Themistocles

Themistocles was a scholar from Thrace in life. His father sent him to Constantinople, where his skill earned him a place at Emperor Justinian’s court. Here, he fell in with the Monophysite heresy, but was protected from persecution by the empress, herself a Monophysite. His love of learning and obvious talent attracted the attention of a Brujah making his haven in the grand city, and after a period of observation and intellectual testing, Themistocles was Embraced. For a century, Themistocles was tutored by his sire, but eventually he decided to strike out on his own, to search for knowledge and experience and to look for a way to reconcile his religious beliefs with his state as a vampire. He finally ended up in the Languedoc region of France as the Cathar heresy was at its height. Here, he made a haven and studied with Cathar scholars, eventually absorbing some of their Gnostic beliefs. When the Albigensian Crusade began in the early 13th century, Themistocles protected several Cathars and hid important works in his haven. However, with the fall of Montsegur in 1255, Themistocles withdrew from involvement in mortal society for several centuries. When he finally emerged from this self-imposed exile, Themistocles resumed his quest for knowledge, sending out his retainers to hunt down rare THE RED SIGN 102 works and sometimes traveling himself when circumstances seemed to require it. It was during these travels that he became acquainted with Ambrogino Giovanni. Although the two respected each other as scholars, there was little love lost between them.