The Sheriff

As a loyal subject of the British Empire during his mortal life, Qadir was raised in Lucknow, India in a servant family that dwelt in relative comfort. The British Ventrue and Toreador had strong interests in the empire, and more than a few of their emissaries Embraced locals to better serve the colonial efforts. Qadir’s family served a lord with contacts to these Kindred, and the boy soon found a nighttime mentor in one of the local Toreador. Qadir served this Toreador and others in the province as a ghoul for decades before finally “earning” the Embrace after a successful diplomacy effort with nearby rebels. Not long after his Embrace, however, the Sepoy Rebellion began, and Qadir was put in a position where he had to fight his own people. Although the decision caused turmoil within him, the artificial sense of duty instilled by his Kindred nature won out over his ethnic heritage. Hindu, Brujah, mortal, Kindred none of these considerations mattered in light of the supremacy he had been intended to enforce. After the rebellion died down, Qadir’s sire granted him his freedom, encouraging him to travel to the home of the empire and giving him a letter of recommendation to Prince Mithras there. Unfortunately, Qadir found London not to his tastes and decided to leave after only a decade there. He didn’t want to return to India, however, as he had become aware of a painful sense of regret that holding down the rebellion had instilled in him. It wasn’t so much that he sympathized with the rebels quite plainly, he didn’t but the fact that it had to come to bloodshed caused him grief that he was only now able to acknowledge. Before leaving London, he met with the Brujah Justicar Don &KO. Cerro explained that he bore Qadir no ill will over the rebellion, that it didn’t matter that there was Brujah support behind the rebels. The problem was the rebellion itself, and that was what Qadir had acted against. This conversation proved quite insightful to Qadir, who realized the same things about the issues that had been bothering him. That it was fellow Indians wasn’t the key to the situation after all, who else would have been there to rebel in Lucknow? Realizing this, he thanked Don Cerro, serving briefly as an archon to him before emigrating to the New World to “start anew.” Since that conversation, Qadir has been a paragon of duty. Recognizing this, the Camarilla hasn’t hesitated to saddle him with distasteful duties in return for granting him status and title. These aren’t degrading so much as they are ethically problematic, involving “silencing” troublesome Kindred, warring with the Sabbat, and serving as scourge and sheriff on more than one occasion. When he heard about the war effort coming to New York, he volunteered, hoping to use it as one last tour of duty for the Camarilla before retiring his titles and establishing his own permanent domain. His humnitas had eroded over ALL THE BEALIIIFUL I1 his years of service to the sect, and he wanted to finally procure some time for himself. As the Battle of New York wound down, however, Qadir was once again approached by Camarilla luminaries, this time to help them keep the social order until the city had settled itself. Reluctantly, Qadir contacted Calebros to agree to the deal. He was as shocked as anyone else when he heard of Calebros’ decision to step down from the princedom. In his mind, this was a prime example of what separated committed Kindred like him from those of weaker caliber. While he doesn’t begrudge Calebros his decision, he thinks the Nosferatu walked away from his duties too early. If he had groomed a successor, the city wouldn’t be in the tumultuous state it’s in right now. By way of satisfying his duty, however, Qadir continues to uphold the responsibilities ofhis sheriff’s commission. He watches nightly as what was left of compassion and the Man slowly crumbles away, leaving only the Beast. It was his private, desperate hope that something would allow him to salvage what remained of himself before his successor would have to hunt him down. That opportunity came to him when one of the war heroes, Don Cerro’s own progeny The0 Bell, suggested that he turn his experienced attentions over to the prince’s domain. It would enable him to still uphold the Camarilla but take him away from the dehumanizing aspects of being asheriff. While Bell’s enthusiasm for Qadir as prince has cooled a bit of late, it’s a decision that Qadir has made for himself. If he fails to become prince, even that is no matter, as he could simply resign as sheriff and retire, as originally planned, to his own private domain. Or can he?

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