Suregethes
- Brujah -x- Southern Court -x- Bulgaria
Domain: Blagoevgrad - Provincial Capital
Haven: An ancient temple of Dionysus
Background: Suregethes was born into the Thracian Tribe of Maedi whose historic territory consisted of that portion of Thrace which corresponds to the south-western region of modern Bulgaria. The clans of the Maedi were a nomadic people who were bred for war. At an early age, Suregethes became a mercenary in the internecine wars of the Thracian tribes and through contact with the Romans he became a soldier of the legions. His time in the legions of Rome taught him much, but he cared little for the brutal discipline and inherent inequality between the provincial auxiliaries and the regular soldiers of the cohorts. In Thrace a warrior fought for whoever he wished and if his master didn’t suit him, then they parted company; unfortunately the Romans didn’t see this in the same light, they called it desertion. He was beaten and imprisoned, but he eventually escaped and took up the life of a bandit until he was caught and sold into slavery as a gladiator.
He was sold to a gladiatorial school (ludus) near Capua owned by a Roman known as Lentulus Batiatus. It was here that Suregethes would meet another more famous Thracian, Spartacus who plotted to escape the school and eventually succeeded in taking his countrymen with him to freedom. Suregethes fought alongside Spartacus, Crixus and Oenomaus of Gaul during the Third Servile War from 73 B.C. to 71 B.C. The escape from Capua led to the plunder of the surrounding area and the recruiting of many local slaves who preferred to take a chance upon freedom rather than die in chains. Though the rebellion would only last two years, its memory would last for over two thousand. Suregethes chose to remain at the side of Spartacus even when the army of the slaves was finally broken and he like his countryman expected a bloody death at the hands of the legions.
Not by chance, as Suregethes lay dying, a Carthaginian Brujah who called himself Dominic came upon the field of slaughter. Dominic had been an elder of Carthage until its destruction by Rome at the conclusion of the Third Punic War. At that time, he swore vengeance against the Roman children of Caine and made their destruction his life’s work. So when word came of a slave uprising in Capua, Dominic saw a chance to hurt Rome in aiding the Gladiatorial rebellion. Travel in the ancient world was not fast or safe and Dominic only arrived after the destruction of the army of the slaves; when he came upon the dead and dying his plan had been to embrace Spartacus. Unfortunately, the Thracian hero was already dead and his body crucified as a warning for all to see. So Dominic searched the field of the dying for a still living Thracian and embraced the first one he found, Suregethes.
Only in later nights would Dominic hear the full story of the rebellious gladiators of Capua and their desperate fight for freedom. In the process, Dominic came to like the Thracian gladiator Suregethes and upon hearing his tales of the beauty of Thrace he chose to accompany his new childe to his homeland. Once amid the barbarian tribes of Thrace, Dominic came to envision a plan by which the Thracians would help him destroy Rome.
In the beginning, Suregethes was only too willing to help his sire destroy Rome, but after decades of bloody reprisal without any real gains, the Thracian gladiator began to wonder if Dominic subsisted more on his hatred of the Romans than upon blood. Sire and childe were together for two centuries before they were separated in an attack by an all female pack of werewolves who managed to put Dominic into torpor before they were defeated by Suregethes and Dominic’s blood bound warriors. Suregethes built a barrow for Dominic in the Thracian manner and buried him with his blood loyal warriors, who took their own lives so that they might accompany their master to the next world.
Suregethes settled in a nearby town called Scaptopara where he began his long journey through history. Though the settlement was later conquered by the Romans, the Thracian Zealot already had enough slaughter to last an eternity as he fought beside his sire Dominic and he ignored the Roman presence except when hungry. In time Rome fell and Byzantium took its place, when Constantinople fell, the Ottoman Empire took its place and eventually it fell as well. Though all these empires claimed his town as their possession, he and the town out lived each in turn; eventually, the Bulgarians freed themselves much as he and Spartacus had done nineteen hundred years before and the town came to be known as Blagoevgrad in honor of some minor mortal revolutionary.
Throughout the centuries Suregethes battled the Tzimisce lords of the south, the wandering Gangrel, the worthless Ravnos and Lupines of all stripes. In time, his victories over these enemies could not easily be counted and he passed into legend among the undead. When the Tzimisce Voivodate collapsed after the Omen War, Suregethes organized the other petty despots of the night into the Southern Court; though a patchwork alliance, it survived despite itself into the twentieth century.
Communism was just another kind of conqueror and barely lasted a human lifetime; in truth, Suregethes barely noticed. Though he liked its message of freedom and justice, he was quick to notice that it failed to achieve its stated goals and was largely a failed experiment from his perspective.
Now the Bulgarians are free to rule themselves once more and Suregethes has turned his attention to his own soul, for he is still bound by blood to his sire Dominic. Long ago, Dominic had risen from his deathless sleep to wage his war, but Suregethes had declined to join him. There was a falling out between sire and childe, Dominic departed for the lands to the north when he heard the name Attila the Hun. Though Suregethes was bound to Dominic, he had been just as glad to see this sire depart, for the ancient Brujah of Carthage brought ruin wherever he went and to whomever he befriended.
Suregethes is now an aspirant to Golconda and fears the return of his sire because he is still blood bound and does not want to become involved in his sire’s machinations. He has learned Thaumaturgy from Clan Assamite in return for all that they owe him for allowing them travel through his domain and the regular presence of Assamite neonates in his city. The ancient Thracian Prince has no childer of his own and fosters particularly difficult Assamite neonates as a way of remaining in touch with vampiric youth. He is feared and respected by the local Tzimisce lords and is something of hero to the other leaders of the Southern Court.
Image: Suregethes is has dark blond hair and pale eyes that change color depending on what he wears; his masculine perfection could lead one to believe that he is the avatar of Dionysus incarnate.
Personality: Those who deal with Suregethes in politics or war find him an implacable opponent who crushes all dissent or opposition to the greater good, at least his view of it. Enemies of Suregethes must admire his unerring success and nobility even as they do their utmost to destroy him utterly. Mortals and those vampires who earn his trust discover a man of deep conscience and unswerving valor who is torn between ethical action and stoic pragmatism. No vampire has known a more loyal ally and neither mortal women nor mortal men can say no to the affections of the ancient Prince of Blagoevgrad.
Quirks: Unlike most vampires his age, Suregethes has an unerring ability to mesh with mortal society. He finds no difficulty in adopting the current trends in clothing, mannerisms or style and is equally at ease at the fraternity parties of the American University in Bulgaria or the formal gatherings of business moguls and heads of state. The only sign of his immense age is his intense dislike of computers; this is not to say that Suregethes is incapable of using computers, just that he detests them as alien and inhuman contraptions.
