Adetokunbo, Childe of the Enshadowed Magus

Background: Long before the Congolese Adetokunbo was born in central Africa, his grandsire, Vinícius, was a member of a noteworthy Portuguese Tremere Chantry which—possibly due merely to a lack of Tzimisce enemies—turned their focus on their fellow Iberians of the treacherous Clan Lasombra. Seeking a viable means of facing these shadow-wielding enemies on a more balanced field resulted in the development of a new Thaumaturgical Path—of which, Vinícius, was the founder. Though similar in style to the Keepers' unnerving Discipline of Obtenebration, the Path of Shadowcrafting remained but a weaker, “lighter” copy of the original. Still, the Magus and his fellow Chantry-members managed to use it to great affect early on, if only from the “surprise factor” that such applications of Tremere magic caused in their dark rivals. Separated by land from their Venetian clanmates by the Lasombra-dominated country of Spain between them, the Portuguese Chantry never expected an easy confrontation, but the sheer power with which the Warlocks were subsequently confronted nearly—literally—blew them all away.
Late in the morning on the 1st of November—All Saints' Day, an important Roman Catholic holiday dedicated to all the Saints in Heaven—in the year 1755, an earthquake struck off the coast of Portugal and laid waste to its Capitol city, Lisbon. The power of the quake was enormous (seismologists today believe the Lisbon Earthquake to have been around a magnitude of 8.5-9), and the resulting tidal wave was a final, brutal kick while the Portuguese Warlocks were already down. Mortals still debate the meaning of the destruction of nearly all of their most important churches and a 70,000 volume library, but the local Tremere were almost positive that it was a spiteful—if heavy-handed—message sent by the Lasombra.
While not every Chantry-member placed so much stock in the retaliatory might of the Keepers, Vinícius felt the impact more than others—so to speak—and promptly fled his home-city that very night. Straining his weather magics to their fullest, he made the hundred-day journey in a mere seventeen nights, and only began to finally feel at ease once his ship pulled into the Bostonian harbor on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. As the slave-ship that carried him waited in the harbor overnight for its turn at the docks, the tragedy that Vinícius feared was following him caught up with him again, however. Early on the morning of the 18th, as the sun was rising, another earthquake hit off of Massachusett's northeast coast—this time nearly accomplishing its supposed purpose.
Vinícius nearly died that morning, staked by happenstance and a broken, wooden hand-railing that seemed to conspire together to leave him exposed to the sun's merciless rays. However, the Warlock had Embraced a wise and gifted Congolese slave on the ship almost as soon as he had set foot on board, and thus unkowingly created the childe that would save his life not three weeks later.
Adetokunbo, as a former slave, had a hard time fitting into the mortal New World afterward, and had almost as bad luck with its kindred populace, prompting the pair to leave New England seek out refuge elsewhere. Though he had miraculously survived both earthquakes—which Adetokunbo was still not fully convinced were actually the work of an awakening, ancient Methuselah, as he was “supposed” to believe—Vinícius was never the same after his brief time staked and in torpor on the ship, but his childe had not known him long enough to notice the change at first. In time though, as the two traveled the Colonies together, Adetokunbo couldn't help but notice the decline in his sire's mental state; the constant, paranoid certainty that some great, “dark” terror was shaking the earth itself just to kill his sire was becoming troublesome. Despite these setbacks, they actually managed to survive for quite a while on their own before being “approached” by the American Tremere that they didn't even know existed.
Receiving the usual cold reception that the Warlocks give all “rogues and untrustworthies,” Adetokunbo actually managed to defend his usefulness and—after some time—was officially welcomed into the clan proper. His sire, however, was perhaps more—or less—fortunate, as the uncompromising Tremere questioners quickly strained the Portuguese Warlock's mind beyond its limit and he lapsed into a broken, babbling and useless state. Vinícius' brief, but ominous moments of clarity made the local leadership believe he was worth keeping alive. His ramblings would have to be sifted through for truths, of course, and for this task they looked toward Adetokunbo—of course. Had they truly shown an interest they would have sent a Magus skilled in divination—instead, his life lay on the line depending on how useful he could make the ravings of a paranoid lunatic seem. Surprisingly, almost miraculously... Adetokunbo kept his unlife month after month.
Mere knowledge of his sire's unique Path was not enough to prove his value to his new clan, he must also prove his loyalty as well, it seemed, and following orders was apparently the best way to do so. The former slave from the Congo began to do exactly that, trusting that one day he would see himself raised above these arrogant New World vampires or at the very least find a place for himself where he needn't worry about any devilish “white leeches.” When he finally convinced his superiors that there was little more to be learned from listening to the rantings of his obviously hopeless sire, the Regency ordered him to tell them everything he knew about the Lasombra kindred—knowing his “closeness” to them, they thought this should be easy, though Adetokunbo knew it to be absurd. He shared what little he had heard from Vinícius and when that wasn't enough, he extrapolated what more he could for them and taught them the Path of Shadowcrafting until they thought of another task for him.
Meanwhile the mortal world passed him by until, in southern parts of the country, the Tremere and their allies scored a victory over the still relatively young and disorganized Sabbat, starting with the Texas Revolution of 1836 and then its annexation by the U.S. nine years later. The result however, was in the spring of 1846 the Mexican-American War began, and the repercussions of it were felt in kindred society even at Adetokunbo's Chantry. With the Lasombra being the front-runners of the Sabbat, the Congolese Cainite was considered an expert on the topic and “encouraged” to move south and assist in the Camarillan war effort. Unfortunately for him, the tiny amount he did know about the Shadow Clan, coupled with the little advantage his mastery of the Paths of Shadowcrafting and Weather Control brought him, did give him a slight edge, and—eventually—earned him a place among the lieutenants of the Ventrue and Brujah war-leaders. All through the American Civil War, the turn of the century, even the first World War, the Tremere kept Adetokunbo busy with constant rumors, suspicions, contract kills for and questions about the steadily more and more problematic Lasombra.
Eventually, his actions earned him recognition even outside his Clan, and by the mid-20th century he was named an Archon serving under the Tremere Justicar. He knew they were taking advantage of what little usefulness he had to them, and with little to no concern for his well-being at all—he's had to rely upon far more than just shadow-tricks and some obscure facts on Lasombra history far too often for him to ever truly feel “at ease” around others. He also knew that despite the apparent respect it was gaining him among his associates, it was gaining him far more enemies on the other side of the fence. This he learned for sure when he began first uncovering rumors of himself among his attempts at research into the Abyssal lore of the Clan of Shadows.
In the present day Adetokunbo, or Nathanial Diggs as he sometimes travels by, has, after two and a half centuries of successful campaigns against some of most troublesome Lasombra, been pretty much self-sustaining for some time now, having reached a level of age, power and accomplishment that literally demands the attention of others in his clan. Modern mindsets have changed and there has thankfully been a decline in racial and stereotypical prejudices since he first joined the clan, even in the minds of immortals, and he now enjoys some authority and respect within the clan—in fact, probably more than he has even cared to notice yet—as his actions, while not ground-breaking, are proven and effective. On the other hand, he has realized that the only real interest anyone has in him is his sire's Path of Shadowcrafting and his ability to use it against the Sabbat's Lasombra. In order to avoid suspicion as an actual Keeper-sympathizer, the Congolian Warlock must take on a student and teach them Shadowcrafting every so often, but he feels compelled to stall this for some reason, claiming to seek only “worthy” pupils or some such excuse. This reticence to share his sire's unique form of blood magic is not something he likes to discuss with others—mostly because he himself does not understand the reasons why he feels so drawn—but the arrogant intelligence of the Lords and Pontifices above him remain unconvinced of any real danger and insist he spread the knowledge among the clan.

Image: Tall, muscular, lean and dark even for a vampire, Adetokunbo's African heritage is hard to miss, yet it it makes him a surprisingly versatile threat to the Tremere's enemies—most expect the large man to be the guard not the guarded. Eternally clean-shaven of face and scalp, preferring the loose-fitting garments of his homeland when acceptable, he is known to dress conservatively and inconspicuously when conducting clan or sect affairs, including his increasingly infamous “Shadow Hunts”—the Lasombra and Abyss mystic purging raids he has been known to make into Sabbat territories.

Roleplaying Hints: You used to think that when your sire Embraced you, he saved you, allowing you to be free.... Then you felt bitter that he had apparently forced you to trade one form of slavery for another, and you sought to break the chains that you felt binding you.... Now, you know that no one is truly free, and all that can truly be done is to accept this and move up the food-chain/pecking order until you are slave to as few binding influences as possible. Destroying an entire clan of degenerate, worthless, fallen enemy vampires is a sure way of accomplishing this, and you know that, even if you really are fooling yourself into believing it's possible, you are onto something in your research into the materials you've confiscated from defeated mystics—if not, those damned Lasombra wouldn't be so obsessed with regaining all their lost works. In the Modern Nights you have come to accept that your climb through the echelons of power may be abruptly halted at any time by some foreseen killer from the shadows, but such hasn't happened yet, and until it does, you'll just keep climbing the mountain of bodies you've made until you reach the top—or you don't.
When you go after prey—you specialize in defeating elder Lasombra and the rare, but powerful Abyss mystic—you are passionless and clinical. You truly get no joy from what you do, it just a job assigned to you because fate or chance or whatever seemed to wish it so. The one thing that does motivate you, however, is avoiding failure... the Inner Circle doesn't admire failure so much as success, of course.

Clan: Tremere
Sire: Vinícius Martim Moreno Torres
Nature: Curmudgeon
Demeanor: Soldier
Generation: 11th
Embrace: early November, 1755
Apparent Age: 20's
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 3, Appearance 3
Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 4, Wits 3
Talents: Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Brawl 2, Intimidation 3, Leadership 1, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 3
Skills: Crafts 2, Etiquette 2, Firearms 1, Larceny 3, Melee 2, Performance 3, Stealth 2, Survival 2
Knowledges: Investigation 3, Law 1, Medicine 1, Occult (Abyss) 4, Politics 1, Expert Knowledge: Clan Lasombra 2
Disciplines: Auspex 3, Dominate 3, Thaumaturgy 5, Fortitude 2
Thaumaturgic Path (Primary): Weather Control 5
Thaumaturgic Paths (Secondary): Hands of Destruction 1, Path of Blood 3, Neptune's Might 1, Path of Mars 4, Path of Shadowcrafting 5
Thaumaturgic Rituals: (Level One) Defense of the Sacred Haven, Sanguineous Phial, Sense the Mystical, Quench the Tallow, Wake with Evening's Freshness; (Level Two) Donning the Mask of Shadows, Extinguish; (Level Three) Ritual of Darkness; (Level Four) Directing Ahriman's Lance
Abyss Mysticism Rituals: (Level Two) Defense of Angra Mainyu; (Level Three) Ward Versus the Abyss, Warding Circle Versus the Abyss
Backgrounds: Contacts (Xi Dundu) 2, Generation 2, Resources 2, Status (infamy: Abyss mystics) 1
Virtues: Conscience 2, Self-Control 4, Courage 4
Morality: Humanity 4
Willpower: 7

Adetokunbo is clearly not a Lasombra, nor does he have Obtenebration, yet he does have the Occult Specialty: Abyss, and for us, that's enough. Hopefully it's obvious that this character does not represent your typical Abyss Mystic, but also that he wasn't supposed to. If nothing else it could be a clear example of ways one could be a non-Lasombra and yet still be an Abyss Mystic—Adetokunbo has learned enough of the history and lore of the Lasombra, as well as highly-skilled users of Obtenebration, to be able to piece some of the truths about the Abyss together. Even though this doesn't make him an expert on the subject, it and its related fields are still ones in which he excels; at the very least , he knows what and where to do his investigating.
As for his actually having the Abyssal Rituals attributed to him in his Rituals section, final say on this lies with the Storyteller—do please note though, that according to Caine's Chosen, rituals “translated” from another school of blood magic act as if 1 Level higher, due to the foreign nature of the powers involved, therefor Adetokunbo's Abyssal Rituals are listed as the Level he knows them as. Finally, due to Adetokunbo's flawed understanding of the nature of the Abyss, he refers to the rituals Ward Versus the Abyss and Warding Circle Versus the Abyss inaccurately—he is unaware that purer forms of these rituals may exist (Ahriman's Seal and In the Shade of Ahriman's Favor, respectively.)