Character Profile

Name: Æward "Ward" St. John

Canon:Vampire: The Masquerade (5e)
Campaign: The War Before the Storm, a 3 session mini-series taking place in 1987

Clan: Ventrue
Generational Rank: Ancillae, 10th generation
Affilations: Camarilla, serves as the whip under the current prince administrating San Tomas, Florida.
Additional affiliation: A Master in Sons of the Scarlet Maul, a freemasonry lineage made entirely of vampires, almost exclusively Ventrue. Ward was Embraced by his mentor in Scarlet Maul in the 17th century, and has since counted his own childer among its membership.
Sire: Aquila Knevynton (deceased)

Predator type: Consensualist | Ward's primary food sources are the journeymen initiates of Scarlet Maul, men who have been made aware of some of the vampiric aspects of the lodge. There are other people he provides with financial compensation in exchange for their blood.

Occupation: Co-owns a nightclub called Elysium, which he runs in partnership with his childe, Heath Decker, the Keeper of Elysium for their city. It is very strange to witness Ward, a man with the world-weary appearance and disposition of a standing-stone, hanging about a neon-soaked, cocaine-fueled nightclub, full of strung-out and excitable kine.

Touchstones: 

Richard "Ricky" Barrera, an Entered Apprentice in Scarlet Maul | 22 years old and still human, Ricky is has been invited into Scarlet Maul as the newest prospect for an Embrace, most likely as Ward's childe. He is currently blissfully unaware that his lodge of mentors and guides is made up of vampires, but someday he'll learn. A community leader with political ambitions, He's an extraordinary young man in Ward's eyes, a reminder that humans are still incredibly capable all on their own. 

Pamela Blackwell | Pam is a pantsuit-wearing, embracing-her-grays, senior partner at her corporate law-firm, on a half dozen charitable boards woman who is Having It All. She is usually Ward's date for charitable events, where it would be more appropriate to have a woman his own age and of similar social status on his arm. He gets an appropriately powerful companion for important events, she gets access to the kind of Old Money status "dating" someone like Ward gives her. She thinks nothing of his "strange hours" and odd diet habits, she assumes he got into some weird shit in the 60's/70's like loads of other rich people did and of course he keeps strange hours, he owns a night club.

Pamela is a lesbian. She assumes Ward is also gay and they are in some kind of mutual bearding situation. Ward has never done anything to disabuse her of this notion and enjoys and respects her company despite her humanity. He finds her coarse tenacity amusing. I think his relationship with her reminds him very much of his human wife: they were partners first and foremost in a social and economical sense and largely living separate lives. It's not strange to either of them that they only appear together at events where they would be expected to be together.

Personal Info
Height: 6' 5"
Nationality: American, of British origin. Has lived and operated in Florida since the early 1800s.

Personality: Noble, rigid, loyal, dignified. 
Ward is loyal to the Camarilla absolutely and everything he does is in service to his vision for a functioning vampire society. Ward is a vampire supremacist and he believes that all Kindred should act according to their station as superior beings. That said, he's more inclined to believe in structure over hierarchy and seeks only "soft" power for himself, preferring to be a source of sound advice and guidance rather than seeking a position of absolute authority. There are many who would have backed him as Prince of San Tomas but he doesn't want it. 
Another aspect of Ward's very structured internal view is his commitment to the Three Pillars, which are the core tenants of Freemasonry, which Ward is very involved with and devoted to. These pillars are Fraternity, Relief and Truth. For more info, see the Sons of the Scarlet Maul.

Gender: Cisgender male (he/him)
Sexual Orientation: Privately aroace, professionally heterosexual
While all Kindred are, in some respect, limited in their sexual expression, Ward was not particularly interested in intimacies of the flesh while he was alive either. He was married to a woman (as expected), and fathered several children (as expected) but his day to day life was largely homosocial, preferring the company of his business associates (men) and his lodge (also all men), wed more faithfully to his work than to his wife, whom he treated more as a respected business partner. As he did in life, Ward presents himself in according to the standards of power and status of the present. In 1987, this means he's almost always seen in public with either a young, conventionally beautiful "trophy" girlfriend provided by a high-end escort agency or an older woman wearing a designer pantsuit (see "Pamela Blackwell" under his Touchstones) These people are typically compensated in some way, financially or socially. 
If Ward is forming a close personal bond with anyone, it's likely to be paternal rather than romantic. 

In light of this, Ward will likely not pursue physical intimacy with other characters and is not particularly interested in romance. He may even frown a bit at characters who are "distractable" in this way. He also relates better to men, having spent most of his centuries in largely homosocial company and may come off annoyingly paternalistic towards women, however well-meaning he might be. 


Sons of the Scarlet Maul

[more on this when I find my paper notes]

Fun fact: the idea of an all-vampire Ventrue social group built around a Freemason lineage is the entire catalyst for Ward's character, inspired by the Ventrue focus on amassing influence. The fact that the Themes have proven to be so rich in terms of providing internal and external character conflict and connection? Delightful accident.

Open RP Post

I'm still working on some housekeeping stuff for Ward but feel free to throw your licks in here for Vampire Activities. Humans are also fine, I guess.