The Devil's Advocate

Ansen was born a low but very promising noble in England. His father, one of the knights who accompanied William the Conqueror, owned land, possessed a title and gave his son all that he could. Of course, this meant that Ansen, who had just turned 20, was sent in his aging father’s stead when the pope called the First Crusade. He didn’t believe in the cause, preferring his relatively easy life in England, but he could not disobey the call. The Crusade awakened in him something that neither he nor the Church that sent him expected: a true thirst for violence and plunder, and a penchant for sadism. His noble life had shielded him from such things, and his first taste of them in the Holy Land proved far too seductive. He took full advantage of the blanket remission of sins for Crusaders, and killed, plundered and raped with a viciousness that defied his normally calm and uncaring visage. During the siege and conquering of Jerusalem (for more information on the conquest of Jerusalem, see The Book of Storyteller’s Secrets), his bloodthirsty actions caught the eye of a Baali who was helping to orchestrate the chaos. The Baali’s group of infernalists was attempting to unleash a demon with help from the heightened emotional craze of the Crusaders, but Ansen’s actions seemed unforced, CHRONICKS Ill 80 almost as if he were willing. They quickly subdued and Embraced Ansen into the sect. He awakened to his new state with a mix of terror and fascination. Vampirism was beyond his realm of belief, and the demonic acts of the Baali even further. However, the sect of infernalists had chosen their childe well. Ansen quickly saw the power that the perversions led to, and accepted it completely. His sanity quickly began to suffer. His sadism waxed, and he reveled in the blatancy of the Baali. He also began obsessing over secrets, the unknown names in the world that hid the truth from even him. He was a vampire, with the powers of demons behind him, and yet he knew little more about the world than what he had when he was mortal. Ansen has fashioned a decent cover as a merchant and diplomat over the centuries, offering his services to many mortals (and sometimes Kindred) in Europe. He has gained a considerable ability to plumb others’ hidden thoughts and desires through his Thaumaturgical studies. Ansen uses this knowledge to indebt and bind others. When he knows exactly what someone wants or holds secret, little is outside his grasp.