Danika "Dani" Astor

Danika Astor"Skill to do comes of doing; knowledge comes by eyes always open, and working hands; and there is no knowledge that is not power."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Pronouns	She/Her
Clan	Ventrue
Sect	Camarilla
Social Class	Neonate
Morality	Path of Enlightenment (Blood)
Lineage	House of the Griffon
Social club	The Garden
Position(s)	Josian Archon under Justicar Zane Bevan, Formerly Servire to Josian Archon Jahangir Al-Tanin and Ventrue Primogen for New York City

Further Information

Description

Reputation Traits:

• Acknowledged
• Triumphant for the destruction of the Forsaken Infernalist Dr. Almeda Reynaldo
• Loyal by Archon Carson Dye for her participation in the operation to destroy the RH4 Theta Production Facility
• Favored by Elder High Josian Archon Jahangir Al-Tanin.
• Noble (Josian Archon)
• Commander (Josian Archon)

A towering and muscular transgender woman with features like cut marble and an unmistakable aura of absolute conviction and restrained violence ((On a Path)), the pupils of her eyes are ghost white behind her black tactical mirrorshades and when in her natural appearance thick black marks like veins stretch from her mouth, cheekbones and eyes. (the picture at the top of her page is her current appearance, the second is her appearance from her Embrace to December 17th, 2022.) Josian Archon Danika “Dani” Astor is a neonate of Clan Ventrue and The House of the Griffon and the childe of Christian Whitechapel, married to Nadiya Ibrahim of Clan Banu Haqim and recently and loudly converted to not only Haqim's Laws, but the Path of Blood. Her features are sharp and her eyes are intensely probing. Despite her increasingly alien appearance over the past two years, her nose is still crooked as if broken, healed, and expertly reset several times over the decades. Formerly she tended to dress in practical but smart black business-wear or boutique athletic-wear in New York, cottage-core lesbian CEO fits in Springfield, or tactical-chic gear in the field. Then for a while on rare occasions when on assignment, she dresses in a customized Josian uniform of all-black tactical gear and an armored chest harness bearing the seals of The Camarilla, her Archon, and her Clan.

Now, she stalks the night in a full tactical ensemble made up of armored robes and harnesses made of hyper-modern materials to hide both her unnerving appearance and her arsenal of weapons and armor. Of late she is never seen without a viciously spiked steel chain on her waist and an assortment of obfuscated blades. The only jewelry or ornamentation she tends to wear are various necklaces that all seem to have unique meaning to her, as well as her wedding ring.

Prior to her appointment as a Josian Servire, Dani favored sword-canes and her silver dagger for personal self-defense. She has upgraded her arsenal significantly since then. While this gear is almost always Obfuscated when not in use, Dani almost always has a large serrated combat-knife strapped to her left thigh, a brace of throwing knives on her right, and she often wears a leather tactical harness and back-sheath containing an unadorned and aged but expertly cared for silver and black two-handed sword, which she has dubbed "Hatred," as well as its companion, a cold-iron sword she has dubbed "Cold Fury." She has also taken to wearing a bladed-chain weapon, similar to a short kusarigama, around her waist.

Timeline

• 1946: Born in Yonkers, New York to middle class Irish-American parents.

• 1961: At age 15, Dani visits her spinster aunt in Greenwich Village during the summer, working at a cafe by day and attending beatnik poetry readings and sneaking into dive bars at night. Her aunt all but encourages Dani’s evening adventures and first experiments with more “flamboyant” fashion, particularly after seeing the way Dani could handle herself when accosted for it.

• 1961-1975: Vietnam War

• 1964: Dani attends NYU on a scholarship, but drops out after one semester and begins working as a barback and doorman at several semi-clandestine gay bars, making a name for herself as a young, femme, bisexual man who can handle herself in a fight, especially when motivated by profit. She begins going by “Dani Astor,” abandoning her family name so that her parents can’t find her. She is still somewhat shocked when they don’t even try. Dani takes to carrying a walking stick when leaving for her shifts and grows proficient at defending herself and her community with it (as well as breaking the occasional leg for the mob.)

• June, 1969: The Stonewall Riots. Dani, now on the payroll as security at several mafia owned gay venues, is working the door at a club where Maypop Sickle (then performing as Violet) is performing. Before the Riots begin, Maypop notices from the stage the rapt awe, wonder, and admiration of the feminine young bouncer watching her from the crowd. Privately, Dani admits to herself that she wishes she could be as beautiful and wondrous a creature as "Violet", but comforts herself by privately swearing that she will at least protect such beauty if she can't have it. She is given a chance to put that oath into action when the Riots begin, and while the club's other bouncers desperately flush drugs and contraband and try to bar the door, Dani is seen by a fleeing "Violet" fighting back cops at the door and ushering fleeing queens inside. Following the Riots, Dani attends a handful of other marches and early meetings of the Gay Liberation Front, but is kept at a distance by both many of the more “respectable” activists and many of the “street queens” excluded from the mafia-owned gay bars where Dani worked.

• December, 1969: Vietnam War draft begins.

• 1970: Dani finds the employer she is looking for in Christian Whitechapel when a recommendation from Maypop Sickle leads to a position as head bouncer at one of Christian’s gay clubs in Lower Manhattan. Choosing to fight for someone who accepts her, she publicly burns her draft card after refusing to hide her queerness during her draft board meeting and being deemed ineligible to serve due to her “homosexuality."

• 1971: Following one year of excellent performance, displaying her aptitude as both a negotiator and a fighter when necessary, Christian reveals what he is to Dani and offers to make her his ghoul, with the eventual possibility of the Embrace after a decade of stellar service and rigorous education. Dani feels that this is her moment to seize her fate, and inspired by the stories she heard of Christine Jorgensen growing up in the 1950’s, the handful of drag queens, trans women, and other gender-nonconforming people she encountered over the years in the Village (especially seeing Maypop Sickle perform before the Stonewall Riots), and her employer’s honesty in “coming out” to her as a vampire, she reveals to Christian that she is transgender, and offers to serve him loyally and with distinction if he will finance her transition in addition to granting her this chance at immortality. He accepts and she begins her service as Christian’s ghoul.

• 1971-1980: Danika takes over running the daytime side of Christian's businesses. Her education is as extensive as it is exacting, but she proves herself more than competent in his service. She also begins physically transitioning and using the name Danika and she/her pronouns more often, doing so consistently by 1980. During the beginning of her service to Christian, she also becomes friends with the then still-mortal Dr. Marcel Trevisani, keeping a protective eye on him during his more wanton club nights while he supported her during the day by helping her access hormones and transition care "on the low" with Christian's financial support. By the late 70's the two drifted apart as Marcel was increasingly consumed by his research into HIV and Dani devoted herself to managing her domitor's assets and business empire in anticipation of her pending Embrace. By this point, referring to her as “Danny” instead of Danika or Dani is a quick way to meet the business end of her walking stick.

• 1979: At the urging of Claude De Bourbon and with her sire's encouragement, Dani takes a one year sabbatical from her duties to travel the world. Claude encourages Dani to seek experiences that she won't be able access with the power of her will as a Ventrue. To eat fine foods, and feel the sun on her skin, and the warmth of another body next to her in bed. In short, to experience the mortal world with her new body before accepting the Embrace. ((Seeking ties with kindred, mortals, or ghouls she could have encountered on her journeys and search for novel, mortal experiences. Could have been anywhere on the globe an experienced Ventrue ghoul could relatively safely travel, especially looking for aesthetes, adventurers, artists, nightlife or vice-connected figures or those highly connected to high or low mortal society.))

• December 1980: Marcel hears Dani is back in New York and tries to resume their friendship after a few years of largely discussing business. Dani says she is interested in meeting socially again, but soon declines Marcel's invitations and eventually entirely cuts off non-business related contact, and even that only through intermediaries. Unknown to Marcel, this sudden severing of contact was due to her Embrace and a need to focus on mastering her new hunger to protect her friend. This betrayal by a friend who he had supported and been supported by further hardens Marcel and contributes to his becoming a firebrand activist in the coming years.

• 1981: After a decade of loyal service, Christian seeks permission from the Mad Prince to Embrace Danika and does so.

• 1981-1987: Dani begins her Agoge and works directly under Christian in New York, learning essential knowledge of Clan, sect, and lineage for an ambitious young Ventrue and getting lessons of a different sort during her occasional night of fun out on the town with Maypop.

• 1987-2010: Danika continues her Agoge and is sent by her sire to study under members of the House of the Griffon while furthering Christian's interests and continuing to develop her skills. Wanting to prove herself worthy of the embrace and deeply curious about the world of monsters and magic she now operated within, she throws herself into her study and duties for her sire and his allies. While acting as a consulting diplomat, messenger, courtier, and negotiator for her House, Clan, and sire, she also busies herself poring over archives and speaking with the kindred she served about their experiences negotiating with or warring against other supernatural beings. She also takes this opportunity to hone her street-fighting skills into the discipline and knowledge of a trained warrior, eagerly training in swordsmanship under the tutelage of Mazhar Dogukan. Other than fleeting encounters with Wraiths and the walking dead during her studies with some of her sire's more "eclectic" allies, she does not actually manage to put any of her accumulated occult knowledge to the test before she is forced to rapidly and clandestinely return to New York. ((Seeking ties with Camarilla or Camarilla-friendly Independent ancillae or elders she could have studied and served under, or the childre and associates of those Kindred she encountered in her travels. Teachers of lore, security, or the Ventrue in-clan disciplines especially sought.))

• 2010-2012: Warned about FIRSTLIGHT by Christian, Danika returns to New York to lay low. Satisfied with her ability to use what she learned over the years to safely navigate her way back to New York and help mitigate the threat of FIRSTLIGHT, Christian releases Danika from her Accounting and allows her to pursue her own studies and interests. While she is released from Accounting, Danika immediately voluntarily swears Fealty to Christian. She spends the time studying Project Twilight and surreptitiously reconnecting with some of her underworld contacts and making strategic under the table investments. Inspired by Maypop's encouragement during the celebration of her Release that she would "have all of this in time if she returned to New York," Dani begins paving the way for her eventual, permanent return by reconnecting with trustworthy old contacts, greasing the right palms, and bending the will of the occasional minor official or mid-level mook in order to establish a foothold. ((Seeking ties with NYC kindred she could have met or begun negotiations with in this time, especially any neighbors in the East Village, anyone countering the Hunter threat, kindred involved with Manhattan nightlife, and Christian's associates or their childre.))

• 2012: The Second Inquisition begins. Danika wholly focuses herself on studying and subverting the multi-headed hydra that is the Inquisition. She continues to travel between cities on her sire’s behalf in search of new intel on the Hunter threat.

• 2015: Increasingly stymied by her inability to use the internet or advanced data analytics to continue learning about the Inquisition for fear of breaking the Camarilla’s prohibition on technology, Dani offers a young, queer “grey hat” hacker, corporate spy for hire, and unlicensed PI, Nadia (She/They), the opportunity to become her ghoul after using the mortal as a consultant on several jobs against minor SI front organizations and off the record bank accounts. Danika tells the young operator that they remind her of herself in her younger days, and Nadia accepts her offer and becomes Danika’s ghoul, personal assistant, bodyguard, aide, and sole companion in her travels.

• 2015-2021: Dani, with her ghoul in tow, continues traveling between domains, with Dani promoting herself to her sire's allies as a “risk management consultant” and security professional against exterior threats (particularly the Inquisition.)

• Spring 2022: Danika receives permission from her sire to permanently return to NYC and work on behalf of his interests, but also to build her own base of power with which to serve her Clan and Lineage and protect the Camarilla and Masquerade. With the assistance of her sire, she purchases a townhome between her namesake landmark and Tompkins Square Park and sends Nadia with her security detail to prepare her haven and begin reconnecting with her old contacts, establishing useful new ones, and scouting the neighborhood. Danika also reconnects with Maypop to announce her return and request the proper introductions to the Court.

• July, 2022: Danika returns to New York, eager to put her knowledge and influence to use. She rapidly receives her chance, going from being Accepted into the domain by Prince Melamed to being appointed to the Primogen Council for Clan Ventrue within the span of an evening during her first night at Court.

• August 19th, 2022: Danika attends the Toreador Grand Ball and plays an unfinished game of croquet with Justicar Diana Iadanza alongside an eclectic group of other Kindred. She and Dr. Reynaldo also share a fascinating conversation while watching the battle against the possessed Baali Elder mere feet away. Danika finds herself instantly drawn to the young, knowledgeable Tremere, unaware that she is being charmed by an Infernalist while watching her elders fight a demon.

• August 20th, 2022: Danika takes part in the battle against the 7-headed abyssal dragon that clan Lasombra managed to contain on an oil rig off the coast of Mississippi. Along with Eduardo De La Cruz and Sally "Sue" Sharp and their Lasombra escorts, Danika steps through The Shroud and does battle with three of the dragon's heads at the edge of the Shroud while her Elders and mightier combatants battle the beast's primary heads on the oil rig itself. Danika delivers the deathblow to the aspect of the creature she fights by shoving the pointed end of her walking stick through its central head and claims one of the beast's talons as a trophy. She affixes this claw to a necklace and wears it proudly to the September Elysium in New York with the Prince's permission.

• October 8th, 2022: Danika travels to Trenton in order to meet her grandsire Charles Hakstege, MD at his newest club and accompanies a war party of local kindred into the abyss to battle another monstrosity, this one in the shape of a massive octopus combined with a spider. With the destruction of the arch-predator in the Abyss, the flood of abyssal spiders being pushed into our world ceases. She is bitten by one of the creature's mouths during the battle and is haunted by nightmares of the Abyss.

• October 15th, 2022: Danika helps lead an operation to shut down a hot dog seller selling human meat to the public in NYC and captures and interrogates a strange and inhuman spirit-being riding a hollowed out human body, a "fomori." As best Danika can tell, the human meat is being used in order to create more of these "fomori."

• November 5th, 2022: While visiting Trenton to celebrate the opening of its newest Elysium, Danika accompanies a party which investigates a former Sabbat safehouse after it had been raided by soldiers from PROJECT: Twilight. Following the investigation, she enjoys a long and fascinating conversation about their very different pasts with Declan.

• December 17th, 2022: After serving as the Defender of Elysium for Dr. Reynaldo's first Elysium at the Museum of the Bronx, undergoing fleshcrafting in the museum's tower from the talented hands of Darcy Whitmore, and fighting alongside Dr. Reynaldo, Nox, and Whitmore to destroy a Hunter cell, Dr. Reynaldo's infernalism is revealed to the Court in an ambush and Danika delivers her death sentence after being offered the "honor" by Prince Nissim. In the minutes preceding the Doctor's execution, the shortlived but passionately devoted relationship between Danika and Dr. Reynaldo becomes public knowledge. Following the execution, a weeping Danika is granted Triumphant status by Prince Nissim and enters a period of seclusion and mourning.

• January 7th, 2023: During a visit to Trenton, Danika makes her first public appearance in Camarilla society since her Triumph and execution of Dr. Reynaldo. She recounts the details of her triumph to Harpy De Luca, meets and proves highly suspicious of and immune to the considerable charms of Ministry visitor Lynda DiAmbrosio, and receives a new sword from Elder Alaric of Gaul, accompanied by vital advice to wield the sword against the infernal "not in anger, but in hatred."

• January 21st, 2023: Danika attends Claude De Bourbon's Harpy Salon, where she is given the adhoc title of "Associate" in lieu of Deputy and granted the status of Defender on an ongoing basis for her role in regularly assisting Sheriff Kesef in the defense of the city. She once again matches wits with Lynda DiAmbrosio, whose salespitch is not received warmly by the gathered Kindred of New York, particularly Harpy De Bourbon. Danika agrees to work with Claude to begin the process of restoring her lost humanity following the events of December 17th, and receives a portentous tarot reading from Solomon which gives her a path forward.

• February 6th, 2023: Danika attends the Prince's gathering in Trenton as a guest. There, she reconnects with Eloise Fulton Miller, a former client and fencing partner from her consulting days following Danika's release from Accounting and Trenton's newly appointed Malkavian primogen. She is a witness to the events of court that night and reconnects with her kin and allies in Trenton, but largely stays out of direct involvement in local affairs on this journey.

• Early February, 2023: Danika takes two brief sojourns abroad, making a brief trip to Eastern Europe pursuing rumors of a dangerous ritual and visiting Toronto on a quest to seek out the Josian Archons.

• Early March, 2023: Danika travels to Croatia pursuing further rumors of the dangerous ritual, with her sword "Hatred" tasting Kindred vitae for the first time in a moonlit battle at the gates of Erdut Castle. Danika draws "Hatred" and takes blows using Fortitude for those in the middle of the group like Prince Nissim before dispatching the sources of those attacks with brutal efficiency. Her swordwork is precise, powerful and unpretentious, and she mixes in the kicks, elbows, and trips of a brawler, seeming to revel in the opportunity for violence and the chance to slip back into the role of bodyguard and soldier ((from quest flair.))

• March 11th, 2023: Danika visits Atlanta to attend her friend Ava Melamed's club opening. She meets the notorious Pirate Queen Teuta and Capitana Gabriella Giovanni, who she had long been fascinated by from afar based on her sire's stories. During this meeting, she presents Teuta with the gift of a nightstick that she "took off of a cop the hard way" as a mortal at the Stonewall Riots. As the night ends, she gleefully volunteers to put her mortal skills to use in order to "bounce" Lynda DiAmbrosio out of Ava's club alongside Mal, Fiadh, and Ava.

• March 20th, 2023: Danika is officially appointed as Servire to Josian Archon Artemisia Martelo.

• April 15th, 2023: Danika leads her first mission to hunt a demon as Josian Servire against NYC's local menace "Ralph." She collaborates with Sheriff Kesef to organize reconnaissance of his towering office building, subvert the demon's hired mercenaries, shut down the building's electricity and defenses, protect the Masquerade with a lockdown, and organize a helicopter to the roof of the building for infiltration and exfiltration. The gathered Kindred (an eclectic group including Camarilla members from Boston, Springfield, Trenton, and New York as well as a handful of Independent Alliance visitors) attack the demon's office in a pincer maneuver after landing on the roof via helicopter. Nox leads a small team to break through the ceiling of Ralph's office while Danika creates a diversion by leading a frontal assault on the demon's mercenary team, with Sheriff Kesef providing astral overwatch. After making short work of the mercenaries, Danika leads her team into the demon's office and draws first blood by striding through his Majesty, impaling him through the chest with her blade, "Hatred," and pinning him to the well-stocked bar of his office. She is taken out of the battle however when a stray fireball from an ally ignites the alcohol behind the bar and sends her into a fear frenzy. She is held and kept from fleeing by Seneschal Virgil as Prince Nissim delivers the deathblow to the creature using his roots and Cauldron of Blood. After regaining her composure, she recovers her blade from Nox and leads a smaller group to hunt and interrogate the demon's minions while Seneschal Virgil distributes status to those who aided in the battle after Danika arranges to see them properly rewarded.

• June 3rd, 2023: Danika "wins" The Trenton Derby and is declared Victorious after Clan Ventrue's horse, the Gangrel autarkis Jesse Morris, sponsored by Danika and Trenton's Ventrue Primogen Charles Hakstege, defeats the competition. Victory celebrations are cut short however after Mr. Morris leaves in horror at the gratuitous animal cruelty on display in the race; including two horses twisted into horrifying technological monstrosities and both of those creatures, as well as an additional two horses, being painfully killed during the course of the race. Danika's offer to Mr. Morris of access to her herd to celebrate his victory does not smooth things over in the least.

• August 25th-27th, 2023: Danika attends the Toreador White Party in Malta, but goes "on duty" almost immediately upon being made aware of the Baali presence on the island. She meets and pursues Roth the Defiler for the first time, but is not able to muster forces to attempt to apprehend or destroy him. Following the Ball and Aisling Sturbridge springing her trap, Danika dons her Josian uniform and goes into battle against one of Sturbridge's supposedly "perfect" children, a 20 foot tall vampiric colossus powered by human lives, alongside Elder Alaric of Gaul, Servire Mary Petersen, and an Ishtarri Anarch. While the others deal the majority of damage to the creature, Danika viciously attacks by wrapping herself around its wrist and tearing it apart with a trench-knife. More importantly, she acts as a field medic for the others, carrying healing salves into battle courtesy of Nadiya Ibrahim that bring two of her companions back from the brink of Final Death. Those who witness the creature fall see Elder Alaric bring it to its knees before Danika drives a glowing white spear through its chest. Following Sturbridge's death and Baron Samedi's resurrection, Danika introduces herself to the Baron and shares with him two pieces of information: the appearance of the Abyssal Hydra courtesy of her tattoo, and a vision of the final moments of the demon Lilith, which she witnessed.

• September 2nd, 2023: Worked alongside Elder Josian Archon Jahangir Al-Tanin and a cross-sect force of Kindred in Kansas City to hunt and destroy an Infernalist Anarch biker-gang: "The Wrecking Crew." Danika made the rounds in biker bars "convincing" potential recruits to stay away from the gang before joining the others to assault the gang's hideout, where she slew three of the gang's mortal minions and assisted Elder Josian Jahangir Al-Tanin in destroying a Baali masquerading as a Salubri Warrior.

• September 9th, 2023: Launched a decisive blow against the group of mortal Infernalists that Dr. Reynaldo once worked for by raiding the meeting of the Westburn Foundation's researchers and CEO, Amy Westburn, alongside members of NYC's Court and Sevinch of the IA. With the power of her Aura of Command, the 3 Infernalists are at Danika's mercy and find none. After Seneschal Seneca removes their limbs and Ms. Westburn's mouth at Danika's request, Danika verbally and telepathically interrogates them before using the force of her Presence and Dominate to force them to send confessions of their use of deadly misinformation to drive conflicts across the globe and sell weapons to both sides using CEO Amy Westburn's Westburn Aeronautics Corporation to scores of journalists and regulators. Following their confessions, she has one of her companions shoot all three with one of the security guard's gun before placing it in Westburn's hands, making it look like a guilt-driven murder-suicide pact between the three Infernalists. As her companion pulls the trigger, Danika pulls one of her own: having her Influence network release a package of research and stolen materials to major media outlets and financial and academic oversight bodies intended to destroy the Westburn Foundation's credibility in academia. Meanwhile in conflicts across the globe, Westburn's network of armsdealers, media puppets and go-betweens find themselves hunted, shut down, disappeared, and stymied at every turn as their opponents are suddenly informed of their slights against them, locations, and valuable assets. This wave of death and destruction at her command takes a toll on Danika's humanity, and she sequesters herself after the raid to supervise the information offensive, wrestle with her Beast, and prepare for the Infernalist's counterattack.

• December 14th, 2023: Danika spots Cedar Ayleward wandering in Ventrue territory and takes him into her "care" after running him down in an alley.

• December 16th, 2023: Danika brings Cedar to Prince Seneca's Court and advocates to the Prince for Cedar's continued existence, agreeing to serve as the Toreador fledgling's surrogate sire. She, Nadiya Ibrahim, The Prince, and other members of the Court educate the newly embraced vampire and Ventrue-ward on the world he's found himself in.

• January 16th, 2024: Danika's oath of service as a Servire is transferred from Josian Archon Artemisia Martelo to Josian Archon Jahangir Al-Tanin by High Josian Archon Fatima Al-Faqadi.

• April 4th, 2024: After nearly a decade of service and following a small "last night alive" party the following weekend, Danika takes her ghoul Nadia out to her favorite restaurant in the city, Veselka, for what will likely be her last meal. The two walk the neighborhood and Tompkins Square Park before returning to Danika's tower downtown. Having received the appropriate permissions from Elder De Gorizia as head of her lineage and Prince Seneca as her Prince in recognition of her service in the prior month's campaigns against the diablerist Gwen Rogers, just after midnight Danika takes Nadia to the roof deck of the tower and drains her of blood and grants her the Embrace as she looks out on the city that Danika hopes she will one day rule. She awakes the next night as the first 13th generation Ventrue of the House of the Griffon and the last of her line, ready to serve for eternity at her sire's side. Nadia takes the name "Nadia Danikova" after her embrace in recognition of her sire.

• May 30th, 2024: Danika weds Nadiya Ibrahim in a small, private ceremony at Richmond Manor in Pittsburgh officiated by Jahangir Al-Tanin. She is walked down the aisle by Mazhar Dogukan. A lavish but intimate party follows. It is the happiest night of Danika's existence, whether as a mortal or Kindred.

• June 15th, 2024: Danika funds the creation of Coney Island Pride through mortal intermediaries in hopes of revitalizing the neighborhood following what the mortal worlds believes to be "tragic gang warfare and a deadly police raid" in the beachside amusement district. The festivities go off without a hitch and Danika works alongside Scourge Evie Montgomery and Sheriff Jonathan Kesef to organize local Kindred to thwart the efforts of local hunters within the NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) to unleash hungry Kindred upon the Washington Square Park Pride Parade. Danika, Nadiya Ibrahim, and Scourge Montgomery also make an eyecatching entrance into the grand opening of Scourge Montgomery's "Luna Salon" at the former Coney Island Freak Bar on horseback, with their steed, Jesse Morris, wearing a blanket with "I SURVIVED THE TRENTON DERBY" embroidered on one side and "TRENTON DERBY CHAMPION" emblazoned on the other.

• July 13th, 2024: Danika finds and fabricates a massive trove of personal and criminal allegations against the "Protectors" police motorcycle gang inside the NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU), in reality a group of independent vampire hunters within the NYPD who had continuously harassed the Kindred of New York and the the mortal communities under their "protection" for the past four years. Taking point on an operation devised by Sheriff Kesef, she simply walks into their clubhouse in Brooklyn and forces each of the six members with the power of her Dominate and Presence to take a lethally tainted dose of steroids. Each member of the gang dies slowly on the floor of their clubhouse as Danika, Primogen Dale of Clan Nosferatu, Primogen Anatasia of Clan Tremere, the Malkavian Jordan, and the Lasombra biologist aspiring to join the Cam who created the tainted steroids clean up all sign of their presence and steal their records. Within a day the "tragic overdose" is announced on the news, followed by a treasure trove of misinformation which leaves not even their loved ones mourning them, TARU disgraced, and NYC's hunters scattered for at least a few years.
  

• July 27th, 2024: Danika leads an operation at the command of Elder Josian Archon Al-Tanin to capture Dawn, former Harpy of Pittsburgh and recently converted Baali in service to Roth The Defiler. Operating on a tip from Pittsburgh's Scourge Bones Crowley to Archon Amelia H. Reeves, Danika organizes a covert dragnet across Toreador territory in Pittsburgh with the assistance of Elder Frederick de Gorizia, Pittsburgh's Talon Lady Elizabeth Byron, and Servire Dr. William Martel. On the night of Pittsburgh's court gathering, Danika and Archons Reeves and Mary Petersen lead an electic team including Alfred Perfidious, Elder De Gorizia, Harpy Atticus Lowell, and the Anarch Joshua which succeeds in capturing and staking Dawn while she raves about the Beckoning in open court. Dawn is interrogated and executed later that weekend by Danika and Elder Josian Archon Al-Tanin.
  

• September 7th, 2024: Danika re-emerges briefly from clandestine travels and training on behalf of the Josian Order to take part in the Kindred of Springfield's raid on the FIRSTLIGHT joint-operations base where a combined force of hunters had amassed and begun to destroy Springfield's supernatural beings, starting with the Anarchs of Northampton. Danika appears at the fight alongside New York City's Scourge Evie Montgomery and toting several handheld EMP's. She also shares with Elder Diocles, The Sheriff, and Ms. Montgomery strange vials of "gnostically infused blood" created by herself, Primogen Ibrahim, and Keeper of Elysium Ekaterina Ionescu, which she claims will "temporarily sate The Beast" when ingested or consumed. She spreads a sigil of the infused blood on her forehead and strides through the flames as the battle begins following Prince Olsen's improvised gasoline bomb on the hunter stronghold. She destroys two strange, grey-skinned FIRSTLIGHT soldiers who crumble to dust when struck and downs a Project Twilight Drone with an EMP, but charges to the tree line when she hears a hunter ahead call out to Bhaal for salvation before dying. She slays several more hunters with her chain-blade along the treeline, relishing in her kills. She emerges from the slaughter nearly unharmed and with several kills to her name, but with her Beast having gorged itself on the slaughter and her Humanity further eroded. She, the Sheriff, and Nadiya take one of the surviving hunters for interrogation and Danika drinks from Nadiya as they leave for the evening in hopes of giving herself a tether back to her Humanity.

• September 15th, 2024: A letter is sent to all Kindred publicly threatening Elder Josian Al-Tanin, Danika and their loved ones such as Nadiya, as well as the Josian Order as a whole. Several Kindred announce their defiance of the letter's author and Danika becomes clandestine in her movements.

• October 20th, 2024: Danika returns to New York City a changed woman in more ways than one. The first change is that she announces her promotion to Archon of The Josian Order under Justicar Zane Bevan and resigns as Ventrue Primogen, announcing her departure from the Court of New York City. The second is that she is clearly on a Path and announces to the Court that Justicar Bevan has allowed her this experiment in seeing whether the Path of Blood can be viable for a member of The Josian Order and a non-Banu Haqim. She celebrates her adoptive childe and ward Cedar Ayleward's release from accounting, but the festivities are interrupted when Cedar's sire by blood, Vincent, invited to the event to see his childe's success and return Cedar's broodmate to the Camarilla, proclaims that Bhaal is Kindred's only salvation from The Beckoning and makes moves to attack Cedar. Having retained his services as a bodyguard for the evening, the Gangrel cowboy Jesse Morris shoots a stake into Vincent's heart after Danika beats him with her chain and New York's Scourge Evie Montgomery disables his legs, at which time Cedar and his two broodmates, now both freed from Vincent, execute their heretical sire together under Danika's supervision.

"If knowledge is power, clandestine knowledge is power squared; it can be withheld, exchanged, and leveraged."
- Letty Cottin Pogrebin, founding editor of Ms. Magazine

Bio

Danika “Dani” Astor is a neonate of Clan Ventrue and The House of the Griffon and the childe of Christian Whitechapel of Boston, former Seneschal of London, New York, and Boston, and former Prince of Boston.

She acted as a traveling consultant and student to allies of her sire for over four decades, occasionally returning to New York or Boston to report-in to her sire but generally staying in the domains she visited for only a few months or years at a time. Since being given permission by her sire to permanently settle in New York she has rapidly built a small but dense influence web amidst the street and nightlife professionals of the East Village, and is known within the domains of New York and Trenton as one of their frequent defenders against the forces of the Infernal, Abyss, and Inquisition and as of 2023 an increasingly frequent visitor to the domain of Springfield.

In Kindred politics, Danika traditionally has not demanded the spotlight and generally worked behind the scenes (or behind the throne) as a trusted courtier. However, she has been forced closer to the spotlight in her role as Ventrue Primogen of New York and frequent backup to the Sheriff and Scourge. This desire for prominence and worthy service culminated in her appointment as Josian Servire to Josian Archon Artemisia Martelo and a more assertive demeanor befitting her role as a soldier against Infernalism and heresy. Despite her previously laconic air and academic curiosity, she is an enforcer by trade and remains brutally efficient with a knife, sword, or club and incredibly stubborn in a fight, calling upon years of experience as a bouncer and occasional freelance legbreaker honed by decades of eclectic and dedicated training by her sire's contacts. Following December 2022, she seemed to fight even harder, motivated by either a deathwish, hatred of the Infernal, an outlet for her anger, or all of the above. Likewise, her previous curiosity has been tempered by her experience with Dr. Reynaldo and she now only seeks knowledge that will allow her to better defend against and destroy her enemies and the enemies of her patrons.

As of the Summer 2023, she has begun to fight less desperately, but no less hard. Despite her perhaps surprising tolerance for working alongside members of other sects and Clans to hunt the Infernal and collaborate on matters of mutual interest and her willingness to mentor new members of the Camarilla whatever their history before joining despite being a Ventrue and Josian, she is still an Enforcer of the Tower's laws. While her focus and passion is for hunting Infernalists and devotees of other heretical powers, she will intervene when she believe the Masquerade is at risk. She is coldly ruthless when she believes the ends justify the means and vicious to those she wishes to make an example of, particularly if she believes they have disrespected or endangered those she has sworn herself to, violated the Masquerade, or endangered the safety of all Kindred by taking the threat of Hunters or the Infernal insufficiently seriously. This balance of gentility and cut-throat brutality is reflected in her Humanity, which dwindled rapidly over her first year as a Josian.

Upon returning from her initiation as Archon she was a changed Kindred, describing herself as "born again in service to the Their Grace Justicar Zane Bevan, the Laws of Haqim, his children, and the The Josian Order," bearing the unmistakable signs of a Kindred on a Path. Where she once looked naturally like a walking corpse due to her diminished Humanity, she now looks instead like a pale statue of Justice, the cruel symmetry of her features broken up only by snaking black veins and radiating an aura of unshakeable and zealous self-righteousness.

"Call her prophet, call her priestess, call her witch or patron saint
But we know Jesus ain't around no more, and there's people needing saved
Don't think God got any part of it, no holy books or ancient tongues
But there's a bottle of fire in her hands, and there's fire in her lungs

And she says, "Run, devil, run toward the risin' of the sun
Run, devil, run away from me
When you hear me comin' 'round, you best get out of this town
And if you don't, there'll be hell to pay"

Don't know if it's a gift she has, don't know if it's a curse
Wonder if she's traced the devil down since he's come into this world

You'll wonder if you were just dreamin', if you heard some unholy brawl
But you'll feel a presence in your bones when she comes to make a call
We keep monsters in our storybooks and heroes on our walls
But of the folklore and the fables, she's the tallest tale of all"
-Haunted Like Human, Run Devil Run

"All of the ire that I've swallowed
All of the coals that still sit in my gut
I am always burning up

Take me to war
Honey, I dare you
I'll be the sweetest thing
Ever to Scare you
Give me a fight I can't resist
Give me something to break with my fists
Take me to war
Oh, honey, I dare you"
-The Crane Wives, "Take Me To War"

Playlist: Apocalyptic Jams 4 Sad Vampire Trans (formerly "Business Goth Jams 4 sad vampire trans" for the first year of chron and "Black ops jams 4 sad vampire trans" for most of the second.)

Rumors

-Danika has a fleshcrafted tattoo of the three heads of the Abyssal Dragon she slew on the left side of her body, with one head terminating at her collar bone, one at her hip, and one at the top of her wrist.
-Danika witnessed the death of the Demon calling itself "Lilith."
-Danika stole back the portrait she gave Dr. Reynaldo for Christmas on what ended up being the day she executed her. Some say she destroyed it, others say she uses it for target practice, and some whisper that she has some kind of shrine to her lost, infernalist love.
-Danika publicly gave Nadiya Ibrahim a lap dance that was as passionate as it was amateurish during a game of Truth or Dare at a Garden Party.
-Danika and Nadiya Ibrahim dated for less than a year before deciding to wed.
-Danika used a glowing, holy spear (allegedly the Spear of Longinus) to deliver the death blow to to Sturbridge's colossal "perfect child" that she fought against alongside Elder Alaric of Gaul and Servire Mary Petersen and an Anarch Ishtarri
-In addition to the True Brujah and the Ishtarri, Danika and the others were also aided in battle by three Baali Elders. And one of them, Roth The Defiler, is the one who gave Danika the spear in combat. Others say she traded insults with Roth throughout the night even while wielding the spear and that they saw her throw the weapon at Roth's feet later in the night and refuse to keep it despite his claims that it wasn't tainted.
-After several inexplicable experiences connecting Danika more deeply to her humanity by engaging in religious rituals, as well as her connections and time spend with several religious Kindred, Danika is beginning to find some form of "religion," or at least believe that a "positive" or benign spiritual force exists in the universe that is hostile to Demons but seemingly not categorically opposed to Kindred.
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Quotes

• "Primogen Astor is a welcome and timely addition to our city." - B̷̨̹̘̞̙͉͑̉͑̄ ̷͚̜̮͚̑͌̆͠ë̸͈̘̤͚̠́́̍̏̿̽ ̵̻̱̣̫̹͉͒̏̋́͗͂͘͜͠á̶̢̺͖̔͐̎̒͌̔̎̈́ ̸͍̣͍̺̮̜̈́̐̿̈͒͗̅͝ț̷̛̦͙̤̭̋̈́̍̓̒ ̸̨̡̟̖̰̹̭̭̈́͂̾̓͜ŗ̸̡̼̘͔͚̮̇̋͂͛͝ ̷̧̧̮̣̰̻̩̘͈̏͊̅̕͝i̵̧͎͕̩̳͊͘ͅ ̵̤͓̀̀̃͜͝x̸̻͔̪͕͔̮͆̍
• “Do you wish to know the very worst thing about Primogen Astor? She’s far too capable and clever by half. By consistently meeting and exceeding our expectations, she will raise the bar for all her clan. What a disappointment her peers will be in comparison.” — Claude
• "There is nobody I would rather have fighting by my side." - Dr. Almeda Reynaldo
• "😒🙄👉👌" - Lynda DiAmbrosio
• "In a word, vaulting. How else would you describe how quickly they overcame each obstacle in their path, rising to the heady position of Primogen of the Clan of Kings in the economic capital of the world? Then, not content with a capstone most other Kindred could never aspire to, they continue on to be appointed as a Servire of the Josian Archons? This is clearly a King to watch..." - Michael De Luca
• "I've never met a Ventrue like her before... the way she handled that demon hunt was truly impressive. I'd love to get to know her better." - Nadiya Ibrahim
• "One of the brightest of the line of Ventrue, as she shines from the Clan of Kings. Courageous, cunning and resourceful is only the tip of the blade of her character. I have watched her progress as a Josian and though I Shepherd her, she as well Shepherd me. She will say it is her honor to stand with me, in truth, it is has always been my honor as my Servire. A decision, I will always cherish." - Jahangir Al-Tanin
  

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OOC Information

Player	Charlie K.
Pronouns	She/Her
MES #	US2022060019
Domain	NY-004-D
Storyteller	Jacqui A. (Downtimes handled by Sean M.)

Other PCs: Neith Ward, Amanita Zantosa