History

Early Years

Andrew’s early years were almost wholesome in their “All-American” charm. His father came and went, often deployed in the military and later in service overseas to what his family presumed was some manner of black ops support role. His home life was surprisingly stable. His mother struggled repeatedly with fertility issues and miscarried several times prior to his birth. She treasured her firstborn with a sort of desperate love and affection. Even as more children followed without the tremendous difficulty of her first, Andrew remained his mother’s “little miracle.”

It was of little surprise, given his pedigree—his mother and grandmother both talented collegiate athletes and both his father and grandfather as dedicated war heroes—that he excelled in sports in his early life. With the financial stability provided by his father’s consistent paycheck, Andrew was able to develop into a three-sport athlete, excelling in football, baseball, and basketball. Though he spoke little of it, the rarity with which his father was able to attend his games drove him to excellence, and he was highly recruited out of high school. Ultimately his father’s influence drove him to seek a more unlikely course in application to the United States Naval Academy in an attempt to follow in his father’s footsteps in the military.

Grooming

His father’s death in 2001 greatly affected Andrew and drove him further into his chosen profession and brotherhood. Though the details were never disclosed, he presumed that his father had died in conflict serving his country, against some foreign foe. With his grandfather’s encouragement he stayed the course, seeking a position in the Marine Corps. Graduating in 2002, on the precipice of the Iraq War, Andrew commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He aggressively sought deployment and in 2002 first deployed to Afghanistan. The fourth-generation soldier excelled under pressure, displaying an almost superhuman affinity for conflict and a controlled aggression that made him ferocious on attack and tenacious on defense.

He deployed again for the Iraq War in 2003 where his service with distinction earned him the opportunity to apply the Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment One pilot program. With further encouragement from his grandfather, he applied and was selected. After completing training, he deployed again in 2004 with them where he led in the fierce street by street, block by block, battle to reclaim Fallujah. It gave him both purpose and outlet against the rage associated with his father’s death—the father who had always been too distant. Here, on the battlefield, he was alive. Nothing else mattered but the next mission, the next day, the firefight.

In 2006, when the Detachment One pilot program was disbanded, he was merged into the reconstituted successor as part of the United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command Marine Raider Regiment as a captain, leading a 14-man Marine Special Operations Team on repeated deployments across the CENTCOM AOR, all the while honing his lethal skills. By 2008, U.S. involvement in the region was drawing down as part of a more isolationist shift in foreign policy. Selected for rotation to the Marine Raider Training Center, he instead submitted his resignation, much to the surprise of his superiors. Little did they know, it was under the guidance once more of his grandfather, who promised him an opportunity beyond his imagining.

Ghouling

Since his introduction to Dr. North in 2008 by his grandfather—the elder ghoul’s long-time domitor—Andrew has served the Tremere surgeon unwaveringly. The initiation into Jonathan’s service answered many questions that has grown in Andrew’s mind about his father’s past activities, and his death. That knowledge, especially that his new master had led his father against monsters the equal of the worst Near Eastern savage Andrew had put down, created an devotion above and beyond that of the blood bond. So far as he was concerned, the wars and conflicts among Kindred were the real battles being fought in the world. His previous experiences had only been a prologue.

In the years since, Andrew has proven quite the lethal tool for his domitor. He’s assumed the role that his father and grandfather did before him as the tip of the surgeon’s spear against not only rival Kindred and their servants, but also beasts as Loup-Garoux (Lupines outside Louisiana) and stranger creatures that go bump in the night.

Personality

At his core, Andrew is a good soldier. That’s still how he thinks of himself. While he may have swapped one loyalty (the U.S. government) for another (the Pyramid) and one boss (his CO) for another (Jonathan North), he sees himself as a soldier fighting in a higher order of war. It’s one more subtle, insidious, and dangerous, that requires ferocious attention to detail and obedience to survive in. One his grandfather fights in. That his father fought in. That he’s honored to fight in.

He’s fully embraced that philosophy, drunk in the idea of a warrior culture rooted in stoicism and solidarity since his earliest days in a way that drove even the most career marines to nausea. He lives a Spartan existence, intentionally frugal. Focused. His primary vices are his passions: firearms and physicality. Of course, they aren’t entirely his only ones, especially since he got on the juice. Amid stoicism and deprivation, he does enjoy squeezing in a night of debauchery when the tempo of his operations permits. An opportunity to blow off some steam and indulge as warriors have done for eons. That such indulgences give him an opportunity to assert his sexual orientation despite the pull towards his domitor brought on by the bond is certainly a minor bonus.

Beyond that, he thrills and thrives on the power the blood has given him. Long accustomed to being stronger, faster, tougher than most, his service to Dr. North has given him more. It’s made him a better solider. A better killer. It’s something to be proud of, though looking upon his grandfather and the sheer prowess the old man wields leaves little doubt he has a long way to go. To say nothing of true elder ghouls.

Much like his domitor, Andrew is often tight-lipped and reserved. When he speaks he is typically blunt and to the point, offering stark observations and plain commentary unencumbered by qualifiers. He believes in getting things done: executing his task in the most efficient way possible. He prefers those with a similar mindset.

Unlike many ghouls, Andrew has few aspirations for ascension into the All-Night Society himself, at least at present. He’s keenly aware of the limitations of the vampiric condition despite its many benefits, and for now is happy to keep his options open. Remaining mortal allows him to enjoy things like working out, eating, and sleeping around that he knows he’d sacrifice. It’s also not lost on him that his father and grandfather were able to have families of their own. While he’s not ready to do so yet, he’d like to keep the option open.

Like many career soldiers, he’s happy to have a clear hierarchy and reporting structure as well as unambitious order. The lack of paperwork he had to deal with in the service is an added bonus. Even more than hierarchy, he enjoys the feeling of being a part of something—in this case, North’s retinue of handpicked ghouls with their own array of exceptional talents. He views himself as part of a team, and his fellow ghouls as members of it. That deep feeling of loyalty to those around him is a carryover from his time in the service, and one that’s served him well. It helps give him purpose, and has done much to stave off the inherent infighting often present among talented ghouls competing for their domitor’s attention.