Keshet

Keshet Katz (Retired)

Pronouns	They/them
Clan	Malkavian
Sect	Camarilla
Social Class	Neonate
Morality	Humanity
Local society	Library of the Sixth Worthy
Coterie	The Beautiful Ones

Further Information

Description

Keshet has a beautiful face that could be any gender and is hard to place an age to - maybe late 20s - and is 5'9" with a mostly androgynous figure aside from a pronounced bust. They are very pale-skinned, with dark, haunted eyes behind black-framed glasses, and black hair in a short sidesweep-and-undercut with designs cut into the short section. They wear black cat's-eye glasses, and either perfectly fitted black suits or black skinny jeans with a sweater or biker jacket, sometimes set off with a top in white or jewel tones, and at formal events usually wear heavily embroidered jackets, never gowns. They favor goth makeup, and often smell of an especially heady blend of incense based around frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon. [Appearance Focus (Vicissitude mod), clothing is nearly always Stylish and Artisan or better.] They sometimes wear backless tops to show off an intricate full-back tattoo of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life overlaid on a more literal tree that has the roots up, rather than down. [The piece is a Masterwork done by Virgil Vendicimo.]

If you last met them prior to the March 2021 art show in NYC, this is a totally new appearance, though they look as if they're related to the person you'd remember. The tattoo is new as of the same time.

Timeline

• 1936 - Born Warsaw, Poland - originally known as Nadzieja Zdeb; they are a prophet and medium almost from birth.
• 1944 - Escapes the backlash to the Warsaw Uprising thanks to Members of House Melamed, and goes to live in Brooklyn.
• 1954-1958 - Attends college at the Washington Square campus of NYU. Shortly thereafter begins doing embroidery professionally, mostly working for Evangeline Isadora DiBari.
• 1966 - Becomes a blood doll and formal student to Zalman-Rose Makhshayfeh (then Zalman-Rose Melamed).
• 1976 - Ghouled by Zalman-Rose.
• 1996 - Takes a new mundane identity, Keshet Katz, due to ghoul age issues, and comes out publicly as non-binary; this is accompanied by a distinct change in appearance, complete with their new, somewhat uncanny beauty.
• 2009 - Participates in Ritual to Save the World (pending VIP) as an assistant to their Domitor and natural seer.
• January 6, 2021 - After a rather sudden and somewhat mysterious falling out with House Melamed, they end up being embraced by the Notorious Alfred Perfidious, which brings them rather by default under the sway of Bob as part of her House, Mirrored Minds.
• February-March 2021 - Discovers the former Prince of Trenton, Nathaniel Barrow - a Master Elder Knight of the Moon - is not in fact dead as presumed, but active and in control of the local Hunters. A blood hunt is immediately declared, with Keshet assisting the winning team. Subsequently discovers that Arturo Giovanni, a Primascine on the outs with all the locals, has taken over for him, and then some.
• late March 2021 - Has Virgil totally redo their appearance; the new look is taller, slimmer, and more androgynous than the old one, and looks like they might be the old version's relative. Takes a new mortal identity, Tal Lewicki.
• April 2021 - Assists Pirate Queen Teuta with the attack on the Tzimisce Elder who has made Atlanta's Best Meats' plant their "castle". Seeing a need and assigned to watching an escape route rather than combat, they volunteer to organize the telepathy network and take the position with the heaviest mental load.
• May 2021 - Keshet discovers a Qlippothic Oblivion Cult - with a vampire apparently in the Shadowlands and a 'Thin White Spectre' spreading its gospel - and a pattern of open Nihils during a visit to LA, and prevents what would likely have been a disaster there.
• July 4th, 2021 - release party, Trenton, NJ! Following this, Keshet will be moving from NYC to Great Boston.

Bio

Kindred society knows Keshet as an extremely talented embroiderer, medium, and oracle. The long-term ghoul and student of Zalman-Rose Makhshayfeh (then Melamed), they ended up rather suddenly being Embraced Malkavian instead, apparently with the blessings of House Melamed, not long before Zalman-Rose left the Melameds as well. They have proven startlingly effective for how little time has passed since their Embrace, and are developing a reputation as a disturbingly accurate prophet, though they are still quite obviously struggling with their Clan's curse/blessing and the Beast.

Having been affiliated with the Library of the Sixth Worthy for several decades through Zalman-Rose, and with their sire's and House's expertise to consult as well as their own powerful insight, they are now more than qualified as a member in their own right. They're also tech savvy enough that they continue to work with and the, using the digital alias "0r4cl3".

Rumors

• If you do the math, Keshet would had to have had their first major appearance change done before Virgil and Evangeline were members of the Camarilla.
  • Pretty much everyone in NYC actually knows this... and says nothing out of a general liking for their Prince and/or support for trans rights.
• Keshet's sudden fallout with House Melamed was the result of Zalman-Rose keeping them a ghoul so long.
  • No, it was because "El" Bisset-Caesarea threatened to poach them.
  • No, it was because Nissim Melamed deemed them unsuitable for the Embrace.
  • No, it was all some sort of long-standing Malkavian prank.
• Keshet was mentally ill and shouldn't have been Embraced Malkavian, even if they're proving remarkably suited to it.
  • They were, but it was actually the effect of a curse, and cured by lifting it.
  • They were, and it wasn't a curse... it was possession by a spectre or some evil spirit - with similar results.
    • That's just what spirit sickness looks like - and now that they're initiated, they're fine.
      

Edit Rumors: Add your own!

Quotes

POST EMBRACE

• "Love is not always about holding onto someone as tight as you can, but also having the strength to know when it is time to let go." - Nissim Melamed
• "I am not the sort to say 'I told you so,' so we can just let it go unsaid, yes?" - Walter Merrick
• "Their destiny was either foretold or crafted by the Network. I am so glad I get to be a part of it." - Agatha Palmerstone

PRE EMBRACE

• "I shall have to get myself one of those." - Zoltan Vancura
• "Humble, hungry, and haunted, Keshet is the essence of what a ghoul ought to be, but also so much more" - Agatha Palmerstone
• "I'd have embraced them. They are worthy of being fully embraced. The Melameds are wasting an opportunity" - Kelly Cassidy
• "It's cool being a vam-Kindred and all, but they can still get a tan, kinda jealous." - Kenneth Bilge
• "Some day maybe they'll tell me what they're grumpy about that they keep chewing on that hard." - Finley Welles
• "Keshet has the artistry and beauty of a Toreador, more wisdom than some elders, and I'd rather have their company than that of most kindred." - Evangeline Isadora DiBari
• "Keshet is an ideal apprentice, a great talent, and always a delight to speak with. If they had not been Zalman-Rose's to train, they would be mine, and I would be honored." - Ari Melamed
• "You think they're good now, wait until they have been embraced a century or so. We will all pale in comparison." - Jerry Holiday
• "They have assisted me in more ways than I can count. I shall have to make it up to them." - Euphemenion
• "Keshet shielded me from a potentially bad situation and was hurt from it. And yet, in the end, they still smiled. It will be hard to repay that." Elizabeth
• "If one may tip the scales of balance, they would be one responsible." - Luken Le Lave Leland Lewin
• "They are the brightest and wisest kindred I have ever had the pleasure to call my friend. They have opened many doors for me. I hope to return the favor." - Calico
  

Edit Quotes: Add your own!

OOC Information

Player	Dylan Maxwell
Pronouns	They/them
MES #	US2009054113
Domain	NY-004-D
Storyteller	Joel C.