Order of the Thorn

Even predators have predators.

The Thorn is humanity’s answer to the supernatural beings that prey upon it. Thorn knights are trained to execute vampires, weres, sorcerers, half-breed demons and all manner of supernatural threats with ruthless efficiency. They use a wide array of weapons depending on their target, from low-tech silver-sheathed swords to high-powered assault rifles with special ammo.

While the Thorn is dedicated to eradicating threats to humanity, there are times when a supernatural creature can earn clemency, but always under strict conditions. Violation of the terms means an instant death sentence.

The Order of Thorn was formed after the fall of Camelot, gathering knights and mages sworn to protect humankind from any shadow of evil. The Order is an extremely secretive knighthood with strict hierarchies, wealth that surpasses that of the Vatican, and a global reach.

 

Ricardi Crime Family

One of the two remaining mafia crime families operating in the greater Boston area. The Ricardis are smaller in size and income streams than their rivals, the Lucatti Family, but have flourished in the void left by several RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) trials that hammered the Lucatti hierarchy.

Now hostilities on the street between Lucatti and Ricardi mafiosi have escalated dangerously, rackets have been disrupted, and all signs point to war.

The Ricardis use hit man Karl Vance to carry out their most dangerous hits where ordinary triggermen won't suffice. Boss Alberto Ricardi runs the syndicate, a man both intelligent and ruthless. His daughter, Maria Ricardi, an accountant who works the books, is urging her father to take over all of Boston. Such a move will have the Boston streets running red with blood.

 

Lucatti Crime Family

The Lucattis came to power under the New England Patriarca family based in Providence, Rhode Island. In the late ‘80s, the Lucattis broke off from Providence control with the blessing of the Commission (and many bribes) and began to run Boston as an independent family, which wouldn’t have been possible had the New England syndicate not been in such disarray following Boss Patriarca’s death. They have been the dominant power in Boston, but were severely weakened by successive RICO trials, allowing the Ricardi and Mancino borgattas to take root in the power vacuum. Since then, the Lucattis have completely stamped out the Mancino presence, and are now looking to do the same to their Ricardi competition.

 

Boston, Massachusetts

Founded in 1630, Boston has survived war, fire, Puritans, and the Big Dig. Boston is one of America’s crown jewels and has seen more than its share of supernatural creatures prowling its dark underworld. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, sorcerers and others hide from the watchful eye of the Order of the Thorn while fighting each other and preying upon the unsuspecting. In the last ten years, a curious balance has been achieved between underworld factions, but everything is threatened when two powerful vampires, Karl Vance and Alejandro Delgado, take sides with rival mafia families in a war that could finally be the city’s undoing.

 

Vampires

Vampires have roamed the earth shrouded in various degrees of secrecy and myth for thousands of years. Their ancestors are thought to have first come to earth around the time of the rise of Sumer, appearing along with werewolves, demons and other monsters both good and evil in Mesopotamia around 4700 BCE. This event, whose origins have been lost in time (or perhaps purposely obscured) is referred to as the Great Migration. According to legend, the ancestors of today's vampires came from a city rumored to exist at a dimensional nexus just above the gates of Hell. They were said to have fled the city's powerful Sidhe tyrants. However, the Doorway back to the city was sealed to stop the Sidhe from following, and now, hundreds of vampire generations later, vampires are but a shadow of their former glory.

There have been several wars between ancient human civilizations and the creatures that came through the Doorway, the last said to have been waged in 408 C.E. shortly before the sack of Rome. However, the secretive Order of Thorn has waged a merciless campaign to remove these events from written history or distort them into myth. The Thorn has taken up the sword against vampire kind, seeking to purge them completely. Vampires keep themselves hidden from modern humanity, choosing obscurity and myth to shield them from potential vampire hunters. They go to great lengths to make their kills appear to be human murders, because they fear drawing the attention of the Order of the Thorn and bringing down their own destruction.

Vampires can feed on humans, other vampires, and animals. Humans are their primary prey, but vampires only need to feed once every month to four months, depending on how active the vampire is, since using their vampire magics drains their store of power and must be replenished. Feeding on other vampires is far more difficult, as they make vicious foes and are extremely elusive, though vampire blood recharges another vamp much more than human blood, allowing faster healing of even supernatural wounds. Animal blood will keep a vampire from "starving" but will not replenish their dark magic and is considered unclean and contemptible. Humans who are bitten almost always die. The vampire consumes huge amounts of blood, absorbing some of it into its body where it is converted into the stagnant black vampire blood, and absorbing the rest, in a process not fully understood by the Thorn, into their dark energy.

Vampires are not affected by garlic or stakes through the heart, by wild roses or thyme. They can be seen in mirrors. Their eyes glow to varying degrees, often times as a result of strong emotions, though they can repress this when mingling with humans. They cannot transform into mist or bats, but a few vampires can summon and maintain a Spirit Wolf—a spectral wolf familiar—as a guardian and companion. Spirit Wolves are extremely hard to kill, seem to be mostly cold vapor, and are tied to the vampire's inner dark energy.

Vampires are extremely strong and agile, moving so fast the human eye often sees only a blur of motion. They heal nearly instantly from damage incurred by non-supernatural means, and can survive any non-silver bullet, explosions, fire, acid, freezing cold and drowning. However, silver causes them grievous damage, searing their skin and repulsing them. Silver bullets or blades can destroy vampires. Silver wounds are extremely debilitating and often vampires do not recover. Supernatural damage (bites, clawing by other vampires, weres or monsters) or powerful enough magic can also destroy them. They can heal supernatural damage, but it is slow and usually requires a great deal of feeding on blood.

Crosses, holy water and sacred ground strongly affect vampires, as do objects/symbols from all the world's High Religions, such as pentacles and the Dharmachakra. Sunlight destroys all vampires.

Vampires are widely considered to be evil, based on the fact that they kill people and are negatively affected by faiths considered good. However, as with any stereotype, the reality is far more complex.

 

Main Characters

Karl Vance

Vampire. Mafia hit man. Vance specializes in pulling off the most complex, the most difficult jobs. He is known for his absolute professionalism, his ability to keep quiet about sensitive details, and his utter reliability. However, Karl Vance will only kill mafioso and mob associates—dealers, bookies, enforcers and the like—and will not accept contracts on police or "civilians" (those not involved in the criminal underworld). Wild rumors surround Vance, but no one in the criminal underworld knows what he is a vampire.

Vance was turned, against his will, by the Master vampire Cade, and years later paid his Master back by pinning him to the ground with silver spikes to await the dawn. He earned clemency from the Order when he carried out the assassination of a vicious werewolf at their request. He was paid with a pardon, on the condition that he only ever feed upon criminals.

But now he is forced to pick sides in the coming mob war to gain a chance at killing his vampire nemesis, Alejandro Delgado. Will Maria get in his way? Or will she be the only thing worthwhile in this whole mess?

 

Maria Ricardi

Daughter of mafia Don Alberto Ricardi. She graduated from Boston University with a degree in accounting and immediately set about proving that she could "cook" the books with the best that the Boston underworld had to offer. Her father brought her in as an associate to clean money, set up dummy corporations and shield the family from FBI forensic accountants. She has been marvelously effective so far, but she wants more. Much more.

She hates the patriarchal attitudes of the wise guys, and hates even more the fact that she can never be a "made man." Now she's managed to convince her father to let her use hired hit man Karl Vance to attack Lucatti targets in the mob war, and she intends to make the absolute most of her opportunity to prove her worth.

Only there are two things she never counted on. Karl Vance is a vampire. And she just might be falling in love with him.

 

Alejandro Delgado

Another of Master vampire Cade's sirelings, the equal in skill and power of Karl Vance, but completely devoid of any moral code. Alejandro has sworn to make Vance suffer for destroying their Master. He has allied himself with the Lucatti crime syndicate to wipe out the Ricardis and destroy Karl Vance. To this end he's created dozens of sireling vampires to help him.

And now he’s set his sights on Maria…and would like nothing less than to taste her sweet blood.

 

Other Characters

Lady Kimberly MacKenzie
A high-ranking member of the Thorn Knighthood. She is in charge of the operation to purge the vampire infestation from Boston, adding to the chaos of the ongoing war.

Kyveryn Xiesha
The female guardian who watches over Karl Vance during the daylight hours. She is a refugee from another dimensional plane, hiding her presence from the Thorn. Her scrying magic is invaluable to Vance in tracking down wiseguys who have gone to ground to avoid being whacked. Delgado, however, is not so easily tracked.

Minsku and her Spirit Wolf
Delgado’s second in command is a beautiful and heartless vampire who has the ability to manifest a Spirit Wolf to aid her in combat. She has no respect for her fellow sirelings, but is fiercely loyal to her Master, giving him mind, body and soul.