The Masquerade

A middle-aged male Kindred Ventrue with a grotesquely scarred and misshapen face, missing his left eye, with a thin patches of hair. He wears layers of ill-fitting military jackets from various eras, scavenged coats, and threadbare scarves, resembling a broken king clinging to his throne.

Lodin is a paradox of grandeur and decay, paranoid yet precise, mad but methodical. He craves recognition and validation, listening for whispers of his name like a god-starved for prayer. Despite his madness and disfigurement, he retains strategic genius and deep insight into Kindred and kine politics, playing the game from the shadows with twisted pride and explosive violence when slighted.

Born Olaf Holte in 19th-century Norway, he came to America in 1830 to expand his family’s legacy. With his father’s influence, he entered West Point and distinguished himself in the Mexican-American War, drawing the attention of Toreador Prince Eletria. At her urging, the Ventrue elder Datura Embraced him. Taking the name Lodin, he moved to Chicago and plotted to seize power, eventually toppling Brujah Prince Maxwell during the chaos of the Great Fire of 1871. As Prince, Lodin ruled for over a century through manipulation, brutality, and growing paranoia. He created a vast brood to secure his power but never saw he was a pawn in the Jyhad between Helena and Menele. During the War of Chicago in the early '90s, he was believed slain—but survived, broken and disfigured. Now hiding in the shadows of his former domain, Lodin feeds on addicts and the lost, haunted by what he was and still watching the Kindred above, waiting for the right moment to rise again.