Mina's Retainers
Erhardt Krause: Born 1952 in Dresden, Germany. Growing up in a city rebuilding from the devastation wrought by the allies, he learned the importance of money and power at an early age. Power came from the Communist Party, and money – the ability to provide just a little more than his contemporaries – came from squeezing the limits and back room deals. The Stasi was simply the obvious place to be. The fall of the wall found him facing several potentially tricky situations involving colleagues he had stepped on on the way up. Accepting a little help in disappearing and accepting a new job – going independent, was the obvious move. That doesn't mean he has forgotten everyone he once knew, and many of those ended up in organized crime. He sees Vampires as the ultimate challenge to his skills and abilities, and revels in the idea that each one he finds represents potentially centuries of experience lost as the mark is hunted down and killed. He relishes the challenge of strapping down a dominated and blood bound minion and breaking him. In 2013, Erhardt began working on contract for Madame Mina, helping her build a spy network. This prompted a reorganization of Beta Team, and has consumed most of his time for the past few years. In December 2015, he asked for a termination of his employment to Jeremy Sanderson in order to work full time for Mina, and receive the life-prolonging blood bond from her. He must procure a competent, if younger, replacement, by June 2016. When he does, we will amicably destroy the current contract and sign another, guaranteeing that he will never reveal anything he learned from me or in my service, even under the influence of the Blood Bond. In return, Jeremy will not move against him despite what he knows.
Erhardt is now the head of Mina's spy network, which will soon graduate its first crop of useful operatives. What he will do with this position is as yet unknown.
Galen Valeriev: Born 1991 in Varna, Bulgaria. Ghoul since March 2016. Apparent Age 25, but has the ability to seem anwhere from late teens to early thirties through dress, disguise and demeanor.
Galen was recruited as a potential assassin, so his sociopathic tendencies were noted, and watched, while his instructors tried to instill in him a code of conduct. At first, Galen showed great promise: He quickly learned to use firearms, knives, and excelled in lethal hand-to-hand combat. He oozes charm, and is at home in almost any social situation. He has showed no hesitation when asked to kill, and thinks well on his feet. Unfortunately, rather than conform to a code of conduct, his ego and sense of entitlement have grown out of proportion to his skills. He reacts badly when thwarted. After his second-to-last mission, he returned drunk on his own power, and had to be prevented from assaulting one of his fellow recruits. At the time that Mina inquired about a bodyguard, he had spent the last two days raging in a cell while the instructors considered what to do with him.
Galen is smooth, well spoken, and has impeccable taste. He is known to sneer that James Bond is nothing but an author's poor reflection of the reality embodied in Galen Valeriev. Beneath his suave facade, however, lurks a poorly controlled beast. With the blood of Caine polluting his veins, animals and small children react to him much as they do to inhuman vampires. Erhardt Krause (his head instructor) considers that the blood bond and a tight leash might be the only thing that could salvage what was once promising material. Indeed, this is a test of what the bond is capable of.
Last update 2016 by Jamie
William Brown -- Original owner of the Quebec Chronicle Telegraph -- influencial personality -- stockholder of significance of the current newspaper - and ghoul.
Misa - the Siamese cat
What's to say.. Misa looks like your typical Siamese cat. He follows Mina to most places, and when he is seen, it is close by her.
Two horses formally of "Countess Novak"
Pepe Jones
A veteran mercenary of bastard Rom blood, Pepe grew up knowing that the rest of the world had things denied to him. The older he got, the more the injustice of it all bothered him. As a kid, he became enamored of get-rich-quick schemes, petty cons, and petty larceny. Later, he tired of these things: It wasn't the risk that bothered him, it was the payoff. After being left for dead in an alley over chump change, he decided to try a different tact. He lit out in search of rumors that mercenaries in Africa were paid in Blood Diamonds. A handful of red diamonds, he figured, could buy him as much as he could ever want.
Reality, of course is different, but he quickly learned that looting follows successful battles. He has looted and spent (by his estimation) more than his family could have dreamed of many times over. In the mean time, he womanizes, drinks (less than it seems), and fleeces anyone stupid enough to gamble against him. He has been known to gleefully cut things off when someone is rude enough to accuse him of cheating. Somehow, until very recently, his family and Rom heritage has largely slipped his mind.
Rutendo Baako Refilwe Ihejirika
Born to a prostitute in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Rutendo took to the sea as soon as he was old enough to stow away. He has seen a lot, much of which most people would never believe. He's been involved with smugglers and pirates, legitimate shipping and refugees, and knows his way through the back alleys of ports around the Mediterranean and Africa.
Most recently, he worked as a navigator for an international smuggling ring. He has shared this contact with his new employer, and is working to ease "Lady Kitara" into the fold, an arrangement he believes will do very well for her.
Francois Beauclerc
A degree in mechanical engineering from a university in Lyons and a love of the sea earned Francois a berth as an engineers assistant on a long-haul container ship. Twenty years later, he had settled into a comfortable routine, away from the crowds and confusion of civilization. He enjoys his solitude, largely alone on huge ships manned by a bare handful of sailors. Alone, with his trustworthy, predictable machines.
Francois hates the recent resurgence of piracy, which has disrupted his perfect microcosm and put armed thugs aboard his floating sanctums. Even more, he hates that he has suddenly become part of what he sees as a cancer. Most of all, he hates his new companions, perhaps even more than he loves his new employer.
Akylas Gianopoulos A Greek fisherman who could have escaped the riots and famine, but he came back for his family. He never found them: His home had been destroyed and none of his neighbors had any idea where his wife and children were. To get out, he jumped at the chance to work on a boat with a questionable mission. He is a simple man, used to working with his hands, willing to do what it takes to survive in a harsh, complicated world.
Pantelimon Vasco A Greek sailor who has done his share of shady dealing. He was working as a tough on a tiny island for scraps of food: not an entirely bad life except that he wasn't as tough as many of the other toughs, and life was tough. Becoming a sailor on a pirate vessel seemed like a better idea. Now, he gets three squares a day. Pantelimon tends to act impulsively, taking what he wants - food, money, women, etc - and deal with the consequences later.
