Vin Mariani
Overview
A casual observer would suspect that Vin Mariani was a serious Kindred, burdened unduly by the Requiem and, on the whole, very much a conformist. One would also likely assume him to be a typical smarmy game-playing Invictus power-broker. His wheeler-dealer attitude combined with shortening his name from Vincenzo to the trendier "Vin" all add up in such a way that other Kindred think they can pigeonhole him within a minute of meeting him. That's what Mariani wants other Kindred to do, because if they knew that he was actually looking for immense power through brokering mortal souls to the demon Falisterion, even the dogmatists of the Lancea Sanctum would be screaming for his destruction.
But they don't know. And he doesn't make an issue of it. He doesn't feel the need to wear his spiritual beliefs on his sleeve, in part because that's a pretty damned good way to find Final Death. Instead, he plays the part of the high Humanity vampire, never wanting to kill anyone or even wanting to feed excessively from one mortal. He masquerades as one of those un-predatory predators that the Lancea Sanctum revile. All the while, he drops seemingly harmless throwaway comments about demons, devils and Hell, just to see who ignores them, whose eyes narrow and whose ears prick up, interested. If he gets hostile or suspicious responses, he drops the topic entirely and plays up his seemingly high Humanity again. If they seem curious, he steers the conversation in the direction of diabolism.
Mariani had only just begun sneering at God and berating himself for his own gullible nature when he was Embraced for his faith. It was the universe at its most ironic, as far as Mariani was concerned. Still, while he didn't find much of value in the Sanctified theology, he did appreciate having guides to help him in his examination of religion's dark underbelly. It made him curious about the world. If there were really such things as vampires, why not demons too?
And, as if the universe heard his thoughts, Mariani soon had his chance to fall in with demons. And he did, enthusiastically.
Mariani is by no means the only member of Belial's Brood in Chicago. On the contrary, he is only the most active of the demon's servants. If the Brood does something major in Chicago - deconsecrates a church for ritual use, for example, or makes a child sacrifice, it's likely Mariani who's doing the work. Those he reports to prefer to stay as deep in the shadows as possible.
For expediency's sake, Mariani expends some small amount of effort to stay connected to the Lancea Sanctum (lest he be mistaken for one of the unbound), but no more than absolutely necessary.
As members of Belial's Brood go, Mariani is unusually subtle and patient. That crazy, in-your-face Masquerade breaches of some others have never made sense to him. If they really want to perform Belial's will on Earth, the least they can do is plan it out so as to avoid complete and utter failure. Mariani is quite sure that he could do more if he could find just a few more converts to the Brood, but he doesn't want to bring in idiots who will fuck up his plans, so he'd being very exclusive in his recruiting.
Dance With the Devil
Mariani grew up in Boston's historical, and largely Italian, North End. His parents owned a restaurant that he worked at through his adolescence in order to pay for his college. Mariani had what some might call a mystical disposition, with a tendency to dwell on subjects that others found sacred or mysterious, not the least of which were spirituality and death.
Once done with his undergraduate degree, Mariani entered the seminary and became a priest. Working for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the arm of the Catholic Church originally known as the Inquisition), Mariani saw the Church dabble in a wide range of affairs that Mariani found questionable, not the least of which was the blatant manipulation of Catholic politicians by the Vatican, and the establishment of a school for exorcists.
Even as he was questioning the Church and its political strategies, Mariani was being watched by Sanctified Kindred.
The night Mariani was Embraced was the night he lost his faith in God (or at least God as he had previously imagined Him) - ironic since he was chosen for the Embrace because of his faith.
Even as his sire schooled him in the alternative theology of the Lancea Sanctum, Mariani found it insufficiently heretical. Its cosmology and perspective were all suspect in his mind because of its similarity to the faith he'd just renounced.
He continued his half-hearted affiliation with the Sanctified mostly out of convenience, a comfortable situation to relax in until he found something that fit him better. It didn't take long.
He met his first real Belial vampire seemingly by accident - seemingly, of course, because it wasn't accidental at all. The topic of demons came up, and Mariani was just a bit too eager to learn more. So he was told to go to a certain used bookshop and ask for a copy of Liber B.L.I.L., the "fundamental" text on Kindred demonolatry, from the locked case behind the register.
While reading it, the scales suddenly fell from his eyes. He understood that his Damnation was a warrant for his own freedom. Mariani had seen a lot of strange things, both before and after his Embrace, and Liber B.L.I.L. provided him with a context to link those odd phenomena together. The book also told of the kind of power a vampire could accrue through the worship of Belial, and trumped anything the Lancea Sanctum offered. The power of the Kindred wasn't meant to stay hidden from humankind - not forever!
Since becoming a part of Belial's Brood, Mariani had heard tales of Kindred gaining all manner of demonic investments from Belial, the better with which to carry put the Dark Work. Liber B.L.I.L. doesn't stipulate what's necessary to gain those investments, but Mariani is already looking for other books and doing what he can, in his small way, to spread Belial's influence.
Mariani is an attractive man of Italian descent. He dresses formally and well. It is his strongly held belief that one does not need to dress like a barbarian or a Hollywood villain to worship demons, and Mariani takes a great deal of satisfaction in wearing high-quality suits most of the time.
Stats
Clan: Ventrue
Covenant: Belial's Brood (formerly Lancea Sanctum)
Embrace: 1992
Apparent Age: 26
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 4, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 3, Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics 2, Computer 2, Investigation 2, Occult 3, Politics 1
Physical Skills: Drive 1, Larceny 1, Stealth 3
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Intimidation 2, Persuasion 2, Socialize 1, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Danger Sense, Eidetic Memory, Encyclopedic Knowledge, Haven: Security 4, Haven: Size 1
Willpower: 7
Humanity: 2 (Delusional Obsession: 2, Irrationally: 4)
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Pride
Health: 8
Initiative: 6
Defense: 2
Speed: 9
Blood Potency: 2 (Vitae/turn: 11/1)
Disciplines: Animalism 2, Dominate 2, Theban Sorcery 1
Theban Sorcery Rituals: Blood Scourge, Vitae Reliquary
References
- VTR/WTF/MTAw/CofD: World of Darkness: Chicago, p. 147-148