Caden

Caden Riordan is a player character, a Neonate from clan Malkavian. He doesn't show around very often, but he hovers around the Anarchs mostly, as he has been one of the newbloods welcomed into the fief.

## Caden Riordan

### Occupation

Journalist Intern (former)Sound Techinician

Photographer

Drummer

## Physical appearance

Caden looks like someone in his early twenties, very nondescript, likes to dress in a monochromatic scale, punk-like as he had been very connected to the emo scene from the early 2000's when he was Embraced. Looks like he has been starving for weeks, quite gaunt and gangly, with disheveled dark hair, but his brown eyes look unusually lively. He sports a pierced left eyebrow and a tattoo on his right leg of a lighthouse surrounded by stars and the message "Hold on Hope".

## Personality

Caden looks like a timid, meek person at first, and the fact that he has a stammer doesn't help a lot, which has been a source of frustration for him. As he always says, "the thoughts on my head sounds clearer than the words that come from my mouth". He actually has a lot more fire on him that he shows, decisive and determined, and if pushed over his limits he might even snap in twisted ways. He is definitely an introvert, but because he needs to rely on contacts, he often goes around for jobs among his peers. He has synesthesia, and he often describe things like sounds with different colors or taste.

## Background

### Mortal years

Caden doesn't remember, or doesn't want to remember, his years as a mortal, even if they weren't a lot. His childhood years have mostly disappeared from his mind, but he vaguely remembers he had an imaginary friend that came and went as he was growing up; he also didn't have many friends either due to the fact that he stutters and has synesthesia, and even with lessons that couldn't be properly corrected. By the time he was eighteen, he ran away from home, after years of being physically and mentally abused by his own family, so he decided to break away all contact and stay at a friend's house while he was ending his primary studies and preparing himself to enter college and study Journalism. On his free time, he also had saved enough to buy himself a drum set and play with friends from time to time, as the drumming soothes his mind (or as he says, "leaves his mind white").

It was during those early years in college practices that his life changed forever.

## Skills and flaws

Contrary to popular belief, Caden's synesthesia is not his derangement, even if it is often perceived as a Malkavian's quirk. It is another impediment for him to express himself around others, but it also fuels his creativity and helps him think outside the box. He mostly sees it as an aid rather than a drawback.

Caden's main derangement is dissociative fugue; as he uses and abuses Obfuscate he has developed a sense of being in which he feels he has ceased to exist. He thus has memory blanks and temporary amnesia, and has to write things to help him remember why he is suddenly in one place, or what was his intent before going invisible. He sometimes even feels as if he is a wraith of sorts possesing a corpse.

Moreover, to enforce this he also has dissociative identity disorder, as another personality state of his, named Caleb, comes out at times when he is in a very acute state of distress. Caleb is very different to Caden, as he is straightforward, self-assured, doesn't stutter and is sometimes even violent, not hesitating to take action in very extreme ways. Caden is aware of Caleb's existence, as he can sometimes hear him, but he can't remember the things Caleb does most of the time, unless there is evidence somewhere else, as in someone else's testimony or recordings, and even then he doubts himself. It's very distressful for him to relate Caleb to himself, and also why he usually doesn't form bonds with people, as he is often misunderstood and rejected.

## Disciplines

#### Auspex

* Heightened Senses
* Unerring Pursuit
* Scry the Soul

#### Obfuscate

* Cloak of Shadows
* Silence of Death
* Ventriloquism
* Chimerstry
* Ghost in the Machine
* Mask of a Thousand Faces
* Mask of Isolation
* Mental Maze
* Conceal
* Cloak the Gathering

#### Dominate

* Cloud Memory
* Compel
* Mesmerize
* Dementation
* The Forgetful Mind

## Relationships

### Aidan

Caden met Aidan when they were playing on gigs on Anarch grounds. Him being a guitarist and a very charismatic one, not judging Caden for more than his talent, made the Malkavian relax a little about him, and they had been playing together every once in a while without any pretension. Caden believes there is something else with Aidan than meets the eye, as he seems very understanding about him, but he doesn't want the Toreador to get into the very convoluted thing his unlife is so he doesn't get very close to him. Years later, Caden decides to join his and Lilith's Coterie.

### Caleb

Caleb and Caden are in truth the same person, even if them both claim otherwise and not wanting to be associated with the other (Caleb even affirms to be a Brujah), but Caleb's personality emerged due to the abuses he suffered as a teen, manifesting himself clearly after his Embrace whenever someone touches him too much or is under severe stress and duress. Caden doesn't agree with Caleb's methods, but can't argue they're effective when everything else fails, and he's even envious of him because he is way more confident and competent than he himself will ever be.