[Closed][V20/Revised] Hum (Montréal by Night)

Born 1896 to an Obertus revenant family in what is now modern day Poland, Vladimir began his service to his Tzimice master studying History in the university at Lwow, but the breakout of the Wars interrupted his studies-- three wars, back to back, fighting for nearly a decade before he was able to return to study the intellectual pursuits his family had marked him for service, and during which time he found something else he was very good at.

His time in the trenches marked Vladimir, and when the war with the Bolshevik's finally ended he didn't really fit what his family usually did for the Tzimice anymore. Yet faithfully serve he did, and during those lean years of peace in Eastern Europe he did earn degrees from universities, even rise to a professorship of military history, using the university resources to aid with requests from the Tzimice whenever called upon.

Then the war called again, another decade plus fighting- this time first as an officer, then as a guerilla, fighting Nazis, fighting communists, and when called on fighting enemies of the Tzimice as well. Then the Tzimice sent him abroad, out of Poland, out of Europe, five years in the Congo at his master's whim, before returning finally to Poland again.

An old man now, 76 but his revenant aging keeping him younger, looking more like a man of his late 40s or early 50s, his master called him to appear in person. Vladimir lived to serve, weary though he was, he appeared and was rewarded- or perhaps cursed, for his service with embrace. He'd become too useful a tool for the Tzimice, too good at what he'd become so good at over so many years and so many wars to waste on a slow, long delayed, but inevitable death of the still mortal revenants.

And so, here he was, serving still, now in the nights alone into another century. . .

Vladimir is abrupt, but proper. Dignified and old fashioned, he has the manner of a soldier but also a school master. He is weary, already, and wistful for some kind of freedom he never truly had- always under the thumb of his family and their masters, but even if it chafed, he always does his duty.

I'm interested in exploring themes of loss in the transition from mortal to vampire (Vladimir loses his connections in a way more keenly than ordinary vampires- they know what he is, know him, some live extended lives, but now are dying, and they don't/can't see him the same way anymore- he's transcended them).

Also interested in themes of duty/service vs freedom conflicts. I envision that he's recently been given more status/freedom- or perhaps his actual sire has released him fully or died, so his excursion to Montreal he is operating independently for one of the first times in his life/unlife in a way.

Thanks to this, even with the long lifespan, I think some amount of the Tzimice body horror with their discipline can still come into play- he's not experienced with it, and still human enough to be shocked by some of the depravity.

Also very interested in storylines involving finding his place- I've set him up to be always a bit of an outsider even among some of the most tight knit mortal societies in existence (military units) because he always has double and triple loyalties- to his family, to the Tzimice, to Poland, etc, and he doesn't fit anywhere else comfortably either- too much of an scholar some places, too much a soldier others, too knowledgeable of the supernatural among mortals, and too much a mortal among the Tzimice, and too different in skills from his Revenant family- he's always on the edge in a lot of ways, so finding his place is a theme for this character.

I'm not particularly interested in extreme gore, or sexual content- but I'm also not offended by it.