New York By Night:Regent of New Jersey
Name: Tabitha
Nick Names: Little Tabby, Little Sister
Embrace: Unknown
Apparent Age: 11
Clan: Nosferatu
Covenant: Unbound
Discription: Tabitha appears as a young girl, small even for her age with soft blonde hair and clear blue eyes. She is of a fair complexion, with the slightest tan and a smattering of freckles on her cheeks and shoulders. Her big eyes are deeply inquisitive, watching everything around her. The Elders expression is one of barely controlled excitement combined with sly humor. Tabitha usually wears summer dresses and flip flops in the warm months and jeans with boots and one of those big poofy jackets in the colder ones.
Background: There are as many tales of the storied elders history, some will tell you, as their are kindred to tell them. Many agree however that she was not Embraced in America. A few of the more reliable sources, if any can be counted as such, say she was once the Prince of Paris. Of course another story says she lead a coven of children vampires in the city of Rome, practicing blood magic and horrible ritual sacrifice. And didn't you hear, she was part of an Amaranth cult in England and Island. That's how she got so powerful, drinking hearts blood.
What ever the truth is, the monster called Tabitha arrived in the area around New York sometime after the war of 1812. The city of New Jersey was then, much like New York, a domain of the Lancea Sanctum. The Prince and his Primogen vanished over the course of a year, and those kindred which did not flee the city went into hiding. Tabitha declared herself Prince, though she made no court and her edicts were by word of mouth only.
In the early part of the twentieth century a group of Invictus Kindred calling themselves the Young Guard seized control of New York with the aid of the Circle of the Crone. Many of the cities older First and Second Estate went into exile in Boston. Half a decade latter the New Guard attempted to expand out of Manhattan into New Jersey. They killed two mouthy unbound kindred they encountered and set up a court, issuing a proclamation that all Kindred of New Jersey present themselves within the month if they wished for their claims of domain to be honored, or wanted to request Tenure. The Prince of New York made a big show of rewarding many of the young Kindred who had helped him take the throne with vast domains in New Jersey.
A note arrived in the Elysium of New Jersey. It is said to have read 'Your in my city. Get out. - Prince Tabitha.'. Of course, the note was ignored. Within a year all those New York kindred who had claimed Domain in New Jersey were dead or missing. Some had attempted to flee back to New York and take refuge there, but that proved little protection.
The night of Ashes was November the 17th, 1904. The Kindred of New York arrived at the theater where they held court to find the prince and Primogen dead, savagely ripped apart. The cities two hounds were likewise missing. Then Tabitha appeared before the confused kindred. She told them she was taking over, and every kindred in the city had one month to present themselves or be devoured. The elder was true to her word.
Tabitha reigned for one year, bringing the five Burroughs together as one domain, and then including the city of New Jersey as well. She invited back the exiled Invictus and Lance, setting Bishop Isaac Saur up as Prince of New York. She gave vast territories to other exiled members of the First and Second estate, mostly domains that belong to kindred who had fallen under her fangs. And then she went back to New Jersey as Regent where she had once been Prince.
Aside from occasionally attending court to talk with Prince Saur or champion the Nosferatu Tabitha rarely involves herself in the affairs of the cities, at least directly. In the modern nights it is often speculated weather or not she actually supports Prince Seegar, despite bending knee to him along with the other Regents when he assumed the Throne.
Storytelling Hints: Tabitha is a monster. Trapped in the body of a young girl she is forced to feed of the blood kindred due to her advanced age. Except she fed off vampire blood long before she needed to. The truth is, the girl likes feeding off other kindred. She likes the power she feels.
To her, the Kindred of New York and New Jersey are her herd. And thus her main concern is the cities stability. Large scale conflict depletes her herd, and threatens her way of life. One sure way to earn the elders displeasure, and then likely end up her next meal, is to start killing other vampires.
Despite rumors the to contrary, Tabitha rarely kills when she feeds. Most of her blood comes from other Nosferatu, who give it to her in tribute for their rights to maintain havens in New Jersey or dwell in the Necropolis. When she does hunt other kindred she typically takes what she wants and then dominates them into forgetting the experience. Nomads who wonder into the city, or those who earn her displeasure however learn the hard way that Tabitha does not always practice catch and release feeding.
