Saulot

Mahtiel’s earliest memories are of war: endless lines of marching legions, burning villages, reeking mass graves. The soldiers took her and thousands of her people back to Rome in chains and put them to work filling the bellies of their conquerors. The life of a field slave was hard, but the girl who would one day be Mahtiel was angry, and her anger gave her strength. One day, however, she lost control of both. A brutal overseer lay dead, and she was sentenced to die as well in the arena. It amused the master of the games to put a sword in her hand and dress her like a legendary Amazon. Of course he never expected her to survive her first bout. When she won two matches in a row, he saw a chance for further profit, and he arranged to have her trained. But a gladiator’s life expectancy was even shorter than a field slave’s, and an infected wound laid Mahtiel low. She doesn’t remember the bargain the healer made with her master, but she awoke in a moving wagon, no longer feverish. Cool, gentle fingers tended her wounds and gave her water to drink. The man introduced himself as Ezrael and told her she was free. Then he offered her even more, a cause to spend her freedom upon and an eternity to do it in. She accepted and began her true education. After a time Ezrael Embraced her; some years after, she gained her Blooding as a Salubri warrior, taking the angelic name Mahtiel. It was during her mortal training that she first met the warrior known as Rothriel, a childe of Ezrael’s. He was tall and well-favored, and moved with a cat’s grace — and unlike Master Ezrael, he laughed. She saw him again after her Embrace, and then yet again after her Blooding. Each time the mere sight of him was almost enough to start her heart beating again. As it turned out, he felt drawn to her as well. It was no coincidence that the frequency of his visits to his sire had increased after meeting her. For a little while they searched their souls as to whether Saulot’s command “not to Embrace love” applied to those already of the Blood, and eventually they concluded that it didn’t. They became lovers and gave themselves up to a mutual blood bond. For centuries after, they were inseparable, traveling and fighting together as if each of their souls was but half of a whole, now at last united. But nothing endures forever. Saulot’s death at Tremere’s fangs sent ripples of shock and dismay through his scattered childer. The warriors debated among themselves whether they should join forces in a crusade against their father’s murderers, as they’d done against the Baali ages before. In the end, the bulk of the caste determined to do nothing, as Saulot had always explicitly counseled against revenge. A small faction of warriors, however, declared they would not let Saulot’s murder go unanswered. They took the names of fallen angels and turned their back on the rest of the clan. CHAPTER THREE: MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES 77 Mahtiel’s sympathies lay with the rebels. Only her love for Rothriel restrained her from joining them, for Rothriel would have none of their crusade. But now Rothriel spoke of giving up the sword and seeking the peace of Golconda. At first she thought it idle talk, for he’d sometimes spoken this way before when he was weary, but his weariness would pass and he was content to be a warrior again. However, it soon became clear that this time, for this veteran of a millennium’s battles, it was no passing fancy. She begged him not to do it, for her sake. He tried to convince her to take the seeker’s path as well. Neither was persuaded. Angry and broken-hearted, Mahtiel stormed out of their shared haven and rode off into the night. When she returned a month later, Rothriel was gone. Mahtiel wandered in blind pain; the fact that she was not taken by the Tremere during this time was due solely to good fortune. The Usurpers now not only hunted the Salubri but also spread vile lies about them. Twice Mahtiel had to fight for her unlife after a oncehospitable domain turned on her. She gave the warlocks no quarter herself, and let no opportunity go by to kill those who destroyed her brothers. Then late one night, as she lay down to rest before the dawn, she heard Rothriel’s call. His voice thrummed in their shared blood, in their lineage, in her heart. He was calling for help. She agonized, but in the end, the desire to see him again was stronger than ever. The following evening, she saddled her horse, packed her armor and weapons, and rode off in the direction of his call. Before she even arrived she knew it was too late. She felt Rothriel’s Final Death from a hundred miles away, the blood bond violently uprooted from her soul. But onward she rode, until she arrived at Castle Hunedoara, met the Lady Danika Ruthven, and learned of Rothriel’s last nights. There were no Tremere left for her to slay, no one upon whom she could avenge her lover’s murder. Lady Danika made her welcome, but she could find no rest. She searched the castle until she found Rothriel’s ashes, gathered them up, and rode away. Getting into the Pact: Mahtiel returned to her sire’s holding, but it had become a desolate ruin. She then searched, in disguise, for three years before she found another of her caste, who had little to say to her. Of the healer caste she found no trace at all. But she did find a Greek Malkavian who helped her fend off a Tremere attack and then eagerly joined her in her quest. Twice his visions warned them of danger just in time and so, in a moment of weariness, Mahtiel let Demetrius the mystic choose their next road. Somehow she was not surprised to see the towers of Hunedoara rise up before them at that road’s end. Lady Danika welcomed them both. This time, Mahtiel was only too glad to accept sanctuary. Much to everyone’s surprise, she went along with the Pact after strong initial objections. Some suspect Nikanuuranu offered her something in exchange, but they have no idea what. Since Then: Mahtiel is the sleeper of Hunedoara. She spends almost all her time in torpor, rising only to re-affirm the Pact. While she sleeps, Demetrius, who regards her as a holy angel awaiting the end of the world, guards her; and Bufo, whose intentions are less honorable, spies on her. Mahtiel sometimes grows restless in her dreams, and her spirit walks the halls of the castle, searching for her lover until her wanderings bring her to the place where he met his Final Death. Then she falls to her ghostly knees and weeps. She may respond to other presences nearby with extreme violence, blaming them for the death of her beloved. While in this form, she can use Disciplines such as Valeren but cannot physically touch or be touched. If she senses sufficient threat, however, she may physically awaken. Demetrius tries to feed her during the year, dribbling blood into her mouth, but can’t always successfully gauge when she’s close enough to consciousness to swallow. Relations with Others: Mahtiel still values the advice of Demetrius and appreciates his solicitude, even though she realizes that it borders uncomfortably on worship. She has little use for Anastazi, however, and even less for Zamra. In truth, she has little relationship with anyone anymore, due to the amount of time she spends in torpor. Outside Influence: Mahtiel is physically bound to the castle as the others are. However, her spirit can and does go walking beyond the walls, but she won’t do so unless there is some link between herself and an outsider; she might, for instance, follow another Salubri or someone who has a fragment of her lover’s journal, or answer a spirit-summons from someone who conjures her by name. It’s possible that someone (particularly a Malkavian) who becomes familiar with Demetrius’ teachings might be affected by his use of the Tongue of Babel, and dream of her, thus providing a beacon for her wandering spirit to find. Whether the recipient of such a vision would consider it real, or another bout of extended dementia, of course, is up to the player. Distance makes no difference to her wandering spirit. If there’s a link for her to follow, she can walk down it just as though it were another castle corridor. LAIR OF THE HIDDEN 78 Mahtiel has a deep and abiding hatred for Tremere, but is respectful of the Lady Danika’s domain and will abide by her wishes (with regards to Tremere characters, for instance). The Deal: What Mahtiel asked of Nikanuuranu, and what it granted, was to have her Rothriel back again. She spends her nights dreaming of her happy times with him. By this point, every waking moment spent in the real world, where he is irrevocably dead, is an agony to her much-attenuated soul.