Dr. John Dee bani Bonisagus was a mage of the Order of Hermes who was Embraced into the Tremere clan of vampires in 1607 CE. He now acts as the Pontifex of the British Islands and is a persistent rival to the Prince of London.
Biography[]
In his life, John Dee was a respected occultist and hermeticist. His fame was so great that even Queen Elizabeth I listened to his advice. He was learned and studied in all fields of natural philosophy during his time and eventually awakened to the greater truth of the world, joining the Order of Hermes. He became renowned within the Traditions for his cooperation with the Dreamspeaker Edward Kelly and his great advances in the study of Enochian.
His life changed rapidly when he received an invitation from Vienna in 1607. The Tremere showed him the power of Thaumaturgy and – seduced by the promise of immortality and a form of magic without the risk of Paradox – he was accepted as a member of Clan Tremere. When he returned to London, it was on a mission by the Inner Council of Seven. He had to rebuild the strength of the Clan in Britain without attracting the attention of Prince Mithras, who distrusted the Tremere.
He recruited many of his former students into the Clan and slowly rebuilt the presence of the Chantry of London. When Mithras finally got wind of this development, he demanded that the British Tremere should renounce their vows to Vienna. When they refused, he responded with a purge that forced the Tremere underground. Since then, a state of informal war has existed between Mithras and John Dee. Using the cover of mortal witch-hunters, the Ventrue uprooted many Tremere holdings until Dee received orders from Vienna to abstain from the conflict.
In secrecy, the Tremere rebuilt, letting Mithras believe that he finally drove them from his domain. Using the spiritualism of the Victorian Era, they again became a power within Britain. It was only when Mithras used Malkavian agents to destroy mortal occultism cults that the Clan was again exposed and on the run.
Following Mithras' disappearance after World War II, John Dee has again begun to rebuild the Tremere presence within Britain to challenge Queen Anne Bowesley's claim to the princedom and claim the islands for the Tremere. In 1987, Johannes Dee signed the decree that appointed Dylan Bruce to the Camarilla Red List – at the occasion, Dee was designed as a quaestor (a special kind of Tremere archon), under Justicar Gabrielle di Righetti.
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle[]
In the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Keepers of Tradition expansion set, Dee's card presented him, not Queen Anne, as the Prince of London. However, VTES cards are not strictly canonical for the World of Darkness, especially considering that a number of cards have named characters as Princes, Archbishops and Justicars that were later contradicted by sourcebooks for the roleplaying game that placed other characters in those positions. Additionally, with the release of Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition, a new Brujah character named Colm Olliver was introduced to the scenario, leading to believe that Anne Bowesley still holds the princedom.
It should be noted that VTES continued with its own distinct metaplot for years after publication of Vampire: The Masquerade ended in 2004, and none of the changes to the setting that occurred in VTES were reflected in VTM when the game was revived with V20. Therefore, while Dee is the most recent claimant to the title of Prince of London in the extended VTES canon, it is unlikely that he has successfully claimed the title in the canonical World of Darkness; his card, like a number of other VTES adaptations of extant VTM characters, may simply present a plausible "what if" scenario.
Trivia[]
For the historical figure, see John Dee. It's worth noting that the real Dee was 81 age old when he died and physical description of the character doesn't match with historical Dee.
Character Sheet[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: A World of Darkness, p. 33
- VTM: Clanbook: Tremere, p. 65
- VTM: Encyclopaedia Vampirica, p. 62
- VTM: Fall of London