Dirk Harrison

Clan Ventrue
Arm of Autonomy
Sheriff of Centropolis

Description


~With strength and pride, Dirk redefines forgotten virtues of honor and justice. A slight pallor lightens the forceful and athletic physique of the Caucasian man who seems to push his late 20s or early 30s. His dark-brown hair is kept slicked and out of his good-looking features. Dirk looks sharp in a suit of gray and black pinstripes, courtesy of Zegna, Armani, or Canali. The man rarely wears sunglasses, preferring to keep the steady blaze of his rich, brown eyes evident. Moral ambiguity quails at his feet. Trifles brush past his cool features, rarely disturbing his repose. Whatever doesn't bend in the wind won't always break where it stands. Sometimes it can stand tall forever. Somebody has to.~

OOC: Appearance 3; Clan Prestige 1; Clan Enmity (Brujah), Mistaken Identity (Julian Cavenaugh)



"You will follow the law or be put down like the mad dog you are."

History


Life

The 1950s marked an era of some prosperity for Americans. Organized crime saw an increase in its profits, too. While the Chicago Mafia licked its wounds, the New York mob tightened its iron grip. John Harrison, Dirk's father, was a detective on the organized crime task force. Incorruptible and steadfast, his tenacity eventually killed the man. Fortunately for Dirk and his younger brother, Eric, they were almost grown up when that terrible news came to their family. Dirk and Eric were convinced even before their father died that they, too, would be cops. In high school, Dirk studied hard, though always left time for family, friends, and his girlfriend (with whom he went out with steady throughout school).

So after high school, the two went off to police academy. Dirk led his brother by a year, so the older sibling was entering advanced training when the younger was just joining. Dirk specialized in SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), in fact. His little brother longed to be a detective like their father. Dirk ended up in New York City like his father, however, while Eric had no choice but to accept the state's assignment of Buffalo.

Dirk's life as a law enforcer included constant training. Unlike other sections of the police, SWAT were reserved for the emergencies that demanded their skills. And such emergencies weren't common. Dirk spent most of his time training in new weapons and broadening athletic and combat tactics and skills. He found some of the Bruce Lee-like crap that filtered into training amusing. But some of it was also quite helpful. Dirk was also mindful of the danger of complacency. With so little crime to bust as a SWAT officer, Dirk knew he had to keep his mind sharp. He tested himself with plenty of studies and reading.

But Dirk saw plenty of action in those ten years of service, from 1970 until 1980. Drug dealers were trying to consolidate and compete with "old banner" organized crime that preferred gambling, money laundering, and other "soft" crimes. More than once, Dirk's team was called in to storm ramshackle buildings drug dealing organizations were trying to operate out of. The firefights in those buildings were deadly. Kevlar wasn't optional and automatic weapons were a must. Dirk saw the lives of a few of his comrades snuffed out over the years. And he took a fair of number of lives himself. Always in the name of duty, he still couldn't help but begin to feel the horror at how much blood was on his hands. Dirk pondered a transfer of duty to a different part of the force -- a desk job, even.

But events beyond his control interceded. His team, of which he was now in charge, was sent to surround a group of satanic cultists holed up in a church in Harlem. They swore they had kidnapped infants and would sacrifice them if the police charged in. So it was up to the SWAT team to ascertain and exfiltrate the situation. With sophisticated equipment and bold sneaking, Dirk and his team learned that the cultists weren't holding any babies. The SWAT team charged in, calling the cultists' bluffs. And after a brief firefight, Dirk learned that they were both right and wrong. There weren't any babies, because the infants had already been murdered, little bodies drained of blood, and stacked neatly like sacs in bible banks. Horrified, many of Dirk's team had to get therapy after that. Dirk himself felt shattered and was considering quitting the force altogether.

Embrace & Siring

The Kindred were aware of the dangers that this experience would have on Dirk's SWAT team. One Ventrue, Chad Vanderhoff, visited with the team under the guise of a psychoanalyst. He spoke intimately with each of the officers. They all left the evaluation room so very relieved, the burden of what they had seen lifted from their shoulders. It wasn't that the Kindred cared about their psychological states as they cared about the Masquerade. Thus, Dirk was a special case. Stronger-willed and better experienced than his teammates, and also discovered to be in doubt of continued service to the NYPD, Chad realized that Dirk could make a valuable member to the Clan. So Dirk was scheduled to see "Doctor" Vanderhoff again later. Chad meanwhile showed Dirk's records to the Prince, Michaela, who agreed that Dirk would make an excellent addition to the Clan. Chad was allowed to Embrace the man.

So in their next meeting, the psychoanalysis was dropped. Chad dropped the truth of the "conspiracy" on Dirk -- the babies were drained of blood not for some satanic ritual but to feed the hunger of vampires. Dirk wasn't sure who was crazier at that point -- the cultists or this so-called shrink. But to prove his point, Chad sprouted fangs. Dirk almost freaked out, but he was too hardened with his combat experiences to do more than shoot to his feet. Chad followed and lisped out the realities of the Kindred and how he knew Dirk was disillusioned with his life. He offered Dirk a new life, a chance to rekindle his passion for justice and law in the service of the Kindred. Dirk pondered for a long time, mentally debating the pro's and con's in Chad's office.

Finally, however, Dirk agreed. And he was Embraced. He took a few weeks to grow truly accustomed to immortal death. He discovered that his taste for blood was restricted to attractive blonde women; he attributed that to memories of his high school sweetheart. Within a few months after his tutelage in the Kindred ways, he was ready to be put to the test. Combining his SWAT skills with his vampiric powers, Dirk felt ready for anything. Teamed up with a couple dozen other Ventrue, all part of Prince Michaela's huge brood, they went into the Bronx. There they ambushed the enemy -- the Sabbat, who were psychotic blood-letters like the cultists in that Harlem church -- as they tried to increase their numbers in a cemetery. Dirk confronted strange, freakish powers of twisted flesh and shadow-puppets with shotgun and pistol. The stalwart Ventrue drove their enemies back, slaying many, before withdrawing from that hostile territory back to Manhattan.

Early Years

And while Dirk proved himself there, he faced many more battles of this Jyhad in the years to come. Through two long decades, Dirk fought the Mafia-like Giovanni in Little Italy, the vice-hungry Followers of Set in Harlem, the rampant Anarchs on Coney Island, and the vicious Sabbat everywhere else in the Big Apple. Dirk honed his combat skills at least once a week in that tireless Jyhad. He enforced the law of the Camarilla, eager to see peace, but tired of the selfish bullshit those other fringe sects espoused.

For example, Dirk killed many Sabbat vampires who were forcibly Embraced against their will, brainwashed into vicious shock troop puppets, and thrown at he and his comrades with no sense of tactics or skill. They were cut down with ease, but the waste of life sickened the gunman. And then the Prince's noble attempts to win the Anarchs back to the folds of the Camarilla were rejected cruelly. Never had he or his comrades at their Prince's behest attacked the Anarchs. Coney Island was beyond their territory, and they had to contend with Sabbat recruiters.

Yet when the Camarilla dared to request the Anarchs' aid against the Sabbat, the Anarchs not only refused, but sent the Prince back the diplomat's head on a platter. The diplomat was none other than Chad -- Dirk's sire. Outraged, Dirk led the vindictive expedition to Coney Island. And many Anarchs were blasted back to hell for their folly. Many of them were Brujah; Dirk became a small legend of infamy passed around through their Rants and Raves. But he didn't care. They brought it on themselves.

They always did. Dirk was not a murderer or savage. He was an officer of the law, Kindred law, revitalized to the hunt with the Embrace. Though his sire was dead, he was still a part of Prince Michaela's large brood. Due to its large numbers, he was forbidden to ever Embrace anyone. But he didn't want to Embrace anyone anyway. A ghoul, however, would be nice, especially to help him satisfy his selective appetite. So he scoured the part of humanity he understood best -- the police force. There he discovered Samantha Cohen, a young officer disillusioned with the "glass ceiling" that would forever prevent her from becoming SWAT. He lured her into the world of the Kindred much the same way Chad convinced him. From there, their partnership further served the Camarilla in New York City quite excellently.

Recent Years

For several more years, Dirk fought and dwelled in the City That Never Sleeps. He did his Prince honor and helped bring many victories. He suffered losses when his brethren did, of course, but he never flagged. He was always there to help carry the fight on. Unfortunately, as the Jyhad died down just a bit in the city, the Prince decided she needed to cut down on her brood's size. The lowest generation was ten steps removed from the Progenitor -- like Dirk. So the Prince decided to parcel out these thinner-blooded enforcers to other cities and Princes in need of good fighters. Dirk found his service transferred to Centropolis near Kansas City, to Prince Kokotni Mukte'wak, as the Sabbat rose up there in force. While he could have declined Michaela's request, he knew it was better in his interest. Perhaps, he thought, if he served well and long enough, he might attract the attention of a leading member of the Camarilla -- like a Justicar -- and become an Archon. Or perhaps one day, become a Justicar himself.

With Samantha helping in all the many ways a loyal servant can, Dirk accepted the transfer and moved across the country to Centropolis. For now, he would have to be content with duties as a Deputy of the Prince and the Traditions of the Camarilla. But always he would never relent in his pursuit of the selfish purveyors of wickedness and cruelty, like the Sabbat. They would obey the laws of the Kindred that protected them from the dangers of the Inquisition and human governments, or they would suffer the wrath of the just.



Lineage


Dirk Harrison, childe of

Chad Vanderhoff, childe of

Elio Vincini, childe of

Michaela, childe of

Gethel, childe of

Isak, childe of

Mithras, childe of

our Sire, Ventru, childe of

Irad, son of

our Father, Caine.

Significant Other


Dirk ghouled Samantha Cohen years ago. She fulfills all his needs perfectly; he couldn’t find a better servant. Sammy is devoted, skilled, and blonde -- just what this Ventrue soldier needs! Of course she “loves” him -- that’s what the Blood Bond tends to do. But Dirk admits feelings for her, too. They just haven’t matured beyond “I need you”. Time will tell, and they seem to have been given a lot of that!

Sammy

Weakness
Law Dog


Dirk doesn't negotiate. Dirk doesn't capitulate. Dirk doesn't compromise. There are a lot of things Dirk doesn't do. Ever. Sometimes the way to justice, harmony, and peace is outside the law. But he refuses to see that.

Likelihood of Corruption


Average.

Dirk stays close to his human origins and his humanity. By adhering to the Camarilla law to the letter, he can often avoid conscience-pricking situations that might drag his soul down into corruption and Wassail. But if the laws ever provoke such situations, he has no choice but to accept it all, whatever the cost.



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Rest in peace, Mark Frankel.