D.I. John Lucas

Detective Inspector John Lucas of New Scotland Yard is the most often recurring NPC in the campaign.  He is a tall, handsome, dark-haired man in his mid-thirties, with a dry sense of humour and a penchant for expensive suits and fast cars that no-one could afford on a copper's salary.

First encountered by Louise de Bourchalle et al. during an investigation into strange goings-on in London's Underground, his interest in such matters arises from his chosen career path.  Like Fox Mulder for the FBI, he is responsible for all cases involving the supernatural and paranormal that turn up at New Scotland Yard.  He has a cramped office on the third floor of the NSY building, full to the ceiling with papers, case files and various exotica he has acquired over the years.

Since then he has appeared on numerous occasions, normally as the voice of authority that the Club utterly disregard.  His life is further complicated by the fact that he is involved in a long-term romantic liaison with Louise.

When asked, he will tell you that he is able to afford his more expensive hobbies due to a large family trust fund, although discreet investigations have not as yet been able to determine the exact origin or scale of his family's wealth.  It is known that a Major Thomas Vernon of the Coldstream Guards was encountered by Louise in London in the early 19th Century, and from what she can remember the two men shared an uncanny physical resemblance.  Lucas remains silent on this matter.

As the campaign has progressed, certain facets of Lucas' existence have come to light that cast doubt on many of his earlier admissions.  For some time he and Louise played a game of sorts where neither was willing to use any paranormal abilities while the other was around.  The exact nature of Lucas' own abilities are unknown, though he is uncomfortable around mirrors (despite having an apparently normal reflection on the few occasions it has been seen by Club members) and has been known, when sufficiently angry, to display a level of physical strength sufficient to rip out a war-demon's heart with his bare hands.  He has also displayed certain powerful psychic abilities and a command over darkness and shadow similar to the vampiric Discipline of Obtenebration.  However, when asked if he was himself Kindred he answered with an apparently sincere 'no'.

This all changed recently, when Louise was accidentally driven into Frenzy while Lucas was nearby.  Amazingly, he was able to calm her Darksoul with a single glance, but the truth of her undead nature had apparently been revealed.  Lucas, however, admitted at this point that he had known all along what she was, but played along with their game because he thought it was what she had wanted.  Louise was not best pleased by this admission and the relationship foundered for a while, but things have since returned more or less to how they were before.

Shortly after Louise's slip, Lucas was injured by falling rubble when he was caught in a collapsing building.  He was found, apparently unconscious, but attempts to rescue him failed when his body was found to be utterly insubstantial.  He has since admitted that this happens whenever he is sufficiently wounded, and it is because he is, in his own words, "an avatar of sorts - I carry out assignments for this other person who is unable to do any of their own legwork.  And no, I'm not telling you who or why."

Certain other things about Lucas have also emerged over the years.  Despite his dead-end job and the fairly lowly rank he holds, he seems able to command an enormous amount of influence in the law-enforcement community worldwide.  He also seems to have access to certain paramilitary and intelligence groups and, recently, was able to arrange for the sanction of over thirty Triad members and McAllister operatives on the streets of Hong Kong in a single, well-coordinated assault.

He is a man of varied tastes, and enjoys playing poker with the boys or sharing an evening of opera with the Countess.  However, he has a great distaste for ballet, and accompanies Louise only when she has agreed to go with him to a match at Stamford Bridge.  The D.I. is a great supporter of Chelsea FC.