Ralph Nolan

Pander
Scout of the Black Sword

Description


~Ralph comes off as a 1940s era gangster with sharp black zoot suits and slicked-back raven hair. The quiet veneer of his good-looking if pale-faced expression and tight-lipped, smug smile hides the man’s explosive tendencies. Fortunately, Ralph’s glittering, curious gaze counter-balances that negative trait. He is not a physically large gentleman yet imposes on situations with his willful, particular personality. With driven pride and focused malice, Ralph Nolan makes the scene with just a notion that he doesn't quite belong.~

OOC: Appearance 3; Clan Prestige 1

"Why don't you shut your mouth and let mom and pop talk a minute, eh?"

History


Oliver

Ralph Nolan missed out on the Great War. He was born right before America got involved in 1917. However, as a result he never got to meet his father, who fought and died in the Somme Offensive. His mother couldn't raise the boy alone, and he was given up to Saint Louis orphanage. There in the "Gateway to the West", Ralph worked hard at the chores the matrons gave he and the other boys. He was a natural leader among the other youths, and became a little gang of renegade anarchists, for their time. The antics and mischief they got up to then were quite tame compared to things rugrats get away with nowadays.

He received schooling in the orphanage, of course. At least it was enough to be considered official by the government. Hey, he could read and write. That was good enough. Combined with his physical endowments, Ralph seemed like a good addition to the U.S. Army in 1935. He felt it was the right place to be for him and planned to make a career out of it. He re-enlisted again and again, even as the world teetered closer to another Great War. It was only right, he felt. He knew his father died in France. He might as well go to Europe, too.

Pack Your Heater

Ralph got his wish in '44. He followed Rangers and Marines and paratroopers into France through Normandy. At the rank of E-5 (sergeant), he had the men's respect and the officers' trust. He didn't violate that trust either. Unfortunately, Ralph also had a temper, and between campaigns he didn't have Nazis to take it out on. Instead, he squabbled with rival NCOs. Time and again, Ralph was cited for violence. He was eventually busted down to private, where his attitude only worsened. Finally, he was court martialed. He spent six months in Leavenworth penitentiary and was dishonorably discharged from the Army.

Luckily, his persuasive abilities proved helpful in scoring him a job as a police officer in his home town of St. Louis. Ralph effectively argued that his attitude was merely a wartime sentiment, that he was an earnest and loyal trooper who was just chomping at the bit. And if he couldn't bust Nazis, maybe he could bust mobsters instead. His career as a police officer lasted all of nine months.

So by 1947, he no longer cared about his civic duty, what happened at home or abroad. He just wanted to find his place. Ralph opened his own business as a private detective. He worked less as an investigator and more as a hired gun and bodyguard for local mafia lords. Eh, it was work, and these guys weren't as bad as the movies made them out to be. Their ultra-violent days were over a decade past. Ralph didn't mind the dangerous work at all.

Ralph Nolan, Caitiff

It must have been Ralph's suave attitude, attention to detail, imposing veneer, and unpredictable emotions that drew the attention of two Sabbat vampires. A Lasombra and Ventrue antitribu pair, an unusual set of lovers, were infiltrating St. Louis -- then and still a Camarilla-controlled town. They picked Ralph out to Embrace the man and use him as a handy protector of their own. Ralph was lured in by their undead charisma and promises of power. He was indoctrinated into the secrets of the sect and barely into the Creation Rites, however, when the Camarilla fell upon this pair and the rest of their pack in force.

Ralph fled, as did some of the others. United by their Vinculum, they hesitated where Ralph did not, and only he managed to escape. His sire(s), Jonathan Marks of the Ventrue and Inez Ximena of the Lasombra, were butchered that night. He was on his own and without a mentor. Armed only with the basic knowledge of vampiric existence, and with the false belief that the Sabbat were losers in the Jyhad, he struck out alone. A Caitiff in every sense of the term, Ralph wandered from city to city, seeking nothing more than sustenance and a justification to exist.

Over the years, Ralph traveled eastward. He passed through many towns and ignored many Princes' Praxis and avoided many nomadic packs of Sabbat stalkers. He had little truck with the Anarchs. Though he encountered and occasionally hung around them, he felt they were an even bigger bunch of losers than the Sabbat. All talk, no action...or when there was action, it was pointless and ineffectual. When Ralph reached Cincinnati, his luck ran out. He had managed to dance around Cainite authorities for over twenty-five years. In 1973, a pack of Sabbat rounded Ralph up. After learning of his lineage and past, they dragged him before the Archbishop.

Ralph Nolan, Pander

Beholding that Lasombra Elder's magnificence, it was then that Ralph realized that the Sabbat were not weak, at least not everywhere. Though some of the local vampires' disdain of his "polluted" lineage annoyed Ralph, he was pleased to find a place for himself among the Panders at least. As a probationary member, Ralph was expected to risk his unlife in the most dangerous missions. And more often than not, this proved to be internecine warfare. Though the Sabbat Civil Wars were largely over, there was a strong idealistic campaign that many of the younger Sabbat were undertaking: Loyalism.

Now Ralph didn't really consider himself a Loyalist. He was definitely a vampire of honor and strength, and he understood the importance of obeying non-suicidal orders. Thus, the Path of Honorable Accord fit him well. But because many Panders were among the most ardent Loyalists, he found himself lumped into that group. So when fights sparked up, he had no choice but to fight with his "clanmates" against the stagnant old powers-that-be. In time, as open strife between the traditionalists and Loyalists died down, Ralph found that he earned the grudging respect of sectmates on both sides of the argument. The vestige of pride he maintained -- pride in the heritage he had from both clans that spawned him -- and his unflagging self-esteem and strength acquired him approbation.

Having cut his teeth faithfully for the Sabbat over three decades now, Ralph was transferred from Cincinnati to a diocese in greater need of his skill and commanding nature. He knew he would have to really prove his worth now, because in Centropolis, Missouri, he wouldn't be fighting other Sabbat. The Camarilla were viewed by so many Sabbat as weaklings. Ralph scoffed -- those were the perspectives of Licks that never left the "safety" of a Sabbat-controlled city. He had a broader world view, and he knew his foes' mettle. This wasn't going to be Desert Storm. This would be Normandy all over again.

Pack (Black Sword)


Ralph is only rank-and-file in the pack, the Black Sword. This pack specializes in combat, hunting, tactics, and all-out Jyhad. It was the pack leader's distaste of religion that made him design the pack in a secular fashion. Grace Andrews is a pack scout while Winston Simons is pack captain. Ramona Fé is pack counselor (priest). Together they train and stalk their enemies, to the end of the earth if need be. Ignoblis ritae include rites like "Brother of the Blade", "Onyx Steel", "Separation of Church & State", "Sunrise Service", and of course Vaulderie.

Significant Other


When Ralph transferred to the Centropolis diocese in 2009, he did not expect to make any friends. He’s the only Pander in town, for Christ’s sake. So it was with shock that he befriended Astoria Baneberry of the Kiasyd. After friendly conversation, ritualistic cooperation, and a bit of storytelling, they discovered they had more in common than he expected. Her unusual lineage combined with her tendency to isolate made it easier for “the new guy” to commandeer more of her time. Camaraderie grew into unbridled passion. Though they aren’t in the same pack, Ralph is pretty sure they’ll stick this thing called vampirism out together for a long time.

But then, the Kiasyd mysteriously vanished. Ralph didn't believe in faeries before, but after what Astoria mentioned, he's now a believer. Faeries are real and they kidnap vampires, he thinks.

Astoria

Weakness
The Worst of Both Worlds


Ralph is the Pander childe of a Lasombra and Ventrue. He's inherited the domineering and often selfish tendencies of his parent clans. Yet he truly members neither, and his lineage has been relegated to Caitiff. Even as a Pander, he's still an outcast.

Likelihood of Corruption


High.

No, Ralph won't be joining the Infernalists anytime soon. Since when did Sabbat vampires have to go over to the Baali frat house to have the cops kicking down their door for breaking laws like underaged drinking, possession of narcotics, disturbing the peace, and sodomy?

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