Santiago DeSoto
- Brujah Antitribu -x- Sabbat -x- The Navigators
Appearance: The body of DeSoto has long salt-and-pepper hair and a chiseled face. Santiago's dark-brown eyes complement his tan face, and a goatee hides his full lips. Sangris dresses DeSoto's body in finely tailored black clothes that hide the scars left by the duped Decani; unfortunately, DeSoto's form suffers from leprosy.
Behavior: Sangris as DeSoto, puts up a front of control and calm. Beneath the surface Sangris longs to return to power in order to save the city and take his rightful place as Archbishop. It would be so easy....
History: DeSoto's retirement from the Inquisition into seclusion surprised many and lent credibility to Miguel's suspicions that his sire was more than he appeared. Little did Miguel know how right he really was, for the person he called "DeSoto" was the resting place for the soul of Sangris, the former archbishop of Montreal and convicted infernalist.
When he was Embraced in Haiti, Sangris was a member of the Cult of Legba, which rejected the worship of Set. In the years before they joined the Sabbat, "Serpents of the Light" like him were desperate for aid against the Setites. Sangris found help in the Decani Bothothel. The demon plague-lord had ridden the wave of smallpox that exterminated the natives of Hispanola, and held dominion over a temple in the hinterland of the island. In the temple, Sangris met a priestess of disease named "Cedilia of the Tongue," who taught him the ways of the Decani. Sangris made a deal with the fiend Bothothel. He would spread a new form of corruption in exchange for power. He proposed to turn souls to Bothothel through the "plague" of ambition, an infection that no other Decani claimed as its own. Sangris knew full well that the last soul he would serve up would be his own, unless he found a way to escape the pact. He found a way in Montreal.
If Sangris' soul came due in Montreal, the prison of Metathiax, the demon would contest Bothothel's claim. When word came from Montreal of the Sabbat's losing struggle against the Setite Jerar, Sangris -- now a sect member -- flew north. Still a servant of ambition, he rose to power as archbishop of Montreal. He also corrupted several vampires and Embraced a childe named Ezekiel whose ambition he hoped to fan to world-shattering proportions. All the while, he prepared his escape from infernal bondage.
When Inquisitor DeSoto uncovered his infernalism, Sangris wove a complex Thaumaturgical rite into his very flesh. As his destruction approached, Bothothel and Metathiax both salivated in anticipation of consuming his soul. When DeSoto prepared to execute Sangris with fire, the Serpent's rite was activated and the inquisitor's soul streamed out with the flames. In turn, Sangris' soul slipped into DeSoto's body, and Sangris watched as his executioner was consumed and sent to the Decani.
DeSoto's memories still echo in Sangris' new form. He hears whispers of DeSoto's ambition and conviction as a dedicated inquisitor. Sangris suppresses thoughts of seizing power, though, knowing that any bid for more infernal might would damn him. "DeSoto" has therefore retired from the Inquisition and lives in seclusion in a Westmount mansion. As DeSoto, he only occasionally partakes in the Vaulderie with the Navigators.
As the years pass, temptation grows. Sangris senses that the city will be consumed unless it finds strong leadership. He spends many nights sitting in his lair, staring at a black tome of Dark Thaumaturgy, trying to fight the urge to open it and rule again. The city's growing chaos and the return of his childe have only made matters worse. Sangris planted the seeds of evil in Ezekiel at an early age, but now tries to protect his childe. Ezekiel rejects all attention from his sire's executioner, and Pierre Bellemare has happily made Ezekiel an ally. The best Sangris can do is to keep Cairo away from Ezekiel, but he does not know that by doing so he does more harm than good.
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