Embrace & Childehood

My business acumen attracted the attention of more than condescending investors. Bernard Adelman was looking for an in with the new transportation systems. At first, he just seemed to be one of those aforementioned "old boys." Not being a moron, it didn't take long for me to figure out that there was something not quite right with my new acquaintance. Being before the popularity of vampire fiction, that wasn't my first thought. My first instinct was that he was a con man of some sort. Too many things about him just didn't add up.

When Bernard realized that I was beginning to catch on, he threw away pretense and made me his Childe. It was purely a business transaction between us, my loyalty and knowledge for eternal life. He chose Embrace over Ghouling, as my business interests required me to be away from him for months at a time. I accepted the offer, as I had long since given up on religious salvation. I already knew I was going to Hell, having broken a large number of the Commandments. There's that whole "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Honor Thy Mother and Father," and "Thou Shalt Not Covet" business. I was also sure that people had died, as a result my actions and deals.

For a member of Clan Ventrue, I had an extremely brief Childehood. Bernard kept my lessons short and to the point. I learnt how to feed and how to create a Ghoul. Due to Conor's closeness to me, he was my first Ghoul. Bernard didn't like me having someone with that level of access without the bond. Unknown to my Sire, I did secretly give Conor a choice. I couldn't force something like that on my longest friend. Luckily, he chose to stay with me. Bernard did teach me the structure of Clan and Sect, so that I could navigate them carefully. To this day, neither holds overly much interest to me. I like things that move and nothings more static than Clan Ventrue, except maybe the Camarilla.

Realizing that holding me to him would hurt my business interests, Bernard released me to my own devices and the Westward expansion. With my release came it's own challenges. Most Kindred are not designed for travel. There's a reason that it was largely left to a couple of specific Clans, for most of our existence. Conor got the unpleasant job of lugging me around. Luckily, I'd handled my business through correspondence and middle men before. This meant that my financial affairs suffered little to no disruption. I did have to learn to tinker with my machines by lamplight. Some of the best help I received in adapting myself and my business actually came from outside of my Clan. Another Bernard came into my life. Bernard Kellen, an Elder of his Clan, was also fascinated with the rails. He was building South and I was building West. As we weren't in direct competition, he helped me out.