Eliza Ben-Zeev/Truth

The Truth

Race: Risen Age: 28 Affiliation: Hierarchy Legion Status: Grim Legion Covert Ops Nature: Visionary Job: Mossad Operative What Actually Happened Eliza was never discharged from the Israeli Navy; she was recruited by the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, better known as the Mossad (Literally 'the Institute'), essentially Israel's equivalent of the CIA. The 'tour guide' bit was simply a cover story; her actual work involved espionage, counterterrorism, and various other covert operations - first in the Middle East, then in and around the United States. She was never Embraced, either; Eliza is NOT actually a vampire. A member of Clan Giovanni DID kill her fiance in front of her eyes, after which he killed Eliza too - without any intention of either Embracing or marrying her. She was little more than lunch. Other members of Clan Giovanni did kill Eliza's vampiric killer, but it's unclear if it even had anything to do with her. Her corpse remained in the hands of the Giovanni for a time; they even embalmed it, with flagrant disregard for Jewish funeral traditions. Eventually, her body was stolen away from the necromancers by Yael, but that didn't make her any less dead. The world never knew, though; the only living people who ever found out about Eliza's death were her Mossad control officer and her sister, and they kept it to themselves. Covert Ops The now-wraithly Eliza soon found herself recruited into the Stygian Hierarchy and the forces of the Grim Legion. They didn't want a soldier, though; they wanted an operative, which is exactly what they got. Oh, the Hierarchy might praise the Dictum Mortuum all they like, and insist that Rising is an absolutely unforgivable violation that they could never possibly condone, but that doesn't mean they never break it themselves. Like it or not, certain threats to the Dead are best dealt with by having their own agents in the Skinlands. There's also the fact that the Smiling Lord who rules over the Grim Legion doesn't exactly have a stellar track record when it comes to respecting Stygian law; between working with supposedly banned Guilds and committing outright treason by selling out his own master to a Malfean, sponsoring the occasional Risen seems pretty insignificant in comparison. Still, the whole point of covert operations is that they're supposed to be a secret. Outside of the Silent Lord and the handful of wraiths involved in her training, nobody within the lands of the Dead is actually aware of who Eliza truly works for. The official story (when one even needs to be given, which is rare in and of itself) is that she's a traitor, a deserter. In truth, though, she's Risen with the express purpose of eliminating threats to the Dead as a whole - whether they're Necromancers or mere vandals kicking over gravestones for a laugh. The Smiling Lord is not her only employer, though - she might be dead, but the vast majority of people at the Mossad don't know that; she was never formally listed as killed in action, and she remains a Mossad operative even now. Only three people in the entire organization are aware of her true status, and that's counting Eliza herself. Just as Stygia has its enemies, Israel does too. Dying might have diminished her faith more than a little bit, but she is still a patriot. As for the Camarilla? No, she is not 'infiltrating' the sect. She may not have told them she's not actually Kindred, but that doesn't mean they're her 'target' anymore than the tourists she takes out on boat tours are. They're a cover, something to hide behind... and, in a few cases, genuine friends. She may not trust them with the truth, but she'll at least rely on them for protection when it's needed. An Unexpected Mentor Given that she's a Jew - in ethnicity, if no longer in actual faith - it might be somewhat unexpected to most that her Mentor within the Hierarchy is Alonso Laguna, one of the original founding members of the Spanish Inquisition. (Then again, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!) They still meet up from time to time, in secret; their relationship is probably best described as 'vitriolic'. Insults get hurled about, and there is outright screaming at times, but while they are rarely polite to each other the two DO still seem to genuinely get along... somehow. Maybe they just enjoy the banter. Having been dead for some five hundred years at this point, the Inquisitor is quite the knowledgeable teacher, and quite influential in Stygian politics... not that he'd ever admit to aiding her openly.