Serena - Serena is the Childe of Garinol of Clan Cappadocian (WP). Like all of her Clan she has a corpse-like appearance, yet it is obvious that even if pale she retains her natural beauty.
Serena is a Scholar first and foremost and starts behind the others in combat Attributes, acting as a support character to the others using her supernatural senses, resilience and the powers over the Dead to aid the party. However, if you can resist making her a Spirit's Touch bot straight off the bat, that is about enough points to catch her up to the others.
Like all Cappadocians she has their three basic disciplines, Auspex (supernatural senses), Fortitude (resilience) and Mortis (the power that grants her control over the dead). She will be able to raise killed enemies and summon Spirits, rather useful abilities adding an additional group member. She is invaluable in the Nosferatu Tunnels, and a single dot in Spirit's Touch is a skill to pay the bills.
Mortis can also be used to create XP and cash, unusual amounts of it.
She is the worst blood consumption offender; Wilhem likes to cast 30 point Celerity, but that lasts a few battles; Serena will be casting a 20- point Wraith every time she sees a Hopper. You can always turn off the green light of her AI. Or you can play her as the main character, once her Lure of Flames spells are sufficiently advanced.
There is definitely something to be said for only maxing out Mortis' first skill, Shambling Hordes, with its infinite XP and money supply, and leaving Summon Soul alone almost completely. Apart from stopping her worst blood wasting offense completely, against the very toughest enemies, pets tend to be killed in few blows. So it matters little whether they are expensive five dot Wraiths that get killed just as they slowly raise their arms to strike or one dot Wolves that get killed while they are still looking around looking puzzled: that is one devastating blow that did not hit a party member. This is, pets as defense, not offense.
Serena is gifted with the best free skill in the game: Lure of Flames. It is worth saving some points in anticipation of this power, which far exceeds Mortis direct damage dealing capacity. She obtains the Discipline after Ardan's Chantry.
Cappadocians get one of Animalism's weakest pet creatures, the Zombu. She gets better with Mortis.
Serena is given the chance to drop completely out of the "good girl" role by being gifted with Hands of Destruction. Its Atrophy debuffs are not found elsewhere, but the requirements are steep, requiring low Humanity. She obtains the Discipline after Etrius is killed.
She acts as an advisor to Christof. Because she too left behind many things she loved in the mortal realm, she says, she has an understanding of the pain that is in his heart.
Serena is voiced by Christine Burke, though the role is frequently miscredited to Tara Strong, who had actually voiced Lily.
Modern Times[]
For the purposes of the game's storyline, Serena is assumed to have met her Final Death at Vysehrad Castle. However, a Cappadocian character named "Serena Praha" (Prague, in Czech) in Jerusalem is mentioned in the Fifth Edition sourcebook Cults of the Blood Gods, implying that she had in fact escaped.
In any case, not all players were content with the initial handwaving dismissal of practically all Cappadocians out of the world, and the Age of Redemption Mod allows Serena to remain unseparated from Christof[1], complete with a rebuttal to Christof's lament when he awakens in London.
The dialogue is taken from her Dark Ages' comfort of Christof:
- "Damned? Christof, thou art the pinnacle of creation. Thou hast powers surpassing even the most virtuous man. Thou art a law unto thyself, more god than man. Thou art immortal! An angel in form and power; relish thy station. Savor the exquisite power thy God has visited upon thee. Use it to wreak thy will on a world of sinners."
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