50 Shades of Vampire: Our Lady of Cockroaches

Okay just one last vampire article for the year (ha!). This week I present a character concept that's high on the creep factor (at least for me, I hate roaches). This modern-day vampire protects both the people of her territory and her insect servants. Is she insane or is this all an act?

Our Lady of Cockroaches

Jeff reached through the shattered pane and opened the window. Rumors claimed the apartment had been abandoned but even in the dim light he could make out furniture. He licked his lips and climbed in.

He panned his jittery light across the room. His shoulder slumped as he made out only the profiles of a rotten sofa, a broken TV, and a pile of rags in the corner. The TV looked older than his grandfather and in equally terrible condition. He thought better of reaching into the sofa.

He opened the door to the next room.

The roaches swarmed over every surface: floors, ceilings, walls, the handle of the door Jeff desperately tried to swing the door shut as he stumbled back.

He bumped straight into something cold and solid. Turning around he saw what he mistook for rags, a woman, her skin and hair stained with dirt. He began to retch as he saw the roaches crawling over her too.

Then she grabbed him.

Description

Liz, as she calls herself, wanders around in a ragged dress darkened with dirt and less identifiable stains. Layers of filth obscure her naturally light complexion except in where she has recently scraped up against something. Vermin crawl through her hair and across her body.

History

Elizabeth Porter, to those who have pierced her murky past, grew up in the city, not far from where she now lurks. She and her husband (John she thinks his name was) moved out as soon as they were able, buying a small house far from the grime and danger of their upbringing. They dreamed of white picket fences, green lawns and the pitter-patter of little feet.

But their dream was not to be. A vampire, one of the last scions of the Melissidae (Bloodlines the Legendary), had begun to build a nest nearby, twisting the inhabitants of this cookie cutter neighborhood into her drones. In Liz, she saw the potential for a new queen.

Naturally, the current queen first removed everything that would tie her new daughter to her old life: her friends, her husband, her hopes, her dreams and finally her life. The queen bee entombed and molded Liz's mind. But something went wrong. A lock failed. A final frantic attempt at escape succeeded. Liz found a train into the city before her neighbors could retrieve her.

Now without a home and a mind half mad from magical brainwashing, Liz would be just another damaged vagrant if she wasn't also an undead monster. Never fully brought into the bloodline, her understanding of her powers remains limited. She's discovered a sympathy with the vermin the city, bending their colonies to her purposes, turning them into her guardians and spies.

On some level she recognizes the damage done to her and seeks to protect others from it. She prowls her neighborhood driving away other monsters who would feed or harm "her people." The inhabitants have noticed this protection, muttering prayers to the ghostly figure that prowls at night. Local Kindred have come to mock her as "Our Lady of Cockroaches" but have yet to dislodge her. For herself, she feeds from the inhabitants cautiously, sipping lightly from the thin children and desperate men of the slum.

Clan: Ventrue Bloodline: Melissidae
Covenant: None
Mask: Pariah Requiem: Nurturer

Adapting the Melissidae

For the most part I would keep the bloodline's bonuses similar to first edition. They gain a +2 bonus to using Animalism on insects and other anthropods but suffer a -1 penalty to control other animals.

I'd also consider adding the following devotion:

Ghoul Swarm

Prerequisite: Animalism 3, Dominate 2
Cost: 2 Vitae per yard of radius
Dice Pool: Presence + Animal Ken + Animalism

With this power, the Kindred can create swarms of animals that collectively function as a ghoul. By sacrificing copious amounts of Vitae and allowing the swarm of small creatures (Size 1 or less) to collectively feed from it, the Kindred can create a hive mind among the vermin. The swarm gains the mystic ability use Vitae to restore lost members (restoring Health and radius) and to gain Physical Disciplines. However the passive abilities of those Disciplines do not apply to the swarm, only those abilities activated with Vitae.