Magnus Vë

Son of Wotan
Cult of Ecstasy
Father of the Hagalaz
Senior of the Futhorc Letters
Advanced Adept of the Temple of Eternal Light

Description


~Fright Night incarnate, this freak of a man. Magnus Vë does little to maintain his scraggly, unkempt, and wild black hair and beard flecked with gray. His face, scarred and pocked with ugly red gashes, adds to his macabre appearance. Black within brown eyes bore only cold and cruel malice into those around him. His heavy, dark clothing and army boots complete with a dirty, beat-up overcoat, likewise contributes to the look of a lunatic. And yet the tall, middle-aged Norwegian seems confident, fearless. Indeed, there is a glint in his gaze that reveals an eagerness for violence and bloodshed, like a soldier in My Lai or Fallujah. The scent of fresh dirt clouds his every step, as if he just finished digging a new grave. It could be yours, but just as likely he’s digging his own.~

OOC: Appearance 1; Arcane 2

"That's not what you wanna be doing, boy."

History


Edda Rebirth

It felt hard to believe that such a modest upbringing would yield a monster like Magnus Vë. In 1961, he was the firstborn son of Petter and Johanne. Johanne stayed home to watch over the children – after Magnus, there were Eirik, Tomas, Kristi, and Cathrine. Petter was a laborious steelworker. Not far from the steel mill, the family lived in a small home in a tract row, where the family pets always died inexplicably young. At least the kids enjoyed a nice playground nearby.

The family home was located in Oslo, Norway. The strict Christianity his parents observed always annoyed Magnus. The preachiness and bland tales fell on deaf ears, and he was far more attracted to myths – like the Edda prose of Norse legend. This fascination suffered him at school, where he earned low marks. He was bright but inattentive. This also reflected in his distaste for kids his age. He had few friends, but he was an imposing lad, and consequently became something of a bully, heaping his contempt on others as much as defending his own individualistic ways.

His bad behavior worsened in his adolescence when he fell into a heavy metal/marijuana phase. He grew more anti-Christian and generally rebellious, while his love of myths attracted him to the actual Norse religion that was making a comeback in the 70s. And as his hormones went wild and his body changed, so did his mind. He began to have dreams of the myths he read, and those dreams even began to haunt him when he not asleep – waking visions. These dreams revealed the ancient past and how the gods and heroes of eld intervened and shaped the world in which he now lived.

At the age of fourteen, he was so alienated and “out there” that his fearless independence worried his family. His father tried to discipline Magnus…harshly. The big youth beat his own father to a pulp in front of the whole family. Terrorized and in shock, his mother and siblings stared at the boy. Magnus grabbed a few belongings, ran away, and never looked back.

Man on Fire

But he should have, because the neighborhood was chasing him. He was believed to be a Satanist, a devil worshiper, and a veritable lynch mob was hot on his tail. He ran as far as the edge of the Oslofjord, but eventually someone bounced him off a car. He was beaten savagely before a police officer intervened and began to lead the handcuffed boy away (for assault on his father). But the cop could not protect Magnus alone, and the mob tossed gasoline on the boy and lit him on fire. Magnus leaped into the fjord to escape the flames, but to the mob’s discontent he never surfaced. No body was ever found. Little did they know that the boy’s Wild Talent saved his skin…well, his life at least. His body still bore some of the scars.

Luckily, Sofia Hagen of the Hagalaz, a Freyji mystick of the Cult of Ecstasy, was led to the Awakening boy courtesy of eldritch spirits. She dredged him up out of the bay and nursed him back to health. She also became his first mentor, guiding him through his spurious fresh talent for magick. The Freyji shamelessly introduced the boy also the joys of sex (and this served as a bit of a distraction that slowed Magnus’ learning down). For seven years, he stayed with Sofia in her secluded bayside flat and learned how to control his Arts and channel them through traditional Hagalaz spells and rites.

However, Magnus recognized through his visions and learning that he had the heart of a warrior. He could not subscribe to the “domesticated” beliefs of the Freyji. Though sad to see her pupil go, she passed Magnus onto the Sons of Wotan. He moved to Bergen to begin his advanced tutelage under Torger Hallen. Torger saw great potential in Magnus and handled the young man’s instruction personally. Here he developed his Arts beyond the basic Hagalaz rituals, and learned deadlier “war magick” spells. In 1983, he had a personal breakthrough when learning how to adapt the mysteries of Time into combat applications as natural as delivering an uppercut or ducking behind a wall for cover. Though Magnus kept in contact with Sofia still, he enhanced his violent tendencies while tempering his behavior with ancient wisdom and divine reverence.

Children of Odin

And with the Sons of Wotan, Magnus also learned more about the Hidden World of supernatural creatures beyond the Awakened “mages”. This cabal of Sons often “partied” with a local Sept of Get of Fenris werewolves. Among the Fenrir, Magnus enjoyed a Valkyrie lover named Asdis Lagabøte. The she-wolf and Wotan-mystick enjoyed a furiously passionate relationship for years until the brother (also a Trueborn werewolf) of a Kinfolk newly affianced to Asdis took offense. He challenged Magnus to an honorable duel in 1988. Although Garou were mighty warriors, Magnus knew their tricks from associating so closely with them for so long, and he was able to valiantly defeat Normann Skuladotter. Unfortunately, Magnus’ tryst with Asdis indelibly damaged the Sons’ ties to the Fenrir.

That would not matter much to Magnus soon though, for he completed his training in 1990 and was tested before becoming a full-fledged Son of Wotan. He had to survive extreme stunts and suffer grievous wounds. He fell from skyscrapers, drowned in the fjords, was bathed in gasoline, and buried alive. All of these tests were impossible feats without magick, and the final test was more of a divine ordinance. If Magnus survived the Paradox, he was truly ready.

Oh, he was ready, and the gods smiled upon Magnus that hour. Though raw mystickal forces backlashed and tore his body apart, he not only survived, he grinned ear to ear. Oh yeah. Torger saw the epitome of Wotan heroism in Magnus that day, and did not even mind when the prodigy ran off with some of the other younger Sons to form their own cabal. (That way at least the older mysticks could assuage ties with the Get of Fenris.)

Dead & the Undying

Due to his inherent skill and dominating personality, Magnus was considered the unofficial leader of this anarchic band of young mysticks. They traveled across Northern Europe like a biker gang. They wreaked havoc and had a ball. At first, they avoided serious trouble, limiting their stints to occasional clashes with other criminals and biker gangs.

But by ’94, their mischief-seeking ran the cabal afoul of Sabbat vampires. In the first clash, one Son fell, while four of the leeches were burned down. But the sect was far bigger than a single cabal of mages, and Magnus was on the run again. The Sabbat hunted them down tirelessly across all of Europe. Whenever they made local friends among the Sleepers, the Sabbat would gobble them up – often turning them into brainwashed vampires to send after their former companions, such as Magnus’ girlfriend in Copenhagen, Vivianne. He wasted her with little regret and growing contempt for the undead. With her execution, Magnus abandoned all unnecessary fettering aspects of his conscience. He did not abandon his humanity; he just refused thereafter to spawn new and dangerous roots, and to keep his Arts free and alive.

Yet Magnus kept his group alive even after suffering casualties by staying on the run from their so-called Wild Hunt. Like cornered jackals, the cabal turned and fought when the hounding vampires got too close, then sped across the countryside. These “mere mortals’” stubborn refusal to just lie down and die irritated the sect.

A final push that mobilized a number of roaming Sabbat packs to chase the Sons of Wotan resulted in the deaths of the last two Sons of Wotan. Alone, Magnus still fled. He was surely doomed on his own, but fortunately Asdis had not forgotten her true love from years before. The spirits alerted the Get of Fenris to the mage’s trouble, and by visions he led the Sabbat hot on his tail right into an ambush with a frenzied pack of Fenrir werewolves. They were slaughtered to the last, and Magnus was free. For now. He could not stay in Scandinavia, and reluctantly left Asdis for England in 1995.

Real Witchcraft

In London, Magnus was granted entrance into the House of Barghest chantry. He swiftly learned the English language while “laying low” to avoid Kindred (unaware of the differences in Kindred politics, and that the Camarilla controlled London). He explored the town and got to know the British people, while he refused to join any cabal in the chantry. He did make a lover out of a Verbena pagan named Marisela Fife. They shed light and wisdom on their contrary adherence to ideals of life and death.

As time went on, Magnus grew bolder again and lent his aid to the chantry’s conflicts. Despite the warnings of the chantry Masters, he never held back despite the public attention and Paradox raw magick could evoke. And as the House of Barghest spread its influence through Sleeper society, in small part due to Magnus’ strong-arming aid in physical conflicts, the Technocracy took slight.

And Magnus led the fight against the Union, too. He proved fearless and brutal even against modern technology. He even seemed to enjoy the bloodshed, and as his cruelty increased so did a darker Resonance take hold of his soul. Marisela abandoned him when he became spiritually dangerous to spend much time around. When the Technocracy’s counter-attacks became harsher and hit closer to home, the chantry needed a scapegoat to release while battening down its hatches. Magnus was politely asked to leave in 2001. Without rancor, he obliged.

Calm in the Chaos

The Son of Wotan decided to leave Europe altogether. Between the Technocracy and Sabbat, he had too many enemies in the Old Country anyway. He smuggled himself onto a freighter and disembarked in the Big Apple. He was welcomed cautiously into the Tourmaline Chantry, where he quietly acclimated to America the best he could. Not long after he arrived, however, then did the tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks take place.

As disgusted as he once was with Christians, Muslims now filled him with utter contempt and hatred. He flew into a calculated rampage in Little Arabia in Queens, earnestly slaughtering anyone that voiced religious intolerance. Unfortunately, this brief serial killing spree attracted local vampires – Assamite antitribu of the Sabbat. They ambushed and nearly killed the Son of Wotan, but he summoned his terrifying last-ditch berserker rituals and fought his way out. Warned now of the presence of Sabbat vampires, he decided against lingering in New York City.

His Tourmaline acquaintances recommended Magnus to the Chantry of Shadowsouls in New Orleans. He would fit right in there. Magnus traveled to the Big Easy, and enjoyed a new era of relative peace. He befriended the mysterious Bata’a and campaigned to open everyone’s minds about the misunderstood practices and beliefs of voodoo. Of course, when the chantry needed a warrior, Magnus became their main go-to guy. Other mages handled spirits and ghosts, but if the enemies were vampires and Technocrats, Magnus led the charge.

Still, he lacked many friends and not even any serious lovers for the longest time. His calculating patience and callous calm were otherworldly and even frightening. When Hurricane Katrina hit, Magnus Vë was at the eye of the storm. He was the eye of the storm. When that storm passed, destiny called him back to Europe at last, but this time to Finland to at last face a true and ancient enemy of humanity.

Significant Other


He met this tattoo artist and Hollow One in her off-Bourbon Street parlor in 2007. Her tattoos were fascinating, but he was particularly attracted to the darkling’s retro classiness. It’d been awhile since he had a serious girlfriend, and the shapely Cordelia Hannigan was a fascinating choice. Together they could explore the wonders of darkness and death and thereby better appreciate the goodness of life.

But even Cordelia found herself too weirded out by the Son of Wotan and slipped out one night in 2009. Last Magnus heard, she was heading up to Vancouver.

Cordelia

Significant Other


Magnus met this little emo teen years ago while she struggled with visions she wasn't even sure were natural or a result of doing too many drugs. Magnus nursed her recovery and guided her nascent soul to full Awakening. Gradually, he drew her into the mysteries of Ecstasy, but generally let the fledgling apprentice find her own path. Apparently, that path demands having children together. Magnus will oblige, the poor old man.

Samantha

Weakness
Berserker Rage


Even with his powerful magick and knowledge, Magnus is far from invulnerable. Every wound he sustains and withstands brings more Paradox and drives him closer to the edge of madness and destruction. All around, he's one scary mo-fo, as terrifying to friends as he is to foes.

Likelihood of Corruption


Low.

A mage that understands necromancy is not necessarily a corruption-prone willworker. Magnus is savvy and destructive enough to keep his brutal path on the line.

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