Girard D'Anjou
- Arrayed by Clan -x- Denver -x- Ravnos -x- Sabbat
Sobriquet:
Appearance: The modern ideal of the European male (imagine Adrian Paul). Slightly above average in height, long dirty blond hair, blue eyes, a Mediterranean tan, a light athletic build and chiseled features. He often wears fashionable, but comfortable clothes and lots of jewelry.
Behavior:Girard loves being seen as he pulls off yet another impossible caper; he especially loves it when others ask: How the hell did he do that? But more than that, he loves the detail and risk that goes into any plan, he loves the danger of doing what he knows is forbidden and getting away with it.
In addition, Girard is the consummate lover and an outrageous flirt; from young girls to women of matronly beauty, he wants them to want him and he is good at getting what he wants. Smiling comes easy to Girard, as every male on the planet wants to know what he knows.....poor bastards!
History: Girard was born in the French province of Anjou in the year 1630 A.D. He was the bastard son of a minor nobleman and a gypsy woman. His youth was unremarkable for such a child; his mother was scorned and reviled by both her own people and the French of Anjou. She died when Girard was only nine and he was taken in by the local monastery, where he learned to read, write and work.
By the time he was fifteen, Girard had tired of this life, his mind often wandered to adventures and the distant lands described in the books that he stole each night from the monastery library. That same year he was supposed to take his vows of monasticism, but he was forced to flee the monastery when the local mayor’s daughter turned up with child.
The road taught Girard a lot, about being hungry and being desperate, but most of all it was exciting even if it wasn't always fun. For Girard that was good, but not enough. It didn't take long for Girard to resort to theft and he was lucky to have found a mentor early on, a thief and confidence-man that recognized Girard’s talent and liked what he saw. Marcel was a man of some experience and he never had to show Girard a trick twice, for many years they were as father and son, so alike were they.
As fate would have it, they joined up with a traveling carnival and it wasn't long before they were both in pursuit of the Carnival's leader, Madame Eva. Unknown to them, she was a Gypsy Ravnos with a thirst for excitement and they both led her, a merry chase. Ultimately, they ended up at each others throats and Girard was the victor, even as he slid the knife into his mentor's heart, Eva began the process that would make Girard immortal.
Girard's new existence wasn't easy for him to adjust to, there were problems, but Eva was a good sire and helped him adjust and showed him the necessities of his new condition. They spent the next one hundred and thirty years grifting their way across Europe. They were always into some scam or scandal and they lived for the danger as much as for the wealth to be had. It was a wild and exciting time to be a vampire and they made the most of it. If they weren't dodging the Inquisition, it was the kings guards or the assassins sent by their former marks.
That all ended, in 1791. In was madness and chaos, it was violence and blood and one night it cost Eva her life. Later it was called the French Revolution and more than the Aristocracy lost their lives or unlives to its wild flights of madness. Afterwards, Girard just drifted, there seemed no reason for it all anymore, life seemed empty without Eva and all of his old games seemed pointless.
Thus the turning of the nineteenth century saw Girard return to France and his mortal home, Anjou. It was there, amidst the height of Napoleon’s power that Girard met the Rom. A wandering band, they had come to Anjou for a festival and it felt to Girard as if he had come home again. For among the Rom was a young girl whose remarkable appearance resembled that of his long dead mother. Sonia was her name and Girard had sought to use her as a bridge to the Rom, but it was not to be, for Sonia had other plans. They relationship was tempestuous and in 1825 Girard made the difficult decision to make Sonia immortal. The Rom could not accept Sonia's change and Girard saw the fate of his own mother on Sonia's face, for nothing is harder for a Gypsy than banishment.
As his sire had done for him, so he cared for Sonia and in time she accepted her fate. Together they traveled to the new world and for over a hundred years they knew happiness.
Then in the summer of 1939, something changed. Word had begun to spread; the Gypsies were being wiped out in Europe. Sonia wished to go and save her people, regain their faith in her and be one of them again. Girard begged her not to go, but in the end she still went and by 1941 Sonia was just another dead Gypsy in a war the likes of which the world had never known. Girard went mad; he traveled to Europe and took his vengeance on her killers, the Nazis. He spent the next four years killing these hated people and aiding their enemies, whom ever that might be and in the end he was able to aid those few surviving Gypsies that Sonia had died to help.
For Girard the end of the war meant the end of purpose and again he drifted and it was again to France that he went. It was in Paris that Girard found his next family for they had infiltrated the Partisan movement and had begun making the city theirs, they called themselves the Sabbat and they welcomed Girard with open arms. Girard had come home again.
Recent Events:
Note: Girard was diablerized by Bruce early in the first iteration of Denver. He has been eliminated from the timeline by temporal agents of the Black Hand, but his doppleganger may still exist.
