Sophronia Fairchild

[Sophronia Fairchild]

Sophronia Fairchild

B A S I C S

Name: Sophronia Fairchild
Age: 187
Species: Malkavian
Birthday: 17th May, 1821
Sexuality: Straight
Special Powers: Disciplined Telekinetic
Skilled Aquanetic

A P P E A R A N C E

Hair Colour: Wavy, shoulder length blonde
Eye Colour: Deep blue
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 10 Stone
Other: Sophronia has subconsciously retained a certain taste in clothes from her early life in the eighteen hundreds, favouring the Regency look of a wealthy young socialite. Privately, or in the company of friends, Sophronia chooses to dress in the beautiful nineteenth century gowns of her young womanhood. When needing to blend into a modern crowd she will submit to more contemporary attire of course, but there is always a certain aspect of Sophronia, perhaps her hair or jewellery, that she keeps nostalgic.

I N D E P T H

Personality: From the extravagant life of a Regency socialite to the diseased streets of London, into the arms of a Vampire and on to the filthy trenches of the Second World War, Sophronia has by no means led a sheltered life. Like many Malkavians Sophronia has only grown wiser with age, but for her it was the hard way…

To outsiders Sophronia is very mysterious. Although she is by no means the oldest of Malkavians she certainly harbours a maturity and dignity that far exceeds her one hundred and eight-seven years, claiming an impressively high rank in the Malkavian trbie. She is a natural born leader and philosopher, proud of her Malkavian heritage and determined to be a mentor to those who need one. There is a sombre beauty to her manner and a handsome respectability that makes her a notable opponent when crossed, but Sophronia makes sure not to abuse her power. She is fair and just and works mercilessly to never loose these traits, for the price of obtaining them was high.

Sophronia is a lover before a fighter and gives her heart unyieldingly to anyone who offers to warm it, but there is a strange chill between her and the rest of the world, like a lone wolf beyond the fog. At times she can be distant and aloof, dwelling on unhappy memories and letting them interfere with the task at hand, constantly afraid of repeating the past. Those old enough to remember Sophronia's betrayal still mistrust her. A traitorous mistake has left a stigma on her head, and she lives with an ever present regret that no matter how hard she crusades she will never be able to change the person that she once was. It would be difficult for a stranger to believe, looking at the wise and worldly Sophronia of today, that she had once been an cruel, prejudiced child of her time.

F A M I L Y

Grandparents: Edmund Fairchild – died of a heart attack.
Artemisia (Blackwood) Fairchild – died of old age.
Parents: Edmund Fairchild II – died of typhoid.
Evangeline (Franklin) Fairchild – committed suicide upon Sophronia’s disappearance.
Siblings: Magnus Fairchild – inherited the Fairchild fortune and married with several children. Died of old age.
Nicholas Fairchild – worked for Magnus and also married with several children. Died of a septic wound.
Theodore Fairchild – vanished.
Andromeda Fairchild – vanished. Suspected by Sophronia to also be an unknown Malkavian. She has no idea if she is alive or not.

H I S T O R Y

In her early adolescence, before coming to understand her true heritage and the dark nature of her destiny, Sophronia was wild and ignorant. Her parents were typical upper class Englishmen living ungratefully off the wealth of their ancestors. Sophronia lived a life of uncompromised luxury, uncaring of the hard work that should have preceded it and indulging themselves in an empty and sheltered life. She was spoilt rotten with toys and dresses, which were her parents’ idea of a good substitute for the love they were uninterested in giving.

Her parents rarely took an interest in their children’s’ academic pursuits but Sophronia attended to hers diligently- she acquired a vast knowledge of the outside world, although this did nothing to easy the bounds of her prejudices, many of them taught to her by her parents (and probably the only thing they ever did teach her). Her pigheadedness fuelled her temper and she often threw tantrums and screaming fits, smashing up priceless heirlooms and hitting her equally unpleasant brothers and sisters. She was a brat of the highest order and things only proceeded to get worse as she discovered she could do something no one else could – Sophronia could move things with her mind.

Frequently during arguments strange things would occur – candles would blow out, ornaments rattled, portraits would fall off walls and winds would howl. At first her family were convinced that a malevolent poltergeist was gorging itself on the bad energy in their house, but they soon came to make the connection between the timing of these events and Sophronia’s outbursts. Sophronia was shunned, avoided by even her parents. Servants would bow to her every wish without question for fear that she would send them hurtling down the stairs, and with this influence Sophronia gained a twisted sense of superiority over her family, tormenting them with threats. It was only when Andromeda, Sophronia’s younger sister, finally confronted Sophronia that things changed. They fought, ending in the both of them leaving the family home. This was not something Sophronia was capable of handling though, and she soon fell into poverty, too proud to go home.

For years Sophronia lived as a pick pocket and a thief in the inhumane disgustingness of London, prowling the streets for men to exploit and victims to mug. She used her powers shamelessly to her advantage, surviving by levitating bread from stalls and the wallets from rich pockets. From constant use of her telekinesis she developed a strange magnetism for water, finding that she could manipulate it. On the banks of the Thames this proved an invaluable trick, for there was none who could cleanse its deadly waters as well as the Witch Sophronia. People would travel miles to retrieve pure water from Sophronia, but the blessing of saving children’s lives and improving living conditions was not of interest to her. She wanted extortionate amounts of money in return for her services, desperate to regain her way of life from home – but many did not accept this. For her greed Sophronia was hated, rumours spreading that she was a real sorceress and that she was dangerous.

These rumours, of course, reached the ears of the Malkavians.

At first Sophronia fiercely rejected the idea of being a Malkavian – how could someone possibly live for so long? She knew she looked unnaturally young for her age, as if she did not grow, but did that really mean she would live for hundreds of years? Sophronia had not been bought up as religious, her parents embracing the secularised society as more sophisticated, but was now paranoid that they thought her to a genuine witch: did these people really have abilities like her or were they only seeking to expose her? Sophronia was too tired of poverty to reject their promises though, and the Malkavians took her away from the squalor of the Thames to their stronghold in Manchester, revealing the history of their race and the Vampire Vs Lycan War. Overwhelmed and fatigued from her years of misery, Sophronia saw no choice but to accept their story and be shown what they too could do.

Predictably she was bedazzled by the variations of their powers, falling in love with the fire wielders and healers. She realised she had barely tapped the surface in exploring her own telekinesis, having always used it for trivial or petty means such as theft and revenge. Her mind and body were weak and she immediately began training under the impressive Akira to hone her abilities, the woman becoming a mentor and friend to her. She made an excellent student, becoming disciplined in her training and continually pushing her limits - however, despite her inner focus she was still the rebellious fool of her childhood, and she caused much conflict between the younger Malkavians. She was insatiable, only finding happiness in bullying others with her powers and trying to prove how strong she could be. Her superiors did not accept this though – often she was threatened with dismissal or humiliated in duels by more capable fighters, and she grew resentful of them, harbouring ideas of revealing them to the normal humans or joining another side as a spy.

For days Sophronia would run away, only to return again, but on one dark night she found herself being stalked by a violent, outcasted young Lycan. Hunting her through the city he sought to kill her, but was prevented by an ancient Vampire named Tristan. Fending off the Lycan together with their powers Sophronia and Tristan formed an intimate alliance, falling in love. Tristan was already several thousand years old and had grown tiresome of the war, just as Sophronia had, and together they dreamed of abandoning their sides and escaping the country for a new life – something that was particularly hard when Tristan could only travel by night.

Things became complicated, of course - Tristan resisted with immense self-control to not turn Sophronia, something she frequently begged him to do. She lived in fear of her morality despite having several hundred years ahead of her, and raged at him for being what she believed was selfishness, keeping his Vampire powers for himself. Not getting what she wanted had a hard impact on Sophronia, and although she tried to accept his refusal she grew ever more bitter, threatening to tell the Vampire Lord, Alexandria Rayne, Tristan’s plan to flee if he did not make her one of them.

Tristan got there first though. News reached the Malkavian superiors of Sophronia’s scheming to betray them and aid one side exclusively, even plotting to abandon the Malkavians completely and leave the country. She was not punished for this, for Malkavians were free to make their own choices, but she lost all respect and credibility regardless. Her training as an aquanesis was also stopped.

Angry and heart broken, Sophronia parted ways with Tristan and left the Malkavians without so much as an explanation to Akira, vanishing off their radar. Realising that she had been selfish in her minimal efforts toward the Malkavian crusade but too ashamed to go back and re-earn their respect, Sophronia outcasted herself and fled to the French-German border, feeling that her penance must be served on another frontline. The Great War was raging strong and hard above the surface of the silent Vampire Vs Lycan War, and the chaos provided Sophronia with excellent cover.

The pain and bloodshed that she witness there served as a constant reminder of what she had failed to hinder in her duty as a Malkavain, and for a long time Sophronia fought in the mud of the Somme, secretly using her abilities to aid both sides. As a woman her sacrifice was barely registered, let alone appreciated, but Sophronia had learned much about morality, selflessness and humbleness among the death and fighting, and she emerged from the remains of France with several added years of wisdom etched into her face. She was at last a wise woman, equal to her considerable age and a well worn warrior.

But the battle was not over.

The Great War had taken much from many, but Sophronia knew her own war, her real war, was still raging. Despite dreaming of being free of her cold, diseased purgatory on the frontline Sophronia knew that when it came to an end she would eventually have to make a choice – return to the Malkavians or continue on alone as a rogue. Sophronia inevitably, having learned too much to choose the latter, travelled back to the Malkavian stronghold in England. Her return was by no means celebrated, her image tainted by mistrust and secrecy, but she understood and accepted this, vowing to earn back from them what she had lost.

She took it upon herself to become a teacher at the Malkavian stronghold, training others to use their powers and develop more. She became highly successful at this but couldn’t help but feel that she was simply preparing soldiers for a war. Sophronia searched for new Malkavians tirelessly, scouring the country’s schools and orphanages for lost souls whose ordinary lives promised nothing – but was she really giving them a decent future, asking them to fight a war that was not theirs? The Malkavians were known for their mercy and need for peacefulness whenever possible, but would Akira and the other elders want to home them without actually asking that they join the war? The more Sophronia thought about this the more she regretted having been bought to the Malkavians with the intent of becoming a warrior. She had by no means forgot the disease and squalor the streets of London, or how painful her original running away had been, but a destiny without the Vampires and Lycans – without Tristan – ached with possibility that was never to be.

Sophronia was too emotionally torn to go back to being the angry, cold shell of her youth, but she knew she had to follow her heart, even if it meant through someone else. By now she was accustomed to battle, but that would not stop her from giving others the choice she never had. Whenever Sophronia was required to go out and rescue more Malkavians she decided she would give them an option – fight for a dangerous cause for hundreds of years, or go into the unknown alone. She made sure that neither seemed easy, but that the Malkavians would be there for them if their own futures took a wrong turn. Many made their thanks and headed along their own path, infusing Sophronia with the sense that she herself had made the choice to be free too, but thankfully for the Malkavian side many still came back with her.

For those weakened by ridicule Sophronia became a surrogate mother of sorts, providing them with a retreat from the constant presence of the war. This sparked in her a need for her own child, something she only wanted to do with the man she loved – and how could she approach him after all these years?

A blessing came on one lonesome rescue mission near the end of the Second World War. A dying Malkavian could be sensed on the outskirts of the city, and Sophronia was sent alone to find them. What she found was heart breaking – a young woman, no more than seventeen, had been attacked when her powers had been witnessed. Rejected by her family she had fled to a convent seeking sanctuary, but too afraid to go a hospital her wounds had become infected, slowly killing her. Another problem was that she was also pregnant with an unknown soldier's baby and ready to give birth. Sophronia stayed with her for the remaining few days of her life, helping the nuns deliver her baby, a little boy. To Sophronia’s relief the child was relatively unharmed from his mother’s trauma. The girl’s dying wish was that, if Sophronia’s story of the Vampires, Lycans and Malkavians was true, then it must be possible that her son too was of Malkavian blood, and so would Sophronia raise him as one? Sophronia was torn between putting him in an orphanage and having him live a relatively normal life, but her desire for a child was too great. She promised the girl she would take her son, and when she passed away Sophronia returned to Akira, presenting her with the baby.

Akira’s reaction was not what Sophronia expected though. Sophronia knew that Akira had lost her daughter in a battle between the Vampires and Lycans – she did not want Sophronia to go through the same pain of watching a child be killed, which the poor boy would undoubtedly be at some point. She argued that it would be inhumane for him to grow up knowing nothing but war and suffering, and so forbid Sophronia from keeping it, demanding that she leave it with humans. Sophronia agreed that she would, but already too attached to him she sought out the only other being she had trusted with her life, one she knew would be able to keep the baby safe…

After nearly a century apart Tristan was not pleased to see Sophronia. She had risked all three of their lives in seeking him and he would not threaten them further by taking a Malkavian baby of all things. Was she simply trying to trick him into loving her again with their own little family? Sophronia protested that it had nothing to do with Tristan, denying she was still in love with him. She cared for the boy and that was it. Tristan agreed to think about it, and returned to their meeting place the next night with his answer. He would take the boy and hide him, and he would be their secret. Sophronia was endlessly grateful to Tristan, promising that the pain they had caused each other would be avenged in giving their ‘son’ the safest upbringing they could provide.

But trickery was afoot. Tristan stole their son, his plan all along having been to leave Sophronia just as alone as she had left him. They vanished without Sophronia being able to even say goodbye to her unnamed adoptive son. She realised she had signed the poor thing’s death warrant by trusting him with a Vampire – for all that they claimed, wanting peace and an end to the violence, it would never be achieved so long as Vampires like Tristan prevailed. For a long time Sophronia lived in the deepest guilt, feeling as though she had killed the baby with her own two hands, but eventually it inspired her to make up for what she had done. He was another name in her long history that she had failed, and she could not make such a mistake again.

Since then Sophronia has worked tirelessly to try and ease the conflict between the Vampires and Lycans and to regain the respect of her fellow Malkavians, certain to never forget the hard lessons she has learned. She has no idea if Tristan or their son are still alive, having not heard from them since.