ST. VITUS THE THIRD: BACKSTORY.
St. Vitus, 1518.
St. Vitus the Second, 1754.
St. Vitus the Third, 1922.
This specific brand of Malkavians are known, quite notoriously, to bear only one childer. One to bear the brunt of their curse, their disease. This disease has many names: dancing mania, dancing plague, choreomania, tarantism and—St. Vitus’ dance. St. Vitus' are known plague-carriers, and their proximity to mortals can sometimes cause minor outbreaks of a phenomenon long-thought deceased. Kindred, too, can be susceptible—but normally only when the Vitus' blood is ingested. These strange Malkavians love to dance, dance, dance—and they'd love for you to dance with them, until you simply can't anymore.
Dancing mania was a social phenomenon that occurred primarily in mainland Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. It involved groups of people dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time and sometimes for weeks at a time. The mania affected adults and children who danced until they collapsed from exhaustion and injuries. One of the first major outbreaks was in Aachen, in the Holy Roman Empire (in modern-day Germany), in 1374, and it quickly spread throughout Europe; one particularly notable outbreak occurred in Strasbourg in 1518 in Alsace, also in the Holy Roman Empire (now France). There have been many speculations on what caused the dancing phenomenon, but nothing set in stone …
St. Vitus the Third was known, prior to his Embrace, as Freddie Campbell. Born in North Yorkshire in 1891 in a relatively well-off, financially, household, Freddie lived in modest luxury. His father, Graham Campbell, came from mixed Scottish and Thai heritage, and held loose connections with the unified Scottish-English royalty. This aided a pleasant upbringing. As Freddie grew older, he made himself a comfortable living in the realm of watches. Making watches, fixing watches, creating designs and innovations—the Campbell name was one muddled beneath a guild title, but one that locals recognised immediately. Freddie was a strong, charismatic individual, one that many felt allured by and towards.
World War I was declared in 1914; he sought enlistment in the early months of 1915. While part of him wanted the enlist shortly after declaration, others aspects held him back; it was only after he received a white feather, from one of the many women of the Order of the White Feather, to declare him a coward in public, did he feel compelled to finally relent. Unfortunately, after a physical examination, he was deemed unfit for military combat due to being “a physical woman”. Freddie was slighted, upset, ashamed. He sadly returned back to his work, but found things … different. He was very vague about why he was refused enlistment, which lent to people suspecting him of some kind of disease or ill-will that he was hiding. This resulted in a steady decline of interest in his work.
After the conclusion of World War I, in 1922, Freddie sought consolation in the United States of America. He felt like a fresh start was needed, and with the war behind them, he could seek something new and different. On their approximately five-week voyage, in the last week and a half, a strange passenger finally emerged from their room. The individual was in unique, brightly coloured garb, and spoke in unusual tongues. They spoke of their name, St. Vitus the Second, which earned them a few laughs. They smiled crookedly. They beckoned those who laughed at them, and abruptly broke out in a musicless dance. Those same people were flecked with amusement, but ultimately confused.
Before they knew it, they’d begun dancing too. Before anyone knew it, almost the entire passenger cluster erupted into soundless rhythm, jutting and jerking and flowing as though music toyed in their eardrums. Select few from the sailing staff sought to quell the dancing, only to end up roped into it too. Those who hadn’t succumbed to the dancing throes were asked to stay far away from anyone who dared even tap their feet.
Freddie was caught up amidst the rhythm. He was the one which succeeded, dancing for as long and as hard as their unusual conductor. While others collapsed, pained and exhausted, Freddie prevailed. St. Vitus the Second was intrigued.
Two days prior to them arriving in New York, Freddie was Embraced. He became St. Vitus the Third.