Sodium Noir

Constantine Zingaresche
THE HARLEQUIN
'The Clown Prince of Crime'

I will testify for you
I'm a gun for hire; I'm a saint; I'm a liar
Because there are no facts there is no truth
Just data to be manipulated
I can get you any results you like
What's it worth to ya?
Because there is no wrong, there is no right
And I sleep very well at night
No shame, No solution
No remorse, No retribution
Just people selling T-shirts,
Just opportunity to participate in the pathetic little circus
And winning, winning, winning
- Garden of Allah
- by Don Henley, Stan Lynch, John Corey, and Paul Gurian

Race	Vampire
Splat	Ravnos, Prakriti of the Vaishya Caste
Title	Romany Baro Rom, Owner of Club Harlequin

Story
The Holy Fool in the homeland of the Ravnos is a minor and lowly being, but the Powara respect the Trickster spirit above all others. Across cultures and Clan the Clown is a constant theme and throughout history, one Fool has remained vital and integral to the World of Darkness. Ever since the Ravnos spread out from the orient, there has always been a Harlequin and he has always had his Columbine. The root of his name may be the Herlekin (Hell Kin?) and Hellequin that occur in French folk literature to denominate diabolic ragamuffins or the Italian Arlecchino. The waters of time that carry this secret are muddied by lies and lost memories, mostly those of the Harlequin himself.

HIS LIFE
Kattiakaran was born to the Powara tribe, a Romany boy of the Zingaresche family. His family came to the Byzantine Empire towards the end of the 11th century after travelling through India, Arabia and up through Asia minor. The Zingaresche were itinerant performers who brought various forms of Indian performance to the West including the art of the Therukoothu street plays, the Pavaikuthu shadow puppet theatre and Sokari, a Sri Lankan theatre form. They became popular in the jaded courts of Constantinople, entertaining the Byzantines with traditional stories and Dance tales, acrobatics, sleight of hand and knife throwing tricks.

Travelling with the Romany, as always, were members of the Ravnos clan. An Elder Vampire, Petrushka, ruled the Zingaresche with an iron fist, placing his childer in each camp and using them as an extension of his nefarious web of criminals. Petrushka had a habit of embracing members of his own family and it was his daughter, the undead performer Katarinha, whom Kattiakaran's own family kept hidden beneath the boards of their wagons. This Vampiress had a wilful and independent nature, and the family of her retinue enjoyed a high degree of autonomy in comparison to other Byzantine Zingaresche.

Kattiakaran's mother westernised his name to Constantine after the City in which his tribe settled, hoping it would allow him to flourish amid the gawje there as he grew. Constantine was an irrepressible rascal from the moment he could walk, and his daring nature quickly elevated him to the position of leader among the young boys of the tribe. When trouble found him he had the wagons of a dozen married sisters to hide within, and as he became a young man his activities had begun to split the families of the Zingaresche. Constantine was lithe and dextrous, having practiced acrobatics from the time he was an infant. Just as with children born into modern circus families, he intended to continue the families tradition as a performer. He practices knife throwing and sword dances as well as playing several stringed instruments and as a boy he often played the role of women or Cherubs in plays.

His disobedient nature and angelic looks brought him to the attention of the Shimullo Katarinha. This Ravnos dancer and Chovihani (witch) was unable to resist the teenaged boy due to her own personal fetish for the self-destructive forces in the world and the two became lovers.

As the lover of this Shimullo the teenager enjoyed even more power among the Zingaresche than the Baro Rom (head man) and the Púridaia (old women), while the majority of the Romany delighted in his exploits, those who had disliked him before grew to revile him. His wanton nature became a heavy cross for the Romany entertainers to bear, but Katarinha forgave him all his peccadilloes. She fed him her Blood to make him stronger and to keep him beautiful, contravening the strongly held taboos of the Romany. Once he became a Shudra (Ghoul), the Romany love for Constantine quickly diminished and soon only his own family welcomed him at their campfires. His network of allies and hiding places began to disappear and the soldiery of Constantinople began to close in.

The trouble stirred up by Constantine eventually reached the edges of the Byzantine Empire and Petrushka, Katarinha's mortal and immortal sire. This Ravnos was greedy but not a monster, and simply killing one of the mortal Romany was not his style. Added to this was the fact that his Daughter could wrap him about her ring-bedecked finger, and he could hardly kill her lover. For several years he spent as much of his resources trying, and failing, to keep the two apart as he did fleecing the Byzantines of their gold.

HIS DEATH
The situation came to a head when Constantine's beloved mother was killed in a riot for food at a market in foreign quarter. What had been simple childish misbehaviour by Constantine rapidly devolved into malicious and pain fuelled malevolence. With the power of Katarinha's blood in his veins his family stood little hope of reining him in and he went on a rampage of unimaginable proportions. Constantine burned churches and the houses of the rich throughout the foreign quarter, stealing gold and art from the people he blamed for his mothers death. His rampage drew out the cities soldiers and brought them down upon the Romany countless times and Katarinha had to use every trick in her repertoire to smooth over the disharmony. It was obvious that she should take steps to harness her 'beautiful boy', but her own appetites were too enflamed by the chaos he caused and she went out of her way to encourage him.

When Constantine killed a member of the Scholai, the mortal police of the Toreador, he brought the full weight of the Undead down upon the Zingaresche. Fearing retribution, the closest members of Constantine's family tried to flee the city, leaving by the Gate of Psamathia and gathering on the rocky beach there to board a boat across the Marmora (Propontis Sea). Michaels Imperial guards found them there and rounded up as many of the Romany as they could lay their hands upon. Only the intervention of Petrushka and Gregory the Wondermaker was able to stay the hand of justice. Petrushka promised to punish the wrongdoer in the ways of his own people and for Petronius the matter was settled. In truth, the Eastern Ravnos and their mortal peoples were still enjoying a honeymoon period due to their skills and entertainment value and the powerful rulers of the city were lax in the face of exotic customs and beliefs.

Constantine however had exhausted all of the indulgence his nature once brought him and he had to face the wrath of the Romany elders. Not even the might of his Vampire lover could calm the families and Katarinha discovered that the only way she could protect him from the justice of the Kris was to embrace him into the Ravnos Clan. Of course, some might believe that she used this excuse to turn him and that it had been her plan all along.

As Ravnos laws differed in many ways from the Traditions of the Western Cainites, the choice to embrace needed no permission from a Sire or elder. Once Constantine was Dvija (Twice born) he inherited a whole new set of considerations from his people. In undeath, Constantine was no better behaved than in life and before long the Zingaresche left Constantinople to avoid the authorities angered by his crimes. His Grandsire, Petrushka, might have killed him for the trouble he caused while he was a mortal, even against the wishes of Katarinha, as a Ravnos he embraced him and showered him with affection. He know however that the boy had gained a lot of enemies and if Constantine remained in the city he would weaken his own power as the Shimullo Baro. He had to send the boy on his way, utilising his skills as an agent in the West.

Within a week he married his daughter Katarinha to Constantine, bestowing upon him a small fortune and a large herd drawn mainly from the boys closest family, Katarinha's own retainers. As well as his immediate relations, the Kumpanya consisted of the extended families of Constantine's countless brothers in law and sundry cousins. The Ravnos in truth were as misogynistic as their Western cousins and Katarinha's sex had kept her back. Now having a Husband, he knew his daughters skills would be useful to them in the real world where women were given little regard. Although she was his Sire, they put forth an image of a traditional Husband and wife, with all that entailed. In truth, Katarinha was so completely bessotted by her Devil that felt no resentment at all, she had found and captured her soul mate.

HIS UNLIFE
The couple led the large kumpanya of Zingaresche Romany out of the fading Byzantine Empire and into Bulgaria and then into Europe. In their wake followed all manner of discord and infamy. These two Ravnos, dubbed the Bonnie and Clyde of the Bosporus by De Lauriette, rocked the Western Clans and their herd to the core. Even other Ravnos begin to flinch when they heard the tales of these miscreants.

As they honeymooned across Europe Katarinha instructed Constantine in the Path of Paradox, and learned much from his as well. The pair complemented each other perfectly, he was an unstoppable avatar of chaos and she was a muse of destruction. Their passage was easy to follow and along the road they met and spent time with others of the Clan, learning from the insights of other adherents of Paradox and carrying out various sorties for Petrushka. The influence of Katarinha's sire went a long way in the East but lessened the further they travelled from the Bosphorus. Although Constantine and Katarinha were of the Vaishya Caste, they began to attract the attention of the Brahmin. Seers and visionary Ravnos sought them out and would ask the neonate endless questions until his wife grew irritated and threw them out. A trait that would be commented on by others who attempted to monopolise his time.

By the middle of the 12th century Constantine and Katarinha had reached France and the Courts of Aquitaine. Some rumours said that they chose this land because Katarinha believed a local saint spoke to her in dreams. When the Zingaresche settled here they attracted a large following due to thier novelty value. Managing to insinuate themselves among the retinue of William the 9th of Aquitaine, the first Troubadour and grandfather of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the couple were the darlings of the night courts. By the time Eleanor had risen to her title as the Queen of Romantic love, had married Louis of France and then Henry II of England, mothering Richard the lion hearted and other kings, The Angelic Constantine was the single most powerful Ravnos in France. The acrobat, Fool and Jester was christened Le Arlequin by the court, earning himself a large following of courtly ladies by his midnight performances and regularly returned to France from his wanderings. Crowned heads as far afeild as Spain and Russia petitioned for him to visit and entertain them in thier capitols.

As well as the attention being shown to the couple and their retinue by the heads of state, the interest from other Ravnos continued. Those embraced in the West grew to hate the newcomer, but those who had travelled from the homeland found him fascinating. His grasp of the teachings of Maya seemed instinctual and inspired, and those with Auspex found their dreams full of the Impish Childe. Noted Saddhu and Swarmy of the Ravnos began to speak of Constantine as some kind of idiot savant or wunderkind, and his legend within the Clan grew.

The beggining of the end
Together this pair led a merry chase across Europe and upset the delicate morality of the Cainites that dwelt there. When they were formally ejected from France, and then from the Holy Roman Empire, the Zingaresche travelled back east with them. Their favourite crime was to bite the hand that fed them. When a nobleman or even a vampire invited them to stay, hoping to be entertained by the famous Ægyptians, they gladly played the role expected of them. Hosts were dazzled and amazed by the exotic performances, and they lavished all manner of gifts and splendour upon the Zingaresche, but that was never enough. Not long after the Kumpanya moved on, these Hosts found their coffers lighter and the odd bare patch on the walls of their castles. Most appealing to the pair were items of Occult and religious significance, or supposedly magical trinkets. When the forces of the lord or Prince caught up with them, no trace of the missing items were found and the red faced nobles often found themselves apologising profusely.

The simple truth of the matter was that magical items obsessed Katarinha, but once she had them the lustre quickly faded and she gave them to Constantine who destroyed them. His wife's kleptomania was fleeting, but Constantine's devotion to Paradox was like a fire in his mind. He had no resistance to the passion and he was addicted to the rush he felt when he destroyed artefacts and talismans, releasing their Weig back into the flux.

While the Ravnos pair certainly did steal a great wealth of treasure and both indulged their Gluttonous appetite for diablerie, their crimes were embellished by the Ravnos native to western Europe out of jealousy and the need for a scapegoat. The Western Clans could hardly finish drinking from their herds without hearing tales and ballads of the pair. Constantine le Arlequin and Katarinha were credited with crimes across the world, the destruction of elders and of harbouring Assamites and Demons in their wagons. Cainite outlaws of the day found their lack of subtlety a handy cover for their own infractions and before long the pair were officially the Cainites most wanted! The Princes of Europe came together after several failed attempts to capture them individually and a plan was hatched to relieve themselves of these two pests.

In 1398, as the Mongol's invaded India, the trap swung shut in Prague. The two greatest criminals of the midnight courts felt the full force of their better supported victims when the united efforts of the Toreador, Tremere, Ventrue and Giovanni Bloodline of the Cappadocians caught them in a trap and left them sealed up for all time amidst the treasures their greedy hearts had yearned for. The Zingaresche were captured by the mortal authorities and sold into slavery. There was nothing unusual about this practice and their fall from belovved performers to despised criminals was complete.

In truth, Constantine escaped the trap with the aid of Columbines Auspex and his own illusions of magnificent skill, but his lover was forced into torpor by the experience. As the tomb slammed shut, Constantine decided that he could find no better sanctuary for her body until she awoke and he fled into the night alone.

His melancholy kept him from rejoining the Zingaresche for decades, and he took out his fury in petty sport and mischief that birthed the Charivari (processional revels) of the 14th and 15th centuries. The term, originally referred to villages opposed to unwanted marriages and Constantine's sixth sense for causing trouble led him to such events. He used his charisma and persuasion to whip crowds of simple villagers into frenzied mobs. Under the influence of the Vampire the phrase came to mean a procession of noisy maskers, dancers, drummers and singers who made the streets unsafe by night. Among the buffones or masks it was not uncommon to see the wild man Hellequin or Herlequin whose name becomes transformed into Harlequin. Constantine had gained the masque he would wear for the remainder of his Unlife.

Constantine the Szangy
The second incarnation of the Harlequin appeared early in 15th century Transylvania at the time of Dracula's grandfather. This Ravnos brokered a deal with the great Dragon Voivoide and in return for the release of his tribe, the Zingaresche, from slavery he served the Basarab line for a century, eventually coming to serve Vlad Dracula himself.

Constantine served Vlad Dracula as a brigand and leader of his gypsy troops. Bound by his word, but stifled by giving up his freedom to another, Constantine took every opportunity to test his chains and was seen by most of Dracula's allies as a wild and reckless child. For kicks, the Vampire would spread chaos and anarchy in the villages and towns they travelled through and would join the torch waving peasants as they marched against their oppressors. The myth of the Charivari continued to follow Dracula's troops as they joined the Jyhad and the Axes began to be swamped with the job of covering up the excesses of the Gypsy contingent of their forces.

Once Dracula the Tzimisce retired from the Jyhad, the Hellequin had ceased to be seen and it is assumed by outsiders that he was destroyed by his former master because he could not be trusted as a free agent. The truth was very different. During the final years of his service to the Dragon, the Hellequin believed he had felt the awakening of his Love Katarinha, her powerful mind calling out to him from her tomb. By the Time his century of service was over, Dracula and his Brujah lieutenant were equally pleased and relieved to see Constantine go. Dracula's advisor, Durga Syn, had taught the Hellequin how to aid the awakening of a Torporous vampire and they both believed Katarinha would remain in limbo until he brought her blood.

Imagine then how shocked the Hellequin was to discover the Tomb empty when he eventually arrived at its door with a wagon full of bound victims. The search for his beloved would take the Hellequin centuries. During those years he again sought out Durga Syn and became for a time, her travelling companion. He felt the burden of immortality less in her company for she not only allowed his destructive nature free reign, she occasionally encouraged it. Although he would slaughter anyone who said so, Constantine had been embraced far too young and his immaturity gnawed at him. It made him petulant and spiteful, and left him vulnerable to the domination of strong women or parent figures such as Durga Syn, whom he adopted as a substitute for his belovved Mother. By giving him direction and taking away the need for him to make his own choices she gained a willing slave with the potential to bring down kingdoms. [See CirKhaos for more on this subject].

Commedia dell'Arte

The commedia dell'arte was a form of popular theatre that emphasized ensemble acting; its improvisations were set in a firm framework of masks and stock situations, and its plots were frequently borrowed from the classical literary tradition of the commedia erudita, or literary drama. Professional players who specialized in one role developed an unmatched comic acting technique, which contributed to the popularity of the itinerant commedia troupes that travelled throughout Europe.

Meanwhile, the Romany freed by Constantine's vow of service a century before had travelled to the Cities of Italy and merged with the troupes of theatre there. The origin of the Commedia dell'arte is unknown but the Zingaresche were there at its birth. There is no single, clear line of descent from the earlier forms of theatre, however in the World of Darkness the arrival of Zingaresche Romany fleeing from persecution in Wallachia had a spectacular effect on the form. After being released from slavery by Vlad Dracula, Constantine's mortal herd of performers joined with the local entertainers and added elements of local vernacular language and anarchic comic business; thier patter, story-telling, clowning, acrobatics, the dancing and music of the minstrel and the mountebank contributed to commedia techniques.

Reunited
Finding no sign of Katarinha, the Hellequin sought out his people. The descendants of his herd knew he would return to plague them and hardly batted an eyelid when he walked into their camp one night. Along with the stories of his crimes, they remembered how well he had provided for them since the nights of Byzantium and why they had escaped from slavery when the rest of the Powara had not. Those who were less than thrilled to see the return of this Devil soon changed thier minds after Constantine picked up the Violin of an old man and began to play. Within a few hours the entire Camp was singing and dancing in celebration of the return of thier Shimullo Baro.

During the 1500's the performing troupes infiltrated every important European country, influencing actors and playwrights everywhere. France, particularly Paris, remembered the legend of Le Arlequin and it was their second home. The Zingaresche tribe became Italianized and were an important part of the travelling performers retinue, the family separating and being absorbed by different companies. By the time Constantine left the service of the Dragon, his people had disappeared beneath the radar of the gawje and had avoided the trials and tribulations of the other 'Gypsies' almost completely.

Although he originally intended to use the Zingaresche as a tool to search for Katarinha, employing their ability to cross borders and interact with the Silent Striders as a smoke screen, his blood was stronger. A performer from birth, Constantine found himself drawn back to the theatre life and spent more and more time working alongside the mortal performers. His troupe garnered a reputation for moonlit shows and even the vampires of Europe began to patronise their services. Unknown to the western Clans, they opened their haven doors to the very devil they had once united to destroy and showered him and his retinue with gifts.

Two centuries saw numerous changes of detail and nomenclature in the dramatis personae of the commedia dell'arte, sometimes in response to the success of particular performers, the Hellequin learned the lesson of Vampiric survival from his own people, mutate or die.

Constantine excelled at the Zanni parts, the clowns of the Commedia dell'arte. The greatest performers of the time came to see Constantine's Arlecchino and Brighella and acknowledged him as the greatest Zanni of the time. If only they had realised how many centuries he had been practicing his art they might have been less surprised, or maybe not. It was his twinned performance of both these clowns that led to Domenico Biancolelli's innovative fusion of the two into a single, paradoxical character. Biancolli never realised that the performer he spent so long conversing with was a blood drinking monster and when he left he helped Constantines performance evolve and took the Harlequins masquerade with him. As Arlecchino he wore an unembellished black or dark-brown mask, often a devils face complete with horns and an evil grin, a reflection of his mentors true nature it seems. He also wore a patched and motley costume, which subsequently became refined into the familiar overall pattern of lozenges, and carried a wooden slapstick. Constantine spent several happy years perfecting his clowning, but eventually his sire returned.

Harlequin and Columbine
As the Commedia dell'arte set up to perform for a Lasombra Prince in Castile, the Hellequin found himself staring directly into the amused eyes of his Undead lover. His performance went by in a haze and afterwards he nervously approached the head table. He accepted the Host's coin cordially and was delighted to be invited to join the Prince and his new 'wife' in their private quarters. The Lasombra's blood carried the Hellequin closer to Kaen and his riches kept the troupe well fed for over a year as they headed north again and back towards France. Before long the witty serving-wench Colombina (who, as the genre developed, acquired a special stage relationship with Arlecchino) appeared and became an important character in the Commedia dell'arte. Constantine and Katarina had found their own masquerade. The addition of alternative Zanni such as Coviello, Pedrolino and Tartaglia appeared later, giving fixed characters to other Ravnos embraced from among the Zingaresche and to visiting Ravnos who paid handsomely to be smuggled across Europe as part of the company.

The later history of the form is as much French as Italian. The touring of earlier decades was consolidated by the mid-17th century. Short, svelte and supremely agile, the Arlecchino became naturalized to the French stage by Constantine under the pseudonym Giuseppe Domenico with a mixture of dance, wisecracks and acrobatics. In 1680 the Comédie-Italienne was founded, occupying the Hôtel de Bourgogne as a permanent theatre, and including among its members one Angelo Costantini.

With the dissolution of the Comédie-Italienne in 1697, Arlequin moved to the fairground theatre where he appeared in various plays and by this time, he was the leading character in these pieces, but with the return of the Italian players was relegated to subservient status in the high comedies. In Italy, Goldoni penned vehicles for the popular Arlecchini, but tried to confine them to the written text; his opponent Gozzi, in his attempts to revive the improvised commedia, made Arlecchino merely one of a team of comics, no more important than Tartaglia or Truffaldino. In post-revolutionary Paris, Arlequin settled into the popular boulevard theatres for a time, but a run in with Madame Guil forced him to flee the City, driven again from a Toreador stronghold by the fact that he could not control his nature.

The character was eventually effaced by the Pierrot of Jean-Gaspard Deburau. The French playwright, novelist and journalist Marivaux produced the comedie; Arlequin poli par l'amour (Harlequin Refined by Love), for the Comédie-Italienne after spending time with Constantine in Paris but by the turn of the century the Comédie-Italienne closed down.

Constantine, now exclusively calling himself 'The Harlequin', began to concentrate once again on his mortal followers. The Zingaresche had survived by posing as Italians and he felt that they didn't really need him any more. When he announced his plans to move on, the Zingaresche were split over those who wanted to travel with their Baro Rom and those who wanted to remain with the theatre. The Harlequin already had a favoured protogee, Luigi Riccoboni, and it was with him that the Ravnos left the larger portion of his people.

When Luigi reopened the newly organized Comédie-Italienne in 1716 he soon became one of its favourite players, buoyed up as he was with the blood of Constantine le Arlequin. Contemporaries unanimously hailed him as the best Arlequin of his time; he wrote a number of scenarios for the improvised comedy. The rest of the Romany and their two Vampires left the Comédie-Italienne and travelled across Europe as fairground performers.

Throughout the the remainder of the 17th century and the entire 18th century The Harlequin and Columbine wandered Europe with their remaining herd, the descendants of their own family. They followed the call of the blood (and Durga Syn's subtly planted suggestions) and gathered other Romany to their company. Hungarian Bear baiters and Spanish flamenco merged together into a travelling performance and eventually into a circus. Le Cirque du Discordia had a limited degree of fame in the mortal world, but was much lauded by the undead lords. Transylvanian Tzimisce and Ventrue entered a bidding war with Spanish Brujah, Parisian Toreador and Viennese Giovanni to play host to the Harlequin's circus. The Circus also visited Britain on several occasions and by the early 18th century, they had influenced the birth of pantomime.

The Green and pleasant land
The Harlequin character had first appeared in England in 1607 but he didn't catch on until the man behind the mask arrived on those shores much later. His troupe did not catch on in the mortal world until the introduction of the pantomime presented an acrobatic mute Harlequin most remarkable for his pantomimic tricks and wearing the close-fitting costume bespangled with glittering lozenges. Harlequin and Columbine continued to hide on the fringes of Popular entertainment. Together with their herd of retainers they posed as French fairground performers, putting on 'night scenes' with commedia dell'arte characters in London and let the Cirque du Discordia make its own way.

The successors to the Comédie-Italienne found London a welcome haven. Its first outstanding success was The Necromancer or 'Harlequin Dr Faustus' by John Rich (1723), which prompted imitations at Drury Lane and the Haymarket. The actor John Rich was Constantine's new project, the mortal specialized in the acrobatic and pantomimic portrayal of Harlequin and his skill captivated the Vampire. That Rich knew of his mentors damned nature seems obvious from this work, but he never mentioned the supernatural influences in his memoirs. Rich spent night after night practicing his art with Columbine while the Harlequin accompanied them on his Violin. Under the Vampires tutelage, scenes of this character's comic courtship of Columbine interspersed the performance of a serious play, which they served to satirize.

The Comédie-Italienne had lost favour elsewhere as increased literacy reduced their popularity. Only Arlecchino as Arlequin and Harlequin managed to retain a being independent of the plot requirements; but even his diabolical vestiges had began to be domesticated in the 18th century, in the more sophisticated figures of Figaro and Papageno. Carlo Delpini had already shifted the comic emphasis from Harlequin to Pierrot, and this moved to the clown via the genius of Joseph Grimaldi. This style of panto was carried to America by Charles Parsloe in 1831, but it enjoyed only a limited period of popularity.

By the beginning of the 19th century, these largely silent Harlequinades had become a separate form, with spectacular scenic transformations and magical fairy-tale locations, and as such were the immediate precursors of the English pantomime. Soon pantomime settled into its customary format; the opening was drawn from classical mythology and, following a transformation of characters into such types as Harlequin, Pantaloon (based on Katarinha's sire Petrushka) and Columbine, the second half devolved into a knockabout harlequinade.

Some theatres, like the Britannia, Hoxton, and the Grecian in London, were famous for the excellence of their pantos. Elaborate trickwork, utilizing traps, hinged properties and instantaneous transformations were expected at the climactic moments and the Harlequin was only too pleased to provide them. The Vampire couple managed to avoid displeasing the Ventrue Prince long enough to influence some of the performances in London and even spent an evening in Mithras private box. The Ravnos were, however, never comfortable among the hoy-paloy and they preferred the company of their herd to that of other blood drinkers.

The second half of the 19th century beheld the rise of the spectacular pantomime with its sumptuous processions, ballets and flying corps, the star status of the principal boy, and the decline of the harlequinade. Over this time the Romany dominated Cirque du Discordia grew to prominence and the vampire Harlequin found his attention split between the travelling Circus and fair and the static theatre. Victorian England presented countless targets for the couples perverse natures, and neither could resist the opportunity to shock and disgust the upper classes. Towards the end of her Rule, Queen Victoria aquired a taste for all things Indian, a vogue that spread throughout her Kingdom. Columbine changed her attire and played heavily on her looks to gain access to stately homes and the such, giving them both the oportunity to indulge thier appetites for theft and vadalism.

The twentieth Century
The dawn of the twentieth century saw Both Constantine and his wife move away from the theatre in order to concentrate on the Circus. The wanderlust won out over the faux stability of the pantomime, but the Harlequin could still be found sat among the crowd watching fairy tales with the Children during winter months. After World War I pantomime was banished from Drury Lane by musical comedy and from Covent Garden by opera and ballet. The period between the wars also saw Constantine take up a renewed interest in the Violin, and he would often sequester himself away in their studio flat to practice.

Columbine found herself taking the reins of the Circus for the first time, and her influence can still be seen in the bill of its modern incarnation. While her clown was absent, Columbine once more opened up the big tent to Gypsies and Tinkers from across Europe. She made allies among the Romany of Southend and was influential in shipping many families from war-ravaged Europe to the friendlier shores of the united Kingdom. Leaving the performances behind on the eve of the second world war, the Harlequin travelled to Europe to answer the call of the Clan. While his Lover Columbine eventually travelled to America with the Romany fleeing Europe, the Harlequin turned to the sport of killing Tremere and Gangrel in Europe.

This least known about of the Harlequin personalities made his name in the theatre of war. A thorn in the side of the Tremere and their Nazi allies, this Harlequin hunted the concentration camps and sought out the Lupines of the black forest and the frozen north. A creature of vengeance and violent bloodshed, many believed that he never made it out of the bomb ravaged lands of Germany. The nature of the war caught Constantine by surprise, he had never been one to worry over mortal politics and an early attempt to mass embrace Gypsies interred in Buchenwald also brought him close to final death at the hands of the Tremere. He barely escaped, unlike his new childer, and his Torporous corpse was smuggled out of Germany, into France and across the Atlantic by the Cirque du Discordia. Within months of reaching the States, the Circus was presented with a new catastrophe. Columbine fell once more into the death sleep of the Vampire, sinking into Torpor like her Husband and needing protection from her mortal retainers.

Awakening after only a few years and discovering his wife's torporous state, Constantine invested his energies in a fixed haven for th pair. The Harlequin of the post war era was the belle of New York, his nightclub was never empty. From Burlesque and striptease to Casino and restaurant, Club Harlequin was an ever changing carnival that reflected its owners paradoxical soul. Neither Sabbat nor Camarilla sought to fight him because he ran his domain with consummate skill and panache. Elders loved him for the entertainment he provided, fearsome Sabbat invited the prince of chaos to their most unspeakable ritae and the neonates and Anarch's flocked to him to hear stories of his exploits. This Harlequin was perhaps one of the most influential Independent Vampire of that era. An audacious manipulator who played presidents against gangsters and Princes against Anarch's and was loved by all. At least that is so if you believe the hype!

The modern day Harlequin appeared less than a decade ago in New England. For a time this Ravnos was master of a circus that travelled the circuit up and down the American East coast before a tragedy befell his coterie in Boston. After that, the Harlequins temperament took a much darker avenue and he travelled alone to New York where he again took up the reins of Club Harlequin.

Even though both the Tremere and the Gangrel asked for his name to be added to the red list at the last Camarilla conclave, they were shouted down by his collection of allies and by those who doubted the weight of his crimes. While none of the Elders liked him, they all knew a good thing when they saw it and the rest balked at such 'shaggy dog stories'. For now, the Harlequin continues to skate on thin ice. Trusted by none but needed by many, including some powerful Vampires, the Harlequin and his undead wife remain an enigma. More than one Undead scholar would dearly love to know if they are the Millenium old characters of legend or simply the latest couple to wear the masque.

Constantine the Ringmaster

The legend and the reality have merged so completely in the modern Circus that few realise how malignant the character of the Harlequin truly is. Anyone watching the character in the ballets Arlequinade (1900) and Carnaval (1910) would find it difficult to believe that they are in fact based upon a Vampire whose almost religious goal in life is to see reality torn asunder. Constantine has adopted the typical svelte dandy character conjured up by many modern artists to masque his true nature and few have ever seen through the disguise. The Ravnos Brahim Couron Lazarus summed up the nature of the Harlequin when he remarked that 'Mohammed was only half right when he said "Allah hath not sent a prophet except with a beautiful voice", for also Satan hath not sent a Devil except with a charming nature!'

The Character still acts as ring master in CirKhaos, the modern day incarnation of le Cirque du Discordia, but his daylight performances leave no doubt that this is not always Constantine. The CirKhaos has the irritating knack of being close to major events in the plots of the Vampires and to leave when things grow too uncomfortable. Accusations of smuggling, kidnap, handling stolen goods and even robbery have been aimed at the circus by both mortal and immortal authorities, but none have ever managed to prove such charges. As for Columbine, his immortal wife, she is never far from his side in her own schemes and plots. Whether they are based from Club Harlequin or the travelling Circus, the Ravnos couple have a far-reaching effect on the supernatural world.

NATURE OF THE BEAST

The Harlequin is an Opportunistic sociopath, a wild card in the Jyhad, but he also capable of motivated plotting and scheming in order to spread his own brand of disorder. He is by nature greedy, petty, childish, cowardly and often mistaken for being slow-witted due to his illiteracy and lack of conventional education. The Harlequin manages to overcome all his negative traits through natural Charm, inventiveness and complete lack of regard for all life, including his own. Instinct and the protection of some very spiteful Gods have allowed the 'Ravnos favourite Ravnos' to survive long beyond the span one would expect.

In the past he was amoral without being vicious, and, unlike his fellow Ravnos, he did not hold a grudge or seek revenge against those who tricked or cheated him. Since Boston though much has changed. Now there seems to be a definate darkness to the Harlequin in recent years. Gone is the impudent, cheeky and irreverent Child to be replaced by a calculating and sinful Devil. Perhaps Constantine has finally grown up, becoming as inhumane as the rest of the Undead species.

The act he portrays depends on his audience, dapper socialite for the Camarilla, Pure devil to the Sabbat and fun loving criminal to the independents. Always able to grease the wheels to smooth over disputes with a play on words, a quid pro quo, a piece of comic business, a sleight-of-hand trick, a pantomimic joke, or just the prompting of laughter, Harlequin can switch on the charm in an instant and those who are unfortunate enough to witness his sadistic and scatological nature are often destroyed before they can tell others of the true monster behind the clowns masque.

The flip side to the socialite Harlequin is the devout follower of the Path of Paradox. A Master of Chimestry, Constantine is a Prakriti, a Castless Ravnos, and somewhat of a hero among the Clan. From humble beginnings as a high generation fool, Constantine has diablerised his way up to a respectable fifth generation and can wield a phenomenal arsenal of powers, both supernatural and mundane. His position at the centre of a web of criminal activity and multifaceted allies, contacts and associates grants the Harlequin an unlimited reach. A string of boons and favours, craftily manipulated via a string of retainers allows him to distance himself from the violence and destruction he propagates. The Harlequin can have items containing Weig (animal, vegetable or mineral) destroyed at a distance without ever threatening his popularity and standing in the Undead community.

The vampire Harlequin prefers not to take centre stage in the modern Jyhad, but those who know him well enough may discern his hand in some events. In many ways he is seen as the stereotypical cheerful criminal, a man who can smuggle small items or acquire unusual delicacies, nothing threatening or worthy of suspicion. Small fry in the big pond, and the Ventrue or Lasombra sharks certainly won't loose any sleep over a tame Ravnos and his Gypsies. That is exactly how the Devil likes it, overlooked and underestimated.

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APPEARANCE

COSTUME
Harlequin's costume was originally a peasant's shirt and long trousers, both covered with many coloured patches. His black half mask had tiny eyeholes and quizzically arched eyebrows that were accentuated by a wrinkled forehead. The effect was of satyric sensuality, catlike slyness, and astonished credulity. It later developed into a tight-fitting costume decorated with triangles and diamond shapes, and it included a batte, or slapstick, emerging by the 17th century in a suit of red, blue, and green triangles arranged symmetrically and joined together with yellow braid. One hundred years later, the triangles became diamonds, and his soft cap was exchanged for a pointed one. Now as Harlequin he still appears as a central character in English pantomime, carrying his original wooden sword and wearing his black mask. A fine pictorial record of the commedia characters may be seen in the works of the 17th-century French artists Jacques Callot and Antoine Watteau.

It is impossible to describe the Harlequin without first mentioning his dress sense. Considered tacky by some and Avant-Garde by others, the Ravnos likes eye catching colours and ostentatious designs. Depending on which personality he is attempting to present, the Harlequin might be dressed in a comically baggy zoot suit, usually Red or canary yellow or in a typical Gypsy look, an assault of miss-matched colours. Less recognisable are the clothes he wears when engaged in crime or actual street activity. This Harlequin prefers tight pants such as denim or even leather, always in black and equally body hugging t-shirts disguised by a bright and loose poets shirt. The 'Goth' look is usually finished off by a full length black leather coat and whatever accessories take his fancy, be they a stove pipe hat, ear rings, bangles and such.

Constantine was a Shudra, a Ghoul, for many years, and his body remained that of a teenager. As an acrobat his body was well developed, lithe and well toned but far from muscular. His complexion retains much of its swarthy colouring and his long hair is typical blue black and lustrous. A further consequence of his desire to be the centre of attention is his tendency to shave his hair for a night, aquiring a mohawk or other shoking styles. However the first thing people notice about the Harlequin, once they have recovered from his clothing, are his eyes. Windows to a troubled and destructive soul, they positively swirl with mischievous impudence.