Zachariah Thaddeus Bane
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Title: Alder of the First Estate and Seneschal of Durham
Clan: Ventrue
Covenant Invictus

Description

Zachariah was a tall imposing kindred with a commanding presence, he dressed exclusively in black suits and his long hair and beard were cut in an outdated style.
Bane was soft yet powerfully spoken seldom raising his voice and despite living in England since the Victorian era he retained his deep southern American drawl till his final death in Middlesbrough.

Ties of Belief: Information known to the Invictus

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Alder Zachariah Thaddeus Bane joined the covenant in the late 1860s shortly after arriving in England. He started out as an enforcer and messenger but with hard work and ruthless opportunism he worked his way slowly through the ranks until he became a respected member in his own right and a powerful force in his home domain.
Bane sired a childe around 1930 by the name of Alistair Holden and after a suitable period of education he entrusted his financial empire to while he entered torpor, however due to a string of unwise investments the childe lost much of his sires wealth and fled the domain in shame after blackening his sires name near irreparably.
After coming to the North East Bane became a strong figure among the Invictus of the region.

  • He backed Gabriella Ito against the traitor Karl Braun in direct opposition to a member of the thorned wreath.
  • When Ito was deposed Bane openly protested her removal from power and has since been seeking the missing Prince.
  • He turned Durham into an Invictus friendly city and was effectively in charge of the day to day running of the court.
  • Bane attempted to bring Morrigan Hutter to the first Estate but suggested that the Invictus wait until she proved herself an able Prince before they inducted her.
  • The Carthian Movement attempted to implicate Alder Bane in Morrigan Hutters death but he proved his innocence and turned their scheme against them.
  • Bane was murdered by Granite probably under orders from Edith Fitzroy after he breached the laws of her domain.

Ties of Blood: Information known to the Ventrue Clan

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Zachariah Thaddeus Bane was an American born Kindred who arrived in the UK during the aftermath of the war of independence, he had little knowledge of his sire beyond his name and he remained unaware of the greater lineage of his blood.
Despite his unknown pedigree he was well known as a courteous and honorable lord with impeccable manners and a master swordsman of some note.

Bane sired one childe a former businessman by the name of Alistair Holden but after some form of personal betrayal Bane disowned his childe and publicly announced his desire to take back the gift of immortality that was given.

History

Zachariah Thaddeus Baines was born in 1838 on his families palatial estates in Texas. His grandfather had been a younger son to a minor English family who had taken a merchant’s daughter to wife and purchased land and titles in the Americas.
Times had been hard at first but with time the lands his family had carved out of the wilderness had become prosperous and young Zachariah was the first of the second generation born in the Americas.
He had a good childhood though his mother took sick and died of a flux not long past his third year and his care was taken up by a maid till his father took another wife.
Zachariah was taught his letters and figuring by the local priest who also saw to the boy’s spiritual education teaching him the good word of the lord.
For all else young Zachariah was tutored by his father who taught him to ride, hunt and shoot along with the rudiments of swordplay and more importantly the manners required of a young gentleman.
When the young lad turned twelve his father hired a grizzled old captain to teach him tactics both mounted and on foot and by the time Zachariah was ready for the academy his father considered him well on the way towards manhood.

The Academy was a place where young boys were turned into gentlemen and taught the arts of warfare so that they might serve the crown with distinction should the need arise.
At the time England and France had none too cordial relations and though there was talk of seceding from the British empire such talk had been heard before and little heed was taken of it.
Zachariah left the academy with the rank of lieutenant and though talk of war with both France and England was rife he hoped nothing more than to finish his time in service take a wife and settle down.

The American Civil war is a much spoken of era of history and Zachariah was not a great player in the events of the day, through skill at arms and no little amount of luck he survived as many of those around him fell in battle. English troops arrived to support those loyal to the crown but the French kept most of the English forces bottled up in Europe and without aid the Unionists were slowly ground down.
When Zachariah received word that his family estates had been raided and his family slain he almost lost his mind to grief and rage, that summer he earned the nickname Captain Bane for he was like a plague upon the enemy.
Zachariah remembers little of his embrace, his Regiment had been reduced to a handful of desperate men and they were low on food and ammunition cut off from the supply lines and the chain of command.
They staged a daring raid on a Union supply caravan killing the guards and making off with all the supplies they could carry, the attack was completely unexpected but fate and a stray bullet were not kind to Zachariah that day.
He recalls waking in a shallow ditch amid the piled bodies of the dead covered in filth and gore, slowly he crawled his way free of the mass grave but gave into exhaustion soon after.
The burning taste of vitae flooding his mouth returned him from deaths cold embrace, a shadowy figure sat cradling his head in his lap a bloody wrist pressed against his lips feeding the blood of life into him.
After the act was done the stranger introduced himself as Abraham, he wore the tattered uniform of a Union Army Colonel and claimed that he had watched the battle and brought Zachariah back to perform for him a service.
His sire stayed only a few nights with his young protégé, time enough to explain some of what his childe had become and instruct him on those things he thought it best he learn before departing.
Abraham was a member of the Ventrue Clan and belonged to the Invictus, he urgently needed to send a message back to England but could not dare the passage himself.
At the end of their time together Abraham whispered the coded message into his ear and extracted several dire oaths to ensure that Zachariah would keep his word.

Using what little resources he had left (for his paper money was now virtually worthless) he placed himself on a steamship headed towards Europe. Many noble families were attempting to flee the Americas as the war ground towards its now inevitable conclusion and with careful application of his clan’s gifts he was able to make the trip in relative safety.

After delivering his message Zachariah soon discovered that noble or not those without income were quick reduced to little more than gentrified beggars whether kindred or kine and he was in need of a way to support himself.
He started as little more than a messenger and enforcer to his betters but by hard work and brutal efficiency he rose among the ranks of the Invictus until he was a respected Alder in his own right.

In 1930 Zachariah began preparations to withdraw into torpor to weaken his by siring his first childe a quite brilliant businessman by the name of Alistair Holden. After almost thirty years of careful education he felt safe enough to trust his childe to look after his investments while he slumbered.
He expected to sleep away a century in blissful oblivion with only the care of a single dedicated ghoul but he was awoken by his ghoul after only fifty years to find his empire in ruins and his errant childe fled with the remnants of his fortune.
Apparently the young fool had invested on one bad scheme after another before simply up and running away from his responsibilities having borrowed heavily from anyone who would loan him money or resources most of which on the good name of his sire.
Thankfully Zachariah had planned for an emergency and placed a few long term investments that his childe had not been given access to so he was not quite destitute but his place in the city had been taken and the usurpers were holding all the cards.
So he took to the road heading northwards in pursuit of his wayward childe, to find new opportunities in other cities and perhaps some well-earned revenge.

Banes days in the North East

Bane arrived first in Newcastle where he made himself indispensible to the then Prince Boss Ito but when Prince Cassa of Durham offered him a position as her seneschal Bane moved cities to take up the position of authority.
Over the many months that followed Bane kept the city running even as members of the court thinned out, he worked ceaselessly to promote the aims of the Invictus in the north east and was repeatedly blamed for various calamities which he denied heatedly.
Bane took a succession of the Princes of Middlesbrough under his wing but these alliances never lasted long. Prince Morrigan was the first an unaligned Prince who Bane attempted to bring to the first estate – she entered a rage in Newcastle and attacked Prince Luther who sentenced her to a cement prison but later had her destroyed when her assault upon his person was attributed to a demon possessing her.
Bane was publicly blamed for the death of Prince Morrigan by the Carthian Movement and he was forced to prove his innocence in influencing her to attack Luther.
Prince Clarisse was already a member of the Invictus although a timid ruler by Banes own admission. He took the new Prince under his wing and declared himself her mentor among the first estate although he publicly disagreed with her decisions many times before her eventual demise in a praxis seizure by Prince Edith Fitzroy.

Banes Death

Sonniku of the Carthian movement had long been an opponent of Zachariah’s, after yet another incident when Sonniku was implicated in attacking the Invictus Bane was among those who pushed for a formal trial.
Prince Edith refused to listen to heresay or any crimes he had commited outside her own city and commanded that the prosecution find the young kindred guilty of breaching the traditions or her own laws.
When the trial was held Bane brought up Sonniku’s heritage claiming that the young kindred was in breach of the second tradition as by his own admission he was sired illegally and his sire executed for the crime before he himself fled from justice.
When Sonniku refused to kneel for punishment and attempted to flee Bane drew a concealed blade hidden inside his cane and attacked shouting ‘Protect the Prince!’ this was in breach of the laws of Elysium and he was attacked by the Princes bodyguards who attempted to restrain him.
Bane frenzied but was wrestled to the floor, it was then that one of the Princes bodyguards pushed him into final death.
Since the incident some have claimed that Bane was murdered while others say that he was killed accidentally or justly punished for breaching the law.

Allies & Enemies

James Craine
Zachariah seemed to be quite close to this pale eyed Nosferatu and his sister Anne.

Gabriella Ito
Bane always seemed to get on well with the former Prince Ito and publicly made it plain that he still considered her removal from power a mistake.

Prince Cassa Dar
Bane was the right hand man of this sanctified Bishop, he oversaw the running of the domain as her seneschal while she devoted her time to things of great importance.

Luther Ulyanov
Zachariah seemed to do a lot of business dealings with this disfigured kindred, he was not happy that Luther was named Commisar of the North East but ever prudent Bane was content to work with him.

Clarisse
Bane was often seen talking to the former Prince of Middlesbrough, he took her death at the hands of her court very hard and was probably still plotting some elaborate revenge when he died.

Quotes & Obituries

  • It is the duty of all right thinking members of the first estate to care for the support and welbeing of the second, one should always be ready to be charitable to those in service to god. - Zachariah to Bishop Karl Braun.
  • ‘So a few people were hurt you cant make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, put it down to unexpected collateral damage and try not to be so careless next time.’
  • 'We could discuss philosophy for a thousand years and still never see eye to eye, instead why do we not focus on what is urgent now.' - Bane to Bishop Karl Braun and then Prince Cassandra Brigid.
  • 'Breaches of the Masquerade will inevitably occur, should we risk the existence of all kindred and the lives of thousands of mortals who would be caught in the ensuing bloodbath just to let a few innocents who has seen too much live? Is it not for the greater good of humanity to cull such unfortunates rather than spare them and risk further death from our inaction.' - Speaking on the harm that can come from charity.
  • 'Tonight was never an attempt to take away his graces authority this has all been a great misunderstanding and I am sickened and appauled by the violence that this has caused' - Bane speaking out about his botched praxis seizure.
  • 'If you ever touch me again without my permission Sir you will spend the rest of your existence believing yourself to be a sweet little pigtailed girl named Tiffany' - Bane 'discussing' proper conduct with Sonnuku.
  • 'While I agree maam that this filth is worthy of death I fail to see why we should grant him a quick release, give him to me and in a few months when he has told us every scrap of information in his head then I will have him beg for the mercy of your sword.' Zachariah to Prince Ito on the subject of Karl Braun's execution.
  • 'If you must hunt a rabid bear is it wiser to chase it blindly into the night or enter its den and stab it through the heart in its sleep?' A conversation with Prince Morrigan on hunting the Society of Leopold.
  • 'An honorable bastard and a competant bastard, but a bastard nonetheless. He has certainly come to define his Covenant in the North East.' - Alexander Gideon's opinions on Bane.
  • Protect the Prince!!! - Banes last words.

Rumours Myths & Outright Lies

  • Bane's Secretary Elijah was little more then a marionette to his masters whims.
  • I hear Bane woke up every night looking like Grizzly Adams and had to spend hours getting groomed.
  • Bane was once seen talking to Ian Druss and the hound of Durham seemed shaken and confused.
  • He came up North looking for something… or someone.
  • Bane tried to sieze praxis in Durham but the Bishop made him back off.
  • Bane commanded peace when the Baron overthrew Cassandra in Middlesbrough.
  • When Karl tried to flee his accusers in Newcastle Bane repeatedly hit him in the head with shots from his vintage pistol.
  • He once dominated Morrigan Hutter into running for her life.
  • Bane was believed to be a member of Mensa. Others say he used that as a line to pick up women who like intelligent men.
  • Bane hated Prince Morrigan and wanted to overthrow her as an embaressment to the north east
  • Bane had sworn vengeance on those responsible for the death of Prince Clarisse

Soundtrack

Sympathy For The Devil

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