Archbishop Conrad Van Der Haas

From LanceaSanctum

Player Name: Adam Smyth
Current Name: Archbishop Conrad Frederich Karl Van Der Haas
Clan: Ventrue
Covenant: Lancea Sanctum
Title: Archbishop
Faction: None
Creed: Monachal Creed
Concept: Dark Lord, Elrood IX
Apparent Age: mid-50s
Date of Embrace: 1499

Appearance Conrad was a giant for his time six feet tall, his contanence is one of an aged rotund man, greying hair at the sides, definately older, and wiser than most. He tends towards militaristic clothing that is circa world war one. He is something of a fashion horse though, likely one of the reasons he is often mistaken for a Daeva. He wears several scars and until April had only one eye, this was caused by a question of his faith in which he promptly took a red hot iron and removed his own left eye, this was later healed on request from Cardinal Teirnan Callaghan.

[edit]About The Living Years: July 20, 1457- April 16, 1499

I began My life kicking and screaming into the this cold world, in the warmth of the comfortable chambers of my parents, distaff cousins of the Holy Roman Emperor, Count Ferdinand and Countess Sophia Van Der Haas had another son, there 3rd son and there 6th child...as was custom the third son of such a noble house was sent to the church. I began my theological training at the Wuttenberg Cathedral at the age of seven and was quickly seen to be a child of fervent belief and savage determination. This quick study reputation got him several things, a share of enemies and a patron in the form of Archbishop Maximillian De Bornae...and his true education began. He was shown the true face of the Church in all its glorious corruption, women, men, rich food, exotic drugs and demonic sex...all under the guise of incooruptability...and this all by the age of 15. At the age of 17 he graduated from the seminary and was sent to Spain with his patron, the traveled all night, and only nights, as did the armies with which we traveled to slay the Jewish and Muslim Masters in the south of Spain. With the first clashes with the Alhomadic armies and the first sacking of jewish villages awakened a bloodlust, merciless fury that he transfered to the heretical followers and oppressors of christendom. With it he began to mass great wealth stolen from Jewish treasure houses and from the hands of dead Imams, such was his greed and lust, no act was to base robbery, rape, and murder no act was to base....this was a pattern a pattern for years until a fateful April night...

The Crucible: April 17, 1499

So Columbus had proved the world was round and sailed to a new world across the sea. So what! Back home there was greater work, ridding the lands of the hordes of Saracen and Jewish heretics. Already having leveled many a great citadel and many a town and village with it, blood of thousands spilt in battle many thousands more to the stake and pyre. All for god we say, but for us we know, the great treasures of those lords and their crooked nosed bankers and there women vulnerable and unsundered paid in full by my lance.

Until my mentor came smiling to me and with him he brought women and treasures, food and drink and we feasted....or more or less I feasted. All he did was smile, he trifled not with the women or the men for that matter....it was most unusual...all he did was stare at me he had not stared at me like that since the first cup of wine when I was merely 18 and the sin he did upon me then....which i came to relish in......I wondered what was to come....and then it did....Upon the dias he took me into the world of the damned...into the world of undeath....unto a world not much unlike the one I already lived....except the knowledge of the great truth was revealed.

The Creation and the Teaching: April 18, 1499 to July 22, 1508

My embrace....opened up so many possibilities for me....I was inducted into a new church....and studied the teachings of the blessed and damned......thus becoming one of both.

It was then I realized what had transpired, my soul was transfigured and my mentor was a soul of the damned, a saint among the wicked, he had seduced me and incestuous love I soon found, for he was a Hapsburg, the line I was a distaff relative to the act sickened me though i was enthralled to him, he taught me the texts of a phantom church one whose roots began in the death of christ, and with that I took upon myslef the consecration of the creed of the Monachus and committed myself to the cause of Longinus, with a greater fervor than I ever had for the Holy Mother Church. My sire had taken great pains for me to follow in his footsteps and to be as he was, a finder of traitors and a guardian of secrets, and then my first steps from noviciate to seasoned warrior began.

The Savage Adventures: July 23, 1508-April 15, 1842

I took up the mantle of Inquisitor as I had in life to purge the world of the unliving of the foul heresies. While many of my ilk went after our own who had crossed into heresy I pursued those of other covenants who took the secrets of The Theben Art as well as the other magics and sought to use them together. I hunted, for centuries I hunted, through the rise of Martin Luther, throught the rise of the Protestants and the Reformation of the Holy Mother Church, into an age were god seemed to matter less and less were it seemed to be an option to revere him.

Then there was Charolette, a Slavic Haunt of great power, the Lady Charolette a devout Reverand Mother, and cruel despot over the swath of land under iron grip. Maximillian required me to learn a great portion of my lessons from this mistress of the dark and so I went to the forbidding keep of Braserka in eastern Hungary, to fill my mind with what I thought were the ravings of a craven hag. I was wrong, her beauty inspired me to fits of passion i had not experienced since my living youth, and her spurning for mortal lovers sent me into rages that were responsible for dozens of grisly deaths. In my rage I attacked her lovers, lashed out at them, and during one such rage the Lady broke my arm and took me to her deep crypts, and showed me the horrors of my rage and violence....the shock of this brought me to tears.Then came Moncada and his Inquisitors, deigning that her lover new too much and that she was sherking her duties the forced to kill her lover...in a rage she slew him and then one of the tortured creatures in her dungeons....in her grief came Conrad took her to her bath and in the serene act of feeding her passion took over...and covered in the blood of there victim they made love...engaging in an unconcinable sin this passion fueled there dealings for the better part of a century, until suspicion of several elders and boredom forced them apart.

The lack of a lover was soon replaced by a need to create and to lead...his sire provided him with a ward, Maximillia, daughter of the current Emperor of Austria when was that oh yes 1792....a good time for empire and freedom..the new world was a freer world....and it astounded me trully. Then Revolution and more wards....Stray, Conner, and Hallen...two thwarted hunters and another Imperial Princess....forgotten now immortal.

Once the wars between the Alliance of Nations and the French began many fations decided scores needed to be settled, battles erupted covenants, clans, bloodlines tore at each other, war thunderous war, more than a few armies moved on the orders of Ventrue, Daeva, and Mekhet Overlords though that would end as well. During these times I relished and trained my wards, and led troops into battle, in Egypt, Syria, and India I made war upon heretical faiths in far off lands...and my name was sung on many lips in many halls.

After so much of this and the end of the last great war against the Emperor Napoleon as well as the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the ascendency of a period of stale silence known as the Victorian Age I fell into sleep. Deep in Italy with my two guardians Stray, and Conner close by.

The Nearer Times January 4, 1910-October 15th 1914

With the age of Victoria came so much change, a nacent covenant hidden in the shadows for so long, the Ordo Dracul rose to noisome exceptance, Slavery was outlawed the world over, The Japans had opened themselves to the western world and the Emperors no longer ruled in China, finally the British under the guidance of the Invictus ruled 11% of the world....and men learned to fly.

I awoke in Cherbourg, over 1500 miles from where went to sleep in Milan, with my awarded servant Beadows sent from an old aquiantance who would enter sleep a month after I awoke, and Sativa a glorious example of Indian beauty, I was instantly smitten...I fed from her and made her my thrall she tasted sweet and unfortunately familiar.....like the blood of jews....for she was just that a daughter of Abraham...and with that revelation my hate of the Jew died away...th mortal worlds prejuidices were lost in a sea of revelation.

Then began my travels across the sea to a place called New York, then Boston and soon by 1914 and the Great War to Philadelphia were I was informed that Maximillian had been Sainted and was now torpid somewhere in Europe...but he had left me many things including the names of all the Money holders that had my vast fortune and many relics around the world which had been collected by his many allies and sent to a church there in Philadelphia were I would stay for a spell.

The Church and the Pilgrim: October 16, 1914

In the church I found some peace but it was not to last, after sunset on the 16th the doors flew open to reveal two, dusty and deadly a marauder and a childe grim and terrible the elder began to slaughter the sisters and priests their screams moved me from my chamber with Longsword and Dirk I jumped upon her back just as she moved to strike the last priest, who in the slaughter had not moved an inch, trully fervence worth saving. The weakness of my blood brought on by my long sleep suprised me, suprise and the efforts of the now slain clergy scattered about had weakened her, her claws tore my flesh and clothes as my armaments did the same to her until they both lay on the floor near death, and in an action I still cannot explain the childe...Will slew her and spared me. That is how I came to know William Faust, the dark pilgrim from the Wild West.

The Partnership, Family and New Campaigns:October 17, 1914-September 18, 1964

Strangely, after the battle William and I joined forces, he was limited intellectually, I would see albiet slowly to an improvement in that, in the intervening years I noticed the rate of spread among unorthodox movements within the covenant, as well as disturbing fringe movements that sought the guidance of heretical movements and used the magics of the Crone and the Ordo Dracul....my mission was now clear with my wards now fully fledged and educated kindred except the youngling Kinzbeth (1888) and the thralls Sativa and Beadows we were ready to hunt the betrayers the secret sellers, of all covenants for in my mind possession of all the secrets would surely end the vampiric race. The roaring twenties and the subsequent depression made the kine nervous this was a time when blood stank of fear even if taken in passion or just like a lot of Gin and Opium. In 1929 I came upon Kaelynn McDuff and took him into my house, rebirthing him into Hydraxis Pentagne, from a failing criminal to a classic lord of battle, the powers of the blood and the work of god embodied. With this I came to the decision to embrace Sativa, she would serve the Dammatic Creed well. After the World War II I returned to ravaged Europe to find my ancestral home in the ivy, bombed out and full of vagrants, within a few short nights all that changed, and with the rebuilding of the home of my birth I returned to my work.The arrival of the Syndics began a new time as I moved against the various unorthodox movements in America. In Biloxi in the deep south we encountered a strange cult of Nosferatu who attempted to use all three magics in order to empower themselves, this began a gruling three year crusade the land was scoured as my forces destroyed warren after stinking warren, Maximillian would be proud. In 1960 I traveled to Chicago in search of a distant relative or i should say descendent who knew not his lineage, what I found was Joseph, a beat cop sort of an Inquisitor in this modern wasteland, I revealed to him many things and then arranged for his embrace by my kindred brother Karl who saw to his training as a member of the First Estate...which I believed better suited his tastes.

The Current Era-1964 to Present Day.

After Chicago we traveled my team and battling scattered threats as sort of free-lancers, te most notable being the Blood Cult of a Mithraic Pretender....this was felt by me as a personal insult as the Great Mithras was my grand sire. With terrible fury I slew the lot of them, the Saar ran red that night in Strausborg. This instance got me called before the Archbishop of Vienna and his Judex my own brother....Karl Von Hapsburg..I was appointed Master of the Guard for the Archbishop and Inquisitor General of Vienna, positions I held until 2005 when I was sent by the Archbishops request to Peru to observe, record, and if necessary destroy a gathering of Kindred there, over the three nights I spent...nay suffered there I met many new faces and longed for old ones, Erik Martin an old foil of the Ordo Dracul was among them. I sat in the tattered hall and commanded great attention from my fellows and left Peru enriched in spirit and in knowledge, annointed as a Bishop for my efforts.

Indianapolis-September 2005- Present

I came to a decision, to give America a second chance, I have no regrets to that, I took the invitation of its Prince an Ordo Dracul called Senki Diavol to move to his city of Indianapolis, an important commercial and industrial hub in the expanse known as the Mid-West. I took command of the Lance within the city and summoned my forces, friendly faces who would help my rise in this new land, for I believed it was a time to settle down, stop being the nomad and become the clergyman I had to be. I grew our numbers steadily and then explosively alarming many but suprising few. In November a scant two months after I had arrived Lord Diavol was deposed by his naive and inexperienced Seneshal Katherine Easton of the Invictus, in this seizure i was forced to side against him while making it no secret i did not wish this, sidetracked by the fact that one of the Thralls of Lucien Villain seemed to becon me....but plots were afoot.

Within a month of plotting and moving of the peices I ascended to the throne and removed the smug Easton before she could respond, her banishment was such a luxury, I surrounded myself with a powerful military force but found myself besieged from outside on all sides, especially from the domain of Cardinal Hiean who had set Easton as a puppet and was now my enemy, soon a plot as hatched and trumped up charges made of my heresy....a trial was held and I of course was found innocent....corruption and all it did was make me all the stronger. Now with Josephs return and Charolettes appearance here to act again as teacher to the wards of my house the circle was complete.

However in the following months peace and understanding came between me and Hiean, we withdrew our differences and soldiered on, masters of our destinies by the will of the almighty. I have now begun to establish myself with all the old faces, encountering my sires devoted archivist Levram Kard, who deigned to serve me in the same function and since my actions at the Grand Elysia in Louisville my star has been on the rise, one of the most trusted councillors to Cardinal Du Mont, and an advisor to the Father General and several other members of the Curia on matters of politics, law, and warfare. The return of my sire draws ever closer, what will he say of my rise? I am not fearful, fear is for the mortals, I expect and calculate and pray.

Conrad and the Lady Charolette

Quotes about Conrad Van Der Haas

"The lout needs better to control his servants" Lucian Villain, Prince of Muncie

"I will support you Bishop Van Der Haas, if you heal that eye." Teirnan Callaghan, Cardinal of the Curia.

"Ever hear what happened to the peanut in the Park?" Conrad Van Der Haas, to unidentified were-creature just before he destroyed it.

"It was assaulted" Just after he destroyed it.

"ook-ook-afuckin-choo!" Battle Cry in the late 60's early 70's as an Inquisitor.

[edit]Rumours

He is one of the most promiscuous damned in all the sanctified.

He has racked up a stunning list of boons from Prince Alder Lucian Villain for the company of his whore-thrall Eva.

It is said he goes to sleep only in the company of several women or men for that matter.

Believed to be the lover of Judex Amelia Dainard

Believed to be the lover of Ms. White, Ordo Dracul Seneschal of Bloomington

Rumored to be in league with secret coterie of Crone, Invictus, and Lance.

Rumored to be a secret manipulator in all things damned.

Rumored to be on the cusp of a major discovery in Theben Sorcery

Rumored to be one of the most sadistic and adept torturers in the Lancea Sanctum.

Whispered that he is something of a singer and music buff.

Quoted as to being a lover of modern film, on many occaisions being known to quote lines of them.

Rumored to have his hooks in some of the finest Lacremae on Earth.

Rumors persist of his massive fortified haven outside of Indianapolis having caves and tunnels used for unknown experimentations.

Is said to have an extensive spy net-work in every covenant and every clan.

Rumored to have connections with several high ranking Invictus

Rumored to have Blackmail material on most high-statused members of the various covenants.