Name: Leon Vladimir Valenski
Gender: Male
Age: 71
Apparent Age: 27
Place of Birth: Moscow, Russia
Species: Vampire
Coven: Nephim
Appearance:
Facial: Leon has blond hair that he ties into a pony tail that reaches down to just above the middle of his back. He also has bright blue eyes that pierce through the darkness and are usually the first thing people notice when they see him. He has a thin mustache above his well kept teeth, which he keeps clean at all times.
Body: Pale skin is normal for someone living in Russia but Leon's skin is unusual even for people of his country. He is lean and but also fairly strong as most vampires are. His skin is almost unmarked, he has no piercings or scars, but he has the emblem of the KGB tattooed on his right arm.
Attire: Leon is always wearing his beret emblazoned with the star of communism and he usually is dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt with a black jacket on. He doesn't care much for appearance, and throws on whatever the weather requires him to wear.
Personality: Leon has mild paranoia and will avoid humans whenever possible. In the Nephim coven he has found people he can trust and feels safe there. Outside of their presence he is always on his guard. He enjoys nature and the company of animals. Thus, walking in parks or the wilderness makes him happy. He feeds about once a week, usually when he goes to a bar to get a shot of his favorite Russian Vodka. When he is drunk or has had at least a couple shots, he generally lets his guard down and becomes a considerably more social person. When he is angry or incredibly thirsty, he goes into the wilderness and kills animals out of anger or thirst as he doesn't enjoy hurting other people.
He cares for the person who cannot stand up for himself, but usually will not lend aid to them unless there are really in danger. Ever since his transformation, he has been walking alone, and been perfectly happy doing so, and has little care for the emotions of others.
Leon possesses fierce loyalty to "Mother Russia" and takes personal offense at any insult to his country. He is also a Communist, but that part of him has been shrinking away ever since he became a vampire and had to fend for himself. Now being part of a coven, he is starting to revive that part of him that was in favor of communal wealth.
Abilities
*Blends into the shadows
*Extremely intelligent
*Run abnormally fast
*Night vision
*Extremely Charismatic
Weaknesses
*Not very strong compared to other Vampires
*Sunlight and fire can kill him over the course of 1-3 minutes
*Completely incapacitated during the day
*Bright artificial lights can induce epileptic seizures
History
I was born in Moscow, Russia in 1937, just before World War II. I never knew my mother as she died in child birth. Anyway, I grew up in an average Russian family, we had pictures of Stalin on our walls, nothing special. My father went to work everyday in the factories and he brought home enough money to feed us and keep me happy. I didn't know how good I had it compared to other Russian children. After the Nazis invaded Soviet Poland in 1941, my father was drafted into the Red army, I was four years old. I was placed into a foster home where I learned how to read and write and how to do math. I discovered Communism there, and naturally I accepted it. I lived in that foster home for 3 more years waiting for my father to come home. He never did. After that, the state sent me to a boarding school where I learned many other things, such a mathematics and science. I was one of the best pupils in my class. I was so happy that I was here and that I had a chance to succeed, that I did my very best and followed orders unquestioningly.
Leon gets up to get a shot glass and some vodka."I grew up with this stuff, you know" he says as he takes a shot of vodka. "It's great stuff, but I digress. Anyway, right, so I was at the top of my class and then I graduated from high school, all excited. I wanted to be just like Stalin and Lenin. And so I tried to join the KGB. They turned me down saying I wasn't strong enough. I was saddened but I still wanted to help my country. So, I joined the party as a economist. I had to swear all sorts of loyalty oaths and I did so willingly. I worked for the party as an economist and later a policeman and then after two years, at age 20, I joined the Spetsnaz. We were primarily in east Berlin making sure no one got across the wall. We also patrolled the streets for dissidents. It was there that I made my first kill. I shot a man trying to get over the wall and I felt terrible. I had been such a blind patriot I had forgotten the value of human life...I'm gonna need some more vodka to go on" He takes a long drink from the bottle, probably too much for him.
"Okay, so I requested to be discharged from the Spetsnaz, which they wouldn't let me do until my tour was up, so for five years I kept on killing people who were trying to escape. Then when I turned 25 I was able to leave the Spetsnaz unit I was part of. I still wanted to help my country and by now we had entered the cold war with America. I decided that I could best help my country by spying on America and giving their secrets to Russia. I applied to be a Russian spy in America and they granted my request after I swore numerous loyalty oaths. I flew to Cuba and then to America where I began my career as a spy.
I had to look inconspicuous, blend in with the crowd. To do this, I had to lose my Russian accent and now I can speak English like a native American. Anyway, so I traveled around America under the cover of a traveling salesman. I could never find much that we didn't already know. I was able to report the amount of anti-Soviet sentiment in America at the time. Many communists had been blacklisted by Joe McCarthy. In December of 1964, the American populace was acting more understanding of us reds, especially the younger people. The HUAC blacklist had been ended and I was ready to return to Russia.
However, one night after I had a drink at the bar close to my apartment I was coming home, when someone attacked me. I thought that they figured out I was a spy and they were going to arrest me. But then they tore open my skin! I was in shock and I tired to get away by punching the guy. I had been trained in martial arts, but this guy came out of nowhere, I was drunk, and he was strong! I felt a blow to my head and the pavement came up to meet me and I was out.
I woke up feeling different a few days later. I found a man sitting next to me and after forcing me back down on the bed he told me that he and I are vampires. I'm like "what the hell? get off of me!" But he wouldn't and continued to insist it upon me and I thought, okay, Baba Yaga and vampires are bedtime stories, I stopped believing in them 20 years ago. The guy continued to tell me that it was true and then told me that he was feeding and I was close by so he attacked me. He said he felt sorry for me so he turned me into a vampire. He said that if I didn't believe that it was true that I should look in a mirror. I did and I noticed I had no reflection. Then I felt my incisors and they felt unusually sharp. I freaked out. I ran out of that place as fast as I could. Straight into broad daylight. It burned my skin, such intense pain, I had never felt. Thankfully, the vampire that turned me grabbed me and pulled me back inside. He told me that I would have to avoid sunlight and that mortals would be afraid of me and that I need to hide my true identity. I was still in pain and didn't respond. For the next four days I stayed with him and he told me his name was Jason and he told me all about Vampires and how to survive as one. He told me about the Covens all over the world. On the fifth night I ran away, Jason didn't pursue me."
He stopped to take another shot."I spent the next 30 years wandering around trying to find out who I was and what had been done to me. I protested the Vietnam war, I smoked some weed at one point. I became extremely wary of everyone and I hitchhiked pretty much everywhere. I took some computer classes to learn about new technology at some community centers. I found solace in nature, because the animals didn't care that I was a monster. Unfortunately, A vampire has to feed and I killed a lot of people over those 30 years. I tried to kill people who deserved it, like criminals or corrupt business owners. I eventually moved to Canada for it's socialized medicine. I camped in Stanley Park in Vancouver for a while before moving to Demaitre. I heard it was full of bloodsuckers like myself so I thought I could find serenity here. I thought they might be able to help me. These covens might be a place for communism to be reborn. All the vampires must work together to be unnoticed and to survive. I don't know if this will work out. But this is my life and my history"
And with that he walked into the shadows and disappeared.
