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A small, nomadic family of Von Carstein vampires fathered by their patriarch, Heinrich Von Carstein. Originating in Sylvania, the Coven has moved through the southern regions of the Empire before crossing the Grey Mountains into Bretonnia and traveling further south until their current residence within a restored, river-side keep within Bordeleaux. The family has survived by both personal power, but mostly by secrecy. Their standard modus operandi is to enter a new region, internally restore an outwardly dilapidated manor, keep or castle, and then secretly claim dominion over the nearby towns and villages, taking only what they need for survival. This has given them a low footprint that has thrown off more than one vampire hunter, with most regions never even knowing the family was there.
The family crest is a grey wolf's head on a black field with a red saltire. Their current residence is Forteresse von Carstein in the North-West of Seigneurie de Bellecombe.
Heinrich Von Carstein
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Age: Centuries
Race: Human (Vampire)
Sex: Male
Career: Vampire Count (Ex-Noble, Ex-Squire, Ex-Knight, Ex-Captain, Ex-Vampire Thrall, Ex-Politician, Ex-Noble Lord)
Heinrich was born centuries ago in Reikland and was stated to marry the daughter a powerful count within Sylvania to further a family alliance. Though the marriage was a happy one, the blighted land eventually took its toll upon him as he watched the surprisingly loyal peasants exist in stagnation and the nobles conducting themselves with peculiar eccentricity. When the vampiric secret of the elite families was made known to him and he was brought into the fold he was already in his sixth decade of life. However, he had proven to be an excellent and innovative battlefield commander and administrator, and so was deemed too valuable to lose. Despite this, Heinrich showed little "appreciation", and his penchant for innovation saw him eventually disillusioned with Sylvania and its ways. He watched with fascination the onset of gunpowder and artillery, yet was frustrated by his own state's lack of interest. He observed the development of new agricultural methods to generate magnitudes greater caloric production which allowed for greater population carrying capacity, yet was irritated by his fellow vampiric lords utter disinterest in importing these improvements. Time and again he saw improvements pass Sylvania, and as each new invention bettered the armies of the Empire he knew it was only a matter of time until the technological and demographical gap would be so great that not even the vamipre's magical and personal power could bridge it. No longer wishing to inhabit a slowly sinking ship, he went into self-imposed exile with the intent to gather the resources necessary establish his own state, far away from the rigid stupidity of the Sylvanian lords he happily left behind.
If The Coven is to be considered a vampiric family, Heinrich is its unchallenged and undisputed patriarch, having personally given the Blood Kiss to all the other members, except for Regine. If the others are his 'children', she is his grandchild.
Age: 220
Race: Human (Vampire)
Sex: Male
Career: Champion (Ex-Squire, Ex-Knight, Ex-Sergeant, Ex-Vampire Thrall, Ex-Captain)
A former Reiksguard who fell on the battlefield and whom was brought into vampirism by Heinrich soon after, Wulf is the dedicated son he always wanted. Clear-headed, observant and practical, he shares his fathers vision and loyally fulfills the ends necessary to see it materialise. He views the others in The Coven with a big brothers protective eye, and he is particularly vigilant over Camile. He has a dry and dead-pan sense of humor, and see's his elder sibling responsibility to his others as being both teacher and protector. Despite his outward martial prowess, Wulf is an accomplished player of the Lyre, an instrument he has played for over two centuries and which he fondly remembers using to woo a daughter of a neighboring nobles family, as well as several low-born girls that could keep a secret. He still plays the instrument to this day, and he can be sometimes heard engaging in song with Camile and her singing voice.
Age: 170
Race: Human (Vampire)
Sex: Male
Career: Wizard Lord (Ex-Apprentice Wizard, Ex-Journeyman Wizard, Ex-Vampire Thrall, Ex-Master Wizard)
A gifted wizard in life, but born from common stock, Ulrich always had a slight inferiority complex that saw him become extra studious. Possessed of a powerful intellect, he has a sarcastic, almost lazy attitude to life that downplays how energetic he actually is when seized by his academic pursuits. Indeed, of the entire family, Ulrich see's himself as something of a ladies man, his passion for women still very much alive, as he boasts (out of ear-shot of Camile, of course) of how he never had a lonely bed during the travels of his living life. Doubling as the Coven's alchemist, Ulrich can often be found taking japes at Wulf and secretly competing with Viktor.
Age: 80
Race: Human (Vampire)
Sex: Male
Career: Artillerist (Ex-Student, Ex-Engineer, Ex-Vampire Thrall, Ex-Pistolier)
Viktor is a quiet and thoughtful man with an excellent head for numbers and a love of devices and gunpowder. He was the last Imperial brought into the Coven by Heinrich before the group crossed the Grey Mountains, and, like the others, he is drawn into his vision for founding their own state, whose technological advances he will happily oversee and manage. Viktor can often be found in his workshop, tinkering with his devices, maintaining the family firearms or making new ones. He is particularly fond of dueling and is an outstanding marksman with longrifle and cannon. He is also an excellent gambler, with his numerical expertise often employed in games of chance.
Age: 45 (appears in her mid-20s)
Race: Human (Vampire)
Sex: Female
Career: Duelist (Ex-Noble, Ex-Courtier, Ex-Vampire Thrall)
Before Regine's arrival, Camile was the little sister of the coven, and her feminine touch can be found all-throughout their temporary fortress. A noble in life who could not naturally conceive, Camile, without her husband knowing, secretly paid a lowborn man and wife for their "fittest" infant so that she could pass it off as her own and give her beloved husband the son he had always wanted. Having come to learn of this, Heinrich was impressed with Camile's sense of duty to her family and position, and so gave her the Blood Kiss, with her grieving husband believing she had died during childbirth and raising his "son" as his own. Since then, Camile has been a 'touch of light' in the family, and has become a particularly apt student of the sword beneath Wulf's instruction and the gun from Viktor, with Camile often carrying a brace of pistols and a sword on her person. Friendly, bubbly and enchanting, Camile is the archetype sweet, young Bretonnian noblewoman, with her predatory vampiric nature well hidden beneath the silk of her smile. Being raised a noble with Bretonnia, Camile adheres to proper decorum, typically, though she bends it with her playerful personality. Additionally, she is an accomplished singer, and often uses her voice in conjunction with Wulf's Lyre to entertain the Coven.
For her 'sacrifice' in accepting her new life following the Blood Kiss from Heinrich, Camile was allowed to finally sire and have the child she always wanted. In this capacity, she watched from afar and chose Regine; visiting her in the night and using her vampiric powers of persuasion to give the girl no choice, just as Heinrich had done to her.
Age: 20
Race: Human (Vampire)
Sex: Female
Career: Vampire Thrall (Ex-Thief, Ex-Cat Burglar, Ex-Master Thief)
The youngest member of the Coven, having only recently been initiated. Regine's inclusion into the family was a gift bestowed on Camile by Heinrich for her sacrifice over two decades ago, and she is, by all accounts, considered his grand-daughter. From an orphan girl in L'Anguille who mastered the arts of thievery, stealth and shadow to now the newest member of one of the oldest aristocratic families in the Known Worlde, Regine has much to learn, but all of eternity to do so.