Roleplaying Notes

Most obviously, Nikolas is a cold, hard man.  He has been betrayed, hurt or damaged one time too many, and he’s had it.  He stays away from people, the Camarilla, relationships and friendships all for the same reason.  He keeps to himself and he grows irate when others try to convince him to throw his weight in behind the Camarilla again.

Yet he is by no means a recluse.  On the contrary, he’s almost always out there somewhere, living life on the edge.  Every night it’s a different road, a different fight, a different woman on his arm, a different thrill.  He chases excitement and danger, pushing himself to the limit, and then pushing himself a little more.  It’s the intoxication of survival that has him addicted: flirting with death, laughing in the face of fate, and walking away in one piece.

He’s also sometimes an extremely callous man.  His sole and ample source of income is as a hired mercenary, a job that requires him to do some pretty atrocious stuff – but hey, it pays, and it’s not like he’s the only one out there doing bad shit.  When he’s cornered, or when he’s simply annoyed, he lashes out.  He looks at life the way a pool shark looks at a game: hit them hard, hit them fast, don’t look twice and don’t look back.  It’s a brutal strategy, and it works.

Nonetheless, there is a shred of nobility in him.  He has his own code of honor, the intricacies of which are clear only to himself.  There remains in him a strong sense of chivalry, albeit buried.  He opens doors, he takes coats, and only the most extreme circumstances would prompt him to raise his hand against a woman.  He also bears some final shred of justice sense within.

The result is a strange blend of knight and brigand, murderer and daredevil – a tough puzzle to figure out.

Gear and Vehicles

Since the 1970s Nikolas has driven nothing but Mercedes-Benzes: sedans, coupes, convertibles.

The current vehicle is a SL55 AMG – a silver convertible coupe that easily crosses the 140mph mark.  It’s an expensive car with a state-of-the-art sound system and custom manual shift, and he’s quite fond of it.  Nonetheless, he pushes it hard, and sooner or later it’ll probably be totaled.

Always carried on his person in underarm holsters are his two trademark Glock-22 semiautomatics.  In addition, he usually keeps in his pockets spiked brass knuckles, along with his wallet (fake ID, cash, no credit cards), keys, and other odds and ends.  In the glove compartment of his car is another Glock and a sharpened pine stake.  He usually has some sort of body armor varying between Class One and Three stowed away in the trunk.  Occasionally, there’s also a katana and/or a shotgun back there.

Haven and Possessions

Wherever he goes, Nikolas keeps at least two havens: a main one that he keeps mostly secret, and another one that changes from month to month  that he uses for necessary meetings and the like. 

The first, however, is the one he spends most of his days in, and he spares no expenses.  Always a huge studio loft on the top floor, it’s usually paved in marble, and the ceiling soars twenty feet above the ground.  Floor-to-ceiling windows line the walls, giving invariably breathtaking views of the city.  Along the walls are display cases and shelves filled with weapons of all ages, shapes and sizes, CDs, books and wines.  The center of the room is dominated by a padded training area.  Off to the side is a billiards table and all assorted paraphernalia.  There’s an entertainment system in the corner: widescreen digital TV, DVD player, CD changer, the whole nine yards.  The shower, in the separate bathroom, is multi-streamed and the bathtub is sunken and the size of your average jacuzzi.  He sleeps on a king-sized bed, and in the nightstand are a gun and six throwing knives.  Notably, there is no refrigerator, no stove, no kitchen.

The second is usually an apartment rented in a poorer section of town, and more what one would expect a Brujah haven to be: slovenly, dirty, misused and trashy.  Never more than two bedrooms, never quite well-lit or well-ventilated, it’s an unpleasant place.  Nonetheless, he still maintains an eye for detail in it.  Hidden away in easily accessible nooks and crannies are various weapons – just in case.