Cecil Elliot Pierce

Cecil Elliot Pierce was born June 5th, 1908 to a wealthy family in the French Quarter of New Orleans. He was raised in the lap of luxury and fed from a silver spoon: he inherited old money from his family’s tobacco plantation, and he was able to pay for a prestigious law degree from Harvard Law School. Gifted with charm and a knack for persuasion, Cecil graduated early, and he practiced as a barred lawyer in New Orleans for many years.

Cecil lived a duplicitous, extravagant life. While he had a respectable day job, he frequented wild underground scenes under the cover of night. He had a taste for fanciful smokes, wines, and drugs. He was also serially promiscuous, with a proclivity for men—he took special care to keep this side of himself a secret. He was considered a heart-throb of a bachelor, though his unwillingness to take a wife resulted in his wealthy family slapping him with an ultimatum: either get married or get cut out of the family fortune.

Reluctantly, Cecil wed Miss Caroline Roxana Porter on April 19th, 1937, at the age of 29. The daughter of a pastor, Caroline had grown up alongside Pierce in New Orleans—she had always held out that he would love her as she did him. On February 15th, 1939, Caroline gave birth to John Cecil Pierce, a baby boy. After his marriage and parenthood, Cecil’s lifestyle grew even more decadent. Being tied to Caroline revolted him, and he came up with every excuse he could to get himself out of the house and away from his wife and child. He blew through his family’s fortune with little regard. He also became sloppier with the company he kept, and in the late summer of 1941, Caroline discovered promiscuous habits by stumbling upon him consorting with one of his young legal associates in their marital bed.

Heartbroken and classically Cathoically repulsed, Caroline demanded that he repent for his sins. She suggested that, with war hanging heavy on the horizon, he enlist to serve his country. Cecil refused (for fear of dying a meaningless death) as well as refused to divorce her (in fear of his habits being revealed to the public). Word of his adultery spread back to his parents, and he was promptly cut off from the family fortune. Caroline claimed that she had spoken to law enforcement as well, and Cecil likely would have been arrested for sodomy. Presuming that he was a dead man walking, Cecil shirked his work and family with little abandon and lived each day as if it were his last.

It was during one of these destructive bouts that Cecil met François Calvet. Calvet, a Ventrue with an exclusivity for men who weren’t in love with their wives, was a Frenchman who had been in the city since the mid-1800s and had since developed a keen eye for discovering honeypots of his chosen prey. He and Cecil met at an underground bar, and Calvet was drawn to Cecil’s drive and desperation. He was desperate for many things: for freedom, for respect, and for the power that was rightfully his. Calvet saw potential in Cecil as a childe of the Camarilla, and he Embraced him. (Despite Cecil’s situation, he was not outed to the public, and he was still, on paper, from a wealthy and respected aristocratic family. Combined with his reputation as a clever lawyer, his Embrace was not contested by the clan.)

Now fully dead, Cecil was able to dodge the responsibilities of his taxing life. In order to demonstrate the Ventrue disciplines, Calvet used Cecil’s own family as an example: he Dominated them into submission, having them transfer all of the family’s wealth to Cecil. He left Caroline widowed and with little money to support herself. He never once looked back.

Calvet raised Cecil under the strict guise of Camarilla law. Calvet was well-respected in the New Orleans domain, and people treated his childe with dignity. However, in 1992, Calvet left New Orleans for reasons unbeknownst to Cecil (he suspects he had made an adversary out of someone a bit too important to contest with) and led them west. Cecil, cursed with a weak thirst for blood, remained bound to him the entire time. The blood bond was full and deep, lasting longer than those normally shared by sire and childe: a fact that did not go unnoticed by Cecil. While he respected and cared for Calvet (due to the bond and his own fragile humanity), he started to suspect that Calvet had no interest in promoting him in any meaningful sense and was more keeping him around as a trophy.

When asked about this, Calvet would object, but he made no effort to change his behavior. However, upon being confronted, Calvet realized that he had doomed Cecil to a life of servitude in direct opposition to the freedom he had promised him all those years ago. With a heavy heart, Calvet ordered Cecil away. “Time for you to finally stand on your own two feet. You aren’t a fledgling any more. Prove you’re worth something: to me, to the Clan, and to the Camarilla.”

Cecil took this very, very badly. In his opinion, he had already proven his worth, blood bond be damned. Feeling betrayed and reeling from blond bond withdrawal, Cecil left his sire’s side. He vowed then and there that he did not need anyone’s assistance in climbing the ranks of power—he would achieve just as much influence as his sire, and he would, someday, make him know the same betrayal that he did. (Calvet still “cares” about him and occasionally leverages his power as a primogen to send him letters or retainers offering gifts or information. Cecil takes this as an insult to his integrity. Those in Clan Ventrue know of this peculiar relationship, and it’s easy to mock Cecil for.)

Cecil’s travels eventually led him to coastal California city of Las Ganas, where he is attempting to rise up the ranks of the Camarilla and secure himself a position as a respected, important member of the Domain (with the ultimate intention of achieving Princedom, though he isn’t keen on saying that). He masqueraded as a lawyer for a couple of years. Currently, though, he has a job teaching law at the Las Ganas University’s School of Law, in addition to running a law firm on the side. He’s had the position since 2008. He teaches in the evenings, and his office hours are always in the dead of night. Students failing his ridiculously difficult classes often come to his office seeking assistance. Cecil promises that there’s a way for them to pass his class—all they have to do is let him bite (which is most often disguised as sex). If they go to the dean, their entire academic career will be in jeopardy for having asked him to commit academic fraud, so he suggests they save themselves the trouble and just do what he asks.

Themes

Blood Bond. Cecil is especially weak to the blood bond. He was bound to his sire for many years, and he still finds himself craving his blood. While he has a desire to rule, he has a deeper, more despicable desire to be subservient: he feels more at-ease knowing someone has the capability of controlling him. He internally justifies this as making it easier to blame his incompetencies and short-comings on someone else, though he sometimes wonders if he is simply weak. He is cursed to be the eternal deputy and never the sheriff. He despises this about himself, and he does everything in his power to make sure this weakness is never exploited.

Addictive Tendencies. Drawing from the same needy tendencies that feeds his relationship with the blood bond, Cecil is still bound to mortal pleasures. He frequently craves tobacco and opium, and he will sometimes do stupid things in order to get his hands on it. He also enjoys sex far more than the average Ventrue should. While he claims that he enjoys sex in order to exert power and influence over others, in reality, he enjoys letting himself get lost in it. Drugs, sex, and the blood bond let Cecil escape and not think—about power, his shortcomings, or anything else. He’s a slave to escapism.

Ego. Cecil wants power and influence because he deserves it. He is smarter than everyone else, more beautiful than everyone else, and only he knows what is best for the city. While he’ll obey authority, he’ll resent his orders and bemoan that if only he was in charge, maybe this tragedy wouldn’t have happened. If only you listened to him. He is bitter when people do not listen to him, especially so when others are chosen over him. Insults to his pedigree (especially mentioning that he should have accomplished more by now considering his age), honor, or character, or comments about his insecurities, can easily push him to frenzy.

Authority. While Cecil’s duty to authority could be read as a conviction, to him, it is a weakness. Cecil very easily bends to those who have more status than he, and he vies obsessively for their approval. He craves power because of how deeply his respect for authority runs; he wants people to be as obsessed with him as he is of his superiors. He does not respect everyone—only those who society has told him to respect. Otherwise, he demands it from those he deems lower. He takes advantage of people who are forced to be subservient to him, ala his students, to exercise at least some amount of authority and control, even if a lot of it is fake.

Touchstones & Convictions

Roxanne Barlow. “Obey authority; if someone is above you, they’ve earned it.” The dean of LGU’s School of Law. Cecil has an old-fashioned, sexist mindset, and he resents the fact that Barlow is technically above him in any kind of rank. He knows that ascending to dean-dom would cause unwanted attention, so he’s stuck taking orders from someone he doesn’t want to respect. However, his inclination to respect authority triumphs his bigotry, and he will treat her with more respect than the average mortal. In addition to this, she has a striking resemblance to his mortal wife, Caroline—she even shares a similar cadence to her—which makes him even more uncomfortable. Even so, he can’t help but feel a connection to her.

Joanna Cecilia Pierce. “Don’t compromise your character for the comfort of others.” A descendant; Cecil’s great-great granddaughter (John Cecil Pierce -> Alexander Cecil Pierce -> Benjamin Cecil Pierce -> Joanna Cecilia Pierce). Cecil would rather forget his mortal life, yet he seems to be cursed to be constantly reminded of it. The Pierce family moved from New Orleans to Las Ganas just around the time he did. Joanna is a genius; she was accepted to college at only age sixteen. Now eighteen, she is almost finished with her degree in pre-law. Joanna seems the most drawn to him out of all of his descendants: she is enrolled in many of his classes, intent on becoming a civil rights lawyer. Cecil feels some residual guilt for abandoning his family, and he sees a lot of his child in her. With her ruthlessness, cleverness, and cunning, Cecil sees a lot of himself in her, and he admires her inclination for power. She is wild, heinously punk, and unapologetically trans/gay. In a way, Cecil both admires and resents that she was lucky enough to be born at a time that allowed her to be herself—or maybe that she is simply strong enough to be herself. Despite that, he thinks of her as his child. He does not want her to get hurt, and he desperately wishes she would stay away from him: he doesn’t want her getting wrapped up in any of his problems, lest it compromise her glittering resolve. He grades her less harshly in order to ensure she does not have to visit his office hours.

Christian Lee. “Don’t destroy opposition: make yourself known to it. Seek to control it… or let it control you.” A handsome, well-regarded lawyer who works at Cecil’s (mask’s) law firm. Christian commands respect and authority, and is one of the best lawyers Cecil employs—and Cecil drools over him. He keeps his distance, as he has less absolute authority over his employees than he does his students, but he still invites Christian out to dinner on occasion. For what intent, even Cecil can’t say: it might be to court him, or it might be to control him, or even be controlled. However, Christian is a clever, ambitious man, and he has a keen insight into Cecil’s otherworldly strangeness—he absolutely does not trust him, though he maintains a friendly face. Cecil views Christian as a challenge, and he refuses to use any Disciplines on him in order to gain his trust. He wants to break Christian the old-fashioned way.

Merits & Flaws

Linguistics. Cecil can speak both English and French.

Contacts. Marcus Redby. Fellow professor at LGU, Marcus is one of the few people outside of the law school who doesn’t immediately detest lawyers. Marcus is a biology/psychiatry professor, and he can be trusted to deliver some basic pharmaceuticals and narcotics to interested parties—for a price. Redby can also easily lose his job if discovered he’s offering such things, so he can be trusted to keep the secret.

Fame. Cecil is well-known on LGU campus. He has a chili-pepper ranking on Rate My Professor, and he’s also respected by the staff.

Resources. Rich.

Retainers. See “Jalen”.

Herd. Cecil has a large pool of students who he is easily able to coerce into letting him feed from them.

Influence & Mask. Cecil has influence at the Elijah Porter Law Firm, which he founded in his middle-unlife under a mask. The law firm specializes in civil court.

Haven. Cecil’s haven is an Antebellum-style house with a fair bit of land. He lives there with his ghoul.

Status. 2 dots. Cecil is respected enough by the Camarilla, and Ventrue are appreciative of his lineage.

Stunning. He’s hot. Fair, blemishless skin, well-chiseled jaw, built chest and legs. His square glasses lend him a refined air.

High-Functioning Addict. Tobacco, specifically from cigarettes. He likes drugs of all kinds, and he finds it difficult to resist the urge to partake if they’re on the table.

Disliked. Cecil is disliked by other academics outside his specific field. People don’t like lawyers very much, so normal mortals (or even Kindred) might dislike him if they realize this about him, too.

Folkloric Block, Cross. Cecil believes in God. He believes his vampirism is a curse directly from God as a punishment for all of the sins he committed in life. Even though he believes in God, he resents Him deeply, and any reminder of Christian religion causes Cecil discomfort. He is repelled by the cross. Related to this, he is a firm believer that the curse is the Mark of Caine (even though this goes against Camarilla belief), though he keeps this to himself.

Bond Junkie. See “Themes” for more about this.

Rareified Taste. The Ventrue clan bane. Cecil’s is: People who have failed an order I have given them.

The Ghoul: Jalen Romero

Cecil has always had trouble sticking with ghouls (a fact that has not gone unnoticed by others of the Camarilla): he has a very fickle heart when he is the one in power, and he finds himself growing bored and dissatisfied like an ungrateful child with too many toys. Despite that, Cecil has had his current ghoul, Jalen Romero, for five years now, having ghouled him in 2014.

Originally from Gila Bend, Arizona, Jalen is a computer science/pre-law undergraduate and acts as Cecil’s only TA. Cecil has promised to eliminate all of his student debt upon graduation, so he’s taking his sweet time investing in every single elective there is (he’s a senior, but he’s missing his humanity courses he needs to graduate). He’s adorable, and he’s often mistaken for being younger than he actually is—this is made doubly worse by the fact that he was ghouled at 19 and is now 23.

He’s also a dweeb who’s really into anime, video games, etc. He enjoys coding and game development, and his contact/buddy, Khan Laghari, is able to hook him up with the newest gaming and computer tech. Jalen is also a gun and sword buff, in a “while you were having sex I was studying the BLADE” kind of way, and he is an admirable combatant. Cecil often calls on him for extra muscle. Jalen likes to ramble about his passions, and Cecil likes to listen to him. Because of this, Cecil knows a disturbing amount about the lore of Final Fantasy XIV, of which Jalen is utterly obsessed. Cecil pays for his sub every month.

Cecil picked Jalen for his shrewd intelligence, his looks, and his talent for technology—not many compsci dual majors filter into the law program. Jalen comes from a strict, traditional (and homophobic) Mexican-Catholic family, and he appreciates Cecil granting him the opportunity to escape. He respects Cecil deeply and always tries to go the extra mile to please him, sometimes getting himself into trouble while doing so. He is head-over-heels in love with him, of which Cecil is aware and frequently manipulates. Cecil thinks of him like a pet.

Jalen is a very honest person. He will lie for Cecil and does his best to keep his double life a secret, but he can sometimes speak of “Professor Pierce” too glowingly. While people might not find it suspicious in a Masquerade-violating way, keen observers may sense that they don’t share a normal professor-TA relationship. Cecil has lawyered long enough to have a legal and ethical excuse cooked up if this ever were to become a problem, but he would strongly prefer if it didn’t. Jalen is also prone to jealousy; in particular, he loathes Christian Lee, thinking that Cecil cares for Christian more than he does him.

Cecil has hurt Jalen during compulsions before. While Cecil has apologized for this (or rather wiped his memory), he has let Jalen know that he is dissuaded by the cross, and to employ its use if he ever tries to hurt him again. Despite his belief in God waning over the years, Jalen keeps a pendant of the cross tucked beneath his shirt—just in case.

Merits & Flaws

Linguistics. Jalen can speak both English and Mexican-Spanish.

Contact. Khan Laghari. 2 dots. Can hook Jalen up with cutting-edge technology, useful for espionage or hacking missions. Cecil needs to pay for it.

Mask + Cobbler. Having run away from his family, Jalen has entirely disappeared out of their lives. His insane skill with technology allowed him to fabricate himself a fake identity (goes by Jesús del Toro). He also is able to craft fake identities and has helped Cecil to move his money around into multiple bank accounts. Has probably invested in crypto.

Blood Empathy. Jalen is fully bound to Cecil. Over time, the bond grew deeper and deeper, and he now has an innate connection to Cecil’s emotions and thoughts. Jalen views this as a curse and a blessing; he knows when Cecil is in trouble, yes, but Cecil is a cold, distant, and bitter man. He wishes Cecil felt more passionately about him. (If Cecil were to feel any strong emotion with Jalen present, Jalen would likely reveal it—he is not good at hiding emotion.) Blood Empathy also functions as a danger sense, and he’ll leap into action if he senses his regnant is in trouble.

Beautiful. He’s cute.

Stalkers. Jalen’s parents, concerned about his well-being, have invested a lot of money into private investigators to discover his whereabouts. Not wanting to alert Cecil about this, Jalen tries to take care of matters himself—but one or two have popped up on Cecil’s radar, and he’s had to send them packing.

Destitute. Jalen is dirt-poor. Cecil pays for all of his commodities. They also live together.