Ville du Mort : Cyrus Yates

For which is an awesome looking group that some of my awesome friends thought might be fun to join.  At first, I wasn't sure what sort of character I wanted to try and toss in, but ultimately my love for vampires rose from the depths and, well, here we be.  So, without further ado, I would like to present my character...Cyrus Yates (and Sidney Yates, featured in his tiny ghost form, chilling in the left-hand oval with his bored older brother).  

(Please ignore my inability to draw hands and shade properly.  @_@) 

~*~

Name: Cyrus Yates

Race: Vampire

Age: 42 (physically 23) 

Occupation: Nightwatchman; formerly for the private cemetery of a human family

Nationality: British

Alliance: the Covenant

Height: 5’11’’

Weight: 146

Eye Color: grey* (formerly green)

Hair Color: dark brown

Blood Type: A+

Gift: Mediumship/Channeling 

Cyrus is able to see into the supernatural realm.  The color of his eyes drains away to grey when he’s 'channeling into the spirit world' (that's how he always thought of it), during which time he is able to see and speak to whatever ghosts, spirits, and/or other supernatural being that he sees.  ...Or, at least, that's how it worked when he was human.  As a vampire, his eyes have permanently shifted to grey (as his powers were active when he died and turned) and now he is unable to stop seeing spirits.  He's kind of incredibly irritated about this.        

Strengths: 
+ is able to see supernatural entities everywhere (within his line of sight, of course)
+ he is capable of speaking to said entities if he so desires to
+ can form a 'tether' of sorts between himself and a ghost/spirit/entity for a short period of time, during which he is able to keep said ghost/spirit/entity from simply vanishing at [their own] will  
+ if tethered to a ghost/spirit/entity, he can extend enough of his own spiritual energy through the channel so that they are able to be seen by people who don't possess the gift to see them naturally 

Limitations:
- he is incapable of 'turning off' his gift; it did not come complete with an 'off' button
- whether or not the entities choose to listen to his commands or not is entirely up to them (as of this moment*)
- he is only capable of tethering a single ghost/spirit/entity at a time, and only for a span of approximately 20 minutes
- sending too much of his own spiritual energy into another entity runs several (potentially crippling) risks, including but not limited to: severe energy drain, disorientation, and vulnerability of possession by said entity

Weapon: Honestly, his preferred weapon is a shovel, but I don't think he's carried one on him since his cemetery watchman days for his former (human) employers.  If he found himself in the middle of a fight and had to use a weapon...he would probably try to smack his opponent in the face with his pocket watch.  Otherwise he'd just stick to relying on his fangs and nails.    

Personality:

Cyrus, in the most basic sense, has the personality of a cat.  One moment, he's the most regal creature you've ever set eyes on, and the next...he's an over-dramatic bum who does nothing but laze about and yowl over minor complaints.  It honestly depends on the day and the company.  Generally speaking, however, he is a very dignified and polite sort of gentleman--though not so much that he's beyond a good sense of humor.  In fact, at his absolute best, he can be an incredibly playful, light-hearted soul who is even capable of displaying a fair amount of affection.  He just doesn't tend to show that side of himself nearly as much as he did when he was human, especially after spending the amount of time that he has around other vampires.  His sense of humor has adopted a far more sardonic note to it, and he's come to find his greatest sources of amusement at other people's expenses.  Yet even so, there's rarely an element of true malice in him.  He simply seems to think that life is one long, shitty joke and the best way to handle it is to take pleasure in the punchlines that aren't aimed at you.

Also, he is incredibly superstitious and easily-distracted as a result of his 'gift'.  If he randomly starts acting like he's lost it, it likely means he's either seeing dead people or he's just realized that it's Friday the 13th.  
                

History: Cyrus isn't one who enjoys disclosing information about his personal life, but there are a few key things that--with a little prodding--you might get him to mention:

He was born in 1828 to Sarah and Lawrence Yates.  He was their second child and first son.
In all, he ended up having 3 siblings: older sister Evelyn (who's three years older than him), younger sister Lucy (who is four years younger than him), and younger brother Sidney (who is eight years younger than him) 
His father worked as a groundskeeper for a wealthy family (the Whittemore family) for many, many years; his mother later joined the staff as a maid  
Cyrus started 'helping out' around the Whittemore estate around age 8, mostly helping his father in the gardens (and tormenting the three Whittemore girls)
His younger brother, Sidney, fell ill and died at age 2.  Cyrus was 10-years-old at the time.  
Five years later, his younger sister, Lucy, died in an accident on the estate while playing with the Whittemore's youngest daughter, Josephine    
He officially joined the staff at the Whittemore estate as a nightwatchman when he was 20-years-old
Three years later, he was attacked by a vampire while patrolling the grounds.  No one knows for certain what happened (and Cyrus himself wasn't exactly able to explain at the time....not that he would have, regardless).  All that anyone really knew was what was obvious to the naked eye: he was found lying there in the dirt after god knows how long, his face white as a sheet--save for his mouth which was covered in blood.  He was ultimately pronounced dead, but buried later the next night in a safety coffin as the circumstances surrounding his death were...questionable, to say the least.  It worked out well enough in his favor as he did find himself awake and...alive?..., but he nonetheless ended up having to wait almost a full 8 hours more before the new nightswatchman--an older man with a fondness for hard liquor--managed to figure out where that ringing noise was coming from and dug him up.    
He officially left the Whittemore family's service after trying to live a normal life for a year and a half; cutting himself off from them and from his remaining family
The middle Whittemore daughter--Sabella--frequently tries to get in contact with him, wanting him to return to her service (and get her all sorts of attention by having him tell the story of how he was 'buried alive')
He chose to join the Covenant because he saw it as a sanctuary of sorts, a way to officially cut himself off from all former human connections and relations. Also...he really enjoys living the high-end side of life.  
 

Likes: Shovels, candles and/or lanterns, long coats, hot teas, lighthouses, pumpkin pie, nail files, card games, and umbrellas  

Dislikes: Bells (he’ll hiss at them), ghosts/spirits who "left their sense of human decency in the box they were buried in", dirt, being cold, pickles, people who talk too much, sudden and/or shrill noises, and grasshoppers  

Additional Fun Facts:

The reason he doesn't like grasshoppers is because the first one he ever caught peed on his hand, and he never forgave it
He has the highest respect in the world for people of the church--especially those that are capable of helping loud and obnoxious spirits cross over
His silver pocket watch (which he frequently toys with either out of impatience or boredom) is a family heirloom passed down to him from his maternal grandfather
Seems to prefer drinking from his victims' wrists as opposed to their neck.  I don't know if it's more for practicality purposes or because he just enjoys watching the shock value play out...but either way, he likes going for the wrist.    
In terms of income, he tends to make the majority of his money in one of two ways: 1. stealing and 2. bribing.  The only difference, of course, being that the latter option has the potential for involving legitimate work.   
His favorite color is green.  His least favorite color is orange.  
He has a very intense love-hate relationship with higher education.  I don't think he's ever completed a degree in any one field of study, though he's started pursuing degrees in several.     
Has at least 3 known aliases that he uses for various purposes, the most frequently used being Cyril York.  He tends to favor this name primarily because it's the easiest one to cover for if he accidentally starts to sign any paperwork with his true name.  Yes, his cursive is that messy.