Prince Leonard Lehmann

He promises he's not usually like this.

Leonard Lehmann (Born 1st July 1500) is the current Camarilla Prince of Auckland, New Zealand. He took on the position mid-1990 after the disappearance of his predecessor (Vindr) who had filled the role since the colonies establishment. Having been one of the first three kindred in the region, he served initially as unofficial seneschal and sheriff from the 1860s onwards.

He is surrounded by a layered 'inner circle' of close knit long term resident kindred. Part of which forms an over century old coterie. While that coterie remains he has since 2020 established a secondary coterie which he has termed his 'Teen Gang' of 'Fellow False Youths' (FFYs).

## Biography

### **Childhood**

Leonard was born 1st July 1500 as the second son, and third child, of an inconsequential merchant family residing in a large village out in the Bavarian countryside. He recalls only a few details of his life during this period. His fathers business had something to do with managing incoming goods to their location. When he was 9 the village was hit with plague, at which point he had 6 or 7 living siblings. The family died off briefly leaving just Leo, his eldest brother, and youngest sister. The death of his elder brother due to prioritising food supplies for Leo and the youngest led him to opt to prioritise looking after himself first. Believing that doing so would allow him a better chance of caring for his sister. This ultimately failed and he blamed himself for her death within the following months.

However the philosophy managed to stick around with due to later reinforcing situations.

For the next couple of years Leo survived through thievery and playing at being a charlatan. The combination of which would land him in the path of his would be sire Beatrix Lehmann. A minor landholder by marriage and having been widowed she'd been sired for access to the resources of her social position. Her son, whom she would claim Leonard to be a doppleganger of, had died some years earlier and in choosing to believe this was the universe sending her son back to her she promptly adopted the boy. For the next few years Leo would receive a crash course version of the standard education provided to those of his new social standing and get to relish in believing he'd pulled off the ultimate scam. He took on his sires last name and stepped into the life of someone that'd been dead for several years now.

Becoming afraid of Leo loosing his resemblance to her deceased son Beatrix opted to embrace him on the 15th March 1516. The anniversary of his true sons death.

### **Years with Mother**

Up until the early 1790s Leo remained at the side of his 'Mother'. A choice made for him by a familial loyalty induced by a mutual blood bond shared with his sire. Time and introspection induced by a revolving door of siblings managed to provide suitable wiggle room for him to eventually seize an opportunity to break free and he used the French Revolution as a cover for his death. Until that point he frequently took on the role of reclusive head of the house. A role which for the first couple centuries of his existence involved cycling through repeatedly playing his own made up (or falsified then disposed of) progeny. *They were the best of times they were the worst of times...*

Outside of spontaneously brought up anecdotes and filling out squares for 'crime bingo' Leo avoids going into too much detail about this time in his life. As things that seemed normal at the time and for the era most certainly leave a sour taste in his mouth looking back on them.

### **London Interlude**

From the 1790s up until 1839 Leo lived within the city of London. During this time he kept his head down and did his best to keep attention of his fellow kindred off of him to avoid having news of his continued existence reach his Mother. His presence was known to the seneschal and few others. He made do within the realm of petty crime, primarily working as a fence (among other matters), and surrounding himself with a gang of urchins. In exchange for keeping a select handful at a time sheltered, fed, taught, and out of reach from those that'd do them harm he'd buy their loyalty without blood... and only a little bit of presence and dominate.

This period of time left him with a growing number of owed boons to those helping keep his location a secret. So upon finding an advertisement for ships sailing out the new colony of New Zealand he opted to stow away. His refusal to inform anyone of his upcoming departure however resulted in an unfortunate encounter with Daniel Herrington. A current gang member who'd noticed a withdrawal by their lead. In a confrontation between the two on the night Leo stowed away Leo claims the mortal boy pushed a nerve too far causing him to act on compulsion to kill him. An act immediately regretted causing a impulsive panic embrace, which was *also* immediately regretted.

### **Colonial Auckland (1840 - 1914)**

Leo arrived in Auckland in 1840 anticipating himself to be the first kindred to arrive in the region. Much to his disappointment he discovered he was not.

From 1840 to late-1850 he made his home in some of the caves that were still around at the time until eventually negotiating a contract with his predecessor to enter into a mutual blood bond similar to that which he'd had with his sire. Being both Ventrue and having little overlap in their feeding requirements this arrangement, on paper, looked like it would work out alright. The following century would prove that wrong. Differences in attitudes created high tension. Vindr was determined to have Leo play the part of 'proper' ventrue during all hours of the day, the bond gave him a sense of duty that he needed to make this ward better somehow... While Leo found himself bitter over both his treatment and generally having landed himself right back where he started, if not worse off, in some regards.

Despite this prior to WWI while the kindred population was still relatively low in the region Leo found himself with plenty of free time and free reign. He would assist in settling new kindred that came alongside the influx of people to the city, and was instrumental in putting forward the tremere twins (Thea & Steph) in the 1870s who would be the first tremere to be sired in the city.

During this era he commonly posed as being Vindr's son towards mortals, including sharing a haven, and would frequently find himself sent on errands on his behalf.

The coterie he would carry forward into modern nights began initially in the 1870s with him and the twins, before expanding to include Alexandra upon the malkavian's arrival to the city during the early 1880s.

### **20th Century**

With the increasing kindred population of the city Leo found his responsibilities increasing, and Vindr made sure to take action to drill home to him that work had to be his central focus which increased tensions between the two. On an upside, part of his duties in the court based upon his perceived age was to keep up to date with the modern trends. This provided him plenty of opportunities to mess around, have some fun, and be a bit of a menace all round really.

Despite not holding any official position in the court, and having an openly contentious dynamic with the Prince, he established himself as a pillar of community. This was despite his fluctuating degrees of violence within criminal, regular uncouth behaviour, and receival of criticism from the Prince himself. For as volatile as he was seen it was seen as caused by the pressure of an outside source. Upon Prince's disappearance the positives of his reputation managed to outweigh the bad and he was able to step into the position with strong community support at the time.

### **Princehood**

Stepping into the position of Prince Leo inherited a well organized position. For the first time in his long existence he feels like he has time to relax and enjoy the found family he's built around him. While some more recent changes in the running of his domain have caused a loss in favour from the surrounding anarches he does run the city with a much less iron fist than his predecessor. He's devoted to protecting to peaceful lifestyle of the cities kindred *no matter who must be thrown under the bus.*

There is nothing wrong in Auckland.

*Everything is fine.*

## Personality & Attitude

ENTJ-T 6w5, Neutral Evil.

**Demeanour:** Trickster

**Nature:** Chameleon

Leo's tone during interaction varies dependent on the topic at hand. He typically retains a happy go lucky 'it's all water off a ducks back' persona until more serious topics come about. He will act professional and 'ventrue' when the context appears to call for it.

He jokes around about his age of death and typically defaults to claiming to be 16, along with introducing himself with a comparison to Emperor Charles V who while 3 months older than Leo became King of Spain around the same time he died. He occasionally displays frustration over how he's perceived by mortals and expresses missing the days where he could be seen as one the standard early school leavers that'd gotten into the family business. Regardless of his personal frustrations over the perception of him he does agree with the social change in general. It has caused him to start holding onto his fake IDs longer than he probably should though.

Generally has a 'it is what it is' 'take the blows of the world as they come' sort of attitude at the end of the day towards most things.

## Kin List

Due to a joke at some point Leo started a kin list and uses it as a 'I relate to these characters/people' thing. With the except of some entries being entirely memes.

* Five (TUA)
* Oswald (Gotham)
* Artemis (Fowl)
* Ciel (Phantomhive - Manga over anime)
* Czeslaw (Baccano)
* Common Guitarfish
* Hanako & Tsukasa (JSHK)
* Reigen (MP100)
* Venti (Genshin)
* Monoma (BNHA)
* Baby Doll (Batman:TAS)
* Kagamine Len (Vocaloid)
* Julius Caesar (the actual one)
* Kaz (Brekker)

## Skills and Abilities

Leo prides himself on his wide assortment of eclectic skills that he's pulled together over the centuries. *"I have approximate knowledge of many things."* he has meme'd at least once. While not disclosing the entire extent of his powers Leo openly expresses having skill in clan disciplines as to be expected from an elder. Alongside this he admits to celerity use and having worked towards developing the protean skills to achieve **bat form**. He has alluded to an interest in learning a little of all he the disciplines he can come across.

He also expresses some degree of pride towards his personal willpower. Considering the slipping free from a blood bond he can have some pride with that. He deserves it.

## Relationships

aka: A mix of people Leo will frequently mention and just people in general.

* **Theodora aka: Thea** *(Auckland Tremere Primogen since 1976 - current)* : Haven & member. Personal Assistant. Bonded to Leo since 1976. Dearest confidant aside from Stephan since the 1860s, admits to fear over how dynamics would shift if bond was lifted.
* **Stephan** *(Auckland Tremere 'Regent' since 1976 - unofficial)*  : Haven & Coterie member. Bonded to Leo since 1976.
* **Alexandra** *(Auckland Malkavian Primogen since 1883)* : Coterie member, stand in for a parental figure when masquerade reasons call for one. Provider of ominous advice.
* **Tegan** (*Auckland Nosferatu Primogen since 1891; Auckland Sheriff since 1991)* : Occasional member of the coterie over the years. Sire someone Leo both helped get sired but also killed. Outside of council work they still hang out casually on a semi-frequent basis.
* **Dr. Antyllus** *(Auckland's Resident Tzimisce and his doppelganger)* : A thinblood - tzimisce pair arriving several years back whose presence initially brought unease, yet his desire to simply dive into work has provided beneficial. Leo has come to work closely with him on population and food management.
* **Mr. Keller** *(Auckland Ventrue Primogen since 1934)* : Deals with the clan stuff for Leo. Keller doesn't want Leo touching official business stuff and that works fine for him.
* **Daniel Herrington aka: Danny or Fish** *(Childer to the Prince)* : Leo's childer who tracked him down looking to escape for London. Despite some initial rockiness they now display a mutual understanding for each others perspectives and both parties are glad to have someone around that can relate to them.
* **Wart aka: Arty or Arthur** *(Childer to Danny) :* Dug up and brought out of torpor in exchange for a boon to someone back home in response to Leo's proposed gang creation. An absolute bloodthirsty menace attack dog hidden by the face of a 9 year old with the sanctity merit.
* **Lachlan Samuel Wilson** *(FFYs Gang Member)* : A visiting lasombra he's not sure entirely what to think about. Despite his uncertainty over allowing the neonate to reside in his haven he's currently accommodating him and housing him alongside Danny & Wart.

## Trivia

* Began collecting dakimakura as a joke connected to kinning Five and having his own version of Dolores. But found the pillows, covers aside, to be extremely comfortable and a pleasant substitute for tormenting mortals. A habit that, with the twilight era over, he claims to be putting behind him.
* Enjoys bingo.
* Claims not to yearn.
* Collects antique firearms.
* The people at his local grocery store know he's a vampire, or at least 30 with wacky genes and just don't give a fuck. It's the night shift and this weirdo is in again buying cleaning supplies, no food, cigarettes, and hot wheels car. Maybe he bit someone in the backroom once but it was the only interesting thing to happen for hours that night and provided someone with a free high so like??? Hunters asked about him once and they feigned ignorance.
* Likes swing music and dancing.
* Has a portrait of himself hanging behind his desk.
* Occasionally prone to soliloquy.
* Suffers from the Nightmares flaw.
* Listens to some vocaloid.
* Original creation was as an NPC for a Chronicle that didn't go far. He was intended to be a possible antagonist, initial character concept inspired by Five (cos mun had just watched TUA at the time they were planning), and he didn't have nearly the same level of details to his backstory as he does now.
* Owns far too many suits.
* Has a brand of Mother's family crest.
* Has a ring with that same family crest on it still. Doesn't wear it but still has it.