Jose Matias
From Edge of Darkness Wiki
|
Appearance
José stands 6.02 feet (1.85m) tall and has a strong athletic complexion. He often wears loose hip-hop style clothes, however it looks somehow 'artificial', as he don't shows the peculiar 'attitude' common among people who dress that way. Other times he can be seen wearing jeans and t-shirt.
The only visible accessories are a simple necklace and two golden rings, one of which serves as the necklace pendant and the other properly used on the ring finger of the right hand.
Background
Origins
José was born in Salvador city, capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. From modest descent he was raised among fishers, and learned early to subside on minimum resources. Strong and well built, José always conciliated his fishing duties with the 'Capoeira' – the personal dance-like self-defense art developed by slaves in the Brazilian colonial period.
Being black, poor and son of fishers, José – as the majority in this context – was taught into the Candomblé – a polytheistic African rooted religion usually marginalized by the average Brazilian Catholic/Christian society. Candomblé venerates a pantheon of strong willed gods and goddesses, each of which is associated with a peculiar stereotype. Those gods are called “orixás” by the devouts. At Candomblé, José is “son of Oxossis” a forest hunter orixá (oh-ree-sha). Candomblé and capoeira are very intertwined and capoeira dancers/fighters are almost aways associated to be into the Candomblé religion.
By his 20's, José fell in love for Maria do Socorro, an herbalist that owned a shop at the Pelourinho – Salvador's historical center. Their relationship rapidly evolved and they were soon to get married. But...
Tragedy
As a fisher, José was used to venture himself in the sea (the high sea) for days, sometimes weeks, long. One night, Jose's scuna sank due to an angry storm. He and two of the four fishers survived for an entire day at sea, until they got rescued by a cruiser ship coming from Miami. Due to the touristic nature of Salvador city, José was some kind a self-taught English speaker (albeit being illiterate in that idiom), and served as the spokesman for he and his fellows during the rescue.
In the four day trip back to the Salvador's coast he and the other two fishers got to 'earn' their tickets by serving as sailors. The hard work at least keep him too busy to think about on what the lost ship would mean for his living as a fisher. By the third day, a man named Carl Wess approached José and begun to chat about Salvador city and where he could find a peculiar tropical tree related to the acacias. José told him that he could find this information with his fiancée, and take note of her shop address at the back of a promotional flippable match box – Carl was a voracious smoker.
After arriving, being the sinked scuna's owner, José got very busied as soon as he put his feet at firm ground. The coastal guard was alerted by the cruiser's crew about the wreck and presented José tons and tons of bureaucratic papers/reports and the like. When he could finally get out of all that and come back home he was so tired that got sleep for almost two days.
But he awoke.
André, a close friend from Capoeria circles, brought the terrible new. Maria do Socorro got killed that night at her shop.
After the burial José went to the crime's scene, only to discover that Maria's death was not that important to the police as it was to him. It seems that no investigation ever took place, as usually the police sealed the location. As he got the shop keys, it was easy to enter and to face the brutality employed by the assassin. The furniture all broke, blood all over the place (walls, floor and even the ceiling), and a bloody knife craved on the door's inner side, holding something at his point. A broken but still recognizable object: a motel match box in which the word “obrigado” was carefully carved on the paper.
Anger
José took the knife with him, and swore to find and slaught Carl Wess with the same blade.
Studying the match box, José – after asking some people – discovered that it was a gift from a Las Vegas motel, named Red Bottle. After a month of preparation, he finally got into a cargo ship as a stowaway. The only thing he knew was that the ship destination was the USA at the East Coast.
José arrived at the New Orleans port, successfully unnoticed by the cargo ship crew. He then begun to chase his swore enemy. It was difficult to get a track, but after some searching he finally got a road map and some markings on it provided by helpful people he found on his way. His journey was long: New Orleans, Dallas, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Flagstaff and finally Las Vegas; and it took about a month until Vegas, mostly because 'financial' issues that José got to solve by easiest way available. He, maybe fuelled by the anger, got no remorse at the first time he assault a person. First it was just a couple of bucks, but after some weeks of very low progress in his objective, traveling only through rides, José finally decided to steal a motorcycle.
When traveling, José felt something was wrong. A sensation of being observed sometimes at night, sometimes even on his dreams. Anyway, nightmares would not shake his resolution. He went illegal on a foreign country only to kill the bastard that disgraced his destiny along with Maria do Socorro. Nothing would stop him, not even death.
And so it happened...
Embrace
He reached Las Vegas by day, and got very impressed with the monumental scale in which were made most buildings. After abandoning the motorcycle at a random street, he found a place to rest: a cheap and very low profile inn at Vegas suburb. He could feel that his vengeance was near and wanted to be ready and fully refreshed when the time arrives.
Although, things didn't happened as he planned them. José's hunt didn't got unnoticed. Very questions here and there, about a suspicious name and a suspicious place named Red Bottle aroused the attention of a unusual person. And she was just sited on the chair in front of his bed, playing with the Carl's knife on his finger nails.
She told him that he was being followed since New Orleans. She was initially interested on why he was interested on the Vegas Prince most faithful ghoul, as Vegas was her 'favorite' city, but that got surprised with the fact that he was just a 'mere' mortal, and nothing more. Then she told him how impressed with his tenacity and determination she was, as well with his 'curious' religiosity during the hard times during the road trip.
No matter how strange it was, but José could not 'contest' her anyway. He just listened to her calm speech until she finally released him from the melodic trance of her voice.
He then told her his story of love, death and anger, only to see a single red tear risking her face and dropping on the ground. Confused, José just notice her fangs sprouting and, on a eye's blink, she came over immobilizing him with her unnatural strength. Then the kiss... and his life ended.
José became a Gangrel, and got to forfeit his objectives until being initiated both on the clan ways and on The Circle of Chrone, the covenant of his sire. After that period, José finally killed Carl Wess with the knife, and instructed by his sire fled to Sacramento to scape the Vegas Prince wrath.
Milestones
Introduced
The Brazilian had arrived just in time for the Winter Solstice Celebration after following Badb, his sire crown, from Las Vegas to Sacramento. Coincidental or not, his presence was accepted in the open ceremony as well the reserved one for the Acolytes only, where he had sacrificed his berimbau after a disastrous performance offered to the Crone.[1]
Acknowledged
After some time wandering by the Communal Hunting Grounds living as a homeless and having the whereabouts of the Hansen Park Golf Course as his Haven, José met Adam York, Francesco Giovanni and Sidor Grigoriev while exploring new areas of the Communal Hunting Grounds. After the usual tense conversation common in initial meetings, Sidor Grigoriev gave him the contact of the Herald Martha Villiers.
José went to Avalon and after being gradually convinced of the good intentions of Martha Villiers had a nice chat about his origins and his passion: Capoeira. The empathy between two was such that Martha Villiers almost forgot the formality of the Acknowledgment, to which José almost sealed his word with blood after taking the Oath demanded by the Herald. While acknowledging him Martha Villiers also suggested that José should speak with the Baillif Daniella Sage about the etiquette and internal protocols of the Invictus covenant.
José agreed promptly to the suggestion, having later the meeting with Daniella Sage, to which also took part the Herald Martha Villiers. That had not appealed the Brazilian very much, but it seemed the right thing to do to retribute the warm welcome offered to him. When the etiquette lesson finished, José was presented to his Priscus Dillon Connery by Martha Villiers. The first impression about the head Gangrel was very good as he seemed to be the kind of man not afraid of hard work.[2]
Tenant of Valencia
In the 2012 February 13 Official Court after some minimum socialization José inscribed himself in the contest proposed by the Prince Asa Clarke. After a exceptional performance he'd won the prize: Tenancy in the Regency of Valencia. As an aditional prize, José had conquered also a slow dance with Martha Villiers, which, besides her physical limitation, was most pleasant to him, giving the night the perfect grand finalle.[3]
Banished to the Barrens
José had met James Calloway and the Vala Chris Wooding at Avalon and an idea was suddenly born: to create a coterie. The three had some coded chat about the matter, after which they had decided to leave it for another place and occasion. José then left the booth to make his way out from the Elysium.
While ascending the staircase the Brazilian had met the Haunt Alexander Schmider, and tried to welcome the disfigured man the best he could. But, Alexander Schmider simply turned his backs to José while he noticed the presence of Deputy Tracy Burns who was welcoming the also newcomer Catherine Keyes. After being quite offensive to both ladies Deputy Tracy Burns tried to promptly stake the unnapropriated man, but Alexander Schmider had escaped, for few inches, from the wooden emprisonment. Then, José afraid to what could happen to Tracy Burns decided to torpor him immediatelly.
After the mess the Reeve Conner Greyson arrived and ordered everybody to came to his room, without any space for negotiations. There, a trial was instaured, and José was found guilty by the Reeve to had violated the Elysium. A twofolded punishment was then announced by Conner Greyson: to be banished to The Barrens and also to have his Achilles Tendons severed until the next Official Court. The Reeve however, due to respect to the Gangrel Priscus, his loyal Deputy Dillon Connery, decided to give the Brazilian the choice for one of the two announced penalties.
José opted towards the banishment.[4]
Dead
José, Adam York, James Calloway, and Robert Swift went to a Comic Shop to investigate some clues about Roxie Hart Herd assassination. They begin to pursuit the Shop Mananager and after, surviving a trapped room, prepared to work like an oven, the troupe went down to the sewers.
They followed the tracks of the fugitive manager for some time through the sewers, meeting by coincidence Dillon Connery, Emma French and Charles Black whose motives they didn't knew very well. José then began to lead the way, walking by the poopy waters. Then, when they reached a dark hole, with a ladder, the Brazilian just commited an evaluation mistake and jumped down. He thought it was a safe move, hoping to surprise anybody who could be waiting for them down there. But it was actually a 50 yard deep hole, that little mistep caused Jose to find himself Torpered.
| |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
