Josua Cambridge

New Orleans -NOLA- Camarilla -NOLA- Toreador

Sobriquet:

Appearance: A tall, thin man with a boyish face, charming smile, shoulder-length sandy-blond hair and bright green eyes. He usually wears jeans and T-shirts.

Behavior: When he were still mortal he had a type of charisma that people envy in others. When he was Embraced, everything about you was enhanced, including his already powerful charisma. He can captivate with as little as a passing glance. He speaks eloquently and quietly, with a soft purr that only serves to further his charismatic influence over people.

History: Raised in New Orleans, Josua always dreamed of being an artist. He entered the University of New Orleans to begin his art studies, but teachers told him early on that his talent was marginal. When he managed to get a few pieces in a show at a local gallery, Josua's hopes were raised, only to be dashed by an unflattering review of his work.

Devastated by the review, Josua locked himself in his basement studio on Royal Street, determined not to leave it except for art supplies and food until he had produed a work that would bring praise from those who had ridiculed his work before. It was in those months, however, that Josua found his toughest critic to be himself. Nothing satisfied him; nothing was good enough, he felt, to stun the critics.

One night, too frustrated to paint anymore, Josua decided to go for a walk along Bourbon Street, hoping the bright lights, loud music and crowds would somehow revive his spirit. Returning to his studio in the wee hours of the morning, he was stunned to find a tall, thin woman there, flipping through the many paintings lining the walls and cluttering the floor.

At first the woman took no notice of the young painter except to command him to be still, but eventually she turned to him. The stranger told Josua that he had seen his work on exhibit at the gallery and that she was please he had not let the words of a few foolish critics dissuade him. She introduced herself only as J.C., an art patron. She promised Josua that if he would consent to paint her portrait, she would reward him beyond his dreams — if the final work met with her approval. Her conditions for the work — that it only be worked on at night and that he tell no one of it or show the painting to anyone but her - struck Josua as a bit odd. Happy at the prospect of making some much-needed money, however, Josua accepted the project.

The portrait took three weeks to complete, and when it was done, Josua had to admit it was one his finest works. His glowing self-appraisal bolstered his hopes that his client would like it just as much and pay well for it. When the woman returned that night to pick up the finished portrait, however, Josua found himself grabbed and pinned to the wall. The woman then dug into hi neck with her teeth.

When he woke the next night, Josua found himself stuffed into a closet but, so far as he could tell, not seriously harmed otherwise. The passing of a few nights taught him better.

Coming to terms with his new existence left the young artist on the brink of madness, with art his only ally. Josua spent many of those first nights painting. His new vampiric nature gave his art an edge it had never before possessed, while his madness gave it a quality so disturbing that few could look upon it and not be affected.

The pictures, landscapes and portraits had a haunting beauty to them. Colors mixed together as though there were no real borders, only varying shades of one color within the entire work. Josua only used darker and lunar hues, mixing them to form frightening portraits of a reality that only he could portray — the vampire's world into which he had been thrust. Though Josua painted many different portraits, the ones on which he spent the most time were those of the young woman who had so horribly altered his existence. He painted two exquisite portraits of her, but kept them both locked in a large trunk.

It did not take long for the neonate to gain the attention of other Kindred, especially when he began standing on street corners in the French Quarter, loudly hawking his paintings as though he were a carnival barker. To the mortal population he became a colorful addition to the street performers and vendors of the area. The Kindred, however, took a slightly dimmer view of the young artis.

Two other persons took interest in Josua and his paintings. The first was a petty thief named [[[Michael Zyers]] who occasionally dabbled in art. The other was a vampire hunter who took notice of Josua's unusual portraits. Josua did not always paint portraits of other Kindred he saw on the streets, but they were among his favorite subjects. Sometimes they were done as standard portraits. Other times they would appear in a landscape, standing on a street corner or in the doorway of a local bar. When the subjects of these paintings suddenly started turning up dead, the Kindred became even more concerned over the activities of the young artist.

A week after Josua first appeared on the streets of the French Quarter, Prince Martel sent two of his personal ghouls to bring Josua to his home. Questioning the young artist, Marcel obtained what answers the tortured mind could give. When asked who his sire was, Josua could give no name other than the woman's initials, which he found amusing because they matched his own. He also produced her likeness in a pencil drawing that he showed to Marcel.

It was in that small work that Marcel could not help but see a certain genius. Despite the disease that gripped Josua's mind, he still had his talent. Marcel decided to grant Josua sanctuary at his mansion while he considered the painter's fate.

Marcel had Josua's paintings, along with the painter's few other belongings, brought to the house. Josua flew into a rage when he discovered that several of his paintings were missing. When Marcel questioned his Retainers on the matter, they confirmed that the door to the studio had been unlocked. It took Josua only a few moments to identify the missing paintings — among them the portraits he had done of his sire.

The matter of the missing portraits soon became of great concern to Prince Marcel. The portraits, Marcel reasoned, might eventually end up anywhere in or out of the city, possibly even in the hands of a vampire hunter.

To his night the portraits have not been recovered. The Kindred keep a constant watch for them in the city's museums and galleries. Marcel has also quietly enlisted the aid of Kindred in other cities to watch for the portraits or their subject, who is wanted in New Orleans.

Josua now lives in a small but comfortable room in Marcel's house, where he is allowed to pursue his painting. While not all of the Kindred are satisfied with the solution, they have not complained and instead wait for the sire to be captured. Josua has begun to gain friends and allies among New Orleans' Kindred and may be granted permanent residency in the city.

Backed by a natural charisma and greatly enhanced by his vampirism, Josua has an ability to seduce that is almost beyond his control. The only offsetting factor to this ability is the fat that most view the young artist as a lunatic. Josua, however, is far from crazy. In the back of his mind he constantly plots revenge against the woman who stole his life.

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