Oceania: Member

Darren Griffin was born to a middle class family in Leeds, England.   His whole life he wanted to be a Rugby player.   He met Benjamin Turner when they were eight years old, and a lifetime friendship was born.

They were separated when Ben returned back to Australia, with his family when they were sixteen.   Devastated at loosing his friend, they both fought to stay in contact, slowly realizing they were more than friends.

Darren went on to University, playing rugby, and was recruited straight into the Rugby League team Leeds Rhinos.   It was there he started to get more internationally known, helping his goal to get to Australia.

After the Rhino’s won against the Melbourne Storm in a match between England and Australia, he was picked up the owner of the Tasmanian Devils  Marc Key. It was then Darren discovered the owner was actually Marquis and owned more than a Football team, who helped them learn about each other and got Ben onto the Devils.

Darren and Ben hid their relationship until a photograph outed them.  The team stood by them, and most of the NRL didn’t give a crap.  Darren’s parents rejected the fact he was with Ben, and refuse to speak to him.

Tragedy struck when two players on an opposing team hit Ben so hard sent him to the hospital.

When Darren arrived to see him he got the shock of his life.

Oceania: Member

Benjamin was the son of Marion and Arron Turner.   His life was turned up side down when his father took a position at Leeds University, in Leeds, UK.   He hated his parents for destroying his life at 8 years old.

Then he met Darren Griffin, who became his best friend.

For eight years they lived in each others pocket, lived and breathed rugby.  When he was sixteen, his father got a job back in Australia, and if he he had hated them when he was eight it was ten times worse when he was sixteen.

They swore to stay in contact, and slowly over the years they developed from friendship to relationship.  While Darren had ended up at University playing Rugby, Ben had been asked to join The Perth Black Swans junior team, then worked his way onto the Black Swans NRL Team, as halfback.

They worked to keep their relationship, and Ben had to admit it got easier when Darren made it to Australia.  Then he shocked him by introducing him to the owner of the Tasmania Devils ‘The Marquis’ and Kai.

Not soon after he was recruited the Devils, and despite everything it was perfect until they were forced out of the closet, leading to Ben’s injury, and subsequent Turning.

Oceania: Member

Mason Anne Weaver was named after her grandfather. And since her first roll call most people think she’s going to be a boy. Now she mostly uses that to her advantage. She grew-up in the suburbs of Chicago during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Her fascination with photography began in her teens when she borrowed her father’s old Leica III camera. She began taking photos of the her neighborhood, kids riding bicycles, local pets and the animals at the zoo, the “L” train, and the city. She entered several of her photos in local contest and even managed to win a few.

In 1963, her future prospects, according to her mother, were to find a husband or go to college to find a husband. She opted for college but omitted the plans to find a husband. She decided that her hobby was a good start for a degree in either photography or journalism and pursued it along with a degree English. She began working for the college paper and in her senior year earned a spot to travel to New York City to hear Martin Luther King speak at Riverside Church.

After listening to the “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech Mason began taking photos at Civil Rights gatherings; as well as the protests in D.C. A few of her photos appeared in newspapers and magazines.

By 1970 she found herself in Vietnam as an investigative photojournalist or, as some would call her depending on what was on the other side of her lens, an “anti-war” photographer. She believes (and still does) that pictures speak for themselves and she always tries to stay out of the politics of it all.

She was embedded with the MAC V-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group). And, by the end of the war in 1973 Mason had one of her photos on the cover of Time magazine.

Her last excursion before leaving Vietnam was to take one more trip into the jungle following a former SAS Captain who was reportedly looking for a down helicopter and it’s pilot. The little adventure was more harrowing than being embedded with the MAC V-SOG. After all, she had been right, there was something very suspicious about the story of the downed craft and the pilot. There were chases, gunfire, vampires, dying, and James.

By the end only four people walked out of the jungle. No one talks about it.

Oceania: Scientist

Michael Dundee has no idea who his father was. He was raised on the edge of town by his mother, who had been shipped to Australia because she was pregnant. She worked hard and he will always remember her smile.

She taught him to read and write. But mostly taught him to value himself and everyone. When she died, he set out to find where his place was in the world.

He traveled out to the Outback and found himself.

Dundee came back into town, and ended up meeting Max Cadbury. He liked the guy instantly, trusted him. Max returned the trust by letting him know about the truth of what he was and along with his companions.

It was this Michael knew he was destined for.

Oceania: Member

Emma was one of three daughters of a wealthy land owning family in Australia.  Her suave and no nonsense attitude had her inheriting the family business and creating a small empire.  Her ability to move ahead of the market or get competitors to do her well had caught a few people’s attention.  Including Franklin Frost, who knew a potential asset when he saw one.

He wined and dined her, trying to find more information, but was caught off guard when she asked how his husband felt about their ‘date’.  Even more curious, he gave her the straight answer that he was recruiting her.

It was then he discovered there was more to Emma than a sophisticated brain and gorgeous looks.  After months of meetings, and having dinner with Frankie and Richie, she started to work for Oceania Clan, specifically Frankie.

In time they discovered her abilities. It wasn’t the weirdest thing Frankie had seen, but they kept it under wraps.  So when Emma asked to be Turned, he did it himself.

Oceania: Legal Advisor

As I’m working on a story set in Oceania thought it would be good to showcase some of the characters!

Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and the third President of the United States (1801–1809). He was an ardent proponent of democracy and embraced the principles of republicanism and the rights of the individual with worldwide influence. At the beginning of the American Revolution, he served in the Continental Congress, representing Virginia, and then served as a wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781). In May 1785, he became the United States Minister to France and later the first United States Secretary of State (1790–1793) serving under President George Washington. In opposition to Alexander Hamilton’s Federalism, Jefferson and his close friend, James Madison, organized the Democratic-Republican Party, and later resigned from Washington’s cabinet. Elected Vice President in 1796 in the administration of John Adams, Jefferson opposed Adams, and with Madison secretly wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which attempted to nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Elected president in what Jefferson called the “Revolution of 1800”, he oversaw acquisition of the vast Louisiana Territory from France (1803), and sent out the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806), and later three others, to explore the new west. Jefferson doubled the size of the United States during his presidency. His second term was beset with troubles at home, such as the failed treason trial of his former Vice President Aaron Burr. When Britain threatened American shipping challenging U.S. neutrality during its war with Napoleon, he tried economic warfare with his embargo laws, which only impeded American foreign trade. In 1803, President Jefferson initiated a process of Indian tribal removal to the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River, having opened lands for eventual American settlers. In 1807 Jefferson drafted and signed into law a bill that banned slave importation into the United States.

A leader in the Enlightenment, Jefferson was a polymath in the arts, sciences, and politics. Considered an important architect in the classical tradition, he designed his home Monticello and other notable buildings. Jefferson was keenly interested in science, invention, architecture, religion, and philosophy; he was an active member and eventual president of the American Philosophical Society. He was conversant in French, Greek, Italian, and Latin, read Spanish, and studied other languages and linguistics, interests which led him to found the University of Virginia after his presidency. Although not a notable orator, Jefferson was a skilled writer and corresponded with many influential people in America and Europe throughout his adult life.

For More Information Contact the Vampire Council Library

During his time in the White House, Thomas Jefferson became good friends with Henry Sturges. The two would talk philosophy, history, politics for hours. When he discovered his friend was a Vampire, and was the one that helped Washington during the Revolutionary War, he requested to be Turned.

Oceania Clan: Member

Houston grew up in Texas, much to his dismay, was named after the city he was born in.  He stayed mostly to himself as a kid, always more interested in books and school, then sports.  His studies paid off, when he got a full scholarship to Yale University.

He settled into school quickly, studying Geology specializing in seismology.  While taking courses in Biology he met San Lin, the two ended up being lab partners.

After class he asked her out for coffee.

Six weeks after they graduated they got married.  They found a small apartment off campus, and both dived into getting their Masters.

The next summer, Houston was offered to do a geology study for six weeks in Australia.   Houston liked the guide, James Conrad, instantly.  Asked him tons of questions of the area, the history, the geology …

When the camp was hit with a sudden rainstorm, causing flash flooding – Houston ended up severely injured Conrad gave him a new opportunity.

Oceania: Member

So you’re probably wondering why there isn’t a link to a bio?

That would because he’ll be introduced during McFassy Fortnight, which will begin in 5 Days: September 1st.

Actually that would be the 16th.

Sorry forgot to edit!!

Oceania: Member

San Lin was raised between Tokyo and Brazil.  She loved either being in the jungles of Brazil or the Forests of Japan, learning new things.  She worked her whole life to become a Biologist.  Some of her early heroes was Robert Campbell and his work with ants.

She met Houston Brooks when he ended up her lab partner while she attended Yale.  He asked her out for coffee at the end of the semester.  A year after dating she took him home to meet her family, and though they didn’t like that he was an American, they appreciated he was good to her.

Six weeks after they graduated they were married.

After their first year of Grad School, Houston went to study on a six week expedition in Australia.  She had an internship working at a bio tech firm called Dali Moon.  When he returned her life was changed.

He told her about Vampires and that he had been Turned, and she was his Mate.  After a long of discussion, they decided to finish their degree before going to Australia.

Once they settled in, Houston Turned her and they were Mated.

Oceania: Hunter

***

For this year we’re doing specific themes for each month.  January is introduction of new male characters we’ve recently added to the wiki.

***

Roland was born into slavery, on a plantation in South Carolina.  When the war broke out between the states, his father took the advantage and fled with him and his mother.  He found himself out west, moving from town to town.  His mother had taught him how to read, and his father taught him how to survive.

He learned quickly to use a gun, became known for his natural skills.

And when a posse came for him, he ran.

Roland ended up in Australia, if you ask him how, he really couldn’t tell you.  He used his skills to help those he could, and in time found himself protecting the aborigines and those who were being pushed out of their lands by wealthy men with power.

He kept to his father’s code:

I do not aim with my hand;
He who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand;
He who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun;
He who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

It was Jake who finally caught up with him, along with Dundee and Quigley.  They sat him down to explain about Vampires.  He was intrigued by the way they lived their lives, and protection they gave.

So he agreed to be Turned.

Oceania: Member

James Conrad is from Westminster area of London. He attended school and then like his father, joined the military. James does not talk about the regiment he was assigned to that brought him to Australia or how his enlistment ended. Just that he parted their company and says, “it was best for all I leave.”

After separating from the British infantry James easily blended in with the growing British and American population moving north across Australia where he was often hired by families as security. During his travels he learned about each of the local tribes –from their language and interactions with other tribes to the animals and plants in their area. He tried to keep the peace between the ever growing settler population and the shrinking aboriginal populations as he traveled.

He found that reading his environment and tracking came naturally to him. And he was often called upon to find people who found themselves separated from their settler caravans.

He’s somewhere in Queensland at a bar when he has first meets Michael Dundee. He’d just dropped off a group of settlers and Dundee is there at the bar next to him. They share a drink and then Dundee is gone. James thought him an interesting fellow. James stays in the area for several months returning people who get lost and learning from the natives.

He doesn’t meet Dundee again until 1862 when they have both somehow become part of the Queensland Relief Expedition who is searching for the missing Burke Willis Expedition. Shortly after arriving in Melbourne James takes ill and Dundee offers to Turn him.

James accepts.

***

Mason Anne Weaver was named after her grandfather. And since her first roll call most people think she’s going to be a boy. Now she mostly uses that to her advantage. She grew-up in suburbs of Chicago during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Her fascination with photography began in her teens when she borrowed her father’s old Leica III camera. She began taking photos of the her neighborhood, kids riding bicycles, local pets and the animals at the zoo, the “L” train, and the city. She entered several of her photos in local contest and even managed to win a few.

In 1963, her future prospects, according to her mother, were to find a husband or go to college to find a husband. She opted for college but omitted the plans to find a husband. She decided that her hobby was a good start for a degree in either photography or journalism and pursued it along with a degree English. She began working for the college paper and in her senior year earned a spot to travel to New York City to hear Martin Luther King speak at Riverside Church.

After listening to the “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech Mason began taking photos at Civil Rights gatherings; as well as the protests in D.C. A few of her photos appeared in newspapers and magazines.

By 1970 she found herself in Vietnam as an investigative photojournalist or, as some would call her depending on what was on the other side of her lens, an “anti-war” photographer. She believes the pictures speak for themselves and she she tried to stay out of the politics of it all.

She was embedded with the MAC V-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group). And, by the end of the war in 1973 Mason had one of her photos on the cover of Time magazine.

Her last excursion before leaving Vietnam was to take one more trip into the jungle following a former SAS Captain who was reportedly looking for a down helicopter and it’s pilot. The little adventure was more harrowing than being embedded with the MAC V-SOG. After all, she had been right, there was something very suspicious about the story of the downed craft and the pilot. There were chases, gunfire, vampires, dying, and James.

By the end only four people walked out of the jungle. No one talks about it.

Oceania: Member

Oceania: Member

Thomas Devoe grew up in a typical suburban home. He would tell you it isn’t anything special. When he was eighteen he joined the Army and never looked back.

He moved up the ranks quickly, especially with his skill sets heavily in Military Intelligence. When a Nuclear Weapon went off in Russia, he ended up working with Julia Kelly to help retrieve the missing warheads.

Kelly and Devoe try to track the terrorists through an Austrian trucking company which is a front for the Russian Mafia. When the Mafia realizes they are U.S. government agents, they send thugs to kill them. Vertikoff, thinking he can pay them off, is killed. Devoe kills most of the would-be assassins, and he and Kelly escape. Information from the trucking company shows that the nukes are bound for Iran. Spy satellites place the truck in a traffic jam in Dagestan, and Devoe uses a ruse to identify it. The satellite, tracking in real time, is able to verify its license plate.

Stopped at a checkpoint, Kodoroff and his men kill the guards. Devoe then leads a special forces unit to stop them. Denied entry into Russian airspace, one of the helicopters is shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile battery, but the remaining helicopters are able to locate the truck carrying the warheads. A gunfight ensues in which Kodoroff is killed and the warheads are seized. Interrogation of the surviving member of the group reveals that one warhead was taken by another man.

Further work on the information from the trucking company leads IFOR to a Sarajevo address. Inside is a video cassette of a Yugoslav named Dušan Gavrić. Gavrić disclaims any allegiance in the Yugoslav Wars (“I am a Serb, a Croat, and a Muslim”), but blames other countries for supplying weapons to all sides in the war. Dr. Kelly realizes he intends to bomb a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York City and the city goes into lockdown. Gavrić arrives in Manhattan with the Bosnian diplomatic delegation. A flashback shows that Gavrić wants to avenge the death of his wife and daughter, who were killed in Sarajevo’s Sniper Alley. He and his brother are finally found by the New York Police Department. When his brother is killed by Devoe, a wounded Gavrić is followed into a parochial school and then a small church. Devoe confronts Gavrić, who commits suicide, knowing that the bomb is set to go off in a matter of minutes and cannot be deactivated. With only seconds to spare, Dr. Kelly is able to remove a part of the explosive lens shell of the bomb, preventing the primary explosion from establishing critical mass within the plutonium core. The primary wrecks the church, but the warhead itself does not detonate. Devoe and Kelly both survive with minor injuries.

The two continued to see each other after the incident. And when Thomas got an assignment that would take him undercover for over a year, he knew he had to call it off. It wasn’t fair to her.

Thomas moved from assignments, some of them starting to blend into each other. He met Michael Westen when trying to make a deal with an oil Sheik. The man didn’t trust anyone near his woman, so he had convinced him that he was gay. And he needed a boyfriend. Michael Westen was sent to help him out.

They laughed about the awkward two weeks, but the two got to know each other just not physically and became fast friends, close even. After the Op, he tried to keep in touch with the spy, but lost track of him.

It wasn’t until he was in Australia and ended up with an armful of Julia Kelly that he discovered he had been declared dead from OP. It didn’t help the situation he was in. He was able to get her to know he was in one, and he was proud how hard she worked to play along, but he knew he would have to work to fix the damage.

Everything went south and he found himself laying on the street bleeding out. Julia gave him a second chance.

Oceania: Hunter

Jake Lonergan was raised in the frontier lands of Missouri and Kansas. As a boy he saw the stress and violence between the slave and free states. When the war broke out, he found himself defending his home from Quatrill, rather than fighting for the Union.

After the war he fled the area and headed West. His gun skills improved but not his temper. He found himself involved in petty gangs, rustling cattle, robbing stage coaches. When he ran into the James Gang, he had to stop himself from shooting either of the brothers for what they did to his family farm.

He walked away from the gang he was working with and found himself in Redemption. He should’ve stayed with the gang. He ended up hired as Herod’s guard. At first it wasn’t anything special, but he began to realize there was more going on than he thought. Herod’s cruelty saw no ends, and the first time Herod attacked and Fed on him, he knew he had to get out.

When Cort was dragged back into town, the low he thought Herod couldn’t stoop any further, he was horrified at what the Vampire did to Cort. Not able to take anymore, he snuck out of town during the competition.

Ended up in Absolution.

Facing a snotty kid and his old gang.

It was afterwards, he confronted Dolarhyde about what he suspected. Woodrow smirked at him, stating at least he didn’t have to explain it. Jake laughed his ass off when he discovered he was his Mate. Six months later he was Turned. Six months after that they were Mated.

Oceania: Member

Julia Kelly was raised in New York, and her parents made sure she had a good education and sent her to an esteemed Catholic School. She graduated, went to Harvard and got her degree in Nuclear Physics.  She works with the UN, dealing with countries who are seeking Nuclear Power or have it.

When a Russian General steals decommissioned Warheads and sets off an explosions in Chelyabinsk, Russia, she’s called in to help Thomas Devoe, Military Intelligence, to find the missing warheads.

Kelly and Devoe try to track the terrorists through an Austrian trucking company, which is a front for the Russian Mafia. When the Mafia realizes they are U.S. government agents, they send thugs to kill them. Vertikoff, thinking he can pay them off, is killed. Devoe kills most of the would-be assassins, and he and Kelly escape. Information from the trucking company shows that the nukes are bound for Iran. Spy satellites place the truck in a traffic jam in Dagestan, and Devoe uses a ruse to identify it. The satellite, tracking in real time, is able to verify its license plate.

Stopped at a checkpoint, Kodoroff and his men kill the guards. Devoe then leads a special forces unit to stop them. Denied entry into Russian airspace, one of the helicopters is shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile battery, but the remaining helicopters are able to locate the truck carrying the warheads. A gunfight ensues in which Kodoroff is killed and the warheads are seized. Interrogation of the surviving member of the group reveals that one warhead was taken by another man.

Further work on the information from the trucking company leads IFOR to a Sarajevo address. Inside is a video cassette of a Yugoslav named Dušan Gavrić. Gavrić disclaims any allegiance in the Yugoslav Wars, but blames other countries for supplying weapons to all sides in the war. Dr. Kelly realizes he intends to bomb a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York City and the city goes into lockdown. Gavrić arrives in Manhattan with the Bosnian diplomatic delegation. A flashback shows that Gavrić wants to avenge the death of his wife and daughter, who were killed in Sarajevo’s Sniper Alley. He and his brother are finally found by the New York Police Department. When his brother is killed by Devoe, a wounded Gavrić is followed into a parochial school and then a small church. Devoe confronts Gavrić, who commits suicide, knowing that the bomb is set to go off in a matter of minutes and cannot be deactivated. With only seconds to spare, Dr. Kelly is able to remove a part of the explosive lens shell of the bomb, preventing the primary explosion from establishing critical mass within the plutonium core. The primary wrecks the church, but the warhead itself does not detonate. Devoe and Kelly both survive with minor injuries.

After the mission the two stay close. They dated for a while, but when Thomas was pulled to go in a deep undercover mission, they separated.

Julia continued to work for the UN and gave lectures about security and disarmament all over the world. When she traveled to Australia she had not expected for her life to change.

During the conference she met Edward Courtney. She thought he was handsome and kind. It wasn’t long before she entered a relationship with him. After staying the night, she discovered that he was a Priest. Horrified that the Nuns from her school were right that she was going to hell, she fled only to come back demanding to know what he meant by ‘I was a Vampire before a Priest and knew I would a have a Mate’ then fled again. She ended up at Confession, but found herself returning back to Cort.

She demanded answers to a lot of questions.

Six months later she was Turned and they Bonded.