Vampires Wanted

Summary:

They're going to make you an offer you can't refuse.

Vampires Wanted

RavenB 16 Dec 2006 05:04

As has already been stated in the Writer's Bible, Talia's Vampire Syndicate is the largest business venture in the Empire of Metamor, and the world's largest criminal operation as well. With vast holdings across a broad variety of sectors — criminal, "grey" and legitimate alike — the vamps have to be taken into account in any story of the magnitude that we're planning.

We'll discuss the role of the Syndicate in the story in another thread. For here and now, I need your help coming up with characters, personalities to fill the rosters of the undead criminal empire. I'm particularly interested in coming up with the major players in and around Metamor City, since that's where most of the action is going to be happening.

Take a look at the Writer's Bible entry and then let's start brainstorming:

• We need a regional prince in charge of operations in Metamor City.
• We need a few special agents who might show up and cause havoc.
• We need to figure out the major scions who are competing for power in the City — who they are, what they control, and what they want but don't have yet.
• We need a few people among the lower ranks of the Syndicate: a captain or two for each scion, a few key lieutenants, and any particularly interesting or colorful enforcers, specialists and underlings.

We don't need huge amounts of detail on all of these characters; we'll need to flesh out the prince and the scions a bit in terms of their goals, alliances and rivalries, but just having names, descriptions, and one or two key personality should be enough for the low-level types. Get creative and see what you can come up with; once we have some idea of who the players are, we'll be able to start working them into the stories as needed.

Re: Vampires Wanted

Cubist 17 Dec 2006 07:57

Vampires should obviously be in charge of wine cellars — sorry, I meant "blood banks". The vamp community in MK2K seems to have gotten a dose of enlightened self-interest, in that they know that those puny mortals will rise up and waste them if they (the vamps) get too greedy; it's not too far a stretch to think that vamps might also have a strong interest in medical science. After all, a predator wants their prey to be healthy, right? If MK2K has HMOs, I'll bet a goodly chunk of them are vampire-run…

Re: Vampires Wanted

RavenB 17 Dec 2006 18:03

<nods> I agree. The vampires have a religious/charitable organization, the Church of Eternal Brotherhood, which acts as a front for many of their operations. The CEB is a Universalist faith that focuses its teachings on the universal brotherhood of all sentient races, using blood as a symbol for this shared life and common bond. Charity operations run by the CEB engage in a tireless battle against blood-borne diseases, promoting the health and well-being of the cattle — err, that is to say, the mortal population.

Most people know that vampires tend to be common members of the CEB, but few suspect that they actually run the church; it is assumed that the CEB's doctrine simply fits well with a vampire's view of the world, and that they are drawn into it for that reason. Conspiracy theorists who argue that the doctrine fits a vampire's views entirely too well are usually laughed at or otherwise dismissed by average folks; remember, the typical citizen has no idea that the Syndicate exists, or that they are so thoroughly organized. Even those who know that the local mob boss is a vampire may not suspect that he answers to a chain of command that leads all the way up to Talia herself.

Naturally Akkala, the imperial Minister of Health and the founder of the International Red Spiral, knows all too well what Talia is up to. On the whole, though, she recognizes that the CEB is doing a lot of good, and that Talia does an admirable job of keeping her children restrained most of the time. The IRS (heh) would rather coordinate with the CEB and share the relief efforts than engage in a futile turf war that wouldn't benefit their patients at all.

Interestingly enough, while the vamps are taking the lead on relief efforts and some types of medical technology, many of the actual doctors and hospitals in Metamor and Quenardya are part of Senadyne Medical Services Group, which is run by the Psi Collective. As has been noted elsewhere, the psis and vamps despise each other. If the vamps do run HMOs, they probably either deny their customers access to Senadyne facilities — which would suck, since they're the best in the world — or allow access to them only in dire cases, at which point the psis will gleefully overcharge the vamps for every dek they can squeeze out of them. :)

Re: Vampires Wanted

mgcady 09 Jul 2010 13:35

Kim the Comicbook Goddess and I have an idea for a vamp character (and it's your fault, Raven/Chris… you'll see why in a few lines. grin). But we need a story for her to help flesh her out (I think we'll have a name by the time the SSDWC not-party is over)…

Either lower rank Syndicate (underling or low-level specialist), or maybe a member of the Church of the Eternal Brotherhood that has Syndicate contacts/friends/lineage connections.

One of the things she does on a regular basis, for fun, for hunting, and for business only when she has to… is to go clubbing. In bright, shiny clubs with dance-floors and pounding music. Wearing perky-goth style clothes…. and glitter. Lots of glitter. Not illusion based glitter… the real stuff. And while it's a pain to clean up properly (with the OCD that all vamps seem to inherit), she feels like using illusion for the visual effect would "just be cheating".

There's something that you said at Balticon would never happen, because your vampires don't sparkle. But… this one does. evil laugh

Last edited on 25 Jul 2010 19:25 by mgcady Show more

Re: Vampires Wanted

mgcady 09 Jul 2010 13:46

bah… should have been a response to the main post in the thread… *sigh*

Re: Vampires Wanted

RavenB 11 Jan 2007 02:28

I don't have much defined about them yet, but I've created a few Syndicate figures for my current story-in-progress, "Making the Cut", and I figured I'd put them up here for reference until we have enough to build an actual wiki page for them.

Malcolm ard'Valos: The regional prince in charge of Metamor City. This is possibly the single most powerful post in the Syndicate below Talia herself, and Malcolm is an extremely old and extremely powerful vamp from a distinguished noble family.

William Westerson: A Syndicate captain who acts as the "intelligence czar" for Malcolm's outfit. He is the CEO of Viscount Security Solutions, a private security firm whose headquarters are located on the fourth skyway level in Metamor City. Viscount's HQ is a veritable fortress, the demonstration model for many of the firm's best defensive systems. A vault in the heart of the office is used to house sensitive information that Westerson collects on the Syndicate's pawns and enemies.

Evan/Eva Selindi: Though not a vampire or even a true member of the Syndicate, the human androgyne known variously as Evan or Eva is a "fixer", a charismatic dealmaker who knows a lot of people and specializes in pulling together Street-level talent for missions. S/he's also a very capable con artist in his/her own right, and often acts as a "faceman" for jobs that require a delicate touch. Whether you need to smuggle a sensitive package into town unseen, fence a hot piece of merchandise, buy forged documents, or hire a swoop gang to deliver a "message" to a rival, Selindi knows how to make it happen. S/he walks a fine line between the various factions in Metamor City, trying to be valuable enough to everyone that no one wants to eliminate him/her.