William Lee Travis

Concept: Serial Killer (Retired)/Ugallu-Predator

AKA: The only people who ever call William Travis “Billy” are his mama (Deceased, god rest her soul) and people who are looking to die horribly.

Desc: Tallish and lanky. Clean shaven, and while he’s lost most of his hair on top, it's grown longish in the back to the point where he can ponytail it if he wants. He rarely bothers. His hair is silvering. His orange jumpsuit makes him look a bit sallow. Doesn’t look like he has much meat on his bones, but as old as he is, he is still rattlesnake quick.  He is on record as having a disdain for ink, but his shoulder blades have an impressive set of wings. People who ask him about them usually find that he stares at them until they get unnerved and walk away.  Billy rarely blinks.  And while he smiles a lot and laughs occasionally, that smile never touches his eyes.

History: Billy Travis has been on this road for a long time. He never tortured animals, but all the rest of the troubled youth stuff, he did that in spades. He was abused as a kid too.  Not excusing here. Just explaining.

He’d have cracked open and gotten devoured a long time ago had it not been for Sarah. Sarah had been working in the office of the Auto body shop where Billy earned his money. They hit it off and in about a year, they knew they’d get married.

    Billy loved her. And while their life was never exactly smooth, he never EVER raised a hand to her. He wasn’t going to be like his father. No. Not ever. On this point he was adamant. Billy worked steady and helped Sarah pay for community college looking down the road for someday.  Auto body work pays fairly well.  Billy began to gather himself for making a downpayment on a house...The future looked bright.

In a years time, it all came crashing down. Billy’s mama died, and her burial debts ended up forcing him to sell her house to cover them. Then her Life insurance company screwed Billy pretty hard. So her medical bills ate the rest of the house money and what he had in the bank for his own place.  The tension caused him and Sarah to hit a bad patch, which Billy chalked up to hormones because Sarah had finally caught pregnant after a couple of years of trying.  Billy knew that things were pretty bad, but he kept trying to keep things level.

Then in Sarah’s seventh month, they rushed to the hospital.  The baby didn’t make it. Sarah didn’t make it.  And then, as if all that wasn’t bad enough. Billy found out that, Sarah had been fucking her English teacher and it was his baby that killed her.

   He went home to their apartment. He sat on the couch in the dark. When arose from the couch, he went out, found himself a prostitute, paid for her time, got his ashes hauled, and then he strangled her to death and dumped her in a culvert out on state road 26.

  He killed 85 women and transient men in the space of 14 years before they finally caught him.

And when they did, he went peaceably. As if he knew, and didn’t mind for some reason.

  He refused to plea bargain. He refused to plead insanity. Helped to close a dozen cases in order to avoid the death penalty but that seems like it was all he wanted to do.   They sent him to the Clearwater Correctional Institute for Men to serve 26 consecutive life sentences.

    Now he lives a particularly quiet life. He reads.  He has the kind of serial killer infamy that makes for dozens of pen-pals, (mostly psychologists and freaks), and the gruesome nature of his crimes tends to discourage other inmates from screwing with him. And those who don’t pay any heed to their fellow prisoners, and screw with him anyway, tend to meet bad ends. Billy doesn’t want to crew up.  Billy doesn’t give a shit who is the head bull in the yard. Billy doesn’t care about any of that.  In fact, he’s a model prisoner for the most part.

What many people don’t understand is the William Lee Travis is a Beast. And he is exactly where he wants to be. His environment is perfect for his needs. He does a bit of casual investigation into the teacher who banged his wife and the insurance company that fucked him over.  The intelligence he’s gathered on them is already quite impressive. His powers make it possible for him to leave at any time he desires (He’s in the super-max wing. He has no cell mate.)  And in fact, most of the CO’s and inmates are scared shitless of him. (His tendency to use Eyes of Heaven, and then be able to tell you intimate details about yourself is terrifying to some.)   He hunts the people who have done him wrong on the outside, having the perfect alibi of being in jail at the time.  Maybe someday when he reaches the end of his list. (He’s saving that teacher for last.) He may take wing and never come back here...and then again, he has found that he’s perfectly comfortable here.   After all, any HERO who comes around looking for him is going to have to break IN to a federal penitentiary.

Attitude: “Kid. You and I will get along fine as long as you don’t upset my applecart.”

Skills: He is a talented mechanic but since his arrest, his interest in engineering has changed completely. He has been checking out books on psychology and sociology from the prison library. By this point, he’s probably got a degree’s worth of psychology under his belt.  He’s not terribly strong, but he IS fast and knows how to use surprise to his benefit. Mentally, he’s about average, and gaining a little maybe. Socially...Well. He doesn’t talk much anymore.  He really doesn’t have to.

Gear: Doesn’t even bother to have a shiv. His only personal possession is a little radio that he keeps tuned to the classic rock station in town. He doesn’t even bother with contraband with the occasional exception of junk food. There aren’t too many who know it, but Billy will murder another inmate for a kit-kat bar. I ain’t even playin. 

Home: Block D.  Although, it should be noted that his Lair has taken on the semblance of the prison too. In fact, if he desires it he can lure someone into his lair without them necessarily noticing that they’ve gone astray.  William has made connections with a few Beasts on the outside and doesn’t mind them using his lair as a kind of grand central station. He’s even willing to allow members of the family to slake their unnatural hungers on his pent-up prisoners, as long as they keep it on the down-low, and don’t come around hat in hand, too often.

Circle: While William may not necessarily be the Apex Predator in your chronicle, he is almost certainly something of an elder statesman. He knows a Gangrel that comes around once a quarter to visit. (resting in the sod of the prison yard) and they get along fine.

He’s got weird pull with his freak pen-pals and enjoys messing with the odd psychologists.  (Although there is at least one of them that he thinks might be family... You just never know about these things.  He’s been casually talking with the woman about dream symbolism. Feeling her out.) 

Story Uses:

“No no. I’ll be happy to help you close that case.  But I'll need you to do something for me...”

Yeah. Shake that devil’s hand. And he’ll even make sure he lives up to his end. It’s a pride thing with him.  But you’ll always wonder whether that little errand he had you do was something terrible.   Some of them will be things like, “Kill a gopher and mail it to this address.” others will be things like, “Go to the Valley View Mall and take a piece of blue chalk and write “Knight to Queen’s bishop, check” on the wall of the third stall of the ladies room.”   Obviously, he might just be fucking with you.

“It’s not personal. I’m just doing a favor for Trey. You remember Trey don’t you?”

William can leave at any time. Which means he can be a problem for lots of people on the outside.  I really hope you don’t actually work for a life insurance company.

Connections:

*It is safe to infer that every single one of the Law enforcement professionals detailed in these pages have heard some stuff about William Lee Travis. Its veracity is entirely up to you.

* If Lewis Flowers is ever caught, The Family will gain a new member in fairly short order

Sheriff Hank Settles

Concept: Scarred County Sheriff

AKA: Hank’s real first name is Henry.

Desc:  Hank is fairly tall. Iron-gray hair which he keeps relatively short. For a man as broad and heavy as he is, he is still fairly fit. He’s not overly muscled, but strong like a bear. He has a number of scars on his back, torso, and forearms. He has a Force Recon tattoo on his left arm.

He has a sprinkling of broken capillaries across the bridge of his nose. He isn’t one for a lot of facial expressions, but the fellas in the office have identified about nine different types of squints and their meanings. While he’s certainly capable of talking and multi-syllabic words, he tends to be fairly laconic. Law enforcement has taught him the value of letting the other fellow talk.

History: Fun Fact: Lots of cities have both a Metropolitan police force AND a sheriff’s department.  Sometimes it because there’s a division of labor. Sheriff’s departments being responsible at times for serving summonses, and occasionally for evictions.  In this town, however, it’s because the surrounding small towns that are within the county, but outside the metro corporate city limit, don’t have a police force of their own. (And that state of affairs is relatively common.)

  Hank’s personal story is pretty simple on paper. He was an all-state tailback. He served in the army with distinction and took his GI bill to a decent school with a fairly good Law Enforcement program. He had a thought that he might go off to the FBI someday.  And while he got good marks, the someday never came really.  He came home, and never really left.  This is where his family was, and all his friends.

  And so he stayed.  He got on with the deputy patrol and after he got fairly good at the gig, He ran for the office itself when Roy Conley retired.  He’s been serving ever since.

   What isn’t on paper is that Hank is Kinfolk.  He got those scars in battle and he knows some stuff and has seen some stuff.  This makes for someone in a high-level county law enforcement position who is frankly, unafraid of any human being he meets. When those bikers moved into Clearwater and seemed intent on setting up a meth factory, a few of their dudes went around and intimidated the mayor.  Clearwater’s mayor happened to be a cousin of Hank’s. So hank and his deputies went around there and arrested them, but not before beating the everliving fuck out of them.  There was a lot “aggravated resisting arrest” charges that night.  Since the county circuit judge was also a Kinfolk, those dudes went away for a very long time.  Other people got the message. Hank didn’t even have to call in a favor from the Uratha he knows.  Hank is as tough as woodpecker lips.

Attitude: “You see these tracks? You and Joey head back to the vehicle and post up there. I gotta make a phone call.”

Skills: He’s built like a bear and is pretty tough. He’s got some dots of Martial Arts Combatics that he got from the service and a couple of dots of Sniping. He’s been teaching himself Spetsnaz Style knife fighting too because he’s got a silver bowie knife strapped to his leg at all times.  He’s a got decent pile of dots salted into Investigation and Academics (He was a pretty decent student for the most part.) and a number of dots in Survival and Medicine (Camping trips all his young life, knows a medicinal herb or two.) He should probably have Unseen Sense: Shapeshifters (If you know some, you know what to look for.)  Mentally, he’s got more resolve than anything else, and socially he takes the hit but his Composure is solid iron.

Gear: Hank has the usual belt-load of stuff your average law enforcement professional carries that makes going to the bathroom such an involved process. Also, some kinfolk have their hooks into the manufacture of silver weapons, So he usually has a few shells for his shotgun that have silver shot.  Also, he’s acquired a few fragmentation grenades which he’s wrapped with silver wire. Such things rest quietly in a locked toolbox in the trunk of his vehicle.

Home: Hank has a nice little place up in the hills. One of those places with a ridiculous driveway that is at such an angle, that it’s impossible to get up if it’s raining,  4 wheel drive or no. It’s nice and comfy. Has a firearms workbench and a decent arsenal.  Hank isn’t a doomsday prepper or anything, but he’s got provisions, bottled water, medical supplies, and is thinking about digging an exit tunnel out towards the well. You know, just in case.

Circle: Hank is a fairly well-known fella. He’s active in his church. He’s a known name on both sides of the criminal divide and he’s considered a pillar of the Kinfolk community. Not bad for a fella who tends not to talk much.

Story Uses:

“Son, You are a mere human. I am NOT afraid of anything you can do...”

Hank can be problematical for anybody living out in the sticks who happens to be supernatural and is incapable of keeping it on the DL.  I’m not saying he’s going to hunt you for spite. But he might come around if you are causing problems.

“Well...You should have said so. Boys...Suit up.”

It is not outside the realm of the possible that Hank and the rest of the deputies might be willing to lend a hand if you can convince them you are on the side of the angels.

Connections:

* Hank has been looking into strange disappearance in a particular part of the county. Sheriff Conley did too. As did his predecessor.  One wonders if they are ever going to uncover Vuldorusss.

* Knows Robert Nathan Herbert. Has heard the scuttlebutt about his true affiliations. Thinks the guy might be a bit of a prick but it's not like they're actively burning crosses on anybody's lawns anymore.

* Has had to do missing person cases out near Whispering Hills Sanitarium. Sometimes they find them, a bit the worse for wear. Most times they don't. Hank knows the stories.

* Hank has better things to do than bust Teflon John Galloway every time he shows his dumb face. At least, that's what he tells him every time. If it weren't for the fact that Byers and Foreman enjoy a little herbal refreshment...Well...

Detective Bob Grieder

Concept: Bunco Squad Detective

AKA: Most of the cops and even a few of the dudes who know him from the street call him “Santa”

Desc:  Bob is pretty heavy. It’s alright. he’s getting close to retirement and the brass has elected not to press physical requirements for a man who does most of his work behind a desk. He’s got smart eyes and a deep bubbling laugh. His beard is a thing of wonder and white as snow. His hair is longer than regulations allow. Again. he’s a detective and close to retirement. Nobody gives him too much static. Santa is the one cop that everybody on the force likes.

History:Bob Greider has almost always been the guy who was the smartest guy in the room. Not book smart mind you. Street smart. His parents were Irish gypsies and so he’d grown up in a culture that grifts. Weird thing though, His family was also Catholic, and he sort of went the other way.  Heck. They thought he might become a priest even.  He wasn’t a pious asshole about it. He just wasn’t one to do the grift himself.  He was a poor liar.

  He understood that mom and dad and his brothers and sisters had to do certain things to survive. But even they had certain lines they wouldn’t cross.  They never stole from people who didn’t have anything to steal really.

 And as Bob grew up, he discovered that there were grifters who would. and this incensed him. 

Oh sure, he took a lot of shit from his family about being a “Buffer Cop”  But he explained himself on more than one occasion and at great length.  Finally, it seemed like they understood.  So on those rare occasions when his family rolls into town, there is an agreement in place that they keep their noses clean and there won’t be awkward arrests. 

   So, Bob went off to the police academy. He was a beat cop long enough to have really hated doing it and got himself tested for detective as soon as possible.

   And from that point on, it was open season on cons, scammers, grifters, and anybody who made money tricking it out from under people who needed it. Short cons, Big cons. It didn’t matter. And since Bunco is almost always underfunded Many times, Bob was working by himself.

     Now it’s a different story.  There’s never been a lot of money for fighting grift, and yet grift seems to be everywhere now.  Granted, Identity theft is handled by IT cops.  And people hustling senior citizens over the phone is damn near unstoppable and equally unprosecutable. Bob’s been kind of hoping that some young kid would come along and he could mentor them into the inner mysteries of Bunco enforcement.  But so far... Political cops all want to do Homicide or Organized Crime Task Force.  Nobody seems to want to go after con artists anymore.  Soon, he’ll be out of the business too. He’s been thinking about becoming a P.I. but you know he’s slow now.  Not that his mind has ever slowed down.

Attitude: “Pull the other one shitbird. It jingles.”

Skills: Physically, he’s a mess. He’s been trying to manage his diabetes for years now. If he could only stay away from pasta, he’d be alright. Socially, he’s one of the most likable guys you’ll ever meet. Got a smile for everyone. Good Handshake. Plenty of eye contact. Also, he’s plenty good at reading people (He’ll have the 3 dot version of Trained Observer along with “Bullshit Detector” specialty on top of 4 dots of Subterfuge.)

But here’s the other end of it. Bob is crazy smart. Although he’s never been to a university, he’s done enough reading on his own to merit 3 dots of Academics at least (Specs in Criminology and Law.)  He’s got 4 dots in Investigation. 4 dots in Professional Training: Cop and he’s got Eidetic as a merit.  If you’re a con and he’s on the case, He is your worst fucking nightmare.  Also, he has ALL the dots of Streetwise.

Gear: He’s got a standard issue sidearm. He’s only fired it in the line of duty once. Had nightmares for weeks afterward. Doesn’t stop him from running  2 boxes of shells through it every other week. He suffered for 3 weeks learning every single thing his smartphone could do.  His regular pocket gear includes a pocketknife, gum, and cuffs of course.

Home:  Bob’s got a decent place. He’s been careful with his money. Invests a little on the side and does well with it. Most of what he has invested went into bricks and mortar and he’s going to end up owning it early.  It’s a small place but he never married and never had kids...At least none that he knows about.   

Circle: Bob stills goes to church. They love him. Bob knows all his neighbors. They love him.  Bob knows who the players are on the streets and in organized crime. They don’t love him, but they respect him. Bob knows all the cops he works with. Once they realize that he knows exactly when they are lying, they tend to get nervous around him...if they have stuff to get nervous about. It’s rumored that more than one IAB investigation started with Bob Greider saying to his Captain, “You know what’s funny?...”

Story Uses:

“I think I doubt your sincerity.”

If your character is the sort of person that made Bob Greider choose his career path, and he crosses YOUR  path. then I expect you’ll have problems.  If you are particularly egregious, he may become your own personal Inspector Javert.

“Kid. You are perilously close to becoming useful and competent”

Bob makes a great Ally, Contact, and for a police character, Mentor.  Anybody who wants to know or help stop scam and cons will find Bob a ready teacher.

Connections:

*Chris Murphy has come to the conclusion that Bob is one of the few policemen that he doesn't hate.

* Detective Bela Janofski is a friend as is his whole family.

* Schuyler Lavey is aware that Bob has been nosing around his cult. He's been asking questions about this old cop and he does not like what he's finding out about this guy.

* Bob doesn't know it yet but Sherman Pentovale is back in town and going by the name of "Dr. Coulton Bennett"  Bob is one of the few to ever put Sherman in the jug.

Ralston Van Doren

Concept: That guy. You know.

AKA: Ralston prefers his given name but also goes by the nickname “Rolly”.

Desc: Lean and muscular like a swimmer. Insolent tousled black hair.  Pianist hands. The sort of smile that hints at unguessed debaucheries. (Think a young James Spader, and you’re not too far off the mark.) Intelligent eyes. Low musical voice. Decent singer. 

History: The Van Doren family is one of THOSE families. The eldest son is usually groomed for politics, the middle son set up in business and the youngest...

Well, the Van Doren family has found that it’s usually fine to encourage the youngest son to be a rakish photogenic layabout. Often, such a persona can be useful for deflecting headlines away from the elder boys.

     While Ralston has been encouraged all his life to be almost pure Id, he’s learned over the course of his young life how to be patient and delay gratification.  He’s seen what it’s like when you can’t control yourself or wait.   And Ralston is really good at learning things from the bench.

   He likes the role he plays.  He plays it with gusto, but he’s a developed a bit of an addiction. No, not booze, or coke. (Although he likes both.)  It’s adrenaline he digs.

    Like calls to like, and so when Ashwood Abbey came calling, Ralston, with the full blessing of his family, joined.   Now he, and other rich layabouts, make occasional forays into the nightlife hunting other night-folk.  They are well armed. They are well-provisioned.  They have access to useful training. And usually, they are ripped to the teats on fine Peruvian flake.

Funnily enough, Ralston has become the brains behind their little operation.  He has tactical and strategic chops. He grew up in a family that is balls deep in occultism and occult circles, so what he doesn’t know already, he can find out.  Ralston is, despite his sexual perversity, and substance abuse problems, a voracious reader, and while he got bounced from a number prestigious schools, He also got a very good, if varied, education.   Truth be told, he may be the smartest of the siblings. He certainly thinks so.  Once he started hunting the supernatural just for the rush...Now...He wants to know more.  Personally, I couldn’t tell you which is scarier.

Attitude:  “Do you see this?  This is lucite. It’s a strand of plastic material. I’ve wrapped it in tape so that only the end will show. The other end is outside, in the sunlight. and Lucite is spectacular at light conduction.  Now you can either answer my questions and get off with nothing more serious than my name inscribed in the burning flesh of your forehead...Which, by the way, your elders already KNOW my name...OR, I can cut to the chase and give you a sunlight enema.  Which would you prefer?”

Skills:  Physically, Ralston is in tip-top physical shape. He could be in the Olympics if it weren’t for the hooch and nose candy. He’s socially adept and he’s smart (Something of a closet bookworm)  He’s got 3+ dots of academics (And been in enough trouble to have a specialty in Law)  If you have Second Sight, Ralston would have the Low Magic template for Apostle of the Dark One. (Most of his family does too.)

Gear: In terms of his regular pocket gear, All he needs on any given night is condoms, his smartphone, His wallet, and a pistol with CC permit.  If he’s on the hunt, though, He’s got thermo-graphic imaging, Kevlar weave armoring, and some lovely custom-made firearms and ammo. One thing is for sure. He’s never without his kindle.

Home: Ralston rarely hangs his hat at the family manse anymore. He’s got a lovely penthouse downtown.  It’s got maid service and mystic wards. He needs both. Ralston’s family owns the place, and he’s got his own key to the private freight elevator.  He’s also got about 4 or 5 bolt holes of his own and cash stowed in a dozen banks across the globe.

Circle: Rolly parties like Leonardo DiCaprio THINKS he parties. As a result, he’s pretty popular among a certain segment of the idle rich population. Also, he’s developing something of a rep among hunter groups.  They think he’s crazy. But they also think he’s might just be a crazy genius.  What they don’t know, is that the Vermillion House has a certain number of supernatural allies and anyone on THAT list is never going to see trouble from his group of hunters.

Story Uses:

“Well, who’s little freak-child are you?” 

If you run into Ralston while he’s on the hunt, you’ll find him organized, prepared, vigorous, and half-crazy from adrenaline.  He’ll be friendly...Jaunty even. But only because he’s going to kill you.  Or try.

“Party favors are over there. Most of them are cute and clean.”

On the other hand, you might have some kind of connect with Ralston in his other life...And you know it’s entirely possible that he might be willing to put you on his hunter crew if you’ve had a bad experience with something supernatural.  By the time you figure out what a bad man he actually is, you’re likely to be in too deep.

Connections:

* Vuldorusss actually likes Ralston.  When the Family comes around to visit, The others are only there for business. Transactions.  But when Ralston comes he always has questions...and they are INTERESTING questions.

* Payton Breckinridge knows him from being kids together. They used to be friends, but the direction he's gone in over the years, and the bad effect he's been on Payton's siblings is not something Payton can ignore. Payton's probably one of those few that could maybe turn Ralston around...But there are so many in his life that would just as soon see him go in the direction he's going.

* Meredith Shaw is another that he grew up with. For her part, Ralston is one of the few people on the planet that Shaw has any affection for. They also bumped uglies once or twice, but that was before she had really figured out her kink. He probably wouldn't mind being tied up and flogged.(he'd be a bossy bottom)  But if she lost respect for him afterward...Yeah. He wouldn't take that well.  While Meredith doesn't see the point of the Hunting, she doesn't discourage him and occasionally drops the dime on a likely target she encounters.

* Lorna Crane Yeah. Ralston not going to marry her. I mean, it's great that she's as nasty in the sack as she is. Crazy will do that for you.  But Ralston has already figured her out and as soon as he's on the hook, he knows he'd be a dead man.  He's interested in the challenge, but he's also figured out that she far too white trash for him.  Still, that thing that she does with her tongue is pretty amazing.

* Schuyler Lavey has yet to convince Ralston that he's worth the air he's breathing. Ralston is fairly convinced that Schuyler ought to be eaten at one of the quarterly meetings of The Vermillion House

And this is a shame because if the two ever really talked, they might discover some things in common.

* Lillian Penobscot is "Aunt Lilly" to Ralston. She may even be distantly related by blood. Which is the only thing that has prevented the two of them from jumping one another's bones.  Although it IS possible that there was an incident during one of the orgies held at a V-House gathering.  It's all a bit hazy really. Lillian is up on occult things, so when Ralston has a question, He'll make a point of going round and asking his Aunt just so he can ratchet up the sexual tension a bit.

* It pretty much goes without saying, that if anything untoward happens and Ralston and/or his crew get arrest for anything that doesn't involve the murder of an infant in front of 50 witnesses. Holmes, Gillis, Baker, Savage, North, and Dean will have him out of jail in under an hour and will be ruthlessly destroying the arresting officer's career in less than a day...max.