Stefan ~Eyes-of-Crow~ Knezevic

"Step by step, torn apart Left, right, left, we all fall down... Like toy soldiers..."

ATTRIBUTES

Manipulation Specialty: Silver-Tongued
Subterfuge Specialty: Benevolence
Speaks English and Serbian

Contacts: As a member of the Children of Crow, Stefan has been careful to cultivate a wide array of contacts.  While he lost some in his move to New York, he has made sure to keep as many ties as he can.  The first is to Mircea Becomes-The-Storm, the Shadow Lord Ritemaster of the Sept of the Whispering Winds in Philadelphia (described below in the history).  He is able to sometimes get relevant information on certain individuals within the Shadow Lords or even the Garou Nation, and possibly information on random news she's heard. 

The second key contact for Stefan is a fellow member of the Children of the Crow, situated somewhere within the state of New York.  The two forged an agreement to trade information immediately upon Stefan's arrival to New York and, while it is still too new to have borne fruit yet, time will tell how useful it will be.

The third contact is, interestingly, a Silver Fang kin within the Sept of the Green.  While even Stefan does not know the name of this kinfolk, it is an alliance that has allowed the two an interesting rivalry, trading bits of information they've learned on this or that through notes dropped at specific, pre-designated places.  Stefan is determined to get the better of the individual, and hopefully use them to turn an advantage for the Tribe.

Resources: Stefan gained access to his parents money, gained through looting of freedom fighter camps in Serbia before they came to the States had had Stefan, upon his coming of legal age.  To this day, he neither knows, cares, nor thinks about what happened to them.

Concentration: As part of his training under Mircea as well as his fanatic nature, Stefan finds it easy to drown out distractions as he focuses on a task.

Breed Forms
Glabro: Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4, Appearance 2, Manipulation 3
Crinos: Strength 6, Dexterity 4, Stamina 5, Appearance 0, Manipulation 1
Hispo: Strength 5, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5, Appearance 3, Manipulation 1
Lupus: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4, Appearance 3, Manipulation 1

Rites Known:
Rite of Talisman Dedication

Description: 
Lupus:


Crinos:


Homid:
Piercing, dark green eyes.  They stare out at you from a pleasant, charming face, framed with waves of short-cut dark brown hair.  Underneath those eyes and the strong nose is an easy, benevolent smile surrounded by a few days' growth of facial hair.  He's midway between five and a half and six feet, with an average build dressed in casual fashion--he favors turtlenecks under a grey windbreaker and jeans.  In more formal situations, he dresses as appropriate.  He has a casual air about him, though something far more intense is just under the surface.

Equipment:
Clothes for casual and formal situations
A Black 2005 Mercury Sable LS Premium
A Rented Hotel Room
Two Daggers (Strength + 1 Lethal Damage), one kept under his clothes, the other carried only in emergencies
Camera Cell Phone

History:
Being born into the Shadow Lords isn't easy.  The exacting, demanding nature of the tribe--the dog-eat-dog world--is not one that many are fit for.  Rigid hierarchy, political landmines at every step...there are many who try to rise to the challenge, only to fall by the wayside.  Only some few of them have the capacity to excel and serve Thunder truly and with strength.

Stefan Knezevic was born to be one of those people.

His pedigree, to be fair, was not one of the finest.  Born to a Ragabash who never made it past Fostern and his kinfolk mate, Stefan came into the world in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 2nd, 1985.  His parents were immigrants from Serbia, his father, Vasily "Lighting's Talons" Knezevic, lived apart from his pack, much to their dismay.  Broken by a life of constant fighting in Serbia, he was now far more concerned with enjoying the life and opportunities America provided (or at least working toward those opportunities) then serving the Thunder, the Shadow Lords, or the Garou Nation.  Stefan was raised in this environment, with occasional trips to the the Sept of Whispering Winds in Philadelphia, in Valley Forge National Park.  They had managed to divine their child's true nature at birth, with the help of the Ritemaster, and as Stefan was to be Garou, he needed to see what was to be his life.  Better his life then theirs, they figured.  They did all that was asked of them, but nothing more.

Stefan grew up finding himself wanting more then his parents did.  He got everything his parents were able to supply him in terms of luxury; money looted from anti-SFRY (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslav) freedom fighters gave Vasily and his family enough to live on for life.   Stefan grew up as the kid with everything he could ever want--in terms of material goods.  However, that wasn't what he wanted.  The TV in his room...pointless.  The computer  and internet...pointless. New bikes, rollerblades...why?  The times when his parents dropped him off in the Sept are what appealed to him.  He spent his time there, learning the ways of the Garou and, from Mircea Becomes-The-Storm, the Sept's Shadow Lord Ritemaster, he learned of Grandfather Thunder, the tribe's father.  Stefan was enrapt by this, and the more he learned, the more disgusted he grew by the life of decadence his parents had chosen in lieu of service to Thunder.  It was he who turned his parents in to Mircea when they failed to heed a call for defense of the Sept from a pack of vampires, falsely claiming to have never have received the call.  He never saw his parents again, and came to live with Mircea.

Life with the Athro Theurge was not easy—but then, Stefan didn’t expect it to be.  However, he also did not expect it to be as difficult as it was.  Learning from the woman as a some-time visitor to the Sept and living with her were two entirely separate experiences, and Stefan found Mircea a harsh guide into the true complexities of Garou life.  Stefan had many severe lessons taught to him about the nature of dominance as the Tribe knew it, as well as loyalty.  Stefan faltered from time to time, but by and large, he took to the lessons well.  Mircea saw in the boy a potential for absolute fanaticism, and she took hold of that seed, molding him into what she believed would be a pillar upon which the Tribe could one day stand.  Stefan was taught in the ways of the spirits by Mircea herself, and in the ways of battle by Ahrouns who owed the old woman favors.  She knew that he’d never be one to charge into battle at the front—tooth and claw were not emphasized as much as melee were.  He was taught to use that which his parents gave him…a normal life…and to turn it into something actually useful.  Stefan’s inherent Rage would be low, as a Ragabash, and likely always would be.  Mircea kept him attending school as long as it taught him of the ways of the other Tribes in the Nation, and how to get along with them…but how to use them as well.  His service to Thunder would be as the diplomat and spy…smoothing things over, presenting the upstanding face of the Tribe to others and learning what he could of their weaknesses, so they could strengthen the Nation through elimination of the weak—and consolidate power for the Lords at the same time.  By the time his First Change hit on October 15^th, 2001—just before his 17^th birthday—Stefan was more then ready.

Still, Mircea gave the young man no quarter, no rest.  Point in fact, she made it harder on him then others had it.  Stefan spent another two years after his First Change, continuing to learn.  He was taught to master his Rage…as relatively insignifact (compared to, say, an Ahroun) as it was, it could still be a hindrance.  He was taught to use the Gifts of Gaia and Thunder, and how to best use what he had in service to his people.  Through it all, Stefan endured.  It was what was needed to make him.  In Mircea, he trusted, having been recreated in the image she wanted from the wreckage he may have become under his parents.

When the time finally came for his Rite of Passage, he was grouped in with three others; a Homid Black Fury Ahroun, a Lupus Theurge of the Bone Gnawers, and an arrogant Homid Philodox of the Silver Fangs.  Their task was to track down a small group of fomori who had come to the Sept’s attention when their corruption of battered women into vessels of hatred were uncovered by the Fury’s kin.  The Silver Fang immediately tried to take control, provoking the Fury who, in her righteous anger, wanted to lead the charge.  The Bone Gnawer was too busy trying to speak to the spirits right off the bat, and was thrown aback with surprised when the two began arguing.  Only when Stefan stepped forward to suggest that the Silver Fang direct the action up to the fight, when the Fury would take control, did things get settled, and they got on their way.  With the four working together under the tentative alliance that Stefan had forged, it didn’t take long for them to find the trail and start tracking.  The Lupus leading the way, they came upon the fomori’s hideout…and then, the arguing began again, as the Silver Fang refused to honor the previous agreement and cede control.

It was a lucky thing, really…though Stefan would never admit it.  He noticed the lightest shadow through the window of the warehouse, and it was immediately clear to him…they had been found out.  He slipped quietly away from the arguing duo, slipping into the shadows so he could get closer.  Crawling under the window in Lupus form, he heard the fomori readying themselves, and locked eyes with the Gnawer.  They struck now, or they died.  The Theurge flicked his ears in the affirmative, and without warning, the two moved as one, shifting to Crinos and leaping through the window of the warehouse to attack.  It was a stunned moment later before the other two joined in the attack, following close on Stefan and the Gnawer’s heels.

Even with the advantage of surprise gained, it was an incredibly difficult battle.  The Silver Fang, with all of his pretensions of being the most fit leader, did not prove the most fit fighter, and he fell before the four fomori did.  None would ever note the fact that the teeth that landed the final blow came just AFTER the battle, and were Crinos claws, not fomori.  The other two were seized in the grip of Rage, and Stefan was able to land a blow to eliminate a man who would prove a detriment to the Nation, and would get someone, a good warrior, killed.  It was necessary.  Thunder understood.

And so, it seemed, did Mircea.  The Ritemaster, upon hearing the story, had little doubt what had happened.  She knew her protégé too well.  She said nothing…he had done what was necessary, and that was what mattered.  Stefan earned the deed name “Eyes of Crow” for the power of his observational skills that day.  Chance or not, it saved them.  On March 12, 2003, he joined the Tribe as a full-fledged Garou…his proudest day to date.

Stefan spent the next three years in service to the Sept, acting much as he had before...public relations, mediator, spy.  He observed what he could see, and reported it back to Mircea.  Throughout it all, he maintained the image of the perfect Garou...loyal to Sept, working out disputes between fellow Cliaths, and presenting himself as the up-and-coming Cliath that was destined for greatness.  It was not long before she directed him to where she saw his true calling…the Children of Crow.  Stefan wouldn’t become a leader in and of himself…but he would make way for others, those who were truly fit and meant to lead the Nation.  Finally, when she felt he was ready, she sent him out into the world.  New York City was a place where the tribe was growing strong, and the volatile situation there could use his talents, to help them turn the tide and claim victory for the Tribe and for Thunder.