Colonel Jeremiah Buford


Race Vampire
Splat Nosferatu
Title Gentleman


Physical Description
Col. Buford is an impressive figure.  Solidly built, he stands a little taller than 6’ and weighs more than 200 lbs.  He is built like one of the smaller contestants in a “World’s Strongest Man” competition, very solid but with little muscle definition other than sheer size.

His skin is very pale, like that of blind albino fish in lightless caverns.  He has kept his thick, white hair, but his once-proud handlebar mustache has been replaced with a sea of thin, worm-like tentacles that wave and quiver when the Colonel is agitated.  The pupils of his fried-egg yellow eyes have contracted to pinpricks, and his lidless eyes are always wide, staring, and unblinking.

The Colonel usually wears a three-piece suit (in the style still worn by the Southern gentry) or, if it is a special occasion, his dress uniform from his 7th Cavalry days (back when men rode horses into battle, not helicopters and half-tracks).  With any outfit he wears, he also always wears a hat outdoors, but will take it off when crossing any threshold, as a proper gentleman should.

He also carries an old cane with a ball head, which is actually a solid piece of high-grade steel sheathed in wood.  The cane itself has an inlaid rubber tip to avoid scuffing the floors and to muffle his approach.  Colonel Buford doesn’t actually need a cane, but he carries one because it is proper for a gentleman to do so.

Another habit that he has kept from his living and breathing days are his love of a good smoke.  He usually has either a cigar or pipe (never a cigarette) in his mouth, and he always lights them with wooden matches.


Personality
Colonel Buford is a southern gentleman.  He always removes his hat indoors and tips it to the ladies.  He refrains from cursing or spitting in front of women, and will admonish others who do so.  He is a hard man, but likeable enough once a person gets to know him.  There is more General George S. Patton in him than Marshall Will Kane, but those who know him say his is a fair man, if a bit hard.

Buford is the type of vampire who believes in giving someone one warning if they're doing something incorrectly, but only one.  The next time the incorrect behavior occurs, he feels driven to correct it, with the back of his hand if he’s feeling generous, or with his solid steel cane if not.  If the transgression is serious enough, he will not shirk from challenging the offender to a duel, and is comfortable with swords, pistols, and bare knuckles.


Story
Colonel Buford came of age in the early 1800's, on a small plantation in Southern Georgia.  He joined the US Army when he came of age and rose through the ranks, eventually being promoted to Colonel and given charge of a small fort in Colorado.  He remained in the Army until his retirement in the late 1800's, when he was embraced by "Sam".

Buford has since moved on with his life, amassing a considerable fortune and having taken up residence at Foxden, a large mansion overlooking both Gotham and the bay.  He is known to most of the local Kindred population, but has thus far stayed out of everyone's way.