Adam York

Adam York

City Status •

Invictus Status •

Played by Irina

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History

Adam York had a, mostly, uninspiring but privileged childhood. The son of Lord and Lady York, he wanted for nothing. To suggest that he was indulged by his parents would have been a terribly drastic understatement; and yet no amount of pampering could full the hole that he actually wanted filled - that of friendship. His mother had endured a vicious pregnancy and nearly died in childbirth, so it was unsurprising that they never sought to provide Adam with a sibling.

He was home-schooled by a live-in governess and his only other contact with children was his cousin, who infrequently stayed; or with the cook’s daughter, with whom he would later have a rather boisterous affair.

His favourite past-time, as was the style of the times, hunting. For two weeks a year, Adam and his father would travel down to Whitby and spend a great amount of hours hunting on the moors. The days would end with them hunkered down in the crisp chill, skinning their kill and roasting it over an open fire, as though they were two hardy men accustomed to rough outdoor living. It was a fond time for him, and nothing could really compete later on with that temporary bond.

As a teenager, the future Lord developed a taste for Law. And while he was bright enough to succeed, he unfortunately did not possess the necessary drive to truly excel in the subject. In the back of his mind he was aware that there was really no need to be employed, as his future was already assured due to his title. Besides, there were more exciting pursuits at hand.

He was good-looking as a youngster, and his charming cheekiness got him out of many scrapes that might otherwise have resulted in a smart slap around the head. But as he reached his late teens, Adam grew into his father’s more refined, angular bone structure. He began to develop into a handsome man who turned heads…

…And as his parents did not, and would not see what their over-indulgence was doing, they saw no reason to rein him in. Besides, his father had been quite the cad until marriage had saved him; it was a natural assumption that the same would happen to Adam.

That and his future wife had already been selected.

Unfortunately, Adam was far more interested in the elicit rendezvous with the cook’s daughter, Abigail - who was now his new maid since the old one retired. The fact that she cleaned his room each morning and throughout the day made it incredibly easy to take her to bed, frequently.

The ensuing pregnancy was far more difficult to keep quiet. And so here was the wake-up call that Lord and Lady York needed. They were utterly aghast that their angelic only child had produced an illegitimate brat - but fortunately for Abigail they had a fondness for her mother. That coupled with the personal knowledge of what it meant to almost lose a child tempered their anger and disgust somewhat.

Abigail was not sent away; but the official story was that Lady York had, at long last, produced a second child. Plans were made for Adam to be sent away to study at university. It was not, on the surface, a terrible punishment. The reality was that it cut shockingly deep - Adam sort of liked the idea of becoming a father.

He was given the chance of spending just two weeks with his newborn son, before being sent away by ship. It was believed the shock of being separated from the luxury of the manor, away from privileges and indulgences would turn him into the sort of man his parents could be proud of.

But the journey by ship was incredibly long, and in that time Adam simply resolved to have fun while away from the watchful gaze of his parents.

He was to live with his American cousin, a rather stuffy older gentleman who whiled away his hours smoking cigars and discussing with him the hideous bore that was politics. Adam committed his time to picking the locks so that he could sneak out and indulge his desire for company. As a small nod to his parent’s wishes, he did spend a year at university and in that time he developed enough understanding to keep his parents’ questions on study progress, at bay.

As a further nod to “working” he would offer his lax legal advice for “discounted rates”, to get a little bit of money on the side. It kept him going, it kept him drinking, and it meant he could buy gifts to keep people around for a bit longer.

He told himself that his reckless, steadily increasing drunken ways would not last - he would return to England in a couple of years, his parents would throw him to some rich girl to marry and together they would have numerous children and live comfortably ever after.

So what was wrong with having fun now? To live in the moment?

It was becoming steadily more difficult to obtain alcohol at that time, as prohibition set in; but Adam was rather scrupulous when it came to finding ways around the rules. In this case, it was not too difficult to sneak out of his cousin’s house under the guise of visiting the library; and instead slipping inside an underground club. He had always anticipated that such places would be…well, sleazy. But this one was a rather lavish, upscale sort of affair.

There was even a private, members-only area that no amount of persuasion would convince the brutish doorman to let him into.

Instead, his cajoling got him a job as the bartender and part-time piano player, when the boss put on live entertainment.

Now, more than at any time of his life, he was surrounded by a huge variety of people. His jovial, playful manner made him a hit; and the articulate English accent didn’t hurt either.

He was to spend ten years working for the club’s boss, Rose McKinley and her lover Miles “Sharky” Carparso. She tended to move around frequently during that time, opening up a club here or there and closing another. It was obvious to see that she had something of a wanderlust. Adam could understand that.

His parents had long since realised that the son they doted upon had not graduated; he was not going to marry the woman they selected…he was not going home to England. On the one hand his regretted that - he did desire greatly to see his son. But the child believed him to be simply the brother he never met, and inwardly Adam knew that to reveal the truth would only bring heartache. It was perhaps a little selfish, but he couldn’t bare to treat his son as a sibling; to see his real mother pain at the sight of the boy who saw her only as his servant.

It was much easier to heal himself in the arms of someone else. He couldn’t see himself settling down at all; he could hardly see how Rose and Miles could either. And yet the two seemed strangely inseparable. She was outgoing, polite, regal - and Miles was…gruff, the muscle, and more than a little scary. And damn, did that guy ever take that bandana off his mouth?

The answer was no. Adam stayed late one evening to see in a fresh supply of beer- Miles and Rose had slipped out for a bite to eat. He was close to falling asleep when he started to close up for the night, and didn’t even see Miles approaching.

He was dragging the limp form of some guy he had knocked unconscious, and there was blood…blood all over his mouth. His mouth that looked for all the world like a razor sharp row of shark’s teeth.

Adam did the first logical thing that came to mind - he ran. Unfortunately for him, Miles was too fast. The Nosferatu was ready to rip out the bartender’s throat when Rose stopped him. The two men had never really gotten along; but Sharky would not go against what Rose wanted. He trusted her judgement that much, and she had grown fond of the young disgraced Lord. Instead of killing Adam that night, Rose Embraced him, amidst spilled beer, blood and vomit.

It took Adam a remarkably short amount of time to get used to the idea of living forever - he tended to ignore the potential dire consequences, and focused on the less mundane side of things. It was a tendency that amused Rose greatly and drove Sharky up the wall.

Needless to say, Adam remained with them for some time - the unlikely trio of Nosferatu and Daeva. Through his Sire, Adam came to know of the Invictus, and though he didn’t have the opportunity to gain any standing while in New York; it is something he intends to work on.

As always, the desire to move on and build another club from scratch hit Rose. This time Adam did not go with them; and Adam was quite sure that even Miles was a little bit disappointed. The Nosferatu and female Daeva remained together, while Adam drifted in the direction of Sacramento. They remain in touch quite frequently - neither of the older Kindred had had particularly nice times with their Sires, and Adam thought it would be pleasant to break that unfortunate trend.

He had lost touch with his mortal family so, so long ago. He didn’t intend to lose touch with this one.