Aiden Matthews

Aiden Matthews was a Lasombra antitribu vampire, loyal to Prince Andreas Bihan and working as his right hand man in Baltimore. In his final nights alive, he was heavily wounded by Stanislav in the Tzimisce haven beneath the harbour tunnel, and eventually coerced into joining the Sabbat. He betrayed Prince Bihan by giving up valuable intelligence on the Camarilla, and attempted to diablerize a childe of Morgan Jessop in order to show his ruthlessness to his new allies. His soul was lost in the process, partially merging with his victim to become Grayden.

Mortal Life
Aiden grew up a simple country boy in southern Delaware, building houses during the summer while he was still in school; he spent his free time hunting, fishing, and camping. After graduating, he got a job at a chemical plant working with his father. He got fired there for being a whistleblower about toxic dumping, then got a job as an OSHA Investigator traveling up and down the east coast of the US. He lived with his fiance Candace; together they were planning their wedding and Candace was pregnant.

While on a work trip in upstate New York, he was drinking in a bar with a coworker in the evening. Several Sabbat vampires arrived, including Gisalberht, and mass-embraced all of the patrons, including Aiden. He fled the bar before his sire returned, without even learning his name.

Early Undeath
The first week after his Embrace, Aiden cut ties with Candace for her own safety; he told her he had found another woman, and not to contact him again. After his sire tried to contact him through his coworker, he smashed his phone and continued to flee west. His job had always required a lot of travel, so he settled into a nomadic life fairly quickly; he met a few other vampires who taught him the basics of survival. He also learned that vampires were not the only "mythological" creatures that existed, so he spent a lot of time researching the occult. He was eager to learn which stories were true, and which were fabrications.

After more than a year on the run, he grew lonely and returned to the east coast. He checked in on his parents without speaking to them, simply to verify they were still alive. He also visited the duplex where he had lived with Candace, but she had moved out; he resisted the urge to seek her out, in order to protect her and his child. He decided to settle in Baltimore because it was close enough to his home that it felt familiar, without being somewhere he was likely to be recognized from his mortal life.

His industrial experience proved useful to Andreas Bihan, Prince of Baltimore, and the two eventually founded Kunstgriff Construction, a development company responsible for the construction of many kindred assets within the city. Bihan was one of the few vampires who knew Aiden's true clan, but never judged him harshly for his Sabbat bloodline.

Blood: the Cascade
Aiden was tasked by The Prince with investigating the disappearance of several kindred, including the childe of The Sheriff. He did a favor for the mages Sara and Darla in exchange for information, but they claimed to know nothing; the favor involved connecting the mages with Ping Ru, a Scorpion Eater. They were sufficiently pleased with Aiden's results that they offered to set up a meeting with a werewolf, who was suspected of being involved in the disappearances.

At Elysium, he was blackmailed about his clan by Delilah. She wanted him to spy on Zachary Karsin but failed to disclose the Tremere Elder's preferred title of Regent. This angered Karsin, and Aiden attempted to dominate him in order to save face. He was unsuccessful, and Karsin dominated him instead, forcing Aiden to spend most of the night kneeling in place. For violating Elysium, he was to be staked and given to Karsin for one week. Later that night, he was released from the compulsion when Morgan admitted to diablerizing Zakai, the Gangrel Primogen, and attempted to flee. Aiden used Obtenebration to apprehend the diablerist, with the help of Auclair Lovett, Carter, and Noah Evans; by using his shadow powers, he intentionally revealed his clan to everyone in order to prevent future blackmail.