Augusto Vidal
Among the Kindred, the name of Augusto Vidal has come
to be synonymous with two things: the city of New Orleans
and the determination of Ventrue superiority. Few cities in
the New World can claim so many trials and tribulations as
can New Orleans, and yet through it all, Vidal has endured.
He is the first and only Prince the region has ever recognized,
and as a result, he has come to be seen as something of an
icon among young clan members across the United States and
beyond. Sadly, few realize the toll that unceasing dominion has taken on Vidal.
Valencian by birth and Cordoban by marriage, Augusto
Vidal was a petty Spanish noble who believed that his
only hope for greatness was to earn it in battle. He entered
the military and aspired to attain the rank of general,
hoping that he might eventually amass enough power
to sway national politics. Yet his military successes, while
consistently solid, came few and far between. Therefore,
in an ironic twist, Vidal was ultimately forced to marry
into greatness. He was betrothed to a land-owning
Andalusian noblewoman whose father sought to legitimize
her through marriage.
When his bride died under mysterious circumstances,
Vidal was approached by an ancestor of hers who, in a single
violent night, removed him from public noble life and indoctrinated
him into the private world of the Damned. In
addition to being subjected to the Vinculum, Vidal owed
both his holdings and his Kindred reputation to his sire
(an elder of some regard), and he found himself the subject
of an unending series of tests of worthiness and loyalty to
both family and country.
The last and greatest of these tests came during the Seven
Years War, when Vidal’s sire bade him to take a direct role
in the Spanish victory over France. Although Spain did
indeed win Louisiana as a result of the war, the region’s
French citizens revolted in 1768 and Spanish soldiers were
dispatched to restore order. Vidal’s sire asked that he go
along and represent Spanish interests in the French-dominated
city of New Orleans. Vidal saw his chance at freedom
and accepted, knowing that it would mean an end to
both the Vinculum and the infuriating tether that kept him
tied to his sire. The sense of duty he’d shown his sire, however,
would be replaced by a sense of duty to his clan and
the Catholic faith.
At every turn during his reign, Vidal has done whatever
was necessary to keep his hands firmly gripped on the reins of
power in New Orleans. He was always known for his disapproval
of vodoun, but this impatience has grown feverish of
late. His crackdown on the rising numbers of Kindred within
his domain has led many to question the Prince’s motives (and
some his sanity). Many believe, and rightly so, that he is simply
running out of time. Vidal must take his rest soon, and
with no immediate heir apparent, many wonder what he will
leave behind.
Vidal is tall for a Spaniard, with crisp, Mediterranean
features and broad shoulders. His slick, black hair always
appears wet, and he still wears the neatly trimmed Van Dyke
he kept as a mortal. Unfortunately, the maintenance of this
perfect facial hair takes up a considerable portion of the
first hour of every night when Vidal rises, due to the fact
that he was Embraced scraggly, without being given the
chance to first tidy his appearance. Vidal dresses to impress,
but he never forgets the lesson of function before
form. He speaks with the sharp, authoritative staccato that
characterizes his countrymen, and even after so many decades
in the New World, has never shed his thick accent…
or even cared to.
It is rumored that Prince Vidal may gain nourishment only
from the blood of other Catholics. Then again, since his Blood
Potency is so high he might feed only on Kindred….
