I have a strange pride about Ciaran, even though I never played him.

Ciaran was the basis of my entire plot involving Sylvain Deimos. He made for an excellently bizarre mixture of antagonist and protagonist, detached from the normal world, and he was a great exercise in how to deal with immortality in roleplaying, a subject I usually refuse to touch with a ten foot pole.

What fascinates me about Ciaran is not so much his history, which I put so much effort into weaving, but his bizarre mixture of liberal thinking and conservative stances. Most prominent is his embracing of psychology, pitched against, for example, his intolerance towards deviations from the classic family model. Especially former makes him especially formidable, long since having become a tool to further his goals.

Everything came apart before the plot of Sylvain's had the opportunity to loop back on itself, though... and Ciaran, outside of playful, informal stories to-and-fro on the phone, with no log to prove they even ever existed, was never used.

Perhaps my nostalgia will revive Hexenblut some day - for now, this page is all of Ciaran you will come to know.

 

Profile

Ciaran Taika-Tessaro, born in the 1400's, certainly doesn't look his age. He became immortal with forty four years of age, and hasn't aged visibly since. His nickname - or magician name, in this case - is Soulweaver.

Due to his long life thus far, his history is one of the most important aspects of himself - after all, several centuries of time have shaped him, and as such, it's more sensible to spotlight his history before his attitude... it might shed some light on his quirks.

History

Ciaran was born as Ciaran Finn in the 1400's of Ireland, at the time under english rule. His parents, Aignéis and Marcus, were piss-poor, and he left them at an age of 11 mostly to increase his chances of education in other ways, and last but not least to stop being an unneccessary drain to their thin purses.

He lied his way into the English family Witherspoon, who adopted him and took him back to England with them, where they treated him as their own. Even though he never felt them to be his parents, he treated them with respect, and since his education was an English one, he soon adopted the English nature as his own, and identified with it.

With 21, he came into contact with magic - a few months later with black magic - and he chose to leave his ersatz family for a 'round trip of England with the Sinti when he was 24. In the ten years between the ages 32 and 42, Ciaran killed four magicians (of which three were witches), claiming their blood as his own, which gave him the power to actually use the knowledge he had aquired. Two years later (44), he successfully dabbled into immortality.

He then returned to Ireland, where he helped his true parents run their place until they died a natural death. Then he was seen touring Europe with the Sinti again, and briefly settled down in Spain's Valencia, where he introduced himself as Ciaran Taika-Tessaro.

In 1806, he returned to England, getting involved in the Anglo-Irish war on sides of the English. Thereafter he settled down in Manchester, where he met Branwen. He shared his immortality with her in the mid-WW2, worried about his family's life. Thankfully, all of the Taika-Tessaro survived the war unharmed.

Also in this time of much stress, one of his more prized magical possessions, the Soul Fuser Kit, was stolen from him. Early in 1951, he cursed Natalia, pregnant at the time, in firm belief it was her (thanks to her previous attitude with him), and she died at childbirth after having a panther as a child. He gave up trying to find the Kit after cursing Aaron Singh (Natalia's husband) to a life of bad luck, That left him with Tamara as his only child, and he was more than pissed off when her children Quentin and Lucia ran off in 1994, causing her to commit suicide later the year. He did, however, swear to take care of her first son, Sylvain, and his father, Zayn Deimos.

When a vampire raided the Deimos residence, murdering Zayn and turning Sylvain into a vampire (though Ciaran thought him dead, too, as this was what was officially reported), Ciaran had enough. He hunted the vampire down and killed him most brutally.

Since then, he's been living in his Manchester mansion together with Branwen, mostly isolated from the world unless he has another urge to go travelling. Fact is, though, life has turned him rather bitter.

For someone out of the 1400's, Ciaran is a crassly liberal thinker - but in our modern times, he's nestled firmly in the most conservative of conservative political leanings. Since life hasn't treated his nerves with much respect since the beginning of the twentieth century, he's turned from a globetrotting, curious, boyish man, to a far more bitter, isolated and grouchy person.

What does not help matters is that he's fully aware of his transformation - he knows of his lack of humour, and he knows of his general lack of happiness... but what initially made his life so exciting - his perfectionism - has become a minor curse since he has a family to care for. Paradoxially, there is nothing he loves more than his family - but fate has not treated it well, and he yearns for stability and normality as he imagines it.

He's almost always irritable and very seldom in a good mood: Though if in latter, as rare as it is, he can take on anything and make anyone happy.

However, one should beware of Ciaran when he is angry, even though he is docile due to his isolationist manner - then, this beast is not bound by any morals, by any dilemmas, he merely slashes through all obstacles with complete disregard to the health of others. Normally, 'health' will boil down to 'life'. He's not one to be half-arsed about anything.

Ciaran is a man who, whilst he technically has no genetical ability to deal with magic, has come to master it almost entirely, in parts by literally stealing the blood of those more fortunate and naturally gifted than him. Do not misunderstand, though, his talent exists and is real, and his mastery is well-deserved. All he never had, though, was the genetic component - other than that he was always destined to be a master magician.

It is Ciaran who created the Soul Fuser Kit along with several other magical devices. He is unaware it is Sylvain who has the Kit - he made in unlocatable by design, for which he now curses himself. His assumption regarding the theft of the Soul Fusers has always gone into the direction of the Singh family rather than the Deimos family - which is what he cursed Natalia Singh for.

Ciaran is a good match for any magician, unlikely to be beaten. Yet, few have heard of him, as he knows how to keep low-key. He is not the type to want world-domination, something he might well have achieved had he tried - instead, he prefers to use his magic sparingly. Do not underestimate this man, nor his egoism. He knows he is something close to a deity and thus has few qualms using his abilities fully.

Branwen

Branwen is and always will be Ciaran's reason to go out and kill, maim and destroy, even himself should it be required. They married for a reason.

The perfect irony, given Ciaran's conservative views, is that he adores Branwen for her strong will, and her boyishness - she's never let anyone press her into the classic image of a housewife. Branwen is the only person Ciaran allows to criticise him unconditionally - he would never raise a finger to harm her, thus being highly susceptible to bouts of Branwen's anger. Fortunately, they're extremely rare.

Singh, Natalia

He never much liked Natalia in growing up, as she badmouthed him on several occasions - and he cursed her to death on childbirth and to bearing a freak when one of his possessions vanished. Since he's assumed that, he's - officially - had nothing but contempt for her, including her spirit.

Since Natalia was a child of the modern age, unwilling to bend to the worldviews of her father, it was pre-programmed, really. Still, she was a child - and occasionally, he scolds himself silently for his brash reaction, and its consequences.

Singh, Aaron

Part of Ciaran felt pity for Aaron when he cursed the man, as he always had aura of an innocent bystander, but he does not fret over his loss. He didn't really know Aaron that well, and as this was mutual, there were no emotional ties between either - and since Aaron furiously sided with his wife, Ciaran really only knew him as ruthlessly defiant.

Singh, Krishnan

He believes Natalia's son to be dead, as was in part intended with his curse. Ciaran firmly believes that Krishnan's death was the better choice - as far as he's concerned, condemning someone to a life wherein one is ridiculed for being somewhat of a freak is far worse than simply ending that life. If he ever met Krishnan, he would no doubt feel obliged to help him in all ways possible - after all, the child cannot be held accountable for the alleged deeds of his parents.

Deimos, Tamara

Ciaran shares his high opinion with his wife: Tamara was always a favourite child, her willingness to learn and understand - as well as her kindness - earning astonishing amounts of respect from the otherwise so cautious Ciaran. Accordingly, the rest of her family became sacred to him from the second she informed him that she wanted to marry - not to mention when she informed him he was going to be a grandfather.

Since her suicide, he misses her dearly.

Deimos, Zayn

Revered via Tamara, Zayn enjoyed unconditional support from the Taika-Tessaro family. When Zayn was murdered, this came as a fierce emotional strike to Ciaran - the magician instantly sought out the vampire that had caused Zayn's death and inflicted a painful death upon him. Retrospectively, he feels the vampire didn't suffer enough in its death.

Deimos, Sylvain

Ciaran believes Sylvain to be dead, as it was the official report, killed by the same monster that killed his dad. Whilst he never really met Sylvain face-to-face in any frequency, especially after the first years of the lad's life, he was always available to help him, like any grandfather might for his grandson. And accordingly, Sylvain, like Zayn, was part of the reason Ciaran went apeshit on the vampire that broke into the Deimos home.

Deimos, Lucia

Not having heard anything on the contrary, Ciaran's belief is that Lucia died in 1994.

Deimos, Quentin

(See Lucia and apply for Quentin)