The Champagne Vagabond

Suggested Music: Danger Doom - Benzie Box

Basic Information

Nickname: Champ
Title: The Champagne Vagabond
Type: Dragon-Blooded Exalt
Player: NPC
Aspect: Earth
Concept: Grass-Spider
Motivation: Become creation's sexiest assassin.
Political Affiliation: The Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders
Anima: You don't want to know.
Likes: Sex
Dislikes: Not having sex, shirts

Background

The oldest member of the Shaded Templar is also its most indulgent. He was recruited a long time ago by Atlas, and was Atlas's first attempt at finding recruits with a more social and political focus. Atlas would later recall Champ's recruitment as more of an "early-stage test, complete with all the kinks, bugs, and learned lessons that often come with these things." Not much is publicly known about Champ's childhood and he doesn't care to talk about it, and in drunken moments, Champ has admitted he had a fairly spoiled upbringing and that his childhood was both unremarkable and unrelated to his later walk in life. Upon close inspection, his skin has an almost rocky texture and under bright sunlight, takes on the appearance of granite or marble, indicating a strongly Dragon-Blooded pedigree. What is known of Champ's history is that as a young man, before his Exaltation, Champ was a prostitute, escort, and exotic dancer in Great Forks. Champ claims to have Exalted at "just the right moment" while deep in the throes of passion with an Earth-elemental client, and further claims that his Exaltation was the only thing that saved him from "what came next." Generally people don't ask Champ to elaborate on that point, and when they do, they quickly advised to retract their question by Cello, who ensures them that they don't want to know.

When Atlas found Champ, the younger Earth aspect had taken over the brothel he'd been employed by and was now running a pleasure house catering specifically to spirits and elementals. As the only Exalt at the establishment, Champ honed his combat and diplomacy skills by being the only one there capable of dealing with (and occasionally dispatching) unruly and blatantly supernatural clients. For this reason, he is also surprisingly adept at dealing with spirits and is intimately familiar with their customs and hierarchy. Although Champ could have used his privileged position to spy on the many powerful spirits and politicians that visited his establishments, he was more interested in pursuing new physical experiences and pushing the boundaries of his craft, which, at the time, happened to be coitus. Upon arriving in Great Forks, Atlas was a bit surprised that Champ had completely ignored the espionage gold mine he'd set up, and although Champ's ignorance of his information trafficking opportunities gave him pause, Atlas could certainly respect Champ's need to push the boundaries, even if Champ's chosen craft was a bit different from Atlas's own. Atlas decided to go ahead with it and recruited Champ directly into the Order.

Champ's recruitment was met with mixed reception and equally mixed results. Champ was not an assassin at all. Although he was actually quite a skilled combatant from his many encounters with powerful elemental enemies and was in impeccable physical shape, he barely passed the Order's entrance exams for stealth and ranged combat, and many suspect Atlas may have pulled strings to ensure his admission to the Order's inner ranks. On the other hand, Champ opened an entirely new market to the Order. With Champ in their ranks, the bedchambers and senatorial corridors of Creation's movers and shakers suddenly became accessible in an entirely new way.

Champ quickly became a favorite on missions - while his physical espionage skills remained below par, there was no shortage of members who had mastered such arts, and Champ was more than happy to do the socializing and seduction more traditionally trained members griped about carrying out. After a few years, Champ's usefulness as a socialite (and reasonably strong fighter, when needed) along with his ineffable charisma had cemented his place as a cherished member of the Order. Still, he had his issues.

To this day, Champ is an addict. As the Circle With No Name can attest to, he can party with the best of them, and has no qualms about heavy drug usage and uninhibited drinking, on or off the job. He embraces the glamour and money that come with the Grass-Spiders' commendable salary and thrilling work; he loves storytelling and what little clothing he chooses to wear is always made of the finest silk or most exotic pelts. His real passion, however, is behind the closed doors of a bedchamber (or on the beach, or in the woods, or in the town square). He never passes up an opportunity to experience pleasures of the flesh, and many a mission has included Champ's circlemates searching frantically for him, only to find that he's wandered off in pursuit of a new mate to share his bed. He is also relentless in his pursuit of other made members of the Order, and though this is to the frustration of many them, plenty of rumors abound that a not-so-small number of Grass-Spiders, male and female, have accepted Champ's advances on at least one occasion, even if out of curiosity. Rumors of disappointing experiences are rare.