Switching Characters - Solomon Grundy to Harlan Higgs

[Harlan Higgs]

Character name: Harlan Higgs (aka Victor Hendy aka Carson Mild aka “Spades” Mahoney etc…)

Character source: Vampire the Masquerade OC

Character history: Born in New York City in 1918, Harlan was the parent of poor irish immigrants. His mother worked as a seamstress in a terrible conditioned sweatshop, while his father worked in a steel factory. With both parents working long and hard hours, it was no surprise that the young Harlan was often unsupervised and naturally curious, falling in with the scattered bands of similarly affected youth and street urchins. His parents provided the best they could, but the boy always had the gnawing pain of hunger and the looming threat of starvation hanging over his head. When his father was killed in an accident in 1926, he was stripped of a male mentor and a parent. His mother took to drinking, and began wasting away, the years of needlework finally making her fingers too stiff and pained to continue. To try and provide for her, Harlan began acting as a lookout or runner for the various crime families currently running liquor around the city. It didn't hurt that they often paid him well, allowing him to support his mother, and in general working for them was preferable to working in a dirty hot factory, where the overseers would beat those who didn't meet their quotas. He fell in with the liquor smuggling operations until the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, and by then he was a 15 year old wise guy. Having spent time in the speakeasies and private clubs during that time, he picked up on the various card games and gambling that went on inside. Falling in love with the sound of shuffling cards, tapping chips, and ice clinking in glasses, he paid more and more attention, until the underbosses noticed his affinity. They had him join a few games as a plant, and he would earn them even more money with his playing. Eventually, as the mobs branched out into more "legitimate" enterprises, they sent him to Atlantic City in 1939 to work some of the casinos. His connections kept him out of the draft, and he was able to take advantage of his situation by learning all he could. First as a busboy who'd slip around and butter up potential high rollers, then as a dealer, then to pit boss, then finally up the ladder until he was managing most of the gaming floor.

Unbeknownst to him, the higher ups of the crime family he was affiliated with were of the Giovanni clan, vampiric masters of necromancy and incest. Somewhat impressed with Harlan's natural aptitude for running a game and establishment, as well as his willingness to get his hands dirty in the name of profit, they decided to bring him into the family. In another twist, the Giovanni member that was dispatched to ghoul the young Harlan was in fact of the Ravnos clan, tricksters and vagrants of the highest order, who had been quietly swindling the casino out of quite a lot of money. In 1946, Jimmy Twitch, as he was known then, made his getaway with 50,000 dollars and the twenty eight year old Harlan. Escaping down south to Baltimore, the elder Ravnos Embraced his new protege and began teaching him about the world of Kindred vampires, their clan, and the finer points of hucksterism and the con. The young fledgling had already been introduced to the dirty tricks business while working in the casinos, and he enjoyed the subtler arts of confidence trickery and charisma. They always had a fair amount of money but never really saved it, spending it all on lavish creature comforts, investing in cons, and of course blowing it at the tables. They slipped through Camarilla and Sabbat outposts alike, never staying for too long, just long enough to bilk a portion of kine and cainites and then moving on. After about ten years of doing so, Jimmy and Harlan had had enough of the east coast and it's small time pickings, and decided to turn their attention to a new shining gem on the other side of the country: Las Vegas.

The city of sin was literally like a playground for the Ravnos, and not just those two. They met many of their fellow clan members while there, and stayed for almost the entirety of its heydey. Watching Sinatra and Newton sing their hearts out, amassing piles of chips on green felt, blowing it on women, wine, and merriment; the Deceivers could not have been happier. Without the looming threat of Camarilla princes over their heads, they treated the city like an overstocked pleasure cruise. The local anarchs were largely concerned with their own heady ideals of freedom and justice, although there had been more than a few times when groups of misinformed young vampires had attempted to pull one over on Harlan and his sire and rob them of their ill-gotten gains. These were dealt with, usually in such a fashion that the offending parties went home feeling vaguely smug and satisfied, although it was always Harlan wearing a grin at the end of it. Not to say that they didn't get their hands dirty, of course; but he considered these nights some of his best in his existence. Jimmy even had the audacity to become a semi-popular magician in the second tier casinos, delighting audiences with illusions that they could not believe were real while Harlan ran the grift in the back. Eventually the end of the golden age of the city showed, and they'd stayed for almost thirty years, no small amount of time for mortals. For Harlan and Jimmy, it was like the end of a 4 year college stint.
Returning to the east coast by 1983, they flitted around the southern states, plying their trade upon the unsuspecting hicks and bumpkins in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and other places. New Orleans was another small favorite of Harlan's, and they stayed there for a couple years, hearing news of the beginnings of turmoil and strife between the Camarilla and the Sabbat. Although they tried, they couldn't avoid being drawn into some of the fighting and suffered their fair amount of wounds and beatings. They'd lost some of their edge while sitting in Vegas, and had streaks of luck, good and bad. Some of these ended up with a dunk in the river and the loss of their money, and some ended up with "them thar strangers taking a dirt nap in the swamp". Attempting to avoid the escalating conflict by traveling up and down the coast and finding shelter with the occasional clanmate, Harlan decided he wanted to return to his birth city and see how much had changed. Jimmy was initially reluctant, citing the Sabbat presence, but eventually relented, secretly wanting to test the two Deceivers again and maybe regain some of their sharpness.
The glitz and glamour of New York thrilled the Ravnos to no end, to see his once low and dirty city towering high above the skyline, lit with neon and broken dreams. It had the glitz of Vegas with the grit of Baltimore, and Harlan felt like he was the prodigal son returned. Taking a short stop to visit his family's graves (now faded and choked with weeds,  shoved in a corner of the acres wide cemetery), they immediately insinuated themselves in the celebrity culture and nightlife. It was almost like a 2nd heyday for them as the approaching millenia had the whole country on edge. There was a gnawing feeling though, that something was not quite right. Harlan was proven right the next year when one night he awoke to a ravenous feeling. Drifting in and out of lucidity, he remembered pain, walking, the smell of blood, and fantastic power emanating from his hands, forms and architecture shifting before him according to his whim, leaving buildings, cars, windows, people twisted or paralyzed with fear and wonder. The next time he fully regained consciousness was a few nights later, his very being suffused with an odd feeling that felt quite good- until he noticed his clothing and his surroundings. The room in the tenement they had been staying in was oddly proportioned, with furniture and fixtures sticking out of the wall at eerie angles, and the floor was covered with ash, blood, and an extremity or two. With a sinking feeling, he saw his sire's trademark hat laying tossed on its side, marked with blood and ash, the same that stained his clothing and face. Almost in a daze, Harlan stood up, his suit tattered and marked with bullet holes, stab wounds, and a knife in his leg. Picking up the hat, he realized what he had done, and pouring a half empty bottle of alcohol around the room- he started walking, leaving a burning wreck of a tenement behind him.
The wayward Ravnos wandered for years, living on the streets and sleeping in dumpsters, closets, abandoned buildings, anywhere he could find for one night. Eventually he made it to Philadelphia, where after stumbling into a Malkavian warren by mistake he heard of the fate of the city of Baltimore, it's emptiness and subsequent clearance. The news struck him from his fugue, his mind clearing on its way to his original sharpness. This was his chance. He could rebuild. He could atone for his sin. He could restore himself and his clan back to their glory days, the grinning ones who held all the cards. He could take advantage of the new arrivals, the uninformed....the marks. Making his way towards the city, conning people like he'd never grifted before, he arrived with a respectable amount of money, a brand new suit, and a grey bowler hat.

In Baltimore, Harlan had found a new kingdom in Ocean City, opening his popular casino Prohibition Alley. Business was booming, unlife was good, and the growing power of his influence had inspired a cultural renaissance towards classic Vegas attitudes and styles. It seemed like nothing could go wrong, the Camarilla in Baltimore barely bothering to check his power. Occupied with their own struggles, Harlan pulled several lovely schemes in their rites of succession and influenced the direction of the city.

However, the fear of the Baali and their demonic allies spurred a crusade against any and all outliers from Camarilla society, and Harlan was targeted as a nebulous and unknown quantity. Traveling to the city on a false invitation, Harlan was overwhelmed and taken prisoner. Tried as a demon worshipper and enemy of the Camarilla, he was restrained to a cross and left out on top of the city’s highest building to face the sunrise and his certain doom. Until Omni whisked him away and brought him to the Omniverse….

Physical Description:


Harlan is a man of average height, about 5’ 9”. Not overweight, but dense and cut, with a predatory posture. His countenance is far from what you’d call handsome, a nose that has been broken more than once, crooked, yellowing teeth, and a bit lumpy from repeated blows to the face. Not to mention his sallow, almost gray skin, although the man has an indescribable roguish charm to him. His short cropped black hair is almost always covered by a grey derby hat, and his dark brown eyes twinkle with mischief, a playful grin parting his lips.

Stats:
ATK:3
DEF:3
SPD:1
TEC:3

Starting Proficiencies:
Ranged Proficiency (1000 OM)
Ranged Materialize Proficiency (600 OM)
Remote Control Proficiency (600 OM)

Starting Powers:
Obfuscate (Stealth) (1200 OM)

Starting Moves:


Colt Python (300 OM) - [Requires Ranged Proficiency]

This .357 caliber 6 shot revolver is Harlan's personal sidearm, used to extensive effect during his days in Vegas with his sire. It fires as fast as Harlan can pull the trigger, but the recoil and sheer size of the bullets spoil his aim if rapid fired. The power of the round is more than enough to stagger low DEF opponents.


Chimerstry - The signature power of the Ravnos bloodline, Chimerstry allows a Ravnos to use his imagination to its ultimate potential, shaping and creating illusions and objects out of pure dreamstuff, or Maya. In the Omniverse, there is no Maya, so Harlan has managed to adapt his powers to run off of Omnilium. Making solid objects that can interact with people for mere seconds before dissipating takes far less Omnilium than actually using a Prime’s creation abilities. The base form of Chimerstry is near effortless to utilize, and Harlan can create images, sounds, smells, noises, and other sensory phenomenon with barely any effort (Fodder Power, essentially). Offensive and Defensive uses of Chimerstry take a bit more concentration.

Chimerstry: Tendrils of Dream (300 OM) [Requires Ranged Proficiency, Ranged Materialize, Remote Control]
By concentrating for up to ten seconds, Harlan can materialize any type of “tendril” within range (chains, ropes, tentacles, plasma whips, etc). One coalesces into being every 2 seconds spent concentrating, so he can create a maximum of five. They are primarily meant to constrain and attack, and as such are difficult to break. He can manipulate them at range, but doing so takes a significant amount of focus and he may not use any other forms of Chimerstry while taking advantage of this power. The strength of the tendrils are dependent on how many there are, so one tendril would require an opponent to exceed twice Harlan’s ATK while all five would only require half his ATK to break (rounding up). If Harlan takes enough damage to break his concentration, the illusion shatters and release whatever they are holding. It takes a significant effort and energy drain to maintain the tendrils, so he cannot afford to waste a usage of them.

Chimerstry: Night Terrors (300 OM) [Requires Ranged Proficiency, Ranged Materialize]
With this power, Harlan creates a macabre projectile anywhere near himself or any opponent (typically burning skulls, eldritch fire, lightning, etc) and sends it flying at them. It takes a second for the projectile to appear, and then he can manually hurl it at the opponent. This requires him to actually aim and allows an opponent to dodge or deflect such an attack. If it hits, the opponent will experience the damage appropriate to the type of projectile, although different styles have no mechanical difference. A single projectile is based on his ATK strength, and creating one tires him enough that if he starts spamming them he will wear himself out.

Super Move: Chimerstry - Waking Nightmare (600 OM)

Harlan draws his own blood and uses it to fuel this application of Chimerstry. Weaving the Vitae into his illusions, he causes a whirling tornado of horror to form around the opponent, attacking them with shrieks, blood, illusionary weaponry, and phantasms of their deepest dreams, striking them and buffeting them about until it dissipates. It takes at least five seconds for him to draw blood and begin casting the vortex, but once cast around an opponent, it feeds off their pain and discomfort until it collapses, typically after ten seconds.



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