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    VIRO SERUT
    ☉ Vampire ☉ Vigilante ☉ Ex-Mobster ☉
    Names & Aliases


    The Mississippi Mooncat, Boss

    For a man of 5'1", Viro is exceedingly intimidating. He may have long ago traded his prohibition era speakeasy and pinstripes for a hole in the wall pizza joint and an apron, but he never lost his edge, and he is undeniably in charge of any room he happens to walk into.

    Viro is somewhat roughly charming. He's got a voice like a smokestain, an easy laugh, and a sense of confidence that's almost infectious. When he smiles he does it with one side of his mouth pulled up, like he's about to tell a dirty joke. Viro never fully shows his teeth when he smiles. You never see the fangs until he wants you to.

    Viro's dress and stylings are all straight from the decade that birthed punk and rebirthed him. His hair is a startling shade of red and rebelliously tousled, and he can often be caught wearing shades at odd times of day to deflect attention from the unusual color of his eyes. He's had more piercings than he can keep track of, and the leather dog collar he often uses to cover up the scar from his death has become almost iconic.

    But the way Viro carries himself and the odd turns of phrase that sneak into his vocabulary are from a much, much older time. Some things just stay with you, like the tattoo on the back of his shoulder of a black tom perched over a dark and winding river. The moon rises like a watchful eye behind it. He's got the roman numeral for five between two of his toes, a reminder of one of the few times Viro let himself get caught.

    Viro is the poise and presence of a silver screen gangster dressed up in the leather and growl of the 1980s. He lost his life in one era and regained his soul in the other. Despite their differences, something about these conflicting decades seem to compliment each other while worn on him. Maybe it's a mutual love of grit and music, or maybe it's the blood.
    He/Him - Pansexual - 121 Years
    Aries - Born March, 28th, 1902 - New Orleans/New York City


    ☾ Adaptable
    ☾ Charismatic
    ☾ Big-Hearted
    ☾ Confident
    ☾ Reliable
    ☾ Warm
    ☾ Generous
    ☾ Hardworking
    ☾ Sociable
    ☾ Patient
    ☾ Honorable
    ☾ Loyal
    ☾ Thoughtful
    ☾ Supportive
    ☾ Perceptive
    		☉ Competitive
    ☉ Flirtatious
    ☉ Wild
    ☉ Persistent
    ☉ Crafty
    ☉ Opportunistic
    ☉ Slick
    ☉ Passionate
    ☉ Brazen
    ☉ Thrifty
    ☉ Hedonistic
    ☉ Frank
    ☽ Cocky
    ☽ Coarse
    ☽ Combative
    ☽ Crude
    ☽ Cynical
    ☽ Vain
    ☽ Ill-mannered
    ☽ Sarcastic
    ☽ Dangerous
    ☽ Rebellious
    ☽ Ruthless
    ☽ Pushy
    ☽ Mercurial


    Pronunciation
    Vie-roh Say-root

    Preferred Hand
    Right Handed

    Alignment
    Neutral Evil (early years) to Chaotic Good (present)

    Accent
    Viro has a strong Brooklyn accent, but you can catch it softened by something more southern around certain words and phrases.
    Body Type
    Inverted Triangle; Muscular

    Aura
    Dull, red brown. Pulses like a heartbeat.
    Tarot Card
    The Devil

    Sounds Like
    Billy Idol

    Scent
    Leather, sandalwood, lemons, rosemary, and something warm and spicy. Just a hint of something coppery beneath it all.


    ♣ Character Questions

    History & Hobbies


    Do they collect anything?
    Viro collects rare/nice editions of classic horror novels, like Dracula and Frankenstein. His father was a big horror fan and a writer himself and would read them to Viro as a child, so he still has a big soft spot for the genre.

    What is their favorite music genre?
    Swing and jazz always hit well. Classic rock. Viro both enjoys and preforms rockabilly.

    Do they have a favorite fabric or texture?
    Viro's a big fan of leather and suede.

    Are they messy, or do they clean up?
    The vibes read messy, but Viro's actually extremely meticulous about his space. Shoes come off at the entrance of his apartment, and not a sock is out of place. He even dusts regularly. His kitchen is always spotless, and heaven help you if you don't keep it that way.

    Do they like animals?
    Viro's not the kind of person to go seeking out animals, but he likes them well enough, and if a pet happens to fall into his lap (like his cat) then he'll take care of it and love it. It'll be part of the family.

    What is their favorite animal?
    Viro likes cats. He also thinks fish are interesting to watch.

    Do they wear perfume/cologne? What is their favorite scent?
    Occasionally! Viro uses Knize Ten Knize and scents like it. He tends to find one or two things he likes and sticks with them.

    Do they wear makeup regularly? If they don’t, would they consider wearing any?
    He doesn't wear it regularly, but he has worn it before. He doesn't feel any sort of way about it. It's just not really for him.

    Do they prefer to be really cold or really warm?
    Viro enjoys being warm. He likes sitting in front of the fire, and if he still could sunbathe, he would. Cozy fireplace sits are an acceptable second though.

    How big is their family?
    Viro doesn't have any living biological family left. His father died when he was a young teenager, and his mother died of old age later on. They didn't have any siblings and he was an only child. He considered Krepta an adopted daughter/little sister of sorts, but she went missing in her teens and is presumed dead. There are friends he was fairly close to, but after what happened with Krepta, things became more distant. He has plenty of on again off again romances, but nothing serious, and no spouse. The troubled kids and runaways he looks out for are probably his closest thing to family these days.

    What are their ticks/quirks?

    Viro chews toothpicks sometimes. He used to smoke and still gets the urge on occasion, but quit when he and the others took Krepta in. He started up again when she went missing, but has since quit again now that he regularly works with kids and at risk populations. He has no desire to add to their usual slew of health problems with his own habits.

    He still keeps his lucky lighter on him though. It's gotten him out of more than a few jams in the past, social and otherwise.

    Do they like children?
    Viro will grumble and pretend that he works with kids because someone has to look after them, but he really adores his foundlings and would absolutely and messily kill for them if it came to it. And despite his usual gruff, he's actually pretty good with children.

    What is their go to comfort food?
    Beefy brunettes who let him bully them a little. Also Boudin balls, sometimes with a little squeeze of honey.

    Do they like cuddling?
    Viro does enjoy cuddling. He's not the love 'em and leave 'em type in that way. He'll cuddle up and feed you breakfast before he tells you to get lost, at least.

    Do they believe in luck?
    Viro does believe in luck, good and bad. He's a little superstitious about things here and there, even and is definitely a 'never take an old broom to a new place' kind of person.

    What is their sexuality?
    Viro is bi, though he's pickier about his men than his women. He still gets a little stuck in the past with things like non-binary genders sometimes, but it's more out of habit than hate, and the kids are teaching him.

    Do you have any spicy facts about him?
    I do! But you'll have to ask specially for those. I try to keep this area mostly safe for work.

    What is their favourite holiday?
    Literally any holiday that lets him crack out the grill and have a BBQ. He likes to feed people, and he loves nothing more than lounging by a lake or a pool with his food afterwards.

    Do they want kids? If they already have kids, do they want more?
    Viro helped raise Krepta, so technically he's already had one, if not for terribly long. He also has plenty of foundlings that come and go that he considers 'his', but he doesn't really want kids of his own in the traditional sense, no. He's happy with what he's got.

    Have they ever broken the law?
    Infamously so, though he's hunted down and destroyed every record that he can get his hands on that says so. If you really dug, you'd probably still be able to find stuff from way back. These days he sticks mostly to stuff that no one can prove, or that just toe the line. He'd absolutely still disappear someone bad enough, though.

    Do they own a plant?
    Viro has a few herbs he keeps on his windowsill and balcony for fresh stuff, and handful of hardy odds and ends plants that people have given him over time scattered around his apartment and the restaurant.

    Do they like to show off?
    Absolutely. Viro loves being in the spotlight. On his terms, though.

    What is their favourite song?
    No Moon at All and Li'l Red Riding Hood.

    Are they approachable?
    Ehhhh. It depends. Viro certainly doesn't look approachable to most people. If you're bold and give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised. He likes people with moxie. But not too much moxie. Mind your manners. He's still the big fish in whatever pond he's swimming in and he'll let you know it too.

    He'll occasionally mess with people who are a little too nervous around him or don't toe the line enough, but usually, usually it's harmless.

    Kids and folks down on their luck are his soft spot though. He always makes an effort to seem a little less scary around them.

    Do they have a place that can go and turn off their brain?
    Viro cooks. If he's been stressed, his biggest tell is that the freezers are absolutely full to bursting with extra food. Otherwise he blows off steam and turns his brain off in less safe for work ways.


    Rainy day things, favorites, and little misc. facts.

    Skills & Powers


    Do they lie often? Are they good at it?
    Viro has an excellent poker face. Chances are if he's lying to you, you'll either never know, or he's purposefully turned you in circles with so many deliberate lies that you'll never be able to guess what the truth might be.

    Despite that fact though, he actually doesn't lie too often. Or bluff. It's best to take threats at face value.

    Can they drive? What vehicles are they licensed to operate?
    Viro drives and is a damn good driver at that. He made every get away driver he ever had back in the day give him lessons, and picked up even more tricks in the 80s. He knows how to drive boats and motorcycles too, including steam boats, but mostly sticks to his singular car these days. His dark red Tucker 48 is his baby. And no wonder-- it's worth quite a lot of money.

    Can they cook? What’s their favorite thing to make?
    Viro is an excellent cook. He can also bake and brew and makes his own sodas. He doesn't really have a favorite, persay, just cuisines he's had more experience with than others. He likes figuring out what people would most like and making them something custom. It's a fun challenge for him and a chance to show off his skills.

    Can they dance? Do they like to?
    He can! He can swing dance, in fact, and knows quite a few styles, including some that aren't really practiced anymore. He also knows a handful from the 80s, but hasn't really kept up with more modern stuff all that much.

    How many languages do they know?
    English, Louisiana Creole, French, and a decent amount of Spanish, though he's not fluent in that last one.

    Are they more book smart or street smart?
    Both. The biggest mistake someone can make is assuming that Viro is uneducated just because he's gruff and seasoned by a hard life. He's self educated, but he's learning all the time, any chance he gets, and underestimating that fact has been the ugly downfall of many of his rivals and enemies in the past.

    Do they have any artistic talent?
    Music wise, yes. When it comes to paint and pencils though, not really. He's just never been interested.

    Any questions pertaining to Viro's skills or powers.

    Dark & Serious

    Are they happy with their body?
    Pretty happy! I think Viro wishes he wasn't so pale, and he'd get rid of the scar on his neck for sure, but more because it's a reminder of bad memories and less because of aesthetics. Overall he's pretty satisfied with his appearance, but he also puts a lot of upkeep into it too. He's aware that it takes work.

    What’s their preferred sleeping position?
    When he's alone, he usually sleeps sprawled out on his back, sometimes with one hand thrown up over his head. If there's someone else in the bed, he's usually the big spoon.

    Are they combative? What is their fighting style?
    Absolutely. Viro never shies from a fight, physical or verbal. If someone's behaving towards him in a manner he considers disrespectful, he'll give a warning, then he'll get mean. That's not to say that he fights everyone he ever meets, but Viro is used to being in charge in any given situation. That's where he feels safest, and he'll go out of his way to make sure that equilibrium isn't shaken, even if it means hurting feelings-- or more than feelings.

    He typically only takes things about as far as he needs to make a point, but back in the day, that point sometimes wound up with someone being fed to a catfish.

    Viro leans heavily on boxing when he fights.

    What recurring dream do they keep having?
    Viro often has nightmares where he's looking for Krepta. He doesn't like to talk about it.

    Do they believe in true love? Have they experienced it?
    He thinks it's a pretty sappy idea, honestly. Does he believe in it? Eh. Depends on the day. He believes love is hard work and he'd rather focus on other things. Viro has never been romantically in love in that way, but he's had plenty of platonic relationships that he'd consider that deep.

    What do they think is their worst quality? What is their actual worst quality?
    Viro thinks his worst quality is his temper.

    And he'd be right.

    Viro, despite appearances, is fairly self aware.

    He also has a habit of being somewhat selfish during romantic engagements. He's not usually cruel, but he's very much not into commitment, and while he's generally pretty up front about that fact, anyone who catches feelings for him despite that warning is likely to get the cold shoulder.

    What are they most afraid of?
    Losing loved ones. That being said, it's happened so frequently in his life that that particular fear has kind of numbed him.

    Would they ever kill anybody?
    Yes. Can, has, would again. Viro doesn't kill indiscriminately-- not even back in the day-- but when he was the Mooncat, if someone was less of a threat to him dead, then he'd do it. If a message needed to be sent? He'd do it. Wasn't always personal. The surviving relatives usually got flowers.

    These days only the really bad ones get the cement shoe fittings, and they usually get a couple of warnings first unless they've done something truly terrible, but he'll absolutely do it if they prove to him that they're better off dead. It's pretty rare, but once and a while he's responsible for the odd missing persons report for sure.

    Modern day Viro is a good man for the most part, but not a nice one. Mob boss Viro was not a good or a nice man.

    How do they react to someone dying?
    Viro's seen a lot of people die. He's been responsible for some of those deaths. How he deals with it depends on why they're dead. He usually keeps a pretty cool head either way though. If it's someone he cares about, then he can cry later, once everything is taken care of.

    Some of these questions touch on darker topics. If you prefer lighter subjects then you should click one of the other question categories instead.




    Appearance

    Human/Vampire
    Red Eyes with silver flecks - Pale Complexion - Short, spiky/messy Red Hair - 5'1", Around 135lbs - Athletic Build

    Starvation State
    Glowing red eyes, wispy, undefined - Elongated, emaciated face and body, Shadowy/translucent black skin - needle-like teeth felt rather than seen - 5'6" - very fast, but weighs very little... maybe about 75lbs

    ♣ Appearance in Depth
    Human/Vampire
    Viro is short and muscular, with pale skin and unnaturally red eyes and hair. He carries himself confidently and always has his head on a swivel, even when he's pretending not to. A lifetime of preparing for trouble and being the trouble will do that to you. He can relax, but he's always ready to go deep down inside.

    Viro usually prefers punk style clothing from the 80s-- leather jackets, collars, spikes, sometimes gloves. But you'll also see him occasionally in an occasional t-shirt, or even a pinstripe suit and wingtip shoes if he's going to a fancy occasion. He knows how to clean up enough that he often looks like an entirely different person.

    Sometimes he'll wear a cross for aesthetics, and because he thinks it's funny, but he's not religious.
    Starvation State
    Rarely seen, Viro's starvation state means you're in serious danger. It only happens when he's well... starving, which means he's injured enough to be desperate, or hasn't fed in nearly a week. Viro is near feral in this state, if not entirely so, and his first and only thought is usually getting fed.

    When this happens, Viro's skin turns shadowy and translucent. His face and body elongate and become emaciated looking, his vertebra and fingers longer and inhuman, and the edges of his form become undefined and hazy. His eyes lose any sign of pupils or sclera and become glowing red holes in his face. His mouth is impossible to make out from the rest of him in this state unless he opens his mouth, but he has thousands of tiny, needle-like teeth when he does, each a translucent black.

    He doesn't weigh much at all in this form-- maybe about the size of a medium sized dog-- but he's fast and you typically feel him before you see him.

    ☽ ☉ ☾
  • Skills & Abilities

    ✄ Culinary Expertise
    (cooking, baking, food preservation, brewing, presentation)

    ✄ Talented Musician
    (singing, some knowledge of stage gear/special effects, guitar, trumpet)

    ✄ Combat & Weapons
    (boxing & kickboxing, MMA, firearms, knives & daggers)

    ✄ Driving & Vehicles
    (as long as it's not new enough to have a computer in it, viro can take it apart and put it back together)
    ☾ Umbrakinetic
    (shadow transport, shadow manipulation, dark emotion empathy, fear feed, monstrous frenzy state)

    ☾ Vampire Powers
    (slowed aging, enhanced strength, enhanced speed, enhanced endurance, regeneration, hypnosis, venom, no technical need to breath or eat normal food)
    ☠ Starvation Frenzy State
    (turns into an uncontrollable shadow beast until gorged on blood)

    ☠ Vampiric Limitations
    (prolonged exposure to sunlight hurts, concentrated UV blasts/solar magic can seriously injure, blood bags are a no go, must feed to heal, hawthorn oil burns, can be caught by the same spells and circles that trap ghosts, needs an invitation to enter places of worship or personal homes)

    ☠ Umbrakinetic Limitations
    (need existing shadows to work with, bright lights can weaken or stop powers)

    ☠ Technology Curse
    (pissed off a witch, has a technological 'stuck in the past' curse. now can't use any technology that connects to the internet without giving it a virus that spouts obscene nonsense.)


    ♣ Skills & Abilities in Depth

    Skills & Abilities

    The Dead Next Door
    Viro was never professionally trained, but a long life and a passion for the culinary arts has more than made up for that. Food is Viro's love language, harkening back to a time long before he was turned where he would come home from a hard day, and his mom would somehow be able to guess exactly what snack to make to cheer him up. Viro's got a knack for the same trick, and there's not much he hasn't tried his hand at. Viro's specialty is the Italian/Cajun fusion seen in his New York based pizza joint though. He also brews his own whiskey and has been trying his hand at specialty sodas as of late.

    King Rocker
    Viro has also had a lot of time to indulge in his love of music. From the crooners and jazz of the 30s to the punk rock and hair bands of the 80s, the most prominent parts of Viro's life have been soaked in musical revolution. He's got a good range of vocals and some decent talent with the guitar, but he's more of a casual musician than anything serious. Having enhanced senses means that bright stage lights and sustained loud noises give him a headache after a while.

    Don't Need a Gun
    Viro grew up in a rough neighborhood, and that was while he was still alive. Things only went downhill after his death. He's dealt with supernatural street gangs, spent a good deal of the 1930s and 40s running a mob of his own, and even in recent years has done a little vigilante work.

    Viro prefers to fight down and dirty, and he's not shy about bloodying his knuckles. He's got knowledge on a variety of firearms and other weapons as well though, mostly those present in the 30s and 40s. He'll also totally hit an asshole with his car-- just not the good car.

    He learned most of his fighting skills in a time where boxing, kick-boxing, and MMA were the flavors of the day.

    Drive it Like You Stole It
    Viro doesn't collect cars-- he has the one he uses for daily life and the one he takes out on the town. Anything more than that he thinks is silly. Cars are meant to be used. But he does know a lot about them-- different types, how to put them together, fix them... take them apart. Back when he was the Mooncat, he made every getaway driver he ever had teach him their tricks, and he picked up a few extras in the 80s too. He knows how to care for and use his machines well.

    (Do Not) Stand in the Shadows
    Viro can use any shadow to 'step through' to any other nearby shadows. The shadow must be dark enough and large enough to accommodate whatever he's bringing through, but he can bring one or two other people with him each time. This ability only has a range of about a few blocks. No teleporting across cities here.

    Viro can also create shadow tendrils to lift and move objects, as well as ambient clouds of darkness. He can blot out light sources and obscure areas of about fifteen feet with these clouds, but as they aren't natural shadows, he can't use them to shadow-step.


    Kiss Me Deadly
    It's a well known fact that most vampires have some little trick or so to keep their prey from fighting back and disrupting their meal. The sort of vampire that Viro is possesses a venom capable of producing a kind of narcotic and euphoric effect.

    This venom is potent enough that there's a black market for venom pushers out there who turn the tables and take the stuff from vampires unwillingly. They call it Fang. Viro's had to fight off more than one addict whose life has been ruined by this substance. The amount of venom a vampire typically uses for feeding is much smaller than the amount used in the drug, however, which is often mixed with other potent narcotics. Natural vampire venom is rarely addictive or harmful, though some people are more sensitive than others.

    Viro's saliva also contains a potent proto-histatin that keeps wounds clean and promotes rapid healing when the deed is done so he can cover his tracks.

    Fatal Charm
    If the venom doesn't work, then there's always good old fashioned hypnosis. Eye contact puts the target under, though how long it takes and how deep they fall depends both on the will of the individual and of the vampire. It usually takes the victim a few moments to shake the trance off once eye contact has been broken.

    Simple commands can be given to those caught in a vampire's hypnosis. Singular words and short phrases work best, though more talented vampires are capable of giving more complex orders. Commands completely against an individual's nature or that cause them to harm themselves simply won't work. It's also very hard to command someone to completely forget something. Vampires tend to make screen memories instead to overwrite memories that might cause them trouble down the line.

    Viro has about middling talent where hypnosis is concerned. He can wield a bit of this gift with just his voice or through eye contact, though it's only good for enhancing natural inclinations. He's not much good at giving more than simple commands even when an individual is fully under.

    Shakin' All Over
    Viro has a natural talent for enhancing existing fears and anxieties. He's a bit of an empathic feeder-- meaning that he gets more from a blood meal if there's a certain emotion attached to it. He's got a bit of an addiction where fear is concerned, and he's got to work hard to keep a lid on it.

    When Viro exercises this particular talent, nervous people will become scared, and those already scared will be whipped into a terrified frenzy. He cannot create something out of nothing, but he's very good at making bad situations worse. Strong empaths, telepaths, or even just fairly willful people will be able to sense that he's manipulating them and may be able to resist him.

    Shock to the System
    Viro's endurance is impressive, and it takes a lot to knock him down. In the event that he can't outlast or outrun a problem and he gets hurt, his body is capable of incredible feats of self healing, just as long as he's fed recently enough. Any wounds or bodily damage are quickly repaired as long as Viro's head and heart are still intact.

    Drugs and toxins are also ineffective unless consumed with blood, in which case they'll have to cycle out of his body the old fashioned way. Since he's already dead to begin with though-- or dead enough in any case, these are unlikely to kill him. He'll still have to contend with all other effects though, and you're likely to have one pissed off and hungover vampire when he recovers.

    Power Junkie
    During most normal day to day situations, Viro isn't particularly more graceful or fast than anyone else with his physique. When he goes full vampire, though, you can't help but wonder how you ever thought that he was human in the first place. When hunting, Viro is fast, insanely well balanced, and very strong. His movements all seem wrong somehow, like there is something inside his skin that doesn't quite fit its human shape right, like there should maybe be more limbs somehow.

    Viro can lift about 500-600lbs easily. He can run at about 60mph at a sprint with a cruising speed about half of that. Coupled with his enhanced senses and the increased endurance of a body constantly repairing itself and you have the makings of a very short and messy horror flick if you find yourself on the wrong side of his craving or a bad mood.

    The trade in is that Viro has to let the monster out in order to reach his full strength, and once it's out, it's hard to put back in again until it's had a proper meal, and if loses his hold on it, he slips into his starvation state. The faster and stronger he gets, the closer he gets to losing control.


    Tremble
    Viro's starvation state is when he's finally lost control, be it overclocking of his abilities, severe emotional instability, serious injury, or just a lack of blood for a very long time (about a week). His starvation state is a twisted, monstrous looking, shadowy form that blends in with the darkness around it. It's much, much lighter than Viro, and nowhere near as strong (about peak human strength), but it is fast, and still possesses both his venom and his shadow stepping abilities. It strikes quickly and often, and by the time it's draining you dry, you can't fight back anymore. Viro has little control over himself in this state until he's properly fed.
    Weaknesses & Limits

    Trouble With the Sweet Stuff
    Viro needs to feed every three days in order to continue to look alive enough to pass as human. After three days, his skin will grow incredibly pale, his veins more prominent, and his gums will shrink back, causing his fangs to noticeably protrude. His shadow and reflection will both vanish, and his eyes gain an unnatural constant glow, like the eyes of an animal caught in a headlight.

    When he's this hungry, Viro's instincts will cause him to be more drawn to quick movement and nervous behaviors, and he'll be far more distractable and irritable until he's fed. After about a week with no blood his hair will begin to fall out and his body will begin to thin as it eats itself. He will grow more and more feral at this point until he's had his fill of blood (see starvation state). Viro cannot die via blood starvation, but if left long enough without a meal he will enter a state of hibernation until given blood. He will also very likely completely drain and possibly cannibalize the person foolish enough to do so.

    As a note, Viro can also only feed from living beings. The blood of the dead is toxic to vampires and can result in a paralyzing condition known as stone-joint. He can feed from animals and other beings, but they are far less effective by far than feeding from his host species. Bagged blood will take the edge off, but won't fully fulfill his needs as there's an emotional component to the feeding.

    Then the Night Comes
    Viro is nocturnal by nature. His internal clock wakes up when the sun goes down. He also is nocturnal by necessity. Strong UV light can burn him, and he is nearly as weak as any non-vampire beneath the sun. If exposed to sunlight too long or artificial UV light of enough strength, he'll start to blister up, with further prolonged exposure being deadly.

    Unlike some other vampires, it's not an instant thing for Viro. If he wears enough sunscreen or other protection, and the UV strength isn't too bad that day, he can spend a little time in the sun. He's also a contrary animal who was a sun-baby long before he was a vampire. Though he can only handle an hour or two in all but the weakest sunlight, he absolutely slathers himself in sunscreen on sufficiently overcast days and drags out the lawn chair. He gets sunburns frequently because of this, but hey, nothing a little drink won't cure.

    Untouchables
    There are a couple of things that interact poorly with the magic that keeps vampires animated. Concentrated oil from the Hawthorne tree is one of them. It'll blister a vampire's skin like acid and the wound will begin to rot until cleansed. Even then, injuries caused by Hawthorne oil will heal up human-slow.

    Injuries caused by light based magic are also similarly unpleasant, though not nearly as severe. This is not because vampires are evil or soulless though, and religious or spiritual magics have no more or less effect on them than any other person-- just light, and moreso if it's sun-based.

    The Invisible Man
    Much of the world regards vampires like the rest of the dead, and the living world belongs to the living. Viro's not stuck haunting the place where he 'died', but he does have to get permission from the owner of a space to enter into any private residence.

    Lucky for him, that need doesn't extend to public places like malls and ice cream shops. Somewhat unluckily for him, an invitation can be revoked at any time if the person knows to do so formally, even while he's still in the building. This invitation also extends to places of worship, and Viro must gain permission to enter into the 'house' of the religion from one of the place's religious leaders... or the deity or deities in question themselves. If he tries to ignore this boundary, or invitation is revoked with him still inside it, things begin to get very uncomfortable, like the increasingly powerful feeling of pins and needles under his skin until he leaves.

    Anything that can physically trap a ghost, like certain magical circles, can also trap Viro too.

    Stuck in the Past
    Viro has led a long and interesting love life. He's also been a jerk and broken more than his fair share of hearts over that span. True to form, when cellphones and texting became a thing, he made the mistake of breaking up with an ex via text message.

    Said ex got pretty pissed off over it. Said ex was also a witch.

    Now Viro can't touch anything connected to the internet without it going haywire. Any tech he touches acts as if it's caught a virus, spouting all sorts of nonsense and sometimes very much not child friendly sound bites. That sounds mostly funny until you remember just how many things computers are built into these days.

    Still, true to form, Viro has elected to make this everyone else's problem. Don't let him 'borrow' your cellphone if he asks.

    Time is a Lion
    Viro still ages, just incredibly slowly. He was seventeen when he was turned, and though he certainly doesn't look his hundred and some odd years, he certainly doesn't look seventeen anymore either. Not much of a direct weakness, but worth noting all the same.



    ☽ ☉ ☾
  • Backstory
    Viro's come a long way from where he started. Born in Brooklyn in the 1920's, life was rough for his family after his father passed away. Viro got involved with a rough crowd for the same reasons a lot of young people did-- a sense of power in a world that made them feel powerless, community, and the ability to provide for his family. Ironically, it was the same thing that put a strain on his relationship with his mother, and by the time the leader of the Golden Jackals buried his fangs in Viro's neck, they had already drifted far apart.

    Viro didn't choose to be turned, and the rage he felt at his sire would eventually result in the messy destruction of the Golden Jackals at Viro's hands, but not before he climbed the ranks and became a powerhouse in the mad new world he had found himself in.

    Absorbing the few members of the Jackals that were loyal to him into his own ranks, he beat a path south to escape the blood bath he had left behind, where he quickly became known as the infamous Mississippi Mooncat. His operation was run out of an old river boat that prowled up and down the waterways around New Orleans and its surrounding areas. Viro and his gang terrorized the area for many years, rarely leaving survivors behind to identify them outside of legend and rumors.

    Eventually, though, he met with disaster again. Legs, a once loyal member of his crew, turned on him, murdering his gang while he was away on business. She ambushed him as well when he returned, and it was only through the sacrifice of one remaining crew member that he recovered enough to survive and kill her. The event left him painfully alone and questioning everything.

    He wandered for many years until the 1980s found him in back in New York. There he ran into a creature that called itself Sol. The two fought, and Sol overpowered Viro, but instead of delivering the finishing blow, Sol tended to the ex-mobster's wounds, both inside and out. Eventually Viro came to, and while far from perfectly healed, he found himself, for the first time in a long time, wanting to live again.

    Much of the 80s was spent with Sol, who could not travel as freely as Viro because of his frightening appearance. Viro tended to Sol's needs instead, and in turn, Sol helped Viro to heal his mind. From there, Viro opened Mooncats, a pizza shop not far from Sol's haunt, and when a mutual friend of theirs found themselves taking in a recently orphaned child, he found himself playing guardian for a some years before time and tragedy took her away again.

    Viro helps look after the neighborhood still these days, dealing with localized supernatural threats and looking out for those with nowhere else to go. He's got a habit of taking in strays and pulls occasional gym teacher duty at a nearby school for supernatural and superpowered youth.

    ♣ Backstory in Depth


    0-17 years: Viro's parents were recent immigrants and not terribly well off. His mother (Laura) was from Italy, and his father (Samuel) was from Poland. His mother worked in a nearby department store and his father in a shipyard, occasionally supplementing their income with horror pulps he wrote and sold.

    Viro wasn't living in luxury, but between the two of his parents, they made enough to keep food on the table and the lights on.

    When Viro's father was killed in an accident in the shipyard though, this changed, and suddenly the entire financial burden fell on the recently widowed Laura. Viro, now old enough to seek out work himself, did his best to help, but struggling with a predatory landlord made things even harder, even when he did find work.

    This is when Viro first ran into the Jackals. The Golden Jackals, a local gang that only ever seemed to show up at night, had always been a common sight around Viro's neighborhood. Wisely, he avoided them, but after a heated argument with the landlord resulted in a rough up, one of the Jackals intervened, and Viro started seeing them in a different light.

    Suddenly they became a solution rather than a problem. They helped him find work, and the landlord problem mysteriously vanished, and Viro found himself more confident about his mother being out on her own with watchful eyes about.

    When they asked him to do a few odd jobs in return, he didn't complain. Brothers helped each other out, after all. Family was everything.

    As these things tend to, those tasks escalated, got scary. Violent. Still, Viro didn't shy. His mother was safe, and comfortable, and so was he for the most part. And if she looked him in the eyes a little less... well, she just didn't understand what it took to take care of a family. She was protected.

    When Viro rose in the Jackal's ranks enough, he was offered a special initiation-- a way to protect his mother, himself, and his new family's investments forever. All he needed to do was accept a little bite and drink a bit of blood.

    As Viro would tell you now-- kids do stupid things.

    17-45 years: At first, being a vampire was great. Viro was rarely tired. He was super strong, fast, durable, and the transformation unlocked latent genes that let him commune with the shadows like something out of one of his father's pulp novels. Feeding was a little tricky to get the hang of at first, but even that had it's perks.

    He didn't mind killing for the Jackals. In his mind, most of the people he did in had it coming anyway. When one of their own went turncoat though, the complication of that member's family as witnesses came up, though. Viro was put in charge of silencing them.

    He couldn't do it.

    That was the first real beating he got from the Jackals. Viro's own mother was threatened too. Another member was sent to take care of the job while Viro was forced to watch.

    Something changed that day. Other people might have realized the error of their ways-- turned away from that path-- but Viro came to the conclusion that in order to protect what he loved, he would have to be the one in control.

    So he bided his time, played nice, lulled those who needed to be lulled into a sense of confidence and security while behind the scenes he made friends and connections and plans. It took a handful of years, but by the time Viro finally turned on the leader of the Jackals, it wasn't even a contest.

    Viro had anyone in the gang not loyal to him killed. Then he left New York with the rest, knowing full well that when the story hit the news his mother would put two and two together. She wasn't a stupid woman, and he couldn't face the horror in his eyes. Even then, he didn't regret it. He had done what needed to be done.

    From there Viro found his way south to Louisiana where he became a ghost story whispered on the Big Muddy, The Mississippi Mooncat. He picked up 'family' as strange and as otherworldly as he was, and wrought terror up and down the river for many, many years.

    Of course, the thing about hanging out with murderers and thieves is that you're bound to find someone who's willing to stab you in the back for what you've got or what you've done eventually. Viro's Brutus came in the form of a woman named Legs.

    Viro, to this day, still doesn't know where she came from, but she was a devil of a woman, all charm and easy violence, and far, far more cunning than she let on. Maybe it was a revenge scheme-- maybe she had been sent by a rival-- or maybe she was just blood hungry.

    Either way, she infiltrated Viro's gang and cozied up enough so that when the shooting started, no one even thought to look her way at first. Viro was out on business when it happened, and arrived to find just the tail end of the massacre, and an ambush waiting for him.

    If it weren't for the sacrifice of his right hand woman, Pearl, Viro would have died there too. But knowing that she was already as good as dead, she insisted that Viro drink his fill and heal himself.

    And so he did, and then he found Legs and made her regret every life taken. Slowly. Painfully.

    45-60 years: Killing Legs wouldn't bring Viro's family back, though. With their deaths, Viro lost his appetite for the life and spent a long time just wandering aimlessly for about fifteen years. He doesn't remember much about that time between, only that he probably did a lot that he wasn't proud of.

    Eventually, he found himself back in New York, in his old neighborhood. His mother was long dead. He had seen her lain to rest himself next to his father. There were only more ghosts to greet him when he arrived. Strangely, though, he felt drawn anyway.

    Maybe it was fate that found him chasing a strange figure out gathering graveyard moss in the gloom. Maybe it was just chance. Either way, he found himself pursing something through the catacombs of the New York City sewers even stranger than himself.

    The creature called himself Solus, and he packed a hell of a telepathic punch.

    But upon rendering Viro unconscious, Sol opted to stay and help piece together the strange and tormented soul who had chased him. It wasn't easy, and Viro abandoned Solus several times before reluctantly returning, but slowly, a friendship grew. Solus helped Viro with his grief, and far older issues, and Viro, much more human than the reptilian looking Solus, ventured into the world above for supplies for him.

    Slowly, Viro healed, as much as anyone with a past like his can heal, and he found himself, for the most part, enjoying the 80s. Not a fresh start-- those didn't happen in his world, but a start of sorts nevertheless.

    60-Present: Somewhere around the 90s, Viro found himself, Solus, and another close friend, Dev, in charge of Dev's young niece, who had recently lost her parents in a terrible murder. The girl, Krepta, had developed abilities of which the origins were unknown, and despite living in a house full of supernatural beings, she was a handful and a half.

    Viro loved her to bits.

    Falling into a role somewhere between dad and big brother, Viro found himself as the one spending the most time with Krepta. He was, after all, the only one of the trio who had ever been human, even if it had been quite some time ago. He was the one who saw that she got her educational needs met in a realistic fashion once public school no longer proved viable with her powers, and who doled out advice about everything from first crushes, to driving, to how to properly cook and eat a hamburger.

    When she was framed for murder (Viro never once believed that Krepta was responsible) sometime in her late teens, and then subsequently disappeared, he fell into the deepest depression he had been in since the incident with Legs. After a time, she was given up for dead by most, but Viro still believes she's out there somewhere, somehow, and he hasn't given up searching.

    In the meantime, he takes care of other strays and looks out for the vulnerable populations in his neighborhood. He even has a small apartment above his pizza shop where people who might be in trouble can crash safely, started several years ago when a nameless customer started sending such people his way in the guise of using them to anonymously pick up huge food orders.

    He still has yet to figure out who it is.

  • Gallery

  • It's the Little Things...

    • Viro drives a dark red Tucker 48, probably bought when they were first made. He's kept up with it religiously over the years, and he's very protective of it.

    • Viro sometimes calls up 'old highschool buddies' to ask for favors or discounts. He's never gone to these highschools. It usually works anyway. He's very persuasive.

    • Viro almost always has something covering the scar he has on his neck from when he was turned. His leather dog collar is typical, but he also favors long collared jackets-- anything, just as long as it covers the scar. He doesn't like seeing it in reflections or people asking him about it.
    • Viro doesn't typically kill these days if he has another option, but the rumors are still thick around him, and no one's really sure. Occasionally some very bad people go missing from his neighborhood from time to time after going just a little too far, but no one can ever prove anything.

    • Sometimes Viro teaches gym in schools for Gifted Children. Not the your-kid-is-a-super-genius kind of school, the your-kid-shoots-fire-out-of-their-elbows kind of school, or maybe little Jimmy just might be a werewolf kinda school. He also is part of a network for supernatural and super powered runaways coming from bad situations. There's a safe house for them above the pizza shop.

    • If you were bold enough to go through Viro's personal possessions, you might find some odd keepsakes. He's got a black, pinstriped fedora with a ruby and silver 'V' pin stuck in it; a string of costume jewelry pearls; and a small, plain silver locket with a clip of platinum blonde hair inside.

    • Viro has a kitten named Chainsaw. He's a little orange thing, and believe it or not was named for his purring rather than his bad attitude, which he definitely has. Luckily he's too small to do much harm. He picked up this feral little monster as a stray in New York.