Raul Castiglione

WARNING! A lot of World of Darkness jargon ahead. If you've never played a WoD game, some of this might not make sense! Sorry! Check them out, though! Games mentioned - Mage: The Ascenion (primarily), Changeling: The Dreaming, Vampire: The Masquerade. Also- this is massively abridged, some nuance is lost for the sake of brevity!

Raul was not born into a world of magic. He was dragged into it - a hardline athiest witnesses a changeling's Dream Dance and gets his world turned upside down. After witnessing his best friend Emlyn go through Chrysalis, the duo were dragged into a world of mystery and magic, and with the Week of Nightmares underway and a frenzying Ravnos on their heels, a world of danger and darkness. The duo were taken in by Celestial Chorus Oracle Isabella Chapelle, who attempted to tutor Raul in her magic. Unfortunately, the religious overtones of her paradigm didn't really settle in Raul's magic, so the two were sent to Etherite archmaster Cita Ventura and recruited into the cabal of Iter Eternis.

Through his apprenticeship under Cita, Raul developed a deep hatred for the monsters that threatened him and Emlyn's lives on their entry to the supernatural world- vampires. He swore that he'd destroy every last kindred in the world, which is unfortunate when he lived directly underneath two elder Toreador, Oliver Ray and Luca Anglin. They maintained an odd relationship, with the couple giving the mage-changeling duo gifts and Raul specifically being very bitter about it. Nevermind that his avatar was interested in vampiric vitae, there were bigger fish to fry.

Just as Raul was finding himself strong enough to take out the vampires he kept insisting he'd do, another issue bubbled on the horizon - a hunter from America named Ezra Miller. Unlike other threats he had seen, Ezra was very human and frankly, quite terrifying. He insisted that Raul step down from 'warlock activity' or he, Emlyn, and his entire cabal would die. When he protested, he was shot in the arm, really making the weight of everything tangible, that to the eyes of sleepers, he and Emlyn was just as monstorous as the vampires he was at odds. After swallowing his pride, he worked alongside his cabal and his vampiric neighbors to drive Ezra and his ilk from London.

After Ezra left, he actually grew close to Luca and Oliver, the two Toreadors doing what Toreador do best, makeovers and networking. As he was getting cleaned up, he was introduced to their friend, one Victor Castiglione. Emlyn was also there, and after a long, convoluted conversation and misinterpreted Pookaese, Raul was put in a situation where Victor would regularly be feeding off of him. Very much out of the frying pan and into the fire, as he quickly learned of the power of the vampire's Kiss. Not exactly thrilled about it.

For a while, Raul and Victor experienced a back-and-forth, Raul too much of a tsundere to admit that he was enjoying their time together even outside of the actual feeling of being fed from, and Victor all too delighted to tease him. It takes a long slow burn process for them to actually enter a relationship who's status wasn't nebulous, and at that point, Raul's avatar went wild.

Having been ghouled in a previous life, Raul's demanded Victor's vitae, using his weaknesses and his interpretation of romantic relationships against him. Unlike most vampires, Victor was disgusted by this prospect, and was actively distressed when it was brought up, stating that he never wanted to ghoul another person again after what happened to his last partner, another mage named Isa.

When one questions their avatar, one is thrown into a seeking. Refusing to fail, he stayed in a state of a coma-like trance to break his avatar from a multi-life blood curse. It was here that he realized that his avatar used to belong to that very same Isa. Despite everything, he wanted to break this for himself, and he wanted to love Victor as Raul, and not anyone who was before.

And he did. He completed his Seeking, and started on a long road to recovery.

Nowadays he keeps up his work as an Etheric Chemist and a mage-vampire diplomat of sorts. In the end, he wishes for a happy and peaceful existence, even if it takes a long time for them to get there. He's content on waiting.