Christian Bern (Evenhet)

Basic Information

Birth Name: Crispin "Cris" Staubbach
Aliases: Christian Bern,Starbuck or Starbucks
Place of Birth: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Agereal and apparant) (Born 320 AD) 1660, 26
Male/Female: male
Current Occupation: Soldier
Past Occupation: (If different from above) Security Chief

Appearance

Hair Color: light blonde
Length and Style: Generally cut short and neat, clean shaven (But originally had hair down to his lower back, with a full beard and mustache)
Eye Color: clear vivid blue
Skin Color: pale
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 130
Nationality: Swiss
Race: (I.E. Vampire, human etc.) Vampire
Body Type: small boned and lean

Description (if an NPC) or name of your creator(if a PC): Grisha is a old man, who was clanless at the time of Cris's creation but who later, with Cris, joined Evenhet. He is watchful and observant much like Cris and he keeps his thoughts to himself. There is no telling for certain why he chose to turn Cris but Cris believes that despite enjoying peace and quiet, Grisha did not wish to live entirely alone. Grisha believes Cris was worth saving and he's not nearly as annoying as most people.

Personal Questions

1. Describe your character's personality Cris is watchful and quiet in while on duty. (which he considers to be most of the time.) He can be personable but it is sometimes merely an act in order to get a "feel" for the troops. He only has a few close friends and those are likely to see a warmer more emotional Cris.

2. Describe how your character would appear to a stranger (I.E. typical dress, way they carry themselves etc.) Cris most often wears a black suit, earpiece and several hidden devices and weapons. Think of a MIB and you've got the general idea, though he wears all black because he considers wearing any white to be foolish.

3.What does your character like? he likes order, plans, ideals, new techniques, books and making little mechanical toys and clockwork devices in his spare time.
4. Dislike? Disorganization, people with no respect for authority, people who take for granted the freedom and rights they have, laziness and disruptive behavior.

5. (For humans) Describe what abilities you see your character having if they were turned.
6. What are your fears? Cris fears the loss of his mentor, losing someone under his protection and being no longer useful to his clan. He also fears the demise of Evenhet and fights hard for its goals and wellbeing, knowing what it is like to be clanless.

7. What is your character's strengths and weaknesses?Cris is observant and flexible but he is also very duty bound and somewhat serious. He can be cold and calculating and tends to be distant.

Hobbies & Skills
Speaks the various languages of Switzerland, German, French and Italian, also speaks Latin.
Security systems, tactics
Sword fighting and fencing.
Aikido
Hiking and Snow Skiing
Archery and Rifle marksmanship
Basic computer skills
Defensive driving
Communications
Metal working, and making clockwork mechanisms
Mimicry, sounds and actions

Abilities
Sending
Subterfuge
Empathy
Blending

Flaws
Won't feed on the helpless
Anal Retentive
Picky Eater - Athletes and those in very good physical condition

Cosmetic Traits(These must be minor, see the rules) Has a tattoo on the inside of his right wrist of a bear claw with 9 markings indicating his rank.

Quirks and Habits worthy of mention

Personal History (Please be detailed, this creates your basis for your character)

Crispin was the third son born to herders in the Alps of Helvetia around 350 AD. They had little land to parsel out to their first son when he found himself a wife and when the second son also married they had little to nothing to give him and still take care of the children still at home. The two oldest brothers worked together and shared the land given to them to raise their families but Crispin's parents dispared of his coming of age and wanting to settle down with a wife. His mother and father quietly encouraged him to look towards doing other things and hoped to apprentice him out to someone in the nearby village.

The one shop that he would watch with rapt fascination was the metal worker. This particular metalsmith was excellent at making detailed designs and tiny delicate objects. The old man told Crispin once than any muscle bound clod with a hammer could make a weapon but it took great skill and patience to make something delicate. Despite Crispin's rapt attention and eager interest the metalsmith already had two apprentices and could not afford to take on another.

Crispin had not found anything else that sparked his imagination and feared that his father would send him to work with the stable hands which was something he held no love for. Horses were high maintenance creatures that were of dubious use as far as young Crispin was concerned and while some people called them big and majestic, he saw them as skittish and not very bright.

One day while in the village trading for supplies he saw a group of soldiers, mercenaries coming back from a winter camp further south. They looked smart in their uniformed tunics and people stopped to watch them go by. While his father was busy, Crispin followed them into a local tavern and sat down nearby to listen. He was immediately enthralled by their tales of battles fought and enemies conquered and they, sensing they had eager audience nearby, hammed it up for the sake of impressionable ears.

Not being a shy lad, Crispin asked them how he could join them and learn to be a soldier. They told them that he could speak the owner of the band who was a local lord, in a few years when he turned twelve. Crispin excitedly explained that he was twelve already but the men did not believe him due to his small stature and slight frame. They laughed and told him not to be so eager to move away from home and to give it a few years.

Daunted by not disheartened, Crispin found his father and told him what he had decided upon becoming. His father was not terribly surprised at his decision and when they returned home, Crispin explained his choice to his mother. It was a sad leave taking but Cris felt excited as well, the soldiers had spoke of the places they had been and the things they had seen and he was eager to see more than the mountains and goats of home.

With his father vouching for his age, Crispin was allowed into the mercenary group called Schwarzbären though the registrar seemed less than thrilled to sign him up. In the early days, they did not bother with sending Crispin to training; instead, he was assigned odd jobs and messenger service. Small as he was, most of the trainers felt he could not properly hold a heavy sword for any length of time and therefore it was a waste to try to teach him to use it.

His first battles were spent running through the lines with nothing more than a dagger in his hand. Crispin's curls weaving through the ranks became a welcome sight for the supplies and messages he carried. Despite his usefulness and good favor, Cris still longed to learn to fight and so he watched everything around him, practices, battles, stances, mistakes, behaviors. The men around him became his unknowing teachers, especially when Crispin began to doubt he would ever be taught to fight on his own. In secret, in the rare times he had to himself, Crispin began to use a broken sword he had picked up off a battlefield and mimicked the maneuvers he saw done during the day.

He had always been a good observer and had a talent for reproducing what he saw and heard. Crispin had used this skill to tell lively stories to entertain his brothers and sisters during cold winter nights in front of the fire but now he put that skill to another use. Pretending he was a certain fighter, Cris would remember the way he walked, the way he carried himself, held his sword, swung and blocked.

His watchfulness did not go completely unnoticed and one night while he was refilling the water basin in the general's tent while the general and several commanders discussed tactics, the general, displeased with the answers from his commanders had turned to Cris.

'Who do you think should lead the first charge tomorrow of the infantry men?'

He meant of the squads themselves and Cris, at first startled to be called on, stood for a moment to give it some thought.

'Well, sir, The 3rd were the last to leave the field yesterday and though their are a well run group they will be tired. It would be best to let them rest until later in the day. The 6th has... won some ale, Sir, and they seem to be enjoying it. They probably will not be in any condition to lead a charge early in the morning. The 5th has a lot of new men but they are eager and have been practicing very hard. I think they would be the best choice tomorrow....sir."

One of the commanders snorted at this announcement but the General looked thoughtful. Cris had quickly turned back to his duties in the hopes of fading into the background again. No more was said to him that night but in the morning the 5th squad was the first to lead the charge and they did such an outstanding job that the other squads came by to congratulate them on their excellent team work.

Cris was called into the General's tent as twilight settled over the encampment. The General decided to take a personal interest in Cris and wanted his observations, no matter how unimportant he thought they were, on the troops as he ran his errands and delivered messages. The General explained, though it was something Cris already understood, that the men behaved differently when he walked among them, performing at their best, working together, looking alert but Cris would be able to see things like what disputes were going on, who was drunk, or injured and not going to a medic, and all the other things they would hide from an officer of high rank.

Cris performed his duties well but eventually people understood his job and it ceased to be as helpful. He found another young soldier to take his place. The General then saw to Cris's formal combat education much to the sneers of the one commander that he had made an enemy of with his astute observations. Cris was now a young officer but he was still short and small boned. He had a hard time using a heavy sword in combat for long periods and though he was trained for it, he was never going to make a good infantry man. He did better with knives, staves and archery. Some of the men jeered at these weapons as peasant weapons and behind his back Cris was known as the General's Goat Herder.

The time came when Cris was given the command of his own squad. The 7th which was made up of mostly new recruits and a few older soldiers that had difficulties getting along with the men in their previous squads. Knowing what he was called, Cris named them the goat squad and they soon proved themselves very capable. He was a watchful and inventive commander and found ways to use each soldier's strengths as well cover for some of their weaknesses. Much like mountain goats they were considered an agile group and as a goat would eat nearly anything, there seemed to be nothing the goat squad could not handle.

With the success of his squad, Cris quickly rose in ranks to eventually become a General, himself. He was one of the youngest and that made enemies. During a midnight raid by an opposing army, Cris and his men were betrayed by one of the Generals of his own group. They had been expecting support and it had never come. Cris's men had been holding out each day, going to bed weary waiting for the added troops. This night those troops showed up...aiding the opposing side. A loyal officer from the other General's men had left early in the night to give Cris what warning he could. Because of that man, Cris was able to rouse his troops and lead them to a nearby narrow pass that would allow them hold up against the larger numbers. He sent a few of his fastest riders, and the officer who had warned him to the nearest friendly troops in several directions. Few of his men survived the battle when aid finally came. Cris and the remnants of his group came back to the winter barracks and there Cris resigned for a time. Intending to travel home. Unbenownst to him, he had attracted the attention of a vampire.

Grisha seemed ancient, perhaps because he looked ancient. He chose to tell Cris about vampires and that he turn him if Cris desired it. Cris thought long about the choice. He visited his family, spent time with all of their children. He then spent time at the winter camp watching his men under their new leader, quietly and in private giving his observations as he had once done so long ago. Once he had taken leave of everything, he returned to Grisha and made the choice to be an immortal. Grisha did not turn him that night, nor did he turn him for another 2 years. He taught Cris what he could about vampires before the turn, he made Cris watch him hunt..and secretly watch more violent vampires feed as well. Grisha left no delusions about what Cris would become. He also suggested Cris grow his hair and fingernails longs before the change stating that a vampire could always cut such thing but could never grow them longer than what they were turned with. Cris was better prepared for changes in styles over the years to come.
As a vampire Cris stayed with Grisha, who was clanless. Grisha explained the various groupings of vampires who existed at the time but there was yet one that Grisha felt compelled to join. It was sometimes a delicate and difficult things being clanless but they managed to thrive. When Evenhet was formed both Grisha and Cris was intrigued. Grisha might not have joined save for Cris's desire to do so but join they did. Grisha is a somewhat distant member of Evenhet but Cris became the security chief once more able to put to use those skills of observation and tactics.


OOC Checklist

Player name (online is fine) Mai
Other Characters you play Mai, Alfarinn, Jan
How you came to SA (Other board, friend, etc) from TAC
Have you read all the Rules? More than once
Do you understand that this is an adult board with adult content (sometimes graphic and violent in nature)? Yes
This board is adult only. Are you over the age of 18? Yes