NAME: Gime

NICKNAME/ALIAS: Mohammed Rachid Taha, Abu'l Qasim, Mahmud Ghazan, and others. 

AGE:   

SPECIES:  Vampire

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Dark complected with piercing eyes, Gime is a tall (6'1) lean African warrior. His back is covered in scars that came from whippings at the hands of his slave masters when he was a mortal as well as scars from tribal warfare before he was captured and sold into slavery. These days he likes light, loose clothing and loves Egyptian cotton. He rarely wears jewelry beyond a watch which he wears more for practical reasons. 

OCCUPATION: Contractor (read mercenary) for Spartan Military Solutions

PERSONALITY: For years he was the strong quiet type, rarely playful or relaxed, but now that he's getting some age on him, Gime is starting to learn when he can relax. As a result, he is much friendlier now than he was in the last hundred plus years. He is aggressive, fearless, and while he values his independence, he is also a team player. His demeanor around those he likes can be casual and relaxed but when doing operations he is deadly serious. He has learned how to be a social chameleon and has learned a great deal from Constantine on how to pose as a Muslim which has helped with contract work for the last ten years.

BACKGROUND: Gime was born in the Kingdom of Kongo in West Africa during a time of great strife for his country. The clans were constantly warring over who was the rightful ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, and the Portuguese and other European influences held a lions share of the blame. Gime learned to fight shortly after learning to walk and as soon as he was strong enough to carry a weapon, he was fighting in clan warfare. 

When he was sixteen he started fighting for Álvaro Ndongo who claimed the throne on behalf of the Kinlaza faction of Matari, calling himself Álvaro XIII. Gime's village was near Álvaro's power base and he was conscripted along with other boys his age to fight against the warriors supporting Pedro Lelo who claimed the throne on behalf of the Mbidizi Valley faction of the Kinlaza from a base at Bembe. Gime and those who supported Álvaro lost the battle to put Álvaro on the throne. Many were killed and others were capture, Gime having been the latter. 

At first, Gime was certain he would be executed but it soon became clear that he was to be sold off to the Europeans. Taken to a Portuguese outpost he was sold to a company called "Juan Bautista Thierry & CO." He was then loaded into one of the massive European slave ships where he would experience the first of many horrors. The conditions were disgusting and he felt like a caged animal. It was one of the longest weeks of his life before he was pulled from the ship and put on the auction block. Gime was sold to a Frenchman who loaded him into another massive slave ship and set sail across the ocean.

It was a long trip in which many died from illness, lack of food, or other reasons. Gime remembers one detail over all others and that was the air. It was so thick with moisture from sweat and filth and baked hot from the sun that it was nearly impossible to breathe. By the time they had pulled him off that boat he was eaten up by bugs and rats and had lost weight from a lack of food and exercise. Still this didn't seem to stop the white men from going into a bidding war for him when he was on the auction block.

Gime soon found out he had been purchased by a wealthy man who lived in a place call Louisiana. His twenty first birthday was spent harvesting sugar cane, trying not to get cut by the razor sharp leaves. Gime refused to accept his lot and was constantly on the look out for a way to escape. They had already armed him with a machete for his work, now it was about opportunity. He was taught French and English and was constantly finding himself in trouble and thus was often at the wrong side of a whip. It took him a few years to get the lay of the land but he was strong and tough which proved to be a saving grace.

His owner sold him to a man from Georgia and Gime managed to smuggle a machete with him. The two slave owners were friends and when they brought Gime to the Georgia plantation, his former owner came with. The very first night he was at the Georgian's plantation, Gime forced open the door to his bunk house and crept into the darkness and made his way to the house. First Gime found the room where his former master slept and buried the stolen machete in his skull. Then he found his way into his new owner's room and did the same to him and his wife. Having gotten his revenge Gime started the long trek for freedom.

The slaves had whispered stories of slaves escaping north, saying that Boston was the city to go to if a man wanted to be free. It took him nearly a month and a half to get there but when he did, he was a free man. He found himself homeless though and without money or work and started offering to do odd jobs in exchange for a place to stay and something to eat. That was when he met Constantine. The big Greek vampire took him in after Mani had found him and learned of his past and soon made the offer to make Gime immortal. Gime said he would consider the offer and lived with Mani for a year or two before word came that an all black regiment was being formed by the Union Army who was attempting to preserve the Union on Lincolns orders. 

With encouragement from Constantine and Mani, Gime joined the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. It was a long journey first the insult of lower pay, then further humiliation when it was made clear that they'd never see combat. But thanks to the virtuousness of their commanding officer the men of the 54th proved themselves competent and dedicated soldiers. Surviving the attack on Fort Wagner, the loss of their brothers there became a rallying point for the 54th and they went on to show just how fierce they could be for the remainder of the war. Coming home feeling like a hero, Gime accepted Constantine's offer. 

Since then he was been a loyal member of Constantine's little group. In the sixties he too started doing contract work for Constantine and found himself even busier at the turn of this century when America went to war in the Middle East. Gime's ability to pose as an African Muslim allowed him to do undercover work and act as a bit of a spy. 

STRENGTHS: Gime's powers are the closest to Constantine's of any of Constantine's other vampires. His strength is impressive even by vampire standards and he is able to feed off violence. His strength however still is no where near his master's. Since becoming a vampire he's learned a dozen languages and learned a great deal about Islam and the Middle East from Constantine. 

WEAKNESSES: At times his independence gets him in trouble. After being owned by another human being he finds himself struggling (even to this day) to handle authority. Constantine has tried to work with him on this and Gime is far better now than he was a hundred and fifty years ago, but his anti-authority issues do still occasionally pop up.

ITEMS ALWAYS FOUND ON THIS CHARACTER: No one knows it, but he keeps his infantry badge from his cap when he was with the 54th as a good luck charm.

SPECIALIZED COMBAT/DEFENSE SKILLS, if any: Has studied martial arts with Constantine and Mani since he became a vampire. He has not stuck with firearms since he became a vampire but is familiar enough with them to still be dangerous. His preferred weapons at this point are his bare hands or a machete.

OTHER SPECIAL POSSESSIONS: 

QUIRKS, INTERESTS, HOBBIES: Since his time with Constantine Gime has become a bit of an intellectual. He devours philosophy, and academia and when he's not doing contract work reads three or four books a day. Out of all of Constantine's "children" he is considered the wisest despite not being the oldest.