears of a bat. Xaviar moves soundlessly, suggesting that perhaps he has picked up a few other proclivities of bats as well. Hishands have become hooked claws, and short, rude spurs protrude from his spine. Despite his bestial appearance, however, Xaviar exudes an aura of majesty appropriate to one of the great creatures of legend about which his sire once sang.
Roleplaying Hints: The ill-tempered exterior you show the world conceals both voracious intellect and ruthless ambition. Some of your contemporaries swear by old-fashioned, fairy-tale concepts such as honor, solitude and stoicism. Let them; you have weapons they would not dare use. You are a climber first and foremost — a competitor, a challenger, a consummate conniver. Whereas others of your kind would prevail through forthright superiority and flowery speeches, you have mastered the exploited weakness, the slow, steady erosion of confidence that follows in chaos’ wake, the well-placed word behind the scenes that softens an opponent in preparation for your inevitable strike. You have never let anything stand in your way, and you are not about to start now.
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Corebook, p. 410
- VTM: Anarch (book), p. 198
- VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary
- VTES: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 VTM: Children of the Night, p. 91-92
- ↑ VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade Rulebook, p. 181
- ↑ VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition, p. 42
- ↑ VTM: Guide to the Camarilla, p. 20, 27
- ↑ VTM: Clan Novel 3: Gangrel, p. 251-268
- ↑ VTM: Clan Novel 5: Ventrue, p. 216-228
- ↑ VTM: Clanbook: Gangrel Revised, p. 94-95
- ↑ VTDA: Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door, p. 37
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 VTM: Clan Novel Trilogy Brujah 3: The Puppet Masters
- ↑ VTM: Clanbook: Gangrel Revised, p. 38-39, 43
