Dragolescu
From London Requiem
House Dragolescu
Parent Clan: Ventrue
Nickname: Formerly the Restless, now Pretenders
Bloodline Disciplines:
Predominate Covenant: Ordo Dracul, though rumors of a Carthian member persist in some circles.
Appearance: The Dragolescu are born of nobility, and, being a Ventrue bloodline, many of them are acquainted with high society. Their attire tends to be slightly dressier than appropriate for most occasions, and is often somewhat outdated, in favor of fashions from the 1940s and 1950s. Since Dragolescu are so often in motion, they tend to favor clothing that holds up to travel and activity well — something they can wear while kneeling in soot. Very few non-Caucasian Pretenders exist, but this is more a result of the bloodline’s European location of origin than of any racial preference. Non-Caucasian Dragolescu are still likely to be English or otherwise European.
Haven: Unlike some Ventrue, the Dragolescu don’t tend toward lavish havens. Spacious, yes, especially if the Pretender in question is in the habit of creating ghosts rather than simply using them. But since the Dragolescu don’t rest easily, they don’t spend much time actually in their havens (again, unless engaged in research). A Pretender’s haven is likely to be sparsely furnished but overflowing with books, notes and spiritualism paraphernalia, and might either be meticulously ordered or so cluttered that only the owner could possibly make sense of it. However, in recent years, the family seat lies in Columbus, Ohio at The Necropolis.
Background: The Dragolescu Embrace almost exclusively from the ranks of mortals who have some affinity for sensing, communicating with or even controlling ghosts. The Essentiaphagia Discipline is much easier to master if the practitioner instinctively understands some of the truths about spirits, after all. The Pretenders aren’t as particular as their parent clan about Embracing from high society, but they do prefer people educated in classics, literature, folklore, history and the occult, which aren’t exactly blue-collar pursuits. Ventrue outside of the bloodline may join, but the Ordo Dracul regulates this very carefully. Only those Ventrue who are judged to be strong enough to handle the restlessness and mental rigor of the bloodline are allowed to become Dragolescu. Ventrue who do often take “Darlington” as a middle name as a nod of respect to their new family.
Character Creation: Mental Attributes are usually primary, but Physical or Social might be secondary, depending on the approach of a given Pretender. Skills depend on the background of the Kindred in question, but every Dragolescu has some rating in Academics, Investigation and Occult (thus Mental Skills are usually primary). Mental Merits are appropriate, though Social Merits tend to dry up quickly, given the bloodline’s reputation in the Ordo Dracul.
Organization: The seat of Dragolescu power, such as it is, still rests in London. Despite the fact that the bloodline founder was Romanian by birth, the bloodline thinks of itself as undeniably English. Beyond that, a city with a Dragolescu presence typically also has a greater-than-average number of haunts. The Ordo Dracul keeps very close track of the Pretenders, however, never sure if or when Ioan Dragolescu’s last prediction will come to pass.
Concepts: Blue Hand apologist, detective, disgraced Ventrue scion, genealogist, ghost hunter, ghost wrangler, haunt architect, horror writer, medium, prophet, student to the Kogaion
What is Known
The Dragolescu bloodline was very important within the Ordo Dracul for a brief time. It emerged as a line of modern nobility, intelligent, forthright and bold. The advances of their founder into the realms of the dead and his ability to communicate with and make use of human ghosts provided the basis for much of what the covenant knows about modern haunts and Wyrm’s Nests associated with death. But the bloodline fell from grace in the middle of the 20th century, and now the name Dragolescu has come to be synonymous with sycophancy, name-dropping and the unforgivable sin of self-enslavement to otherworldly spirits.
