Stephen Grace

Played by Dostoevsky (Inactive)

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Stephen appears as a 19-year old male, with dark hair and eyes. During his mortal years, he got a tattoo of a thorned rose on his left arm, surrounded by the Arabic translation of Jalal ad-Din Rumi's quote “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” His brooding, Byronic demeanor is satiated only by intense pleasures, a relic of his zeal for life he developed while in Seattle.

History

Holy Flowers in the Night

What is known to most is that Stephen was sired in 2003, by Zaira bint Fatima, a Daeva. He had spent three years in the city of Seattle after running away from an abusive father and sister in New York. In that time, Stephen had become known locally in underground music circles as the volatile, drug-addicted lead guitarist of the experimental folk-punk group Rainy Day Women.

A bohemian lifestyle emerged, but he found himself much more concerned with Zaira, whom he had met at her club and fell immediately in love with. They had something of an affair as Zaira toyed with him. One night, she finally gave in to his desires.

Addicted

The Embrace struck Stephen as a shock. A staunch atheist due to upbringing, he refused to believe there were such things as vampires. But as Zaira slowly explained it, he finally agreed. He found himself in a world devoid of pleasure and full of trauma, and couldn't fathom any escape but suicide. Zaira, the vampire who he thought was his lover up until that moment, presented a different option. If he truly concentrated while she taught him the ways of the Kindred, he would grow in power. After all, she said, their kind had been around since Babylon and Persia, where the gods created them.

Stephen learned more about the Kindred as the years went on. He was a Daeva, a socialite who was forced to indulge his lusts for women and drugs or go crazy. He gained a rudimentary control over a few powers of his, though not as far as Zaira had pushed him. He became the best runner for Zaira, and was incredibly skilled at smuggling drugs. After several years of this (up until November 2011), she decided to present him. The Prince, a fellow Crone, welcomed him, and afterwards, Zaira revealed a deep secret.

Shortly after that presentation, a coterie who had been hiding in the club materialized apparently out of nowhere. They took an axe to Zaira and went after Stephen. Instinctively, Stephen did the only thing he could think of, and set the club's bar on fire, killling two of the Kindred. He didn't have any idea of what to do, so he contacted one of Zaira's allies. She said the Prince had spoken much of his potential, and the Lancea Sanctum had gotten ahold of it. The only thing she could think of would be to go to Sacramento, where much of Zaira's connections were. He could take over the trade there, which would be important: Stephen's bloodline needed opiates to survive.

Stopping briefly at their haven, he grabbed his guitar and a rare tome Zaira had, detailing the history of Middle Eastern vampires from pre-Babylonian times to present. Now Stephen has arrived in Sacramento with the tome, gaining a minor amount of respect among his fellow Crone. For the large part, however, he remains anonymous, except to those in the heroin business or those who felt impressed by his work.