FAMILY/COVEN RELATIONSHIPS: Fred belonged to Riley‘s coven of newborns; he is currently a nomad.
He embraced being a science nerd and related to others academically but not socially.
PERSONAL HISTORY:
Fred grew up with his father; his parents divorced when Fred was ten. His mother remarried and had three children, half-siblings whom Fred rarely saw. Fred‘s father was not very expressive, and Fred found that the only way to communicate with his father was through logic rather than emotion. Fred had a natural inclination toward the sciences, which his father encouraged. In elementary school he was bullied occasionally because he was thin and wore thick glasses. In high school Fred grew very tall, but he was awkward and gangly. He embraced being a science nerd and related to others academically but not socially. He tried to avoid attention, and hated to be singled out except in the classroom. Eventually, Fred received a scholarship to Stanford University. Physically, he had gotten past his awkward stage and was quite attractive, but he was oblivious to this. After his sophomore year, he volunteered for a special research project offered by his favorite marine biology professor. Fred spent the majority of the summer on remote beaches along the Oregon and Washington coast, camping for the most part. It was a solitary trip, and he went several days at a time without seeing another person.
Riley found him on one of those beaches and imagined that Fred‘s disappearance would seem quite explicable. He asked Fred if he was interested in some excitement. Fred said no, but Riley didn‘t take no for an answer.
Fred is one of three newborns who survived the rest of the coven‘s demise; he went on to become a solitary nomad.
RAOUL
NAME: Raoul
DATE OF BIRTH: October 8, 1988
DATE OF TRANSFORMATION: September 2005, at age 16
SOURCE OF TRANSFORMATION: Victoria
PLACE OF ORIGIN: El Paso, Texas
HAIR COLOR: Black
EYE COLOR: Brown (human); bright red/black (newborn vampire) HEIGHT: 5‘10‖
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Raoul was wiry.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: He had a limited ability to make others view him as their leader.
It worked best on those who were directionless.
FAMILY/COVEN RELATIONSHIPS: Raoul belonged to the coven of newborns managed by Riley.
PERSONAL HISTORY:
Raoul grew up in southern Texas. He lived with his mother and five siblings. He became very involved in an expanding drug-running gang. Despite his youth, he rose quickly through the gang‘s ranks. When he was fifteen, he shot three members of a competing gang. To keep him from falling into the hands of the law, his gang sent him to Seattle to manage a new branch of the organization. There he excelled, particularly at recruiting new members. Riley found him beating a client who was behind on payments. Riley asked Raoul if he was interested in some real power.
Wary but intrigued, Raoul answered yes.
BREE TANNER
NAME: Bree Tanner
DATE OF BIRTH: March 11, 1990
DATE OF TRANSFORMATION: March 11, 2006, at age 16
SOURCE OF TRANSFORMATION: Victoria
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Las Vegas, Nevada
HAIR COLOR: Dark brown
EYE COLOR: Brown (human); bright red/black (newborn vampire) HEIGHT: 5‘1‖
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Bree had a slight build.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: She did not possess a quantifiable supernatural ability.
FAMILY/COVEN RELATIONSHIPS: Bree belonged to Riley‘s coven of newborns.
Bree believed that her mother left her abusive father when Bree was four; in fact, Bree‘s father murdered her mother.
PERSONAL HISTORY:
Bree was born in Nevada, but lived in Idaho for most of her life. Bree believed that her mother left her abusive father when Bree was four; in fact, Bree‘s father murdered her mother.
He buried the body in the desert, then packed up and moved to Idaho with his young daughter.
Because of the abuse, Bree felt isolated from her peers. She was a quiet, withdrawn girl. No one ever noticed the signs of her abusive home life, despite some physical evidence. Finally, Bree ran away from home a few weeks before her sixteenth birthday. She had enough money for the bus ride to Seattle, but nothing more. She tried unsuccessfully to get a job, and began stealing in order to eat. She slept in parks and alleys — wherever she could find a place that felt a little bit safe. Her biggest fear was that the police would catch her and send her home to her father. She‘d been on the run for less than three weeks when Riley found her digging through a trash bin behind a restaurant.
What Bree never knew was that her mother‘s body had been discovered outside of Las Vegas, and the police tracked down her father a few months after she ran away. When he could not produce Bree, he was tried and found guilty of both murders.
OTHERS MEMBERS OF RILEY‘S COVEN
ADAM After discovering that the sun does not injure vampires, Adam revealed his discovery to Riley. He was killed by Victoria.
CASEY Known to Bree as the ―Spider-Man kid,‖ Casey was a recruit suggested to Riley by Raoul, who had worked with him when they were human.
DOUG Doug was the first newborn to discover that the sun did not harm vampires. He went to Riley with his breakthrough and was killed by Victoria.
JEN Jen was Kristie‘s closest colleague.
KEVIN A member of Raoul‘s faction, Kevin was Raoul‘s second in command. Kevin was a part of Raoul‘s human gang, too, and was taken by Riley upon Raoul‘s suggestion. Riley asked Kevin if he wanted to join Raoul.
KRISTIE Kristie was Raoul‘s main competitor in the newborn coven. She did not have his ability to gain followers through magnetism alone, but she was smarter than Raoul, and better able to manipulate others.
SARAH Sarah did not like working closely with any of the other newborns, but she preferred Kristie‘s crowd to Raoul‘s.
SHELLY AND STEVE Shelly and Steve formed a romantic attachment in the early weeks of their newborn life. After a few months, they decided to abandon the newborn coven.
They are currently nomads.
The Romanian Coven
OFTEN REFERRED TO AS ―DRACULA‘S CASTLE,‖ BRAN CASTLE IS A NATIONAL MONUMENT AND LANDMARK IN ROMANIA. IT WAS BUILT IN
1377—HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THE ROMANIAN COVEN WAS DEFEATED
BY THE VOLTURI.
The Romanian coven dominated the vampire world until it was overthrown by the Volturi, between 400 and 500 A.D. Only two members of the original Romanian coven survive.
STEFAN
NAME: Stefan
DATE OF BIRTH: Unknown
DATE OF TRANSFORMATION: Before 1000 B.C.
SOURCE OF TRANSFORMATION: Unknown
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Dacia (Proto-Romania)
HAIR COLOR: Dark brown
EYE COLOR: Red/black (vampire)
HEIGHT: 5‘3‖
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Stefan is slight and short. He has powdery skin like that of the Volturi, but his eyes are not clouded.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: He does not possess a quantifiable supernatural ability.
FAMILY/COVEN RELATIONSHIPS: He and Vladimir are the last surviving members of their coven.
PERSONAL HISTORY:
Stefan was one of the original twelve ruling members of what is now known as the Romanian coven. (Romania did not exist as a country at the time of the coven‘s inception; that area of Eastern Europe was known as Dacia.)
The Romanians were formed in a way similar to the Volturi: A group of ambitious vampires called a truce to the usual squabbling between small covens and then joined forces for the purpose of gaining power. This prevailing desire to rule allowed them to overcome their competitive drives and cooperate.
The eventual downfall of the Romanians was their focus on physical strength. They created a guardlike entity — a pattern later copied by the Volturi — composed entirely of vampires like Felix and Emmett. Perhaps because none of the ruling members of the coven p
ossessed supernatural abilities themselves, they underestimated the advantage such abilities could give them in battle. They ignored talented vampires in favor of brute strength. This blind spot was understandable, as no one had ever used talents the way the Volturi eventually did. Talents have also grown stronger over the centuries; the talents exhibited by vampires during the Romanian rule were not as potent as the talents that developed in modern times. Much of that is due to vampires learning to seek out talented humans to transform, and also understanding how to focus and improve their talents after the transformation. Aro‘s innovative focus on talent over strength was the reason the Volturi were able to defeat the Romanians, though it took them more than a century, and they never wiped them out completely.
Stefan and Vladimir both lost mates to the Volturi — Stefan during the third decade of the initial battle — ensuring that their drive for vengeance would never fade.
Stefan and Vladimir both lost mates to the Volturi — Stefan during the third decade of the initial battle — ensuring that their drive for vengeance would never fade. They are always searching for ways to discomfit or damage the Volturi. They are particularly bitter toward Jane and Alec, who were not involved in the original war but strengthened the Volturi to the point of invincibility, making it impossible for the Romanians to exact their revenge.
Every few decades, the Volturi send Demetri and others after the remaining Romanians, so Stefan and Vladimir are constantly on the move and always on their guard. If the Volturi focused their efforts, they would be able to wipe Stefan and Vladimir out, but since the two pose little threat, the Volturi have never committed their assets to a drawn-out chase.
FAMOUS QUOTE
“We"ve been waiting a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged. If there is any chance they will fall, we will be here to see it.” Breaking Dawn, Chapter 32
VLADIMIR
NAME: Vladimir
DATE OF BIRTH: Unknown
DATE OF TRANSFORMATION: Before 1000 B.C.
SOURCE OF TRANSFORMATION: Unknown
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Dacia (Proto-Romania)
HAIR COLOR: Ashy blond
EYE COLOR: Red/black (vampire)
HEIGHT: 5‘4‖
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Vladimir is slight and short. He has papery skin similar to that of the Volturi, and his hair is so blond it appears almost white. Unlike the Volturi, his eyes are a clear, dark red.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: He does not possess a quantifiable supernatural ability.
FAMILY/COVEN RELATIONSHIPS: He is part of a coven with Stefan.
PERSONAL HISTORY:
Like Stefan, Vladimir was one of the original twelve ruling members of the Romanian coven. Vladimir was the head of a coven of four — large by normal vampire standards — when he joined forces with the other Romanian vampires. His big, successful coven was one of the inspirations for the notion of coexistence to pursue power.
They ruled over humans and vampires alike, demanding slave labor and copious human sacrifice.
During their rule — which lasted nearly a thousand years — the Romanians lived brazenly and decadently. For thousands of miles in every direction, they were known and feared. They ruled over humans and vampires alike, demanding slave labor and copious human sacrifice.
Occasionally humans would create armies to try to overthrow what they considered to be beautiful demon overlords, but of course all such attacks were futile, resulting in an easy feast for the Romanians. Obedient humans were spared death, if not labor, and a few lucky individuals pleased the Romanians enough to earn immortality.
Vampires were a well-known fact in the human world when the Volturi began to rise.
Their contention that vampires should conceal their existence was scoffed at.
After the Volturi had defeated the Romanians, the Volturi copied many aspects of the Romanians‘ way of life — the formation of a permanent guard, the stationary home, and the eschewing of hunting in favor of prey being rounded up and delivered to them. The difference was that they did all of these things while remaining invisible to humans.
Only Stefan and Vladimir, who were planning to spring a trap for the expected Volturi retreat, escaped.
Unlike Stefan‘s, Vladimir‘s mate survived the initial overthrow of the Romanians. She was killed around 810 A.D., during the last of many attempts the Romanians made during the centuries to regroup, repopulate, and topple the Volturi. The Romanians had amassed an army of more than a hundred new recruits and were confident that the Volturi would fall. This ill-fated assault occurred a decade after Aro had acquired Jane and Alec. It was the first time Aro displayed their talents in battle. The Romanians were decimated. Only Stefan and Vladimir, who were planning to spring a trap for the expected Volturi retreat, escaped. After this, Vladimir and Stefan made no further attempt to create more vampires for their coven. They decided to disappear until the Volturi weakened or another power presented itself.
FAMOUS QUOTE
“Now the Volturi"s eyes are filmed with dusty scum, but ours are bright. I imagine that will give us an advantage when we gouge theirs from their sockets.” Breaking Dawn, Chapter 33
The Nomads
Many vampires prefer to roam the world on their own or with a single partner. These vampires are known as nomads.
ALISTAIR
NAME: Alistair
DATE OF BIRTH: Around 1300
DATE OF TRANSFORMATION: Around 1320, at approximately 20
SOURCE OF TRANSFORMATION: George
PLACE OF ORIGIN: England
HAIR COLOR: Black
EYE COLOR: Red/black (vampire)
HEIGHT: 6‘2‖
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Alistair is tall and slender.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: Alistair can track both people and things. He can sense the general direction of whatever he is looking for, but it takes him a long time to narrow this feeling down to a specific location. If whatever he‘s seeking is on the move, he may never catch up.
FAMILY/COVEN RELATIONSHIPS: He prefers to wander alone.
PERSONAL HISTORY:
Alistair grew up in England during the turbulent reign of Edward II, considered the weakest of the Plantagenet kings. Alistair‘s father was one of the barons who continually fought against Edward‘s attempts to limit the power of the British Peerage. Throughout Alistair‘s youth, his father and older brother were embroiled in conspiracy after conspiracy as they tried to protect the rights of the aristocracy while also trying to gain a place of preeminence over the other barons.
Alistair lived quietly at the family‘s country estate with his mother and sisters. He had no interest in his father‘s schemes. Alistair loved to hunt for sport and was considered the best hunter in the county. He was also an avid falconer. He kept many falcons, and training them was his favorite pursuit. He loved his birds and spent more time with them than with people.
Unknown to Alistair, his father formed an alliance with two other barons after the banishment of the king‘s favorite counselor. Their object was to get Alistair‘s older brother placed in that vacated position, and thereby control the weak king. Some of the other barons had the same idea, but with their own champions. After multiple betrayals on all sides, Alistair‘s brother was implicated in a plot to overthrow the king, and he and a few others were executed for treason. The charges were mostly false, created by another powerful aristocrat with an agenda that differed from Alistair‘s father‘s.
Losing his precious heir pushed Alistair‘s father over the edge. The baron‘s anger against the king became deeply personal and slightly deranged.
Losing his precious heir pushed Alistair‘s father over the edge. The baron‘s anger against the king became deeply personal and slightly deranged. He began plotting to actually do what his son had been executed for. He felt he could no longer trust his old allies. He began to explore ever darker sources of aid, becoming deeply involved with the occult.
Alistair knew nothing about his father‘s designs. Of
course he knew of his brother‘s execution; he, his mother, and his sisters grieved privately and withdrew from society entirely.
The mark of treason on the family was a hard blow for his sisters, who would have more difficulty making good matches. Alistair, who had never particularly wanted to inherit, was resigned to his duty, and planned to care for his sisters if they wished to remain unmarried.
Then, late one night, Alistair‘s father came for him. Alistair obediently went with his father, though he was not allowed to bid his mother farewell and had no idea why he was needed.
Alistair‘s father told him nothing until they arrived in London. Alistair grew more and more concerned as his father led him through secret tunnels under the city, exchanging cryptic signs with masked men along the way. Finally, they reached a council room. Around a large round table were many minor aristocrats, some of whom Alistair knew. His father outranked them all and was clearly in charge. He sat Alistair at the head of the table, bolted the door, and explained his plan.
The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (twilight) Page 22
