Jacob Anthony Cortland (Chimaera's PC)

[Detritus]

Jacob Anthony Cortland, 10th Generation Toreador, 350 points

(Jake, Jack, John, Tony, Cort, "Easy")

Age - 29
Apparent Age - 24
Appearance - Slim, wiry build. Blond hair and blue eyes.
Sire - Annie, Anarch Toreador, the Bitch Out Of Miami

Attributes [105]
ST - 10 [0]
DX - 14 [15]
IQ - 15 [60]
HT - 10 [0]

Max Pool/Rate - 14/2
Humanity - 12

Basic Speed - 6.00
Move - 6

Dodge - 6
Parry - 10 (boxing)

Swing - 1d
Thrust - 1d - 2

Advantages [232]
Vampire Package [65]
Appearance (Very Handsome) [25]
Charisma 3 [15]
Contact (Streetwise 21, 9-) [4]
Empathy [15]
Eidetic Memory 2 [60]
Fashion Sense [5]
Generation: 10th [25]
Language Talent 1 [2]
Musical Ability 1 [1]
Sanctity [5]
Voice [10]

Disadvantages [-70]
Absentmindedness (immobilized by beauty) (Clan Disadvantage) [-10]
Diabolic Sire [-10]
Greed [-15]
Kleptomania [-15]
Laziness [-10]
Reduced HP -2 [-10]

Quirks [-5]
Has an understated sense of style, for a Toreador [-1]
Shuffles cards or rolls coins on his knuckles absentmindedly, when distracted or thinking [-1]
Still enjoys cigarettes, despite Rötschreck [-1]
Is somewhat annoyed by no longer eating; reads restaurant reviews and food columns anyway [-1]
Avoids picking up the cheque, but if he pays, he tips extravagantly [-1]

Skills [53]
Acting (M/A) - 23 [1]
Bard (M/A) - 23 [2]
Boxing (P/A) - 15 [4]
Computer Hacking (M/VH) - 16 [1]
Computer Operation (M/E) - 17 [1]
Computer Programming (M/H) - 19 [3]
Detect Lies (M/H) - 19 [1]
Diplomacy (M/H) - 17 [1]
Driving (Car) (P/A) - 13 [1]
Fast-Talk (M/A) - 16 [1]
Filch (P/A) - 15 [4]
Fortune Telling (M/A) - 16 [1]
Gambling (M/A) - 16 [1]
Games (M/E) - 17 [1]

- spec: Billiards, Blackjack, Darts, Poker - 22
- all non-spec. games - 16

Guns (Pistol) (P/E) - 18 [4]
Holdout (M/A) - 16 [1]
Intimidation (M/A) - 18 [2]
Language (English, native) (M/A) - 17 [0]
Language (Arabic, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, Spanish, Welsh) (M/A) - 16 [4]
Musical Instrument (Guitar) (M/H) - 16 [1]
Performance (M/A) - 23 [1]
Pickpocket (P/A) - 15 [4]
Politics (M/A) - 16 [1]
Psychology (M/H) - 18 [1]
Savoir-Faire (M/E) - 17 [1]
Sex Appeal (HT/A) - 21 [2]
Shadowing (M/A) - 16 [1]
Sleight of Hand (P/H) - 14 [4]
Stealth (P/A) - 14 [2]
Streetwise (M/A) - 16 [1]

Disciplines [35]
Auspex 4 [8]
* Enhanced Senses - 17 [1]
* Aura Reading - 19 [1]
* The Spirit's Touch - 15 [1]
* Unveil the Shrouded Mind - 14 [1]

Celerity 2 [8]

Presence 5 [10]
* Awe - 18 [1]
* Dread Gaze - 17 [1]
* Entrancement - 16 [1]
* Summoning - 15 [1]
* Majesty - 14 [1]

[Chimaera]

Jacob was born to poor white trash parents in the ass-crack of Louisiana. He was an only child, although not through any particular forbearance on the part of his parents. His dad was killed in the commission of a robbery. His mom mourned in her own special way and ended up in prison for cheque-fraud; Jacob was in the system at an early age. Jacob spent much of his youth being at the mercy of a succession of strangers and quickly became adept at dealing with them. He was a quick, bright kid who quickly figured out how to manage and deal with the various adults upon whom he depended. While coordinated, he lacked the drive or talent to pursue athletics as a way out, he focused on academics as his ticket to a better life. Even then, he was largely motivated a) by things coming easily and b) how readily grown-ups were impressed by good report cards. He spent most of his time in back-rooms and pool-halls, learning to hustle and to work the con. He got progressively more serious -- between scholarships and hustling pool and poker, he managed the first couple of years of college, which was where he started to box (sometimes, the marks catch you with a hanger, you know?).

He soon figured out that he was pretty good at languages and sussing people out, and psych was a pretty easy degree to coast on. He also realized that Europe was much cheaper for schooling. He swung heading out to France first, drifting from school to school, country to country, even, trading on his looks, his charm and the grift. At some point, he stopped even pretending to pursue an education and just knocked around, going from girl-friend to girl-friend, con to con, generally being perceptive and wise enough to move on before things blew up. Eventually, he headed back to the US. At this point, he was well-traveled, spoke a number of languages, and had enough of an education to circulate in the upper-strata of society, while still having solid roots in the streets. He proceeded to work the Eastern seaboard, working various cons, long and short. While he was happy to do things like credit-card number and spam schemes, he loved the face-to-face, hands on, long con. He found beauty in the art and science of persuasion and excitement in pitting his wits against the prudence and credulity of his prey. His favourite pastime was to talk his way into a high-end club or bar, cold-read a victim and walk out with a conquest: cash in hand, a car, a bed-partner for the night, all without a single prop, not so much as a single stroke of a cue or hand of cards. Spinning bullshit into gold.

That was five years ago, when Jacob was 24. Not long after his birthday, he talked himself into the wrong club... Or the right one, depending on your perspective. He picked up/was picked up by a dizzyingly beautiful woman and spent the night alternately screwing and talking about his life. It was possibly the most honest evening of his life, and without realizing it, he shared his unique take on the aesthetics of living on the grift. It likely saved his life (well, that and being pretty) -- his "mark" that night was a Toreador vampiress who was initially piqued by his charm and intending on feasting on and killing this silly, presumptuous mortal. However, he had, unwittingly, managed to provide a compelling argument for his life. So, instead of killing him or binding him like cattle, she turned him. Jacob (Jake, Jack, Joe, Tony, Cort) is a new vampire, but growing quickly in the skills of a vampire. He enjoyed his life before and resents some of the things he's lost, but by and large, he never saw much daylight to begin with... This vampire thing is pretty cool...

[Chimaera]

Ah, Miami... such a fun town when you're alive and such a dangerous, dangerous place to be dead. Annie had kept him sheltered at first and it was all foxes in the chicken coop. But inevitably, reality reality impinged and it became evident that there were lions and tigers out there. What's a fox to do? And Annie? Crazy. Seriously crazy. Finding out about The Camarilla while running from The Sabat...? Well, if nothing else, mortal peril makes for swift learning.

Bailing on Annie in Miami was not a difficult decision. She was a liability; she thinks she can cowboy it out there alone? Puh-leeeze. She pissed off The Camarilla somehow and took off to Miami where it's every vampire for him or herself. But any good grifter will tell you that anarchy sucks. If there aren't any rules to bend and break, you've got nothing. And those Sabat mothefuckers? That's not a society, that's a slow-burn gang-rumble. No, no place for someone like me there, not by a long-shot. Now, The Camarilla? That is a structure I can get behind: hierarchy, manners, rules. And word is that things are all up in the air and in an uproar down Nawlins way. Maybe even some opportunity for fella with a decent head on his shoulders, a bit of charm and an eye to the main chance. There's even a bit of poetry to it, some romance. Maybe you can go back home again...

[Detritus]

Some last-minute details:

Do you have an approximate height/weight for Jacob?

Would Jacob have put in a reservation, for lack of a better word, before coming to New Orleans? I haven't thought about the logistics underlying a Conclave in great detail, but there probably would be some sort of official channels through which one could arrange arrival time, lodging, feeding, etc. with so many Kindred likely to descend on the city.

I'm assuming that since Jacob has been to Europe and back that he doesn't have any particular aversion to flying, even as a Kindred. There is a flight from Miami to New Orleans (American Airlines 317, if you must know) that departs around 11 pm Eastern and arrives around midnight Central, which is a nice two-hour flight in the middle of the night that also fits in well with the time frame of the endings of the current in-character threads. Otherwise it's probably two full nights of driving and the beginning of a third, to get to New Orleans by car, with the night of departure moved up accordingly such that Jacob still arrives overnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

[Chimaera]

Some last-minute details:

Do you have an approximate height/weight for Jacob?

Oops... I'll pop those in above...

Would Jacob have put in a reservation, for lack of a better word, before coming to New Orleans? I haven't thought about the logistics underlying a Conclave in great detail, but there probably would be some sort of official channels through which one could arrange arrival time, lodging, feeding, etc. with so many Kindred likely to descend on the city.

I'm assuming that since Jacob has been to Europe and back that he doesn't have any particular aversion to flying, even as a Kindred. There is a flight from Miami to New Orleans (American Airlines 317, if you must know) that departs around 11 pm Eastern and arrives around midnight Central, which is a nice two-hour flight in the middle of the night that also fits in well with the time frame of the endings of the current in-character threads. Otherwise it's probably two full nights of driving and the beginning of a third, to get to New Orleans by car, with the night of departure moved up accordingly such that Jacob still arrives overnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

Flying is no problem. Reservations? Absolutely -- Jacob is new to Camarilla society and is eager to put his best foot forward. He will make whatever arrangements you think best that you think he'd know to do.

[Chimaera]

Right... I can't edit the above because I didn't post it. Whoops... :D

5'11", 160 lbs. Lean, wiry physique, with long-fingered, graceful hands.

[Detritus]

Reservations? Absolutely -- Jacob is new to Camarilla society and is eager to put his best foot forward. He will make whatever arrangements you think best that you think he'd know to do.
OK, Jacob will have talked to someone named Kallista at first. We'll say that he also mentioned the possibility of a longer stay, running past the end of the Conclave, at which point he was kicked upstairs to someone named Bonnie, a woman who speaks fluent English but definitely with a noticeable French accent. I'll further stipulate that there was some brief banter in French, so he thinks he might be in Bonnie's good books from the start.

Kallista and Bonnie will both show up in Jacob's intro thread. I've decided to go ahead and have a quickie thread at the airport, possibly leading into the limo ride to the Prince, as there will also be a couple of other NPCs there, and it'll be a good time for an info dump so that Jacob can hit the ground running. He'll be able to keep track of names and situations just fine, of course, though it may be a lot of info to assimilate from the jump for his player. ;)

[Detritus]

A portrait of Jacob's sire:

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t126/tkrenbarger/miami_annie.jpg