⚜ Vincent Griffith ⚜ Warlock ⚜ 33 ⚜ The Atoner ⚜ ENFP ⚜
It Matters Not What Someone is Born…
He was born on All Hallow’s Eve, marking the beginning of another New Year for the witches. The members of the Tremé Coven took it as a sign that he was destined for greatness; following in the footsteps of the gifted and feared witches in his ancestry. It was an expectation that hung over Vincent’s head as far back as he can remember - and a reputation that has troubled him throughout the better part of those years. His parents were not abusive towards him by any stretch of the imagination, and yet they didn’t denounce some of the extreme measures their Coven took towards those who were deemed to have done them wrong. Their reputation grew such that the 'Tremé Grudge’ became synonymous with death or destruction; something to be feared, even by non-witch supernaturals.
Still, sheltered from the effects of their strangling grasp, Vincent had a content and stable childhood. He wanted for nothing, and he had access to greater privilege than many other children within the Coven simply by virtue of his last name. To Vincent, they were all the same; friends, equally worthy irrespective of their lineages. That was until he turned sixteen, until he first met Eva Sinclair. Passionate, intelligent, magnetic. No adjectives seemed to do her justice. Eva was magic. In the most cliché way, maybe, because all those silly expressions about love became true as their fast friendship turned blossomed into romance. She was his drug, his weak spot, his safe place to land. He never found himself to be happier than when he was with her. Several years later, they were married, with a child on the way.
But their happiness didn’t last, and nowadays Vincent thinks; it never does. Looking back, he should’ve seen it sooner, shouldn’t have ignored the rain-cloud that always hung above their relationship. Eva had always been fiercely political and ambitious. Her beliefs danced on the razor’s edge of extremism - but it wasn’t a problem until the book. An instruction manual for sacrificial magic. He blames himself for finding it on their doorstep that fateful day, for bringing it inside their happy home and reading it from cover to cover. He blames himself for indulging the notion that it could make a witch powerful enough to defeat Marcel and his entire tyrannical army of vampires - and for lending that same book to Eva. She became obsessed with the idea, her politics paving the way to a dangerous kind of fanaticism. Alarmed by her growing erraticism, Vincent begged her to stop; to burn the book and forget about the frightening power its teachings had lent them both. She promised she would. She promised.
{Madness is not hysteria. It can be very quiet…}
But when one’s heart isn’t in it, promises are just words easily swept away by the wind. Eva never planned to stop. She continued, but in secret; working her way up to a sacrifice of the most innocent of human beings — children. Reports started trickling in, the youngest prodigies in each of the nine Covens disappearing slowly but surely, one by one. He should’ve suspected her then, but true to another cliché; love was blind, deaf, and dumb. The victims were just kids, and Eva was carrying their first. It wasn’t until he put together a team of witches from each Coven that he ultimately discovered his wife was behind the disappearances. They put a stop to the attacks before Eva could kill the children - he still remembers the deranged look in her eyes and the way she alternated between begging him to join her cause and threatening to kill him too if he sided against her. She’d grown almost too powerful by then, and it took dozens of witches to take her down. The fight - he would later find out - also resulted in the loss of their unborn baby, and Eva was promptly imprisoned in the witch asylum at Fauline Cottage.
For his efforts in rescuing the children, Vincent was summarily bestowed the right of Regency; a position which would give him esteemed leadership over all nine covens in New Orleans. Little did they know that it was the last thing the disillusioned warlock wanted in his life. Magic had tainted his infamous lineage, magic has seduced his wife and brought death to his child. He started distancing himself - not just from Tremé Coven; but from all of the witches and warlocks in New Orleans. He wanted nothing to do with them, and he was slowly gathering the courage to publicly announce his decision and decline the position of Regent when the unthinkable happened... Vincent was attacked by a ring of psychics.
He’s not clear on the details after that. It could’ve been weeks, might’ve been months. There were long stretches of time when he was himself - terrified, confused - but even then, the feeling of being watched persisted. And any time he made a move to figure out what was happening to him and who was pulling the strings - he’d lose consciousness. He snapped out of it several weeks ago, and though he can’t explain it, he knew freedom when he felt it. He was terrified, enraged, confused... The pieces began falling together, and eventually he figured out that that the entity or group of entities that had been controlling him were not rival witches - as he’d initially suspected - but psychics. He wants to find out why, he wants to make sure it never happens to anyone in the city again. But there are so many puzzle pieces, and Vincent is still just one man, who doesn’t know who he can and cannot trust in New Orleans.
… But What They Grow to Be.
He tasted freedom for a few short weeks until trouble found him once more. This time, in the form of a much-hated Mikaelson, Finn. He knew it instantly when it happened; felt the binding spell and Finn’s dark, twisted presence for the flicker of a moment before the feeling was gone. But the consequences of the Binding Spell remain; the Original vampire had somehow linked their lives in a mortal pact - for what purpose, Vincent can only guess at. The vampire gets tendrils of his magic through their bond, but given that he’s currently Covenless, it’s unlikely to benefit Finn much. In return, Vincent gets faint imprints of the vampire’s bloodlust - which are easy to suppress with a bit of magic. His senses have also been heightened, as well as his strength and agility. Perks to the ignorant - but Vincent wants them gone. Any attempt he made at breaking the spell was curtailed by the completion of the Harvest, which killed all magic for the ancestral witches in the the Quarter. It’s put him in a bind, but Vincent won’t let that stop him. He’ll find a way to break the spell, determine Finn’s motives, and make him pay - in that order. After that he’ll gladly kiss his magic goodbye and disentangle himself from all things supernatural in New Orleans. He longs for the day.
Marcel Gerard: There is undoubtedly an irony to fate, a universal sense of humour that persists through time and space. Marcel’s lackeys found him the day he finally regained full control of his senses - and it was the King of the Vampires himself who took him in and offered him safety and free shelter. In return, he’s promised him to try and find a way to bring back Davina, the way the Harvest was meant to. It’s an alliance of convenience, and he wouldn’t call them bosom buddies. Their ceasefire is dicey at best, especially given Marcel’s current stance on the witches (any but Davina, apparently). If he toes a foot out of line, Vincent knows the monarch won’t be making any exceptions on his behalf.
Camille O’Connell: He wouldn’t talk after what he’d been through with the psychics - not until Marcel played his ace. Little did he know that it would come in the form of a nondescript human therapist by the name of ‘Cami’. Except she was more than that, so much more. She was the first one who understood intimately well what he’d been through - what it felt like to have his mind at another’s mercy. She was the first one who offered him real empathy - not because she had anything to gain by it, nor even because Marcel had sent her. There are times were she reminds him of Eva; witty, sharp-tongued - and times where he realizes she shares much more in common with himself; values, perspectives, beliefs. Their budding friendship has become much more mutual in the weeks since they met, and neither like to turn down one of their long and insightful conversations. For all of Cami’s astute skills in people-reading, Vincent likes to think he’s begun to read the woman fairly well himself.
Rogan Jones: Ever since Eva, Vincent’s known all too well the insidious risk that comes from nursing hatred in one’s heart. It’s the root of all evil, a sentiment to be feared more than any other. And yet he’s hard-pressed finding another word to describe his feelings towards Rogan Jones, his organization, and all of the people connected to and supporting of him. It may not have been the leader of the psychic organization who personally messed with his mind, but Vincent has no doubt that Rogan must be aware. After-all, the hand does not work without the head knowing what its doing. And for that, he wants to make the man pay. It’s not vengeance, Vincent tells himself - it’s a lesson in humility that must be learned. If Rogan doesn’t know what it feels like to be manipulated, it’s high-time he find out.
Victoria Argent: Eva was never too fond of humans, always considering them to be the dimwitted and untalented version of a witch. There were few exceptions to her passive contempt, one of them being the Argent Matriarch. Victoria didn’t hide her own contempt of all things supernatural - nor did she downplay her pride in being an active member of the Hunter’s Guild in New Orleans. Still, the women rubbed elbows in the workplace; one as a teacher at St. Aloysius, the other as an academic advisor. Of course, he thinks now, she was drawn to a woman with cold eyes and even colder blood. He never learned the extent of their relationship, but he suspects it was oddly amicable enough considering Victoria has asked about Eva several times over the last few years - questions he’s done well at avoiding. He wonders how long that can last before the teacher gets suspicious.
Sophie Deveraux: Ever since the Harvest and his meeting with Marcel, Vincent feels like he has a better understanding - and even some sympathy for the vampire tyrant. That doesn’t mean he blames Sophie for what happened though. He understands her hands were tied, just like his own hands were tied when it came to betraying Eva and giving up on their marriage. Even though they weren’t part of the same Coven, he remembers the Deveraux family from annual events where they’d all get together for festivals, conferences, or celebrations. He understands what it’s like to lose a loved one, and the temptation to do anything it took in order to get them back. He would’ve done the same in her shoes, and he relates to her loss of faith with regards to their respective Covens and the practice of magic that comes with them. Because of that, Vincent wants to reach out and help the troubled witch, and if possible - protect her from the forces that would see her dead.
Also mentioned in the following bios: Finn Mikaelson,
While magic is lost for all witches of ancestral descent, Vincent is also left without a way of dampening his connection to Finn Mikaelson. Part of him is grateful for that, because it denies the vampire any connection to his magic - but the other part of him is terrified, because it leaves only Finn’s true nature trickling through their mutual bond... And the cravings for blood are getting stronger.
While Vincent is convinced that the focal-point to his vengeance on the AS must be Rogan, he is, in fact, mistaken. Another force is responsible, and it lies in the background, waiting to reveal its cards...
On the soundtrack of his life: Arrival of the Birds & Transformation - The Cinematic Orchestra (x)
FC: Yusuf Gatewood, semi-negotiable.
Fortunately for you, Vincent is O P E N!!
