Name: Lampdevil Personal Journal:lampdevil Contact Info: AIM: geenacorbell | lampdevil Other Characters Played: Doofenshmirtz, Nyanpire, Dakki Sigal, Picky Preferred Housing: I've talked with Inku and if Daniel Chroma gets apped in this round, we'd like to have them living in the same household.
Character Name: Natalie Waters Character Age: 25 (was embraced at 20) Background: Natalie was originally designed for a Vampire: the Requiem game. Although her canon could be said to be the New World of Darkness setting in general, other characters of this sort have been allowed under the classification of OC.
Natalie Audet was born in 1986 in Rosemont, in eastern Canada, to a large working class family. She had two older brothers, one older sister, and one younger brother. All of which made it easy to get lost in the shuffle. They were Christmas-and-Easter Catholics, which didn't really count for much. Dad drank, mom tried desperately to hold it all together, grandma Audet moved in eventually... The household was noisy and crowded. Christmasses and birthdays were lean, hand me downs were the norm. Being not quite the youngest could be difficult. Little brother took up the "baby" spot, older brothers and sister picked on you, someone else was always getting the biggest cupcake, the most allowance, the most hugs...
It was an environment that let Natalie draw into herself easily. She loved the library, loved her quiet spot under the porch in the summer, loved to write stories and come up with imaginary, fanciful things. Stories about magic were great. REAL books about it, like.. that Wicca stuff, those were the BEST. Even if she had to keep them hidden from mom and grandma, for fear of punishment. Academically, she was bright. No genius, but always able to pull good grades. It was one of the few things she could use to get some recognition around the house. Her brothers Tyler and Will were certainly no scholars, already getting into trouble for setting things on fire and harassing the local wildlife. Her older sister Julie always seemed shallow and uninterested in using her brain for anything, relying on her looks and charm. Little brother Johnny... well, he was almost always little enough to just disregard. He could be alright, when he stopped crashing toy cars together and making explody noises. Her family and their reputation made it hard to make and keep friends.. at least, make and keep GOOD ones. She learned early on that friendship was fickle, lasting only as long as the test answers or your pack of jelly beans.
The family had little money to speak of, what with layoffs running rampant in that corner of the country. Tyler dropped out of school to work and help the household, Will got himself thrown in jail, Julie got knocked up in 9th grade and that was that, Johnny seemed to care more about his Playstation than anything else... but Natalie graduated with high marks in 2004, snagged herself a scholarship, and got the hell out. The University of Harbourvale was affordable enough on her scholarship money, student loan money, and the part time job that she took.
As many do when striking out on their own, Natalie began to grow and... if not blossom, sprout and bud. In new circumstances, free from the baggage of her family and her smalltown past, she made friends and followed new interests. In the city, it was easy to find other people interested in Paganism and the occult. As wonderful as it was to find like-minded people, Natalie came to learn that most were not as deep and devoted as she had hoped. Few of them took their altars and rites and worship seriously. Too many seemed to be in it for frivolous power or just to get laid. She searched desperately for something genuine... and as luck would have it in such a grim world, she found herself pulled into the circle of a frightfully genuine Pagan cult. It was more of a blood-harvesting venture for a vampire by the name of Jacob Waters, but that mattered little to Natalie. This was something REAL that he was giving to them, as far as she could tell. Something raw and powerful and purposeful. Jacob worked genuine blood magic for his cultists, and he had an enormous, terrifying presence. In Natalie's eyes, he was meant to be worshiped and obeyed and adored. Though she entered the circle as an anxious and eager neophyte, watered with blood and ritual she bloomed into an eager leader and organizer.
Her studies didn't... suffer, really, but literature and history seemed far less fascinating than before. Natalie failed a class here, made up for it there, overslept after long nights doing things best not spoken of to outsiders, and otherwise was academically iffy. But she did manage to wrestle a BA in English out of the institution... and from there, decisions had to be made. Continue along with the cult? Absolutely! Find a better job than the one answering phones and kissing butt at some uptown advertising company? That was a priority, as the hours were really cutting in to her cult time. And... what was this extremely important matter that the Blood God Himself (Or y'know, Mr. Jacob Waters) needed of her?
The turbulent times were well under way for Saint John's kindred community. Natalie and the other cultists had little clue, other than their leader's presence being rarer and rarer. It was Natalie, however, that he chose to take aside and show something very special. She had done well, very well, and he needed an assistant. A protege. A child. Someone that could at watch his back in these crazy times, and be an anchor for his already rapidly-slipping morality. He explained the life of a vampire with absolute honesty, explained that she would have to drink blood, would likely kill others, would never see the sun, would someday grow distant from the rest of humanity. She accepted the consequences, and agreed to a final cult ritual. She was to be "sacrificed" before the others, her throat and wrists slashed and her blood collected. And just as she was on the edge of death, a drop of Jacob's vitae was passed over her lips, transforming her into a new vampire.
A new unlife had to begin for her. Jacob was a Nosferatu, a sub-type of vampire prone to disfigurements. Natalie's skin immediately took on the same reddened-and-cracked texture that his had, mostly focused on her wrists and neck. A day job and office work were now impossible. She took money from her sire, tapped her meager savings, begged and borrowed and cajoled, and bought some run-down housing property in the North End of the city. She went from office lady to landlady. Scary landlady that only had her offices open in the evenings, had a skin condition, and immensely preferred that all business be conducted through the "maintenance guy" that lived for cheap in the first floor apartment. She became a budding slumlord (slumlady?), but that was fine with her. Image was unimportant. The exact source of income was unimportant. Occult knowledge and helping Mr. Waters... Father... THAT was important. She shared an underground haven with her sire during the day, but had an actual apartment in one of the the buildings that she owned. It was rarely occupied, but was there in the off chance she wanted to watch a little TV or invite some guests over.
When the hard times ended and Saint John's kindred community finally came back together, Natalie wasn't immediately sure what to make of it. Other vampires seemed... friendly enough, pleasant enough, sociable enough. She was anxious of making any social missteps, so she mostly kept to herself. Father, being a busy and ambitious man with things to do about the city, supported this. She served as his eyes and ears, and as an excuse and a prop for many small plots. She befriended the terrifying Sandoval Crane, and she came to know the wise elder vampire Shenango through involvement with the mother Goddess worshiping Circle of the Crone.
Pleasant gatherings and trust in those around her came to an abrupt end, however, when Father was bloodhunted and killed. Never mind that everyone had already wanted to do it anyway, never mind that everyone knew that Jacob Waters wanted to kill Prince Doyle and take Harbourvale for his own. Never mind that he may have 'had it coming'. Father was the only stable thing in her life, the only thing that had meaning, and his loss shook Natalie and changed her. She declared her name to be "Natalie Waters". She wore his tie. She made no secret of her hatred of Doyle and his associates, and her desire to bring terrible vengeance upon them all. And why should this disturb them, she wondered? The monsters still have their tea party, and play nice, and nothing ever, EVER comes of it, yes? She knew that her nights were numbered. But frankly, she didn't care.
While this new Natalie seemed to disturb some of those around her, her particular flavor of unwell failed to provoke anyone's ire to the point where anyone did anything about it. Her acting out mostly consisted of vulgar words and table-flipping. She was kept around out of a mixture of pity and apathy. Left to her own devices, she worked hard within the Circle of the Crone and rose slightly in status and occult power. She grew closer to her covenant-mate Kyuss, a fellow reject and oddity, and the two became this close to being some sort of... dynamic troublemaking duo. Or maybe a comedy team. Though she loathed to have to actually trust someone, she found that she could trust him, if just for his pliability and naivete. He WAS the first to be counted on when hunters infiltrated the non-haven apartment that she kept for herself.
Harbourvale's political game closely resembled Calvinball. Prince Doyle was shifted out for another... and then another, and yet another, and others were banished and others were killed.... Natalie found herself requested to take on the position of Harpy by Prince Samuel, a court member responsible for keeping tally of boons and favors, and of stirring the political pot. And she was fortunate enough to get to keep the position after Samuel was ousted in favor of Ulric. Oh, and the matter of Doyle? He brought himself to an end, giving into his core vampire nature and falling to the Beast in the middle of Elysium. It delighted Natalie to no end that she landed one of the killing blows upon him. Vengeance was hers! Hers! But in the wake of that, she found herself almost rudderless. The prospect of long nights without an explicit goal was faintly terrifying. She took off Father's tie. She visited other cities, and made connections with other vampires. And then she started paying attention to what Ulric was doing. Because it appeared that he was going completely mad.
A child becomes a wild teenager, and a wild teenager matures into an adult. And Natalie found herself staring vampiric adulthood in the face as she watched Ulric's court go gradually bugfuck off-the-rails broken all around her. Calvinball was once again in session, with Ulric making up piles of new rules. No safe Elysium for meetings. No real court positions. Dispensing with the old method of feeding ground distribution and dividing up the choicest spots to his biggest supporters. She found herself in the position of very much understanding where her sire once stood, but also found herself without the support and resources to oppose the mad Prince. Too stubborn to leave Harbourvale and too fascinated with the impending trainwreck of Ulric hosting the national kindred Consillium, Natalie stands to the side. Whatever happens, it will be spectacular, and she hopes to be able to craft herself something better from the ashes.
Natalie Waters | Original Character
Personal Journal:
Contact Info: AIM: geenacorbell |
Other Characters Played: Doofenshmirtz, Nyanpire, Dakki Sigal, Picky
Preferred Housing: I've talked with Inku and if Daniel Chroma gets apped in this round, we'd like to have them living in the same household.
Character Name: Natalie Waters
Character Age: 25 (was embraced at 20)
Background: Natalie was originally designed for a Vampire: the Requiem game. Although her canon could be said to be the New World of Darkness setting in general, other characters of this sort have been allowed under the classification of OC.
Natalie Audet was born in 1986 in Rosemont, in eastern Canada, to a large working class family. She had two older brothers, one older sister, and one younger brother. All of which made it easy to get lost in the shuffle. They were Christmas-and-Easter Catholics, which didn't really count for much. Dad drank, mom tried desperately to hold it all together, grandma Audet moved in eventually... The household was noisy and crowded. Christmasses and birthdays were lean, hand me downs were the norm. Being not quite the youngest could be difficult. Little brother took up the "baby" spot, older brothers and sister picked on you, someone else was always getting the biggest cupcake, the most allowance, the most hugs...
It was an environment that let Natalie draw into herself easily. She loved the library, loved her quiet spot under the porch in the summer, loved to write stories and come up with imaginary, fanciful things. Stories about magic were great. REAL books about it, like.. that Wicca stuff, those were the BEST. Even if she had to keep them hidden from mom and grandma, for fear of punishment. Academically, she was bright. No genius, but always able to pull good grades. It was one of the few things she could use to get some recognition around the house. Her brothers Tyler and Will were certainly no scholars, already getting into trouble for setting things on fire and harassing the local wildlife. Her older sister Julie always seemed shallow and uninterested in using her brain for anything, relying on her looks and charm. Little brother Johnny... well, he was almost always little enough to just disregard. He could be alright, when he stopped crashing toy cars together and making explody noises. Her family and their reputation made it hard to make and keep friends.. at least, make and keep GOOD ones. She learned early on that friendship was fickle, lasting only as long as the test answers or your pack of jelly beans.
The family had little money to speak of, what with layoffs running rampant in that corner of the country. Tyler dropped out of school to work and help the household, Will got himself thrown in jail, Julie got knocked up in 9th grade and that was that, Johnny seemed to care more about his Playstation than anything else... but Natalie graduated with high marks in 2004, snagged herself a scholarship, and got the hell out. The University of Harbourvale was affordable enough on her scholarship money, student loan money, and the part time job that she took.
As many do when striking out on their own, Natalie began to grow and... if not blossom, sprout and bud. In new circumstances, free from the baggage of her family and her smalltown past, she made friends and followed new interests. In the city, it was easy to find other people interested in Paganism and the occult. As wonderful as it was to find like-minded people, Natalie came to learn that most were not as deep and devoted as she had hoped. Few of them took their altars and rites and worship seriously. Too many seemed to be in it for frivolous power or just to get laid. She searched desperately for something genuine... and as luck would have it in such a grim world, she found herself pulled into the circle of a frightfully genuine Pagan cult. It was more of a blood-harvesting venture for a vampire by the name of Jacob Waters, but that mattered little to Natalie. This was something REAL that he was giving to them, as far as she could tell. Something raw and powerful and purposeful. Jacob worked genuine blood magic for his cultists, and he had an enormous, terrifying presence. In Natalie's eyes, he was meant to be worshiped and obeyed and adored. Though she entered the circle as an anxious and eager neophyte, watered with blood and ritual she bloomed into an eager leader and organizer.
Her studies didn't... suffer, really, but literature and history seemed far less fascinating than before. Natalie failed a class here, made up for it there, overslept after long nights doing things best not spoken of to outsiders, and otherwise was academically iffy. But she did manage to wrestle a BA in English out of the institution... and from there, decisions had to be made. Continue along with the cult? Absolutely! Find a better job than the one answering phones and kissing butt at some uptown advertising company? That was a priority, as the hours were really cutting in to her cult time. And... what was this extremely important matter that the Blood God Himself (Or y'know, Mr. Jacob Waters) needed of her?
The turbulent times were well under way for Saint John's kindred community. Natalie and the other cultists had little clue, other than their leader's presence being rarer and rarer. It was Natalie, however, that he chose to take aside and show something very special. She had done well, very well, and he needed an assistant. A protege. A child. Someone that could at watch his back in these crazy times, and be an anchor for his already rapidly-slipping morality. He explained the life of a vampire with absolute honesty, explained that she would have to drink blood, would likely kill others, would never see the sun, would someday grow distant from the rest of humanity. She accepted the consequences, and agreed to a final cult ritual. She was to be "sacrificed" before the others, her throat and wrists slashed and her blood collected. And just as she was on the edge of death, a drop of Jacob's vitae was passed over her lips, transforming her into a new vampire.
A new unlife had to begin for her. Jacob was a Nosferatu, a sub-type of vampire prone to disfigurements. Natalie's skin immediately took on the same reddened-and-cracked texture that his had, mostly focused on her wrists and neck. A day job and office work were now impossible. She took money from her sire, tapped her meager savings, begged and borrowed and cajoled, and bought some run-down housing property in the North End of the city. She went from office lady to landlady. Scary landlady that only had her offices open in the evenings, had a skin condition, and immensely preferred that all business be conducted through the "maintenance guy" that lived for cheap in the first floor apartment. She became a budding slumlord (slumlady?), but that was fine with her. Image was unimportant. The exact source of income was unimportant. Occult knowledge and helping Mr. Waters... Father... THAT was important. She shared an underground haven with her sire during the day, but had an actual apartment in one of the the buildings that she owned. It was rarely occupied, but was there in the off chance she wanted to watch a little TV or invite some guests over.
When the hard times ended and Saint John's kindred community finally came back together, Natalie wasn't immediately sure what to make of it. Other vampires seemed... friendly enough, pleasant enough, sociable enough. She was anxious of making any social missteps, so she mostly kept to herself. Father, being a busy and ambitious man with things to do about the city, supported this. She served as his eyes and ears, and as an excuse and a prop for many small plots. She befriended the terrifying Sandoval Crane, and she came to know the wise elder vampire Shenango through involvement with the mother Goddess worshiping Circle of the Crone.
Pleasant gatherings and trust in those around her came to an abrupt end, however, when Father was bloodhunted and killed. Never mind that everyone had already wanted to do it anyway, never mind that everyone knew that Jacob Waters wanted to kill Prince Doyle and take Harbourvale for his own. Never mind that he may have 'had it coming'. Father was the only stable thing in her life, the only thing that had meaning, and his loss shook Natalie and changed her. She declared her name to be "Natalie Waters". She wore his tie. She made no secret of her hatred of Doyle and his associates, and her desire to bring terrible vengeance upon them all. And why should this disturb them, she wondered? The monsters still have their tea party, and play nice, and nothing ever, EVER comes of it, yes? She knew that her nights were numbered. But frankly, she didn't care.
While this new Natalie seemed to disturb some of those around her, her particular flavor of unwell failed to provoke anyone's ire to the point where anyone did anything about it. Her acting out mostly consisted of vulgar words and table-flipping. She was kept around out of a mixture of pity and apathy. Left to her own devices, she worked hard within the Circle of the Crone and rose slightly in status and occult power. She grew closer to her covenant-mate Kyuss, a fellow reject and oddity, and the two became this close to being some sort of... dynamic troublemaking duo. Or maybe a comedy team. Though she loathed to have to actually trust someone, she found that she could trust him, if just for his pliability and naivete. He WAS the first to be counted on when hunters infiltrated the non-haven apartment that she kept for herself.
Harbourvale's political game closely resembled Calvinball. Prince Doyle was shifted out for another... and then another, and yet another, and others were banished and others were killed.... Natalie found herself requested to take on the position of Harpy by Prince Samuel, a court member responsible for keeping tally of boons and favors, and of stirring the political pot. And she was fortunate enough to get to keep the position after Samuel was ousted in favor of Ulric. Oh, and the matter of Doyle? He brought himself to an end, giving into his core vampire nature and falling to the Beast in the middle of Elysium. It delighted Natalie to no end that she landed one of the killing blows upon him. Vengeance was hers! Hers! But in the wake of that, she found herself almost rudderless. The prospect of long nights without an explicit goal was faintly terrifying. She took off Father's tie. She visited other cities, and made connections with other vampires. And then she started paying attention to what Ulric was doing. Because it appeared that he was going completely mad.
A child becomes a wild teenager, and a wild teenager matures into an adult. And Natalie found herself staring vampiric adulthood in the face as she watched Ulric's court go gradually bugfuck off-the-rails broken all around her. Calvinball was once again in session, with Ulric making up piles of new rules. No safe Elysium for meetings. No real court positions. Dispensing with the old method of feeding ground distribution and dividing up the choicest spots to his biggest supporters. She found herself in the position of very much understanding where her sire once stood, but also found herself without the support and resources to oppose the mad Prince. Too stubborn to leave Harbourvale and too fascinated with the impending trainwreck of Ulric hosting the national kindred Consillium, Natalie stands to the side. Whatever happens, it will be spectacular, and she hopes to be able to craft herself something better from the ashes.