Character History

I was born in 1621, deep in the dark heartlands of Spain, my mother's beloved country. My name then was Juan Carlos Viscaya. I grew up without a father. He abandoned my mother and myself shortly after my birth and left us in disgrace. We were poor, hungry and homeless.

We spent most of my childhood begging for whatever scraps the generous folk would throw at us. I was twelve years old before I knew what the inside of a house looked like.

I also remember how suddenly our fates changed, but didn't understand what had truly happened at the time. My mother had disappeared one terrible stormy night, while she had gone scavenging for food. There were horrid screams pouring out of every broken window. I was in a state of complete panic; I knew that on my own I would not survive for very long. The nights were cold without her, and I shivered as much as from fear as from the cold. Then on another stormy night, many frightening and lonely weeks later, she returned...

That moment has been carved into my mind for all eternity. Never will I forget what I saw upon the night my Mother came back to me. The moon was full, larger and brighter than I had ever seen it before - it is said that on such nights, lunatics and madman run amok in the shadows looking for hapless wanderers and the unwary to ensare them into the curtains of their madness.

It was thundering when she stepped out of the night fog. She unhesitantly walked toward my small huddled body. Her hair was flowing and again bore the bright golden color it once wore in her youth. Her skin had become soft, silken smooth and as cold as a sheet of ice. My Mother's eyes, once green and full of spring's love and passion, now gleamed with a crazed unknown kind of fire. It seemed as though the heart of all madness had kissed her upon the lips and took her as its bride. She raised me from the ground in her arms and cradled me close to her beatless heart. Effortlessly she carried me into the night, and whispered into my ear, that I shall never again know the pangs of hunger.

Mother then took me into the richest house I had ever seen or could even in my wildest childhood fantasies imagine existed. Jewels, pearls and coins of gold seemed to dance in the very air like angels laughing at the moon's shadow. There were others in this house as well, although my mother denied it. Yet I knew otherwise, I heard their voices whispering in the walls and the wild giggling of starving jackals running in the hallways. Though I never saw anyone, but Mother, and then only at night.

I grew into manhood in that house, and was educated at the finest schools that Mother could afford. I became a diplomat's aid and a scholar of the sciences. I served under mighty men of power and quickly learned the ways of their ambition. I saw the truth: greater fruits and riches waited for those who served and waited patiently.

While I was still a young man, I unexpectedly met and fell in love with another man. His presence in my life would change my destiny for all time. His name was James Satin, an Englishman, and he was the most beautiful creature that I had ever known. We spent a great deal of time together, and never since have I known such happiness. I thought my life was perfect, and that nothing could bring me a greater sense of happiness. I know now that I did not even have the slightest clue as to what perfection truly was or could be.

I do now.

A horrid plague was soon sweeping over the countryside claiming lives by the thousands. It struck upon me as well. I was feverish and delirious for several months. It seemed to me, that my fate was sealed, and that death was all that waited for me, beyond the curtain of this fever. How right I was in assuming so. My survival was accomplished only by pure chance. The vengeful hand of the Black Death unexpectedly released me from its grip, but it had left its jealous impassioned kiss upon me. The nights and days of burning fever and crazed delirium had pushed me through the gateway of madness.

It was then, that Mother walked into my room. There were shadows dancing behind her, clinging to the curtains, and hanging off the walls. She sat by my bedside and placed her lips onto my throat. I remember going to sleep almost instantly, dreaming of storm clouds and black diamonds and of naked winged demons running, singing, and dripping with blood. I woke up several nights later, feeling stronger than ever. I was new and healed, alive yet beyond life, beyond death, beyond divinity. I was a God, and I was not alone in Heaven.

I was right, the house was full of voices, the voices of the divine and beautiful children of the night. Mother was here too, her voice was one of the strongest. Imagine how I felt when I learned that my James was here as well! In secret, we drank of each other's blood, a private pact of fidelity to each other. Our love was to be eternal. The taste of him was sweet, and warm like rich, gold honey. Oh, the feeling was beyond the grasp of mere words. Words have always fallen short of describing the true power behind my emotions.

The moon was my queen, and the stars about her, were the court in which I ruled.

I loved to drink, and to kill under her silver light.

But I soon discovered that even divinity have their flaws. The plague had left me week. I was destined to be a barren god. I could not make others of my kind, but at the least, I had Time. Time was my precious sweet child, and it loved me.

Even in the gardens of Paradise, there were problems among the angels. A "civil war" broke out among our clans. I didn't truly understand what was happening, or why. I only knew one thing... that a wild radical group called The Sabbat were behind it and my beloved James was now one of them!

In truth, a great part of me wanted to stand beside him, but I feared the fury of Mother's retribution. She had grown stronger in these past few days. At Mother's request, I tried infiltrating the dark clan of the Sabbat. She knew I could not be swayed by their twisted bonding rites. I used James as a doorway to their world. I was amazed at how easy it was to enter and walk among them. I was fairly successful and popular in their ranks. I learned their ways, their customs, and their dark secrets as well as their unique powers. I reported back to Mother on occasion and informed her of my findings.

When full scale war finally broke out in the darkness, Mother worried for my safety and did not want me involved in the conflict. So, she and I conspired to construct a way in which I could exit the battlefield before the blows were even struck. Our plan was a masterpiece, an act of absolute brilliance. We would play out as though she had discovered that I was a Sabbat and a traitor to our clan. She sought me out in the dark catacombs beneath the graveyards of Madrid and set upon me as though she were the devil himself. Her claws raked through me and split my skin apart. James was there by my side, a convenient audience to our theater play. She would let him escape, so that he may report back to the others of my fate. Mother would then take my body away and hide me, leaving me in a state of suspended sleep for centuries, until a time when the war would finally be over.

After an eternity of dreaming, I awoke again to the loving embrace of the darkness. My eyes saw out into a new moonlit world and I felt a great hunger within me. I hunted that night and sought out my kindred. I soon found what was left. We had won the war against the Sabbat, but at a horrible price. Half of our number were dead. The Masquerade had broken. Vampire hunters were now sweeping the land. They were nothing more than arrogant mortals who taken up the cross and sword and claimed themselves as holy warriors. HA HA HA HA. They were gnats biting at the elephant's heel. Their blood tasted, oh - so sweet.

Mother had survived, as had James. According to her sources, he had tried to stake himself, and now lies in a profound sleep somewhere deep in the Gypsy infested mountains of Italy. He was always so over-dramatic. I soon discovered that my efforts as a spy had indeed been very beneficial to the clans, but things were not yet eased among us. There was a new strife between the clans. I had left one war to be pulled into the folds of another. I decided to leave Spain. I left our family's house, changed my name, and went to the Americas, determined to begin a new life there among others of our kind.

Mother sent a "caretaker" with me, a ghoul, a personal servant of hers, to insure my safety. His loyalty, she states, is assured. His name, although no longer of any importance, is Savan. Mother told me to simply call him Father. Ironic, isn't it? The man who abandoned us to suffer alone so long ago is now forced to serve us mindlessly forever. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha...... Glorious. After almost a year of wandering about, I settled in the area of Palisades. I was able to convert a large building near the local hospital into an asylum and set myself up as its in-resident psychologist. Many young interns were eager to join my staff, but they did not have the proper "look" or "feel", that I was seeking.

Finally, I decided upon twelve young medical school dropouts, to become my disciples. Their uniforms will consist of high-collared black satin robes with armored shoulder plates and blue lensed glasses. I was a god again, and I had finally created my own private world. I set up my Haven, my Eden, deep beneath the asylum and had one hundred closed-circuit televisions installed in the east facing wall, so that like God, I may watch over the world, and the people within it. Slowly, I was able to have patients transferred from other institutions and the local penitentiary. Thanks to my persistence, I currently have seventy-two permanent residents. My goal is to have an exact one hundred patients being, a perfect representation of a perfect century. They are and will allways be my children - the next generation, and next step in the plan of my ascension.