Maris Streck

As the child of a merchant family fallen on difficult times, Maris grew up in hardship and poverty. Once she entered her teens, she developed a taste for burglary and managed to attain quite an impressive skill at invading others’ homes. She likewise developed a keen sense for finding hidden valuables. Her career might have continued indefinitely had she not been caught in one Lutz von Hohenzollern’s home in the dead of night. He was reputed to be very eccentric, as he kept lamps burning late into the night, and only his servants would come out by day. None in Hohenzollern had ever seen him. This ignited her curiosity. Lutz detected Maris as she stealthily entered his manor through a side door. He chose to stalk her rather than eject her. He inflicted visions upon her and enhanced her paranoia to a fever pitch. At the moment she finally broke, he gave her the Embrace and locked her away while she suffered the ravages of the change and dying. Malkav’s blood taught Maris a very important lesson: Crime demands justice, and the strong must enforce it over the weak of heart. She understood that she had committed wrongs against destiny when she committed the sin of stealing, and that this living death was her punishment. Maris learned everything Lutz had to teach her about the Curse, her new power and the madness suffusing her blood. She was uncertain whether Lutz should suffer for killing her, or if he had only acted as an instrument of fate. This dilemma tormented her for decades. His choice of entertainment only complicated the matter, as he would select mortals from influential families, or even the childer of other Kindred, and force them to act out twisted passion plays of his own devising. These events invariably ended with the death or torture of at least some of the participants. Maris might have tried to stop this activity had Lutz not convinced her that his victims deserved the punishments to which he subjected them. Maris would only drink the blood of criminals or the insane, never that of the innocent. An avenging angel, she felt, even a fallen one, should never strike the pure of heart. She learned how to use her undead proclivities to find those truly deserving of damnation and send them screaming into their own personal hells. The murderer might relive his crime from the vantage of his victims over and over again, or the liar might be compelled to admit the truth to individuals she had wronged — or Maris might simply kill them. Ultimately, Maris came to see Lutz for the unjust monster he was, that the torment he inflicted on others was purely CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT 44 for his own amusement. She decided to inform the families of his latest round of victims and allow them to decide his punishment. She left his manor but stayed in Hohenzollern long enough to see what the townspeople decided to do about his crimes. Some of the bereaved needed a little extra incentive to convince them — modified memories here, a little insanity there, and they were ready to accept Lutz’s responsibility for the disappearances. She left for Munich the night after he was dragged from his manor into the daylight. Maris served the Prince of Munich for a time as an investigator before moving on. She learned everything she could about each vampire she found and kept notes in her own personal shorthand for later use. None were safe from temptation, she decided; all Kindred eventually fell to damnation. Then, and only then, would she bring justice to them. Even so, she served the prince well and aided him many times. By the mid-20th century, she was known across Europe for her competence. Maris worked freelance for any prince who could meet her price. For one, she might work simply for access to a herd. From another, she might request some of his holdings. She developed an extensive network of contacts and a support base through which to manage them across Europe and parts of America. By means of mortal resources as well as boons accumulated from a hundred years of work for various princes, she developed a superior intelligence network. Her primary contacts came to include high-ranking members of national and international police agencies. Among the Kindred, she maintained lines of communication to (and a sympathetic ear for) neonates and ancillae, if only for the information they could provide. Maris was affected little by the wave of madness that swept across the Camarilla Malkavians in 1997. However, she developed an ambition and sense of purpose that required she go to the very top of Camarilla society. When the 1998 conclave approached, Maris called in boons from several of her most influential clients: Francois Villon, Toreador Prince of Paris, Queen Anne of London and others supported her nomination as justicar for the Malkavian clan. The Inner Circle confirmed her nomination and selected her to serve — her influence within the European community, her reputation as a thorough investigator and her determination to seek justice served her well. Maris selected most of her archons from those ancillae she’d courted as informants. Only one thing disturbs Maris: When the Inner Circle called her in, she saw that Lutz represented the Malkavian Clan. When she looked again, another’s face was there, but she is uncertain....