Stheno

Stheno was a Nosferatu vampire of the Galloi bloodline, leading a small cult of Cybele in Portsmouth during the late 19th Century. Though nominally the head of the local Circle of the Crone, Stheno's faction was miniscule and subservient to the Invictus of Portsmouth.

Though their history is mostly shrouded in mystery, Stheno was originally a young Greek slave who served as a catamite for the still mortal Claudius during the later Roman Empire. The boy was eventually sold to the cult of Magna Mater (Cybele), where he eventually ascended to the ranks of the priesthood after castration. Independently of each other, both ended up as vampires, with Claudius being embraced into the Macellarius bloodline, while Stheno found a place among the vampiric worshippers of Magna Mater, the Galloi. Since then, Stheno has been changing sex and gender as some would change clothes, thanks to the unique blood rites their bloodline possessed.

At some point in their common history, Stheno and Claudius reunited, with Claudius allowing Stheno to operate their Cybele cult in Portsmouth. Stheno also sired Maria at some point, intending for her to follow in their footsteps as a Galloi. However, Maria refused this design and went on to serve Claudius instead, tying Stheno's hands. When the Krewe came into contact with the vampires of Portsmouth in 1873-1874, Stheno became an unlikely friend to them, with them even serving as a mentor figure for Abigail in the healing arts.

However, this relationship would come to end when the news of the Krewe's "betrayal" reached Prince Claudius. Learning of their approaching doom through divination, Stheno enacted their final contigency plan. They embraced Aquila, their most loyal ghoul, into the Galloi bloodline and sent her away alongside the other ghouls and servants. Stheno then faced the Krewe in personal combat, and their soul was shortly afterwards collected by William Astley for the King in Gold in 1874.