Julia Antasia was a Ventrue methuselah, a disillusioned member of the Roman Eternal Senate who attempted to make Frankfurt into a new Rome in the Dark Medieval era.
Biography[]
Julia was born in Rome to a wealthy family in the 5th century BCE. Patrician families like Julia's were facing unrest from the poor plebeian masses of Rome. She was sympathetic to the plebeian cause, spoke on their behalf, and even fell in love with a plebeian. However, her duty was to her family and so she married her betrothed Patrician fiance.
Speculation places her political acumen, rhetoric skill, sense of duty, charisma, strong will, common sense, and compassion as valid reasons for her sire's attention. Regardless, it was the Etruscan Ventrue Tinia who gave Julia the Embrace.
The Dream of Rome[]
At the time of her Embrace, the Ventrue of Rome organized themselves as the mortals did, as a republic: the Eternal Senate of the Ventrue. In the senate, every Ventrue had the right of speech and voting power was irrespective of age or sex. The laws of the senate became the traditions of the Clan for millennia to come.
A Tale of Two Cities[]
While Julia was working for the good of all in the Eternal Senate in Rome, by 264 BCE war with Carthage seemed inevitable as the two powers clashed over territory in the Mediterranean Sea. The issue deeply divided the Senate, but it was war that prevailed. Three gruesome wars were fought against Carthage until the city was destroyed in 149 BCE, earning the ire of the Promethean Brujah for centuries to come for the death of their utopia.
Over the century-long conflict, Julia watched her beloved Senate descend into madness as Rome's unopposed growth meant wealth and power for those who could grab it first. The elders began to enforce their will on the younger through oaths of blood and soon the Republic became an Empire for both mortals and Cainites alike. The death of equality for all Ventrue died, and with it, Julia turned her back on Rome and disappeared for centuries.
De facto Prince of Frankfurt[]
When Julia resurfaced, the Western Roman Empire had fallen and the petty kingdoms of Europe had rejoined into a new Frankish Empire under Charlemagne. The Ventrue of Rome had dispersed into feudal lords across Western Europe, enforcing their rule as monarchs of the night.
Julia was searching for the truth about her clan and its Antediluvian's commandments to his/her childer. Her journey came to an end when her last hope, a Nosferatu elder named Angiwar, met her in a castle just north of Frankfurt. While he did not possess the information that she sought, the two formed a pact of mutual advantage. Julia would protect the Nosferatu of Frankfurt while the Clan of Lepers aided her in her quest for knowledge.
Under her stewardship, ambitious young Ventrue who wished to fulfill her vision of a reborn Eternal Senate flocked to Frankfurt. Julia's proponents labelled themselves Antasians in her honor and espoused equality among Ventrue, in opposition to the Road of Kings, and looked to her as their protector and guide.
Her most outspoken critics and opponents in Clan Ventrue were beholden to High Lord Hardestadt, the embodiment of feudal rulership in his Fiefs of the Black Cross, a hidden Cainite kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire. Hardestadt ruled through his childer and their blood-sworn knights; claiming domains from the vile Tzimisce in the east and conniving Lasombra in the south.
Anarch Revolt[]
She fell into Torpor during the Anarch Revolt, and hasn't awoken since. She is the great-grandsire of Fiorenza Savona.[1]
Character Sheet[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- DAV: Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook, p. 55
- DAV: Dark Ages Europe, p. 58, 61-62, 65, 77
- DAV: Players Guide to Low Clans, p. 67
- DAV: Dark Ages Clan Novel 8: Brujah, p. 259, 261
