“Who is the informant, Teddy?!”, demanded the bruiser as his fat mass of knuckles crunched ribs, followed by a sickening cry.
“I don’t, I don’t know what to tell you...”, there was clear panic in Teddy’s voice; raw desperation. “If I knew, I’d aGhTew!”, Teddy choked as this time the punch landed on his throat.
It was a sad sight to behold, a grown man fighting for his life to take a breath while bloodied and bruised; wriggling while duct taped to a metal chair.
The interrogator assessed his work, considering the craft as an artist would their next stroke on the canvas. A sharp knife, the hacksaw? No. The lead pipe was gingerly lifted off the table before his grip tightened and the goon swung it in the air as if he were batting a home run at the world series.
“Good thing you did not know”, the sadist sneered, “that makes my job a lot easier.” Winding up the pitch, he was already imagining the glorious warm splatter of an obliterated melon.
“Huh? What the…”, famous last words. Justified confusion as the pipe was no longer in his grasp. The mobster no sooner turned around than the weapon he intended for another victim was shoved under his jaw, through the top of his skull, creating a blood gushing snorkel, which would almost be humorous if it were not so graphically horrible.
A terrified Teddy pleaded, “Mercy, please! I didn’t know… Madam, I don’t know who the informant is…” His babble faded as Madam LaLaurie, Nightborn of the Orlok line, raised her finger.
“I know, sweet boy, but you did suspect who it was, yet you did not enlighten me to your intuitions.” The Madam lifted the twitching body at her feet and took a deep red drink, then continued, “I had to punish you for that. Now I believe you learned your lesson and I got to kill the informant myself! I would say that is a win-win, wouldn’t you?”
“ I shall persist to join you every night, first in sleep, then in your arms. Everything will be mixed with abomination, and you'll be knee-deep in blood. Everyone will cry. There will be none to bury the dead.”
― Ellen Hutter, Nosferatu
The Orlok Lineage is feared as a merciless cartel of pragmatists and opportunists. Orlok Nightborn can be trusted to take any advantage they can get, unapologetically. It is said that an Orlok is unlikely to stab you in the back because they are too busy stabbing you in the front.
Orloks are often confident, calculating, and ruthless, suffering no fools and taking whatever they consider their property by right or might.
Orloks are mobsters, politicians, and warlords. Orloks are known for honoring their word, but always to a literal interpretation with an unfortunate exist clause. Their temperament results in Orloks finding themselves in both the criminal underworld and both Nightborn and Mortal government. Orloks may see other Orloks as competition, causing schisms in their Cartels.
Orlok Entitlements are Dominion, Power over Nature and Nocturne, Power over Darkness..
The Dominion tree includes defensive powers, such as Hardening the Body or Discorporating into Mist, control over Animals and the Land, and Elemental Magic.
The Nocturne tree includes powers for Changing into the Form of a Beast, Control over Shadows, and Hexing Magic.
The Orloks of the New Orleans Vampire Court tend to support the Establishment unwaveringly, though those with domains outside the city might consider themselves independent, but that is likely due to their lack of direct access to the courts. Orloks will compete with the Dracul, both claiming to be the Arbiters of Order within the Establishment, even to the point of a most ironic civil war.
The Orloks of New Orleans don’t hold many high political offices within the Establishment, much to their great shame. Though they plan to change this soon and take back power from the Dracul, they do pride themselves on their hold over the city’s organized crime syndicates.
Orloks will make deals with any other Nightborn Lineage. The only question is if the other Nightborn wants to risk a partnership with an Orlok. Wise Nightborn give them a wide berth, yet these are desperate nights.
The Orlok Lineage symbol is a vampire bat, inverted or hanging upside down.