“Words like ‘steal’ and ‘thief’ are so limiting… I acquire the forbidden.” — Spoilers for Past Due follow.
A powerful family of Practitioners. They first appeared in Personal Demons.
History[]
A family of Practitioners which rose circa 1,300 BC in the eastern Mediterranean. They were behind what were later called the Sea Peoples, and raided and looted cities and settlements across the eastern Mediterranean. They allied themselves with werewolves and vampires already at that time.[1]
Their youngest daughter was largely kept isolated, but also able to see angels. Curious and looking for a friend, she summoned and bound her guardian angel Joel. They were discovered by the rest of the family, and they made him into a captive. Under the advice of the angel, she escaped to Egypt, where she helped the pharaohs to fight back against them.[2]
Through study, experimentation, and torture of Joel the Family acquired knowledge that allowed them to span millennia through tracking their reincarnations and forcefully reawaken their original personas, while still keeping the memories of the both new and old lives.[3][4] They also found ways to ward against and injure angels.
Throughout their active time they have had a long-term goal to find and claim Onyx.[1]
Not too long ago, the Family recruited Rico’s team, after they had been quietly expelled from the US Army. The Family used them to hunt for magical artifacts, including a set of old bones in Iraq, belonging to the long lost family patriarch.[5][3]
In March they invited many of their allies and contacts in the Shadows to Vancouver for a party, to discuss how to best take control over and limit human civilization.[6] Zafirah learned of this, and together with the Crew she infiltrated the party and managed to steal important knowledge of the Family’s unique magics.
The Family attempted to leave Vancouver on the Silver Delta, but were intercepted by the Crew, leading to the Battle of the Silver Delta. Most known remaining members of the Family perished in the battle.
Resources[]
They held great resources, both magical and mundane, and employed werewolves and vampires as muscle.[7] Among their resources were two megayachts—the Silver Delta in the Pacific and one in the Mediterranean[8]—and a team of special operations mercenaries commanded by Rico. They had also infiltrated the US military, and could draw on their logistical resources.[9]
They owned a mansion in Vancouver, where they kept Joel captive. The mansion was also the chosen site the for the Family party in March.
Among their allies and contacts in the Shadows were Lord Mayor Wentworth, Lady Anastacia, Lady Matthias and likely several members of the Brotherhood of Apollo.[10]
Members[]
- Gerhardt Stein (father)
- Teheret (mother)
- Kashvi (originally Pelest)
- Ming (Second World War, may be reincarnated)
- Malike
- Helen Robinson
- Michiko (originally Tamar)
- Abdel
- Roman (originally Shalhon)
- Jasper
- Onyx (estranged)