Anatole

“But your film sounds awesome and now you’ve got secret funding. That’s a good start for a heist, right?” — Spoilers for Grand Theft Sorcery follow.

Anatole
Kind	Human
Age	c. 200
Relation­ships	Nahash (patron)
Residence	Los Angeles
Good Intentions Series
First seen	Grand Theft Sorcery

A human supernatural mob boss with great power and influence. He first appeared in Grand Theft Sorcery.

Biography

Anatole was probably born in the first half of the 19th century. He became the mortal servant to a vampire and they were active in the Crimean War (1853–1856). There he met Nahash—a demon—and the two formed a partnership. Nahash taught Anatole how to gain the powers of a supernatural being for himself for a limited time.⁠⁠ Meanwhile Anatole likely assisted Nahash in finding and claiming mortals to possess, and possibly in other ways too.

Time in Los Angeles

“I know Anatole is crazy strong and he’s got money and monsters working for him. What is he, some supernatural mob boss?”

— Evan Murphy, Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 5

Anatole arrived in Los Angeles in the 1940s, after the end of World War II.⁠ He established himself with the Shadows as a collector of artifacts and a useful contact, without becoming fully accepted.⁠

Sunday approached him a few years before the hill house party in order to get his assistance in investigating a series of disappearances of young people. However, this appeared to be a lure to allow Nahash to possess Sunday.⁠ Some years later Anatole approached Christian Miller. The two formed a partnership where Miller acted as a front man for Anatole’s mundane businesses and sometimes as muscle, while Anatole faciliated Miller’s career as a hockey player and internet influencer.⁠

Anatole claimed at least one of Cornelius’s treasure hoards after his death in October. Unknown to Anatole, it included a carving which tied Mitu to Earth.⁠ He also formed an alliance with Uthman—an ifrit—in order to take advantage of and stoke the tensions within the Shadows which started after Cornelius’s demise.⁠ This included the murder of the jinn Haisam and the Practitioner Spencer Wood.⁠⁠

Conflict with Evan Murphy

Anatole used the hill house party as a cover and security for a meeting to ostensibly address the tensions within the Shadows. The event was however interrupted by Evan’s capture and then escape with the carving of Mitu. In response Anatole set all of his many resources to find and capture Evan.⁠ He also ordered Sunday’s home to be looted and burnt when he heard about her death as Evan’s hands.⁠⁠ He nevertheless sought to take advantage of Evan’s actions with a second meeting with the factions within the Shadows of Los Angeles.⁠

He reacted quickly and decisively to the hill house heist, but abandoned his own pursuit when he surmised the presence of the Special Task Force.⁠ Apart from the treasure he lost several valuable contacts and clients. He attempted to renew his contact with Nahash. In reponse to those calls he was contacted by Butler and the two formed a tentative if short-lived alliance.

After being called by the vampire lord Mr. Solomon about the capture of Evan and Sunday, Anatole went to the Fifteen Percent club. He was confronted by first Ms. Vivienne Ester and then Evan, setting off the battle of Fifteen Percent. Anatole was killed by Evan as Anatole attempted to manipulate Amber Maddox’s mind.

Personal

“All the graves, all the rituals, scraping every iota of power you can from the dead for your little potions and trinkets. Thriving on the deaths of those more powerful than yourself—as long as they don’t notice and take offense. I admire the hustle.”

— Butler, Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 20

Anatole had been collecting and dealing in magical and mundane artifacts and treasures for a long time.⁠ He also was successful in building connections with many different parts of the Shadows. He appeared to be very capable of adapting to changed circumstances and quick to take advantage of sudden opportunities. He was also extremely ruthless and ready to undermine allies, like in murdering Uthman’s ally Spencer Wood.⁠

He sometimes resided in a large mansion in Hollywood Hills owned by Christian Miller; according to Evan it was large enough to hold two hundred guests for a party together with servers and security.⁠⁠ The location of his true home is however unknown, and he lived a completely black life unknown to any mundane authorities, including the Special Task Force.⁠⁠

Relationships

Anatole’s closest confidantes were Jan and Elizabeth.

He had a strong network of contacts and helpers through many different groups of the Shadows as well as outside it. They included Christopher Miller—a rich celebrity and influencer—and Frank Crosby—a corrupt police officer. He also was well-known in the Shadows and employed at least one vampire as muscle. His greater network included at least half of the supernatural-connected accounts monitored by the Special Task Force in the Los Angeles area.

He had good contacts and at least some trust from nearly every group within the Shadows in Los Angeles, including Practitioners otherwise opposed to each other, as well as among both jinn and ifrit.⁠⁠

Abilities

Anatole demonstrated several powers of a vampire, including great strength and mind control.⁠ He was also a skilled negotiator and plotter.

Nahash taught him how to gain the powers of other supernatural beings for a temporary time by distilling and consuming part of their essences. Thus his supernatural abilities varied depending on how much bodies and ashes he had access to. He had relatively plentiful access to vampire ashes, but much less of those of the jinn, werewolves, or Practitioners.

Possessions

Anatole seemed to have taken over most of Cornelius’s belongings. Most of them were kept in Christian’s house.