Race: Human
Sex: Male
Real Name: Cartaphilus
Nick Name: The Vagabond, The Wanderer, The Wandering Jew, The Count of St Germain, The Undying Count
Birth Date & Location: Unknown
Died: 24th October 2006 – Los Angeles (Read About It)
Position: Mage
Group Affiliation: NONE
DESCRIPTION:
Regularly appears as a Jewish-looking man with a short beard and a slight French accent. He has an open face that is pleasant to all eyes. Usually wears old, tattered rags but beneath all this he is clothed in all manner of exquisite dress, and infrequently bears exotic rings on his fingers, but these are hidden away from all but the most strong-willed.
Friendly and compassionate, completely incapable of hating an human being but views demons and vampires with an almost blind disgust. However, the Vagabond refuses to take any direct action against such creatures; he believes this below him. For the most part, the Count keeps his secrets to himself, only revealing them when they are needed, usually at critical times. He is known to let things slip occasionally. In the last few centuries he has become increasingly paranoid and, some would say, afraid.
BACKGROUND:
When English soldiers returned from the Holy Land after the third Crusade came to an end in the twelfth century, they brought back many tales from the Orient. One particular tale speaks of “The Wanderer”.
In the Judgement Hall of Pontius Pilate, there was a Jewish doorkeeper named Cartaphilus, who had actually been present at the trial of Jesus. When Christ was dragging his cross through the streets on the way to Calvary, he halted for a moment to rest, and at this point, Cartaphilus stepped out from the large crowd and told him to hurry up. Jesus looked at Cartaphilus and said, “I will go now, but thou shall wait until I return.”
Cartaphilus had no idea what Jesus meant until, many years later, he realised that he had not aged at all.
The tale was dismissed to be symbolising the global wanderings and persecutions of the Jewish race because of their refusal to accept Jesus as the Messiah. It gradually joined folklore and other fairy tales of the Middle Ages.
But, from the thirteenth Century onwards, tales of a blasphemous man who claimed to be around when Jesus was on Earth arose. In Paris in 1740 he was believed to be an aristocrat, but none could identify him. The handsome man that had a Jewish resemblance later said himself to be the Count of St Germain. He was fluent in over half a dozen European languages, an artist, historian and alchemist. He also maintained he travelled widely and hinted at knowledge of the occult. Not only this, the Count claimed to be over a thousand years old, speaking of historical events as if he had been an eyewitness. His claim was made a little more believable by the fact the Countess von Georgry had met him 50 years earlier in Venice, and the Count had not aged a day. When she said he was one hundred years old, he answered, “That is not impossible.” The Countess responded with, “You are a most extraordinary man. A devil!” The Count, in a raised voice, replied “For pity’s sake! No such names!”
Since then, the Count showed up in many times and places, often helping by being in the right place at the right time. He has been reported to have died once in 1784, but showed up at a council of Kabblists and Illumanati a year later.
Over the years, he has served many employers. Quite what his jobs were only a select few knew. In truth, he gave those who needed it knowledge to fight evil. It is suspected he played a part in the Salem Witch Trials and both Inquisitions.
Most recently, the Count has taken to call himself “The Vagabond” or “The Wanderer.” He has found that this way he can travel around more freely and unnoticed. For the times have changed, and so has the Count’s role.
To no-one has he dismissed or acknowledged the rumours circulating about his past. He carries a large sword.
The Vagabond aided his companion Pandora in the rebinding of Dray’chen in Season Three. It was the Vagabond’s task to delay the demon in order to give Pandora enough time to complete the binding spell. He was successful, at the cost of his own life.
POWERS/ABILITIES:
Most notable of all is the Count’s power of immortality. He does not age physically, and can only be killed in a small number of ways. This knowledge is available only to a bare few. Also, the Count has powers of persuasion, as demonstrated in 1745 when he used hypnotic suggestion to “persuade” his xenophobic English detainees he was innocent of spying. The Count has powers of foresight, though these are limited and it is believed have only started to develop. The first recorded instance of using this ability was in August 1914 when two Bavarian soldiers took him prisoner. The Count claimed Germany would be defeated in four years, that all Germans will be millionaires after the war; throwing money away without bothering to pick it up and carting wheelbarrows full of it around, and that in 1939 an Antichrist from the lower classes will lead Germany into another global war and would be defeated six years after having committed unspeakable things.
Note: The Vagabond is based on an actual myth that was circulated during the Crusades, and much of the myth is included in his background (with exceptions to taking part in the Salem Witch Trials, Inquisitions and calling himself ‘The Vagabond’). Much of the information used in this profile comes from Thomas Slemen’s ‘Strange But True.’
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