Charles "Crook" Dawson
Mental characteristics
Personal history
MORTAL DAYS: THEY KEEP BURNING
Charles was a Depression-era kid of mixed Oneida and Afro-American heritage. Born with a multitude of health issues, severe problems with his legs and back gave him a hunch, a distinctive limp, and an overly large head. Despite his disabilities, Charles was a person of good spirits. The result was that most people took a liking to Charles, almost immediately, and dropped their guard around him. He became a ward of the state at five years old when the small house his family was living in burned down in a surprise fire. Most considered it a hate crime; his parents were Native and black day laborers in Madison, Wisconsin at a time when all those things were looked down upon. Charles didn’t seem to lose his happy demeanor. Once on the street, he connected with two traveling hucksters by the name of Claude and Poe. They bought him some food and showed him how to play pool. Claude recognized Charles’ demeanor and disabilities were a huge asset to their con. In pool it was very effective, because most folks weren’t on their A game when playing Charles and didn’t fight him because of how bad it looked to fight a person unable to defend himself. It was Charles’ disarming nature that earned him the nickname “Crook,” as folks claimed every time he smiled you lost some money. The hucksters found themselves in Chicago in the ‘50s where they worked many of the local black clubs and lounges on the South Side and West Side. Claude had a daughter, Ina Miller, and swore he’d quit the game. Unfortunately, the game didn’t quit him. Some thugs he’d scammed caught up with him and it ended badly for the pool shark. Charles wanted to get payback for Claude, the only person who’d ever really treated him like a brother. The always-quiet Poe slipped Charles the info he needed to track down one of Claude’s killers. He was a thug by the name of Curtis. Curtis worked at a gas station near 75th and Exchange. Poe waited to see what Crook would do. Charles found the man, barred the doors, poured gasoline all around, and set a fire. The gas station exploded, and his quarry burned to death. Charles sat and watched it. It reminded him of the fire he’d caused when he was a boy. His parents hadn’t screamed the same way old Curtis did. When he got back to Poe’s lounge, the twisted old man was there waiting for him. Poe said he knew everything. He congratulated Charles for acting. He told Charles that broken people like he and Charles needed to take what they needed from the world.KINDRED NIGHTS: UNQUENCHABLE FLAME
Charles’ change from mortal to Nosferatu didn’t alter his appearance much, though his skin darkened and twisted as though he were badly burned. Poe and he found and tied up the remaining thugs and kept them in the lounge basement as feeding stock. As he entered Kindred society, Charles maintained his normal charming demeanor despite the transformations to his skin. He made many friends among the Nosferatu as well as a few enemies. There were those who found his happy-go-lucky way disingenuous and noted his penchant for solving problems with fire. He eventually attracted the attention of Nathaniel Bordruff, who offered him a chance to work with him, bringing fire to all Kindred in the name of the Lord. Charles turned down the offer, killed some of the older Sewer Rat’s servants, and spent considerable effort undermining Bordruff’s schemes. This earned him Bordruff’s enmity and the respect of quite a few Kindred. Charles’ goal is survival and entertaining himself. Skulking the South Side streets, he preys on church folks who take pity on him. Those he doesn’t feed on he uses to get access to myriad small havens across the North and South Sides of the city. He is so good at it that he finds he has a surplus of victims and hidey-holes. At Poe’s urging, he offers meals and places to rest to other vampires for the cost of favors, resources, and protection. Charles recently came to realize that Poe was one of Nathaniel Bordruff’s childer. At the end of the ‘90s, Poe ran afoul a pack of nasty Lupines active on the South Side. He was slain, and Charles inherited many of his connections. He closed Poe’s lounge on the South Side and opened his own, named “Crooks,” in Rogers Park on the North Side of the city.Social
Contacts & Relations
• Bar Owners (Allies 3) Charles loves a good seedy
bar and keeps his lounges relatively invisible by
making sure there are always a couple more bars in
his neighborhoods that are seedier. To this end he
is a silent partner with many small bar owners and
the principal reason why most of them never closed.
• Ina Miller (Retainers 2) One of his barkeeps is the
daughter of his old partner. Ina Miller, now in her
60s, runs the bar called the Steel Horse Lounge in
Albany Park. She recognizes Charles as a friend who
always keeps an eye out for her.Happy-Go-Lucky Killer
Wealth & Financial state
• Crooks’ Lounge (Haven 2, Resources 3) Crooks, the
lounge Charles opened in the ‘90s, has expanded
to become a franchise with five locations across
the city: two on the North Side, two on the South
Side, and one on the West Side. While they have the
appearances of dive bars with built-in liquor stores,
they have subbasements that hold victims and provide havens for free-roaming vampires much like a
Depression-era flophouse.
• Churchgoer Herd (Herd 2) For his part, Charles
never feeds in his lounges. He enjoys the hunt,
especially in taking blood from charitable types.
His bitterness is deeply buried beneath a warm
smile, but he truly detests the pity shown to him by
churchgoers.
Species
Age
25
Date of Birth
1923
Date of Death
1958
Children
Character Prototype
Crook’s a finger popping, hip stepping, fun guy who always has a smile on his face and catchy song on his lips. His favorite is “Spinning Top” by XTC from the 1970s.
Mask
Charles’ Mask is a homeless man by the name of Raymond Hattie. Hattie is connected to the back streets and slum bars and will steal your shorts in a game of pool (Mask 1)
Statblock
Humanity: 4 Generation: 10th Blood Potency: 2 Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3; Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Composure 2; Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3 Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 5 Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 4, Firearms 1, Melee (Pool Cue) 4, Stealth 4, Survival 3; Etiquette 1, Insight 3, Intimidation 2, Leadership 3, Persuasion (Pity) 4, Streetwise 4, Subterfuge (The Long Con) 5; Awareness 3, Finance 2, Intimidation 2, Investigation (Fraud) 2, Politics 3Potency 2: Surge 2, Heal 2, Add 1, Reroll 1, Bane 2 Obfuscate 4: Cloak of shadows, Unseen Passage, Ghost in the Machine, Vanish Fortitude 1: +1 to all mental resistance checks. Potence 3: Lethal Body, Prowess, Brutal Feed
Plots, schemes, whispers
Master Carouser: Crook is a fount of information. He knows how to spin a yarn that compels others to divulge their woes and secrets. He is relatable in his obvious physical suffering. Later, whatever information he has obtained prompts new questions from the friendly Charles, and his guests just pour out their innermost feelings.
Game Master: Charles has a decidedly dark side that most people don’t see coming until it’s too late. Sometimes he gets bored. When he gets bored, he schemes. He learned the art of the long con from Claude. Sometimes he’ll orchestrate a conflict just to see what secrets spill out as people rush to resolve it. He thinks of it as beating the bushes to see what drops. He likes to be at the center of things. He works to be important enough to be sought out, but not so much as to seem a threat.
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Friends in Low Places: The Caitiff like Charles; they all say he’s a sweetheart. He has been accruing favors among them for years now by helping them to track down their sires. He’s said to more than a few people that he will trace a Caitiff’s lineage for a price.
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Arson Attack: When Charles gets bored he sets fires. Word among the Malkavians that hang at his lounges is he often talks about starting a new Great Fire in Chicago, fit to consume the city. Some say he’s a Sabbat agent, waiting to light a spark for the Sword of Caine. Some say he was the one that started the great first one, but the dates do not match, he's more than half a century too young.
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What Happens at Crook's, stays at Crook's: Low-status Malkavian, Caitiff, Nosferatu, and Ministry that want a bit of information gathering, conspiracy making and catch a hint of Crook's unwavering friendliness hang out a Cook's Lounge. While not Elysium, Crook is strict, anyone that is found babbling about a conversation that happened at the Lounge will be banned forever or worse if they really get on Crook's bad side.
