Damien, Sheriff of Chicago
Damien’s first memories were of pain, loneliness, and persecution. He doesn’t remember his parents, celebrated musicians of the Chicago Black Renaissance who sang to him daily, or their tragic deaths. He does remember the rapid blows of a beefy fist to his face and his head slamming into the ground over and over and over again, until a fuzzy adult-sized figure intervened. Jeremiah, 12, five years his senior and Damien’s personal demon, at Wayward Retreat Orphanage in the Glover Park Neighborhood. The daily beatings preceded Damien being scolded by the staff until he escaped the orphanage at the age of eight.
On the street, he did anything to make money to survive. He sang, recited poems, stole food from dumpsters outside grocery stores, and pickpocketed nightclub-goers. Damien fell in with a small band of other kids like himself led by an older boy, Taylor Rich. A year or so later, he was a runner for Policy, the illegal numbers game; his youth and size let him escape most people’s attention. The few times he was caught, Damien would act like a big man, frequently getting a laugh or distracting his captors just enough for a quick escape. Policy used him less after it came under Mafia control. Taylor, Jen, and Chad were the last of his found family. They all had to make money, or else. Needing more money, he turned to his primary talent, singing for some quick cash or whatever he could use to get by. Maybe it was his voice, his passion for life at age 14 that drew Critias to him, but Damien would be the next member of his ragtag family to vanish without warning. The ancient vampire Embraced the child, gifting him with immortality — then left him sireless, with no memory of who Embraced him. No one knows why Critias Embraced Damien in the first place, and Damien himself does not know his sire. He lived the first years of undeath like a Caitiff, piercing information about the world of the undead together while under constant persecution.
For years, Damien raided Mafia safehouses for cash to pay for his lifestyle — until Capone’s goons started to carry stakes. One raid nearly led to his final death, had it not been for the timely intervention of Johann Keller, a Malkavian elder who believed Damien to be his son. Keller taught the boy about vampiric traditions and the Camarilla. Shortly afterward, Damien befriended Victoria McCoy, a Caitiff actress, and the two became Blood-Bound lovers.
In the 1980s, Damien joined the already-established band Baby Chorus as the new lead singer. The War of Chicago raged on in the streets, while Baby Chorus entertained the masses packed into the Cave. During that time, his mentor was destroyed by the Sabbat, and his lover by a Lupine attack. Shocked by those events, he once considered to vie for princedom over Chicago, but the music called to him, and he knew the only thing that mattered was Baby Chorus. He spent the next decades appealing to Kathy Glens to come back to the band, to no avail. He would restart the band multiple times, only to fail. In that time, Damien befriended the anathema Germaine, with whom he has took a more proactive role in the Anarch Movement around Chicago.
One night, Damien heard the first whispers of the Lasombra making moves toward the Camarilla. An Anarch spoke of one of their number in Chicago monitoring an approach of Keeper dignitaries. Unknown to Damien, the Anarch was speaking of Maldavis. Damien headed back to Chicago with a plan to get the band back together. For a number of years, the position of Sheriff remained unfilled. Damien went to Prince Jackson to request that Baby Chorus be placed center stage, and in return, Damien would accept the role. The Prince agreed, and Damien became Sheriff of Chicago. It’s taken him surprisingly little time to start punishing other Kindred to the fullest extent of his power, leaving him to wonder if this was his destiny all along.
Tonight, Damien’s loyalties lie with Prince Jackson and the recently reunited Baby Chorus. He keeps dossiers on Chicago’s Kindred, and sends his Hounds after those who threaten the Prince’s agenda. In addition to those enforcers he inherited when he took the job, Damien continues to build up the Hound roster with fierce fighters, should the Lasombra prove a problem or his former Anarch associates make a move. Damien is canny and self-reliant. He carved out a living for himself as a teenager and cobbled a family together out of those he trusted. He did the same after his Embrace, running with the Nihilists. Tonight, he fiercely protects the people he’s closest to. He’s lost enough family over the years. Now that he’s Sheriff, he intends to use that power to keep the ones who remain safe.
On the street, he did anything to make money to survive. He sang, recited poems, stole food from dumpsters outside grocery stores, and pickpocketed nightclub-goers. Damien fell in with a small band of other kids like himself led by an older boy, Taylor Rich. A year or so later, he was a runner for Policy, the illegal numbers game; his youth and size let him escape most people’s attention. The few times he was caught, Damien would act like a big man, frequently getting a laugh or distracting his captors just enough for a quick escape. Policy used him less after it came under Mafia control. Taylor, Jen, and Chad were the last of his found family. They all had to make money, or else. Needing more money, he turned to his primary talent, singing for some quick cash or whatever he could use to get by. Maybe it was his voice, his passion for life at age 14 that drew Critias to him, but Damien would be the next member of his ragtag family to vanish without warning. The ancient vampire Embraced the child, gifting him with immortality — then left him sireless, with no memory of who Embraced him. No one knows why Critias Embraced Damien in the first place, and Damien himself does not know his sire. He lived the first years of undeath like a Caitiff, piercing information about the world of the undead together while under constant persecution.
For years, Damien raided Mafia safehouses for cash to pay for his lifestyle — until Capone’s goons started to carry stakes. One raid nearly led to his final death, had it not been for the timely intervention of Johann Keller, a Malkavian elder who believed Damien to be his son. Keller taught the boy about vampiric traditions and the Camarilla. Shortly afterward, Damien befriended Victoria McCoy, a Caitiff actress, and the two became Blood-Bound lovers.
In the 1980s, Damien joined the already-established band Baby Chorus as the new lead singer. The War of Chicago raged on in the streets, while Baby Chorus entertained the masses packed into the Cave. During that time, his mentor was destroyed by the Sabbat, and his lover by a Lupine attack. Shocked by those events, he once considered to vie for princedom over Chicago, but the music called to him, and he knew the only thing that mattered was Baby Chorus. He spent the next decades appealing to Kathy Glens to come back to the band, to no avail. He would restart the band multiple times, only to fail. In that time, Damien befriended the anathema Germaine, with whom he has took a more proactive role in the Anarch Movement around Chicago.
One night, Damien heard the first whispers of the Lasombra making moves toward the Camarilla. An Anarch spoke of one of their number in Chicago monitoring an approach of Keeper dignitaries. Unknown to Damien, the Anarch was speaking of Maldavis. Damien headed back to Chicago with a plan to get the band back together. For a number of years, the position of Sheriff remained unfilled. Damien went to Prince Jackson to request that Baby Chorus be placed center stage, and in return, Damien would accept the role. The Prince agreed, and Damien became Sheriff of Chicago. It’s taken him surprisingly little time to start punishing other Kindred to the fullest extent of his power, leaving him to wonder if this was his destiny all along.
Tonight, Damien’s loyalties lie with Prince Jackson and the recently reunited Baby Chorus. He keeps dossiers on Chicago’s Kindred, and sends his Hounds after those who threaten the Prince’s agenda. In addition to those enforcers he inherited when he took the job, Damien continues to build up the Hound roster with fierce fighters, should the Lasombra prove a problem or his former Anarch associates make a move. Damien is canny and self-reliant. He carved out a living for himself as a teenager and cobbled a family together out of those he trusted. He did the same after his Embrace, running with the Nihilists. Tonight, he fiercely protects the people he’s closest to. He’s lost enough family over the years. Now that he’s Sheriff, he intends to use that power to keep the ones who remain safe.
Children
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