Anezka

Christof's heart is won by a nun of great character before his Embrace.

But will all the trials and tribulations of his unlife, and hundreds of years of her imprisonment and corruption by his enemies, tear them apart?

Certainly Anezka is a wellspring upon which both Christof and his story draw deeply. But there is much paid back in kind, and not only by Christof himself. Much of Anezka's story is told in impassioned praise of her, and from all quarters: Ecaterina the Wise, her villainous Tremere captors Ardan and Etrius; even her rivals in love Serena and Lily have kind words for her. More of her story is told with voice files, letters delivered through the storyline, and the Wall of Memory. Her letters are an example of a device used throughout the game: Text delivered with a popup, together with full voice acting, is found as letters or diaries or other documents.

In Anezka's case, the content of her letters is too important to the storyline to risk not being found, so the communications are delivered by NPCs such as Unorna and Ecaterina

The player's faith in Anezka's constancy is shamelessly abused twice to evoke a feeling of betrayal, both in Vysehrad Castle and in the Cathedral of Flesh ("Dear Master, please allow me to split Christof's joints, and fleshcraft his bones into a throne for thy glory"), and it is only at the Wall of Memory that it is shown to be a ruse to trick Vukodlak.

Convent[]

Main article: Convent

Prior to Christof becoming a vampire, speaking to Anezka while Christof is injured will cause her to pray for him, healing him fully in the process.

"Oh sir, I pray that the light of the Lord fill thy body with strength and vigor."

After he restores the Book of Nod fragment and Garinol's house to order, vampire Christof takes Wilhem up on his promise of a visit to the Convent and the Holy Warrior has his first taste of Anezka's steel.

"I know not what misfortune weighs so heavily upon thy soul, or has driven the rosy warmth from thy cheek, but the heavenly powers can banish all such darkness!"

"Should they banish this darkness, they would banish all that is left of me."

"Say not so! My lord, I know thy heart, and thy soul is pure!"

"My heart? My soul? Thy words torment me with remembrance of all that I have lost. I was a fool to have come here. I must never return to a house of God."

"Nay! I pray thee stay! My honored lord, thy soul is in peril!

"My honored lady, my soul is lost! My cause is doomed and I am damned! I go! I will not look upon thee again."

"Then I pray thee, my lord, receive this token of me. 'Tis but a small amulet of Saint Jude. Thou didst give it me, and it has soothed the pangs of mine own heart that began when first beheld thee, and a desperate, hopeless love did grow in my breast. Mayhap it will be some consolation to thy damned cause."

"Art thou deaf woman? My cause is lost!"

"Therefore do I offer thee the amulet of Jude, patron saint of lost causes."

Christof groans.

Search for Redemption[]

Anezka sets out to achieve the goal that gives the game its name: the redemption of Christof the accursed vampire. At first she achieves unthinkable success, but gradually becomes more enmired in the Jyhad until finally she is little more than a victim.

Although Wilhem had warned Christof that mortal love was "the most dangerous of anchors", Serena is the first to exhort Christof to leave behind mortals and cleave to vampire relationships, after the felling of the Golem.

"I understand thy sorrow, Christof. When Garinol Embraced me I was forced to leave behind all I loved in the mortal world. The loss of it still weighs upon my heart, and drags me to despair. I offer thee any comfort I may give in thy grief."

"I thank thee, but I do not surrender my hope of reunion with Anezka, even though I am beyond all hope."

"Then thy Anezka is fortunate indeed, although such barren hope might breed only more sorrow"

That night, Christof has a nightmare of him chasing down and draining Anezka of her blood; he rushes to the Convent but she is already gone.

University[]

Anezka Letter1 — Ecaterina gives Christof Anezka's first letter long after the second is available from Unorna

Anezka's first letter to Christof she gives to Ecaterina, who hides it from Christof in an attempt to free Christof from mortal ties and strengthen their vampire bond. Finding the Brujah's aid insufficient to her needs, she heads for Golden Lane

Ecaterina: "I am not surprised the little nun is missing. She is reckless"

Christof: "Dost thou know of her?"

Cosmas: "No!"

Ecaterina: "Yes. We shall lie to thee no longer. Anezka came hither in search of thee. The gift of sight blazed in her eyes, revealing unto her that we are Childer of Caine. And yet she had no fear of us."

Christof: "Where is she?"

Ecaterina: "We told her thou wert not among us, and she left.

Christof: "What?"

Ecaterina: "She insisted on leaving this letter for thee. As if she somehow knew we had lied to her. I give it thee."

Christof: "Why didst thou not tell me?"

Cosmas: "Whelp! Thou must leave her world behind!"

Christof: "Thou has doomed her! I could have persuaded her to stay in the safety of the convent."

Ecaterina: "Nay. Thou canst not control such as she. There was a mania that shone in her eye-a kind of madness- and yet her mind was sharp. As if her delirium had strengthened her mind rather than sapped it. In another time I would have been moved to take such a one as my Childe."

Golden Lane[]

Anezka goes to Unorna's Shoppe; her second letter to Christof she gives to Unorna, before going to Ardan's Chantry:

"My Dearest Christof, I have spoken to the old gypsy, a woman of great lore and learning. She hath told me much of the way of the Cainites. She has heard that the soul is not truly lost after the horrid blood ceremony. There is hope even in unlife. The older Cainites know of the secret, and thou too may learn of it. I live for thy redemption."

Ardan's Chantry[]

Main article: Tremere Chantry

Anezka demands an audience with Ardan. Anezka impresses Ardan more than anyone else, and he has an impressive speech to deliver to recount the tale of her exploits.

Ardan: "An intriguing woman came unto me..She sought the lore of the Kindred. She sought our secrets. And she sought to learn of thee, Christof. I was intrigued with such audacity..She seemed to have no fear. No fear at all. I was dumbstruck. She seemed possessed of the courage of a hundred warriors. Yet I could smell her fear. Well aware she was of the risk she ran. Was she filled with arrogant self-rightousness? No. She knew her God would not protect her from my hunger. Did she seek martyrdom? No. She clearly clung to her life, and lived life with a passion I had not seen before in a nun. Was she made? Or a mere fool? No. Behind her quiet words there lurked a cunning mind. She was..she was..I did not know what she was. And in not knowing, I was intrigued. Intrigued, and strangely..drawn to her..And she was quite beautiful. Didst thou know? Couldst thou see that behind her wimple, that her hair was long and auburn? Couldst thou see that beneath the shapeless folds of her robe that she possessed a body as achingly beautiful as any odalisque? Truly she chose the wrong profession to make the best use of the gifts God had bestowed upon her. In defiance of Heaven, she had buried her talents in the field of the Holy Orders. Her beauty transfixed me, just as her courage thrilled me. I had never met a woman like her, and I shall never again. I had to have her. I had to make her my own Childe. My Sire would not allow me another Childe and I dared not defy him! But I could not bear the thought of another Embracing her. So I sent her to the Tzimisce. They are the only clan that would have no use for one such as she, so I could be sure they would not Embrace her. They would simply kill her, thinking her a part of some Tremere scheme."

Gallery[]

Tzimisce[]

Main article: Tzimisce

A Revenant is led to tears, presumably by the full realization of the forgiveness Anezka carries in her heart. "She did return from the Tzimisce..I asked her how she survived, and she said her faith sustains her in all things. She even thanked me for sending her to the Tzimisce. Ah! A most remarkable woman! My spies did tell of a Premysyl Revenant that did cower before the pure light of her faith, and, sobbing like a child, whispered to her of..Golconda..the belief that a vampire can be redeemed! Cured of the blood of Caine! 'Tis but a legend, and no more, told to give comfort to weak-willed Cainites. Yet no one knows more of Golconda than the great Tremere master Etrius. She said she would go to him in his Chantry in Vienna."

Haus de Hexe[]

Main article: Haus de Hexe

Ardan: Anezka "even asked to ride to Vienna in our October caravan of slaves. What a woman!..I delivered her to the Ventrue caravan driver, Orsi, and they left three days ago for Vienna...Hah! Master Etrius will take great delight in her! And now I have finished casting the spell that will destroy thee, thou love-struck clotpole!"

Etrius is far too preoccupied with the war against the Tzimisce, and, like Ardan, the casting of a spell, to give a very detailed account of Anezka, but he does relate the story of Orsi's slave caravan and the raid that brought her to Vysehrad Castle

Orsi[]

Main article: Orsi

Anezka never makes it back to Vienna; the "October caravan of slaves" is raided by the Tzimisce

Vysehrad Castle[]

Main article: Vysehrad Castle

Modern Times[]

London[]

It is Anezka who awakens Christof from torpor, and we might feel Christof is to be blamed for not guessing it. But perhaps when, in New York City, he asks Wilhem if it was Ecaterina who called out to him, he is simply not allowing himself the luxury of potentially false hope.

Cathedral of Flesh[]

Main article: Cathedral of Flesh

Wall of Memory[]

The Wall of Memory creatures wear Anezka's face and record her words. The speeches are given in order no matter which order the creatures are selected, but once their order in the sequence of speeches is determined, they will continue to give that speech if activated again. None of Christof's choices have any further impact of any kind, neither further dialogue nor Humanity nor anything else.

"I am damned. In the holy orders I once dreamed of the eternity of bliss that would be mine for my devotion to the Lord. Eternity is now mine, but not bliss. I shall live as long as the Voivode, or as long as the Voivode is pleased with me. Or as long as the Voivode is pleased to defile me. Heavenly bliss is not to be my lot. Only empty torment. Yet still I dare to hope. Still I live."

"I have lived for fifty years. All I loved are dead and gone. My beloved Christof has perished in the fall of Vysehrad. His sacrifice has preserved innocence in the world, and so I rejoice. But my suffering grows with each passing night. The Voivode takes great delight in seeing me rise with fresh hope, for it means he may once again drag me down. Should I surrender all hope, and break, as Libussa is broken, his pleasure would be at an end. Yet I will not abandon my hope, even though such hope fills his empty heart with glee, as it fills mine with pain."

"For more than two hundred years I have suffered every possible form of humiliation and defilement. I have fallen from the chaste and inviolate woman I once was, yet I have borne it all with hope in my heart. But now I am sinking into the murky depths, and the last whisper of hope in me is fading like the final bubbles of breath from a drowning woman. As we grow close to the day of his resurrection, vukodlak has found the only defilement I cannot bear. He has decreed that I inflict defilement on others by binding innocent men and women into the walls of his accursed Cathedral of Flesh. His power compels me, and I cannot resist a direct command. I can endure my own degradation. But I cannot abide to befoul others. I fear I shall shatter like glass."

Christof:"My poor, poor Anezka. This is my doing. Every humiliation she suffers is on my head."

Anezka Cathedral — Anezka at the Cathedral of Flesh

Lily:"Christof, you can't blame yourself for the choices she made."

Christof can choose between, "Silence!" and, "Perhaps thou art correct"

"It is two centuries and a half after Vukodlak took me, and his resurrection draws nigh. He now demands that I surrender the final shreds of my honor and perform evil acts of my own volition. I cannot defy my master's command that I defile others, and when I resist him, my poor body carries out his tasks against my will, like a puppet. It is driving me mad. So, I must change. Rather than resist the evil I am compelled to do, I now embrace it, and perfrm my tasks with zeal. The master favors me, and as I embrace his evil, he gives me greater power. I have been Libussa's equal since my arrival. Now shall I take over her duties, gladly trading the final measure of my innocence for control over the Voivode's worldly affairs. 'Tis the only way."

Lily: "Oh no! She gave up! I'm so sorry, Christof. Chrisof? Are you OK?"

Christof can choose between, "I mourn for her soul." and, "Thou dost squander precious time in foolish talk. Come. We still have much blood to spill."

."I have now lived more than three hundred years past my natural lifespan. I have committed atrocities beyond all imagining. But my plan has succeeded. Though Vukodlak has extraordinary power, his exile from the world makes him weak. he must act through Libussa, who wields great power within our haven. But in just a few years I have usurped all of Libussa's power, and left her a wretched outcast in the Cathedral of Flesh she helped build. Long ago the Voivode stripped her of her soul, and gave her power in exchange. Now that I have taken away that power, she is a pitiable creature indeed. She has no place here, yet she cannot leave. I would lament her fate, but I have no tears to shed, even for myself. For resurrection day draws nigh.

Lily: "That gives me the creeps. This is supposed to be the purest woman in the world?"

Samuel: "Ah, Lily, I think you should really zip it."

Lily: "I'm only trying to help Christof get over-"

Samuel: "Zip it!"

Anezka Vysehrad Front — Anezka at Vysehrad Castle

Lily: "You're right. Christof, I'm so sorry. You must be feeling awful. I wish I could-

Christof: "My feelings be damned. Tonight we slaughter every denizen of this foul place or die in the attempt."

"On the eve of his resurrection, Vukodlak bade us slaughter the Premysl leaders even as they began the ritual that would raise him from torpor. I have learned well the lessons of corruption, for I have turned my hand to the corruption of the Voivode's resurrection. In the guise of offering wise council to Vukodlak, I poison his heart against those who could speed his resurrection. I accuse the faithful of disloyalty. I accuse the powerful of dangerous ambition. I praise the weak and ineffectual, like the merchant toad Orsi, as obedient servants. Vukodlak's fear of losing power is far greater than his hope of gaining new power, and so he believes every doubt I whisper in his ear. And so he crushed his own resurrection."

Samuel: "Wow. She sacrificed her innocence to stop Vukodlak"

"Vukodlak's rage is implacable. His resurrection has failed so often that he blames all the Tzimisce of Europe. He desires to move our entire Cathedral of Flesh to the New World, where we may begin again. This vast undertaking will involve many shipments of native soil. I am well pleased, for this foolish migration shall take at least a century, and further postpone his resurrection."

"Alas! I fear I can no longer prevent the Voivode's awakening. Lord Vukodlak has gained great power from the fear and apprehension afoot in the world on the eve of the new millennium. These fears feed him, and despite my greatest efforts, his resurrection is now inescapable. there are none who can help me. I can only hope against hope for the return of the one man Vukodlak fears. I pray that God restores Christof."