Laszlo Szantovitch
A brash, overconfident and good-natured nobleman, this ghoul served as bodyguard and herald to Veceslav Basarab. He was slain during the Siege of Toth.
Description
A handsome, graceful young man with long brown hair, mischievous brown eyes and a smug smile plastered to his face. He is dressed in the finery of a courtier, though his sword and dagger look serviceable and well used.
Bio
Laszlo Szantovitch Varga was a scion of a prominent union between a western Hungarian family and an eastern Romanian one. His primary motivation was to enjoy himself in any and every possible way that he could. His pursuit of pleasures never extended towards the darker passions like many of his older kin, though this was more from lack of experience than lack of desire. His need to experience the wider world was just one of the reasons he sought permission to join his new master, Veceslav Basarab on his travels. The other was his hope of one night earning the Embrace. Unusual for a one of the Szantovitchi, he enjoyed the experience of battle and even before taking service with Veceslav he had become a proficient duelist (though he was always careful to don his helm and mask before a fight).
Gabor the Bulgar was always suspicious of Laszlo’s lack of discipline, but seemed to value the man’s connections in Esztergom to some extent. He has punished him particularly severely in the past for placing his own self-aggrandizement above Veceslav’s safety, but also gave him the chance to prove himself. As a result, Laszlo shadowed his master wherever he went, and his blade was always ready to answer danger or insult to Veceslav Basarab.
He served Veceslav for 9 years, and the coterie in general knew him for 6. Unusual for a ghoul, Laszlo apparently knew the discipline of Presence. While his callousness and laxity sometimes earned him censure from his Cainite masters, and Bernhard in particular on at least one occasion, his charisma, versatility and readiness to answer any danger to his master with his own sword made him a stalwart of their mortal entourage. Veceslav in particular was fond of his cavalier attitude and his sense of style. Strangely, Laszlo displayed a most out-of-character tenderness and gallantry towards the Vlach noblewoman Sherazhina, and the two developed a strong platonic friendship during their years travelling with the Concord.
Laszlo perished while defending the walls of Toth from a midday assault in early March of AD 1203. His vampiric masters were less struck by the reports of his heroism, and the many foes he took with him, as by the fact that his face was completely unmarred by the multitude of wounds that had finally brought him low. His self-vaunted battle mask had finally proved its worth…
