Nothing is True. Everything is Connected.
Category: <span>Camelot Clan</span>

Sylum Inspiration: Noah MacManus

Camelot: Lead Hunter

Born in Ireland, Noah was the the son of Jacob MacManus, and apprenticed to him as a tanner.  He took over his father’s business as his skills grew, expanding it as his reputation as an expert leather worker spread even beyond Ireland, and across the water to England.

He married Meagan, the girl from next door, whom he had known since they were mere children, and they settled into a good life that promised great prospects, which were only enhanced when she bore him twin sons.  The boys were Baptized, Connor and Murphy.

Six months later, the newly installed Archbishop of their Diocese, stopped into the shop demanding work to be done for his new home.  He had heard of Noah’s reputation and wanted only the best work, offering a vast sum of money for the rapid completion of all requested items.

Unable to refuse, Noah crafted the leather work for chairs and other furniture, as well as for personal goods such as purses and bags, and when the Church refused to pay, claiming the work was shoddy and inadequate, Noah killed the Archbishop’s secretary in a fight.

Knowing he would bring harm to his young family, even if he tried to explain his actions, Noah fled for his life.

He wandered for many decades, angry at the world, and seeking justice that seemed utterly unobtainable given the power of the Church, he finally came to Rome, and meeting Father Kiernan changed more than just his outlook, but his purpose in life.

He would later attribute Kiernan to giving him the path he needed to follow. (Dilios Note: Kiernan stated later it wasn’t quite meant the way Noah took it, but as God does not make mistakes…)

That was when the name Noah MacManus disappeared and Il Duce was born.

For many centuries he was also known as Lachtna – which in Irish Gaelic means ‘milk-colored’ as reference to his hair, and was used for a certain degree of intimidation as the same name is said to have belonged to an ancestor of Brian Boru.

No one is quite sure about all that Noah actually accomplished in his human life, but the tales live on to this day.

Il Duce then met the real Brian Boru.

Sylum Inspiration: James Bond

Camelot: Hunter

 

Bond is possibly not James’ actual surname, but one he took later.  Rumor suggests that he chose it from a descendant, but no one knows for sure.

James is M’s son. From his mother, he learned everything about Court, spying, and the manipulation of others to obtain information.  She trained her son well, and had hopes for him to marry the next Queen, but was soon disappointed.

After she was Turned, she quickly Turned her son too.

They would not claim the Throne, not desiring that much unbridled power and unmitigated misery, but instead work in the shadows for England’s betterment.

Sylum Inspiration: Cloudjumper

 

Cloudjumper according to Hiccup is a Stormcutter, because of the abilities to cut through weather due to their unique two sets of wings.  He’s about the size of Draco, with owl like expressions.  He has an easy going personality, and can be very playful.  He’s very loyal to Valka, who come to find out has returned in Paul Mallory.

Sylum Inspiration: Draco

 

 

No one knows where Draco comes from, nor do they know how old he is.

He says he’s as old as the stars and knows more of this world and beyond, than even the Vampires.

There were more of his kind once, but Bowen had hunted most of the down, including the last female of Draco’s size.

(Dilios Note: He still hasn’t forgiven Bowen for that)

He’s stayed close to Bowen over the years, living nicely in his cave under Tintagel.

For an old creature he loves his high tech items, and is likely the only dragon with a StarkPhone.

Sylum Inspiration: William Marshal

Camelot: Member

 

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, also called William the Marshal (Norman French: Williame li Mareschal,  French: Guillaume le Maréchal), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings—Henry II, his sons the “Young King” Henry, Richard I, and John, and finally John’s son Henry III.

Knighted in 1166, he spent his younger years as a knight errant and a successful tournament competitor; Stephen Langton eulogized him as the “best knight that ever lived.” In 1189, he became the de facto earl of Pembroke through his marriage to Isabel de Clare whose Mother was Aoife MacMurrough and father was Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, though the title of earl was not officially granted until 1199 during the second creation of the Pembroke earldom. In 1216, he was appointed protector for the nine-year-old Henry III, and regent of the kingdom.

Before him, his father’s family held a hereditary title of Marshal to the king, which by his father’s time had become recognized as a chief or master Marshalcy, involving management over other Marshals and functionaries. William became known as “the Marshal”, although by his time much of the function was delegated to more specialized representatives (as happened with other functions in the King’s household). Because he was an earl, and also known as the marshal, the term “earl marshal” was commonly used and this later became an established hereditary title in the English peerage.

For More Information: Vampire Council Library

Sylum Inspiration: Lord Mark Wessex

Camelot: Member

(You were just introduced to him in Mission Impossible: Bonds)

(And since this was supposed to post on the 26th – getting an extra one today!!)

 

Mark Wessex was the first born and only son born to the Wessex family.   He was raised to take over the Wessex title and land, highly educated, and skilled at diplomacy.

He married as it was expected.  The two cared for each other, and became good friends, but were never a love match.  It took time before they announced they were expecting a child, but tragedy struck and he lost both of them in child birth.   By this time he had also lost his parents and was fully Lord Wessex.

He had no intention of marrying again, instead focused on what he could do to make the people who relied on him have a better life.  His thoughts, ideas was radical at the time (ironically still are in some areas).

Mark doesn’t talk about his Turning, that it was offered and he took the opportunity.

Sylum Inspiration: Jerry Shepard

Camelot: Member

 

Jerry grew up in a small community in Oregon.  He lived with his grandmother until he was a teenager, when she died.  After that, he wandered between places, trying to figure what to do with his life.

He was taken in by Henry, who raised sled dogs.  Jerry ended up being a natural with them, almost as if he understood them.

So he found himself working as a dog trainer and guide in Antartctica.  He was one of the top guides, with a fun sense of humor, and though some of his colleagues never paid him much attention as he was just the ‘dog’ guy, others relied on his information about the weather, the land and the animals.

He was requested to take a scientist named McClaren to Mount Melbourne, to attempt to find a rare meteorite from the planet Mercury.  Shepard agreed, ignoring his own intuition, which kept telling him it was too late in the season (January) to complete such a treacherous route.  Worried about the snowmobiles breaking through the thinning ice or falling into a crevasse, Shepard told Harrison and McClaren that the only way to get to Mount Melbourne was by dog sled.

Shepard and McClaren made it to Mount Melbourne, but were immediately called back to base camp due to an approaching heavy storm.  McClaren begged for more time, and Shepard reluctantly granted him half a day.  McClaren found what he was looking for and the two headed back to the sled.

On the way back to base, things went wrong and McClaren was injured.  It was only Jerry’s intuition and the work of his dogs that got them to safety.  They were immediately evacuated, along with all other personnel, due to the worsening storm that was expected to intensify.  With too much weight in the plane to carry both people and dogs, the human team medically evacuated Shepard and McClaren with a plan to return later for the dogs.  The dogs were temporarily left behind, but the storm proved far worse than expected.  Because of the harsh weather conditions and a shortage of supplies at McMurdo Station, it soon became apparent that no rescue would be attempted for the dogs until the next spring.

Jerry was determined to get back to his dogs.  So determined in fact, that he kept striving for funds to mount a rescue expedition, but no one would help him, until finally he met Ernest Shackleton, who agreed to fund the project only if he could travel with him.  He had to convince Jerry of his experience in Antarctic exploration, but it was complicated trying to tell him without revealing his true nature.

With Shackleton’s influence however, an expedition was mounted and they were able to make their way back to the base.  While traveling, Jerry misstepped and fell down a small ravine, but by the time Ernest reached to him, hypothermia had set in, and even worse his leg was broken.  Such things would normally spell the end for anyone trapped on the ice with such an injury.  Nevertheless, Shackleton told him the truth about his actual identity, as well as Vampires and Mates, not wanting the young man to be mislead about what being Turned would mean.  Jerry agreed to being Turned with a promise to figure it all out when they get home, as long as they could help the dogs.

Sylum Inspiration: Ernest Henry Shackleton

Camelot: Member

 

Ernest Shackleton was born on 15th February, 1874AD, in Kilkea near Athy, County Kildare, Ireland, about 46 miles (74 km) from Dublin.

Ernest’s father was Henry Shackleton, and his mother was Henrietta Letitia Sophia Gavan.  His father’s family was Anglo-Irish, originally from Yorkshire, England.  His mother’s family was Irish, from Counties Cork and Kerry.

Ernest was the second of their ten children and the first of two sons; the second, Frank, achieved notoriety as a suspect (later exonerated) in the 1907AD theft of Ireland’s Crown Jewels.  In 1880AD, when Ernest was six, Henry Shackleton gave up his life as a landowner to study medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, moving his family into the city.  Four years later, the family moved again, from Ireland to Sydenham in suburban London.  Partly, this was in search of better professional prospects for the newly qualified doctor, but another factor may have been unease about their Anglo-Irish ancestry, following the assassination by Irish Nationalists of Lord Frederick Cavendish, the British Chief Secretary for Ireland, in 1882AD.

Shackleton’s restlessness at school was such, that he was allowed to leave at 16 years of age, and go to sea.  The options available to him, were a Royal Naval Cadetship at HMS Britannia, which Dr Shackleton could not afford; the mercantile marine cadet ships Worcester and Conway; or an apprenticeship ‘before the mast’ on a sailing vessel.  The third option was chosen.

His father was able to secure him a berth with the North Western Shipping Company, aboard the square-rigged sailing ship Hoghton Tower.  During the following four years at sea, Shackleton learned his trade, visiting the far corners of the earth and forming acquaintances with a variety of people from many walks of life, learning to be at home with all kinds of men.  In August 1894AD, he passed his examination for Second Mate and accepted a post as Third Officer on a Tramp Steamer of the Welsh Shire Line.  Two years later, he had obtained his First Mate’s ticket, and in 1898AD, he was certified as a Master Mariner, qualifying him to command a British ship anywhere in the world.

The National Antarctic Expedition, known as the Discovery Expedition after the ship Discovery, was the brainchild of Sir Clements Markham, President of the Royal Geographical Society, and had been many years in preparation.  It was led by Robert Falcon Scott, a Royal Navy torpedo Lieutenant lately promoted Commander, and had objectives that included scientific and geographical discovery.  Although Discovery was not a Royal Navy unit, Scott required the crew, officers and scientific staff to accept voluntarily the conditions of the Naval Discipline Act, and the ship and expedition were run on Royal Navy lines.  Shackleton accepted this, even though his own background and instincts favoured a different, more informal style of leadership.  Shackleton’s particular duties were listed as: “In charge of seawater analysis.  Ward Room caterer.  In charge of holds, stores and provisions.  He also arranges the entertainments.”

Discovery departed London on 31st July, 1901AD, arriving at the Antarctic coast, via Cape Town and New Zealand, on 8th January, 1902AD.

After landing, Shackleton took part in an experimental balloon flight on 4th February, 1902AD.  He also participated, with the scientists Edward Wilson and Hartley Ferrar, in the first sledging trip from the expedition’s winter quarters in McMurdo Sound – a journey which established a safe route onto the Great Ice Barrier.  During the Antarctic winter of 1902AD, in the confines of the iced-in Discovery, Shackleton edited the expedition’s magazine ‘The South Polar Times’.  According to Steward Clarence Hare, he was “the most popular of the officers among the crew, being a good mixer”, though claims that this represented an unofficial rival leadership to Scott’s are unsupported.

Scott chose Shackleton to accompany Wilson and himself on the expedition’s southern journey, a march southwards to achieve the highest possible latitude in the direction of the South Pole.  This march was not a serious attempt on the Pole, although the attainment of a high latitude was of great importance to Scott, and the inclusion of Shackleton indicated a high degree of personal trust.

The party set out on 2nd November, 1902AD.  The march was, Scott wrote later, “a combination of success and failure”.  A record Farthest South latitude of 82° 17′ was reached, beating the previous record established in 1900AD, by Carsten Borchgrevink.  The journey was marred by the poor performance of the dogs, whose food had become tainted, and who rapidly fell sick.  All 22 dogs died during the march.  The three men all suffered at times from snow blindness, frostbite and ultimately, scurvy.  On the return journey, Shackleton had by his own admission “broken down” and could no longer carry out his share of the work.  He would later deny Scott’s claim in ‘The Voyage of the Discovery’, that he had been carried on the sledge.  However, he was in a seriously weakened condition.  Wilson’s diary entry for 14th January, 1903AD reads: “Shackleton has been anything but up to the mark, and today he is decidedly worse, very short winded and coughing constantly, with more serious symptoms that need not be detailed here but which are of no small consequence one hundred and sixty miles from the ship”.

On 4th February, 1903AD, the party finally reached the ship.  After a medical examination (which proved inconclusive), Scott decided to send Shackleton home on the relief ship Morning, which had arrived in McMurdo Sound in January 1903AD.  Scott wrote: “He ought not to risk further hardship in his present state of health.”  There is conjecture that Scott’s motives for removing him was resentment of Shackleton’s popularity, and that ill-health was used as an excuse to get rid of him.  Years after the deaths of Scott, Wilson and Shackleton, Albert Armitage, the expedition’s Second-in-Command, claimed that there had been a falling-out on the southern journey, and that Scott had told the ship’s doctor, “if he does not go back sick he will go back in disgrace.”  There is no corroboration of Armitage’s story however.

Shackleton and Scott stayed on friendly terms, at least until the publication of Scott’s account of the southern journey in ‘The Voyage of the Discovery’.  Although in public they remained mutually respectful and cordial, according to biographer Roland Huntford, Shackleton’s attitude to Scott turned to “smouldering scorn and dislike”, and salvage of wounded pride required “a return to the Antarctic and an attempt to outdo Scott”.

For More Information Contact thVampire Council Library

Sylum Inspiration: Joshua Faraday

Camelot: Member

 

Joshua was raised in the Wild West.  His father was a Union Soldier, and had installed in him the values of being a good man.  He learned to ride, shoot and herd cattle since he was a wee child.

He watched as the Wilderness closed.

Towns began to flourish as Ranches began to decrease.  He sold the family ranch, took the money and decided to travel.

A year later he found himself in London, where he was befriend by a real English Lord who was fascinated with Cowboys.  He took him to ‘David’s House’ where his life changed drastically.

Coming down the steps was the cutest boy he’d seen, who promptly tripped and landed in his arms.

The rest they say was history.

Sylum Inspiration: Patrick McKenna

Camelot: Member

 

Patrick was born in 1966AD, in Armagh, Northern Ireland to Mary Ann McKenna, a former Nun.  His biological father is unknown.

She raised him to be a devout Catholic, attending Mass every day of his life, and teaching him that God loved him, and He had a destiny waiting for him.

When he was six years old, he lost his mother in a UVF bombing at Armagh Cathedral – a protest against the visit by a Titular Archbishop on an Apostolic Mission from the Vatican, who had come to Ireland to try and broker peace.  The boy’s survival saw him labelled as ‘The Little Miracle of Saint Patrick’.

The Archbishop took Patrick back with him to Italy, formally adopting him, stating that he would raise the boy in God’s Church.

Patrick had the Vatican as his playground and school yard.  He remembered most fondly the Vatican Police officer who usually caught him running from the Nuns and dragged him back to his studies.

As he got older, he found himself talking with that same officer for hours, looking to him for wisdom and companionship.

Though he didn’t have to, when he was 18 he demanded that he follow through with his National Service to the Italian Military.  Though he never learned to use a gun, he excelled at flying helicopters.  Patrick never told the Vatican Police Officer, that he knew it was him who had made sure Patrick was safe during those two years.

When he returned, he dedicated his life to the Church, going through Seminary and becoming a Priest.  When his ‘father’ became Pope, he took the position as Camerlengo – much to the dismay of many older men in the Church who had sought the position for themselves.

He was proud to see his friend go on to become Inspector General of Vatican Police.

When his father suddenly died, he was devastated.

The night of Conclave 2006AD, everything changed.

Sylum Inspiration: Thracius Fulvius Severus

Camelot: Scientist

 

Thracius was the second son of a Senator. He did not have the patience for politics, and no head for the military life.

He was educated instead, in the art of medicine. His bedside manner left much desired, but his results were well appreciated.

Severus did not take to fools, and never had a problem saying as such, getting himself in to trouble on many occasions.

It was a Senator who introduced him to Imenand, following an enquiry about the doctor’s manner. Imenand, however, spoke up on behalf of the doctor, and took him in to have him work at the Council.

Within moments, Severus demanded to know what was really going on, berating Imenand that he was not to be treated as a common fool, whereupon he took the knowledge of Vampire existence in his stride, and continued to advance his skills as a doctor of medicine, learning everything he could from the Vampires, and how they healed themselves from the mere ingestion of blood.

Imenand eventually approached him about being Turned, and Severus just rolled his eyes, wondering why it had taken so long for anyone to ask.

Sylum Inspiration: William Lennox

Camelot/Sylum: Member

 

William was the only child of Keith and Sarah Lennox.  He was raised on a ranch, learning family values and the meaning in a good day’s hard labor.  From an early age he wanted to be a soldier, and at 18 years old he enlisted in the Army.  Tragically, just after he finished boot camp he received word that his parents were killed in a car accident, on the way to his graduation.

The Army became his family.

He met his wife Mary Ann, while on leave from Afghanistan.  The two fell in love instantly, and she could hold her own against his hardened military attitudes.  It was her love that softened him and made him a better man.

He was due to be shipped out for a second tour in Afghanistan under the command of Hiram Ulysses Grant, when she informed him she was pregnant.  He married her that very day, leaving for Afghanistan the next morning.  His main focus and single goal was to get back home to his wife and child.

When his Commander asked for volunteers for a secret mission, he didn’t hesitate.  Grant and Sherman had always been good to his men and they had earned his respect and loyalty.

Will was thrown unexpectedly into the world of Vampires, but took the challenge head on.  When wounded in battle, he accepted being Turned – all so he could see his baby girl.

Sylum Inspiration: Paul Mallory

 

Camelot: Member

 

Paul’s family was originally from Poland.  His grandmother, fled with her husband and children, to England in 1936.  She talks about the regret she felt leaving behind her sister, her husband, and son, all who had perished at Auschwitz.

He was in college when he was recruited by James Bond into MI:6.  His gifts in languages, and the ability to crack any safe gave him a skill set they could use.  He rose up the ranks in MI:6 and is now a Double O Agent.

(Dilios Note: Not that I’m supposed to know that)

He became friends with Charles Evan, who at the time was a Veterinarian student, needing a place to stay.  Paul always gone, offered his back bedroom, to the student and over time the two became friends, despite the arguments over the menagerie of animals in the house.

He ended up making friends with Hannibal King, the two building an unusual friendship.

While on a Mission he was severely wounded and he still wasn’t sure if he gave consent to be Turned, but in the end he accepted his fate as one of M’s boys.

Sylum Inspiration: Gwenhwyfar

Camelot: Co-Leader

 

Born in Wales in the year 506AD, Gwenhwyfar is the daughter of King Leodegrance.

At the young age of 13 she ran away in defiance against her father.  She was rescued by John Rhys, who saved her from her pursuers and escorted her back to her father, where he became the head of her guard.

Her betrothal to Arthur Pendragon was meant purely as a political match but upon their first meeting when Arthur came to the rescue of Wales and banished the rebel King Rience from his enemy’s lands, they fell in love.  Their Courtship was conducted in much secrecy and amidst great danger as there were many on either side of the English/Welsh border who were opposed to all that such a match would entail, both politically and in terms of social change.

Her Wedding Train was raided as she crossed the border into England, five days before the wedding was due to take place in Cornwall, and her abduction forced Arthur, Lancelot and Galahad to ride forth to avenge her honor and rescue her and her entourage.  The resulting massacre is now the stuff of legend.

Arthur knew he had found his Mate in Gwenhwyfar but did not tell her of his true nature until the eve of their nuptials.  Her resulting outrage from his suggestion that she remain human in order to bear the children he could not give her, and thereby supply an heir to the throne for Camelot’s future, resulted in one of her maidservants misunderstanding what was said and spreading the rumor that she had, in fact, slept with Lancelot.

Gwenhwyfar has a strong belief in employing only the most scrupulously honest of servants as a result of this notorious incident.

Sylum Inspiration: Robin Longstride

Camelot/Sylum: Member

Robin doesn’t remember much of his childhood.  He remembers his dad having strong hands, and working as a stone mason.

He spent most of his life in the army, his natural skills with a bow and arrow quickly moving up the ranks as an Archer.

As the Crusades moved on, he began to loose his faith.  And when he was abandoned by his superiors leaving him and a few friends alone on the battlefield at Damascus, he lost it completely.

He fought with his friends, until he was the last one standing.

Praying for the final blow to end his life, he closed his eyes in anticipation of going home.

Only to wake up in a filthy jail cell.

Robin could hear someone in the cell next to him, and soon the two talked and became friends.

Hearing the other prisoner say the Rosary daily helped restore his faith.

(Dilios Note: There are things that happened in those cells which neither of those men talk about)

He could hear defeat in his friend’s voice and was outraged that so fine a man should be reduced to such.  So they plotted an escape –  theory being to escape or die trying.

It was hell, but they did finally get out of that prison and onto the streets of Damascus, for chase to ensue until they were surrounded.  Ready to die with a sword in their hand, they stood together side by side, when men wearing black robes swarmed the area.

He was pulled away when one bent over his fallen friend, Antonio Crisafi, and begged for a chance to save his life.

Robin watched in horror and shock as the man grew fangs and bit Tony.

He struggled against the one who held him, only to be told he was safe.

They both were.

Robin blacked out from blood loss, and woke up in a comfortable bed, whereupon he swiftly rose and sought out those who had helped him and Antonio.  The man who had bitten his friend, introduced himself as Nicolaus, then explained what had happened.

Robin promptly demanded to be Turned, as there was no way Tony could survive without him.