Michael Dubiard
Overview
A poster child for both the Lancea Sanctum's obsessiveness and its self-loathing, Dubiard has nonetheless managed to work his way up Chicago's political ladder, with only minimal assistance from Solomon Birch, his mentor and primary benefactor.
A dogmatist to the core, Dubiard is not popular outside his own covenant. His knowledge and status mark him as a solid member of the ancillae, but only other Sanctified will have anything to do with him. His constant monologue on the cursed, fallen status of the Kindred, frequently punctuated by quotations from the Testament of Longinus prevent him from being a particularly lively or engaging companion, and most of Chicago's Kindred, including many members of his own covenant, leave Dubard to his self-hatred.
To his credit, he has used his surfeit of solitude to improve his knowledge and his usefulness to his covenant. While he's not exactly a quick study, he has focused an amazing amount of effort and concentration into learning Theban Sorcery. His effort has clearly paid off. Dubiard is among the Lancea Sanctum's most knowledgeable ritualists in Chicago. When Solomon Birch needs to a partner who understands the Liar's Olague during an interrogation, he calls on Dubiard. When Solomon needs to know about Sanctigied mysticism, but doesn't want to deal with Sylvia Raines, he calls Dubiard.
Force-fed a diet of hardcore fundamentalism from an early age, Dubaird has always been burdened with a thousand Thous Shalt Nots. In an age of long hair, free love and relaxed morals, Dubiard was an exemplar of conservative prudery. When he was alive, he loathed his own flesh for its passions. Seeing an attractive girl on the street was enough to send him into a fit of self-mortification, and it was a rare week that went by without Dubiard flagellating himself for one thing or another. So uptight was Dubiard in his breathing days that he was still a virgin at the time of his Embrace. He was 27.
It was his religiosity the brought him to the attention of his sire, a pious Ventrue named Andrew Carfax. Carfax stalked Dubiard for weeks waiting for the right night to Embrace the conflicted young man, and Carfax waited until Dubiard had just come out of a prayer binge before bringing him into the Requiem. Carfax's intent, as he later told his childe, was to Embrace him when his load of guilt was lightest so he could enter the Requiem unburdened.
It didn't help. If Dubiard felt he was a corrupt, fallen creature before his Embrace, his self-loathing afterwards was nearly palpable. Finding the Lancea Sanctum, however, eased his distress considerably. Had it not, he certainly would have sought out his own Final Death by now.
Solomon Birch himself recruited the distressed Dubiard into the Lancea Sanctum personally, and he acts as Dubiard's personal confessor. In exchange, Dubiard is a zealous supporter of the Lancea Sanctum and does anything he can to spread the faith to other Kindred. Dubiard also functions as Birch's liaison to the Lancea Sanctum's younger members. If Birch is too busy to deal with younger or lower-ranking Kindred, that responsibility then falls to Dubiard. While this isn't necessarily a great benefit for younger Kindred, it does give Dubiard an opportunity to cultivate his self-loathing into younger, more impressionable Kindred. Those who show some willingness to accept Dubiard's take on the Requiem (e.g., those who also feed as rarely as possible and feel that they are truly are Damned) often find him to be very helpful, if overbearing, mentor. Those who don't accept his particular interpretation of the Requiem are likely to find themselves written off and ignored, and if Dubiard ever has an opportunity to punish such Kindred in small, petty ways, he does so with great enthusiam.
While Dubiard has embraced the Sanctified many Thou Shalt Nots, he has not been as open to its exaltation of the predator. To his way of thinking, vampires are devils, and feeding is obviously evil because it brings pleasure. Dubiard has almost entered torpor on several occasions from lack of feeding, and he commonly goes several nights every week without feeding.
Dubiard's intense religiosity has undergone a subtle shift since his Embrace. No longer does he mortify his flesh when he feels unclean. (What good does it do when he can just heal his self-inflicted stripes anyway?) Instead, he channels his zeal into the study of Theban Sorcery. His understanding of the Lancea Sanctum's blood magic surpasses that of most of Chicago's Sanctified and his devotion has made him one of Birch's favorite Kindred.
Stats
Clan: Ventrue
Covenant: Lancea Sanctum
Embrace: 1974
Apparent Age: 27
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 2, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4
Social Attributes: Presence 5, Manipulation 4, Composure 2
Mental Skills: Academics (Christian Philosophy) 3, Computer 1, Crafts 1, Investigation 1, Medicine 1, Occult (Jewish Mysticism) 2, Politics 1
Physical Skills: Drive 2, Stealth 1, Survival 1
Social Skills: Empathy 3, Expression 1, Intimidation (Fire and Brimstone) 1, Persuasion 2, Socialize 2, Subterfuge 1
Merits: Covenant Status: Lancea Sanctum (Priest, Ritualist, Solomon Crony) 3, Haven: Security 1, Haven: Size 3, Herd 2, Resources 1
Willpower: 5
Humanity: 6
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Wrath
Health: 9
Initiative: 5
Defense: 2
Speed: 10
Blood Potency: 2 (Vitae/turn: 11/1)
Disciplines: Dominate 2, Theban Sorcery 3
Theban Sorcery Rituals: Blood Scourge, Vitae Reliquary, Curse of Babel, Liar's Plague, Blandishment of Sin
References
- VTR/WTF/MTAw/CofD: World of Darkness: Chicago, p. 122-123