“Prince” Leo Bakhtiar

Leo Bakhtiar, or Prince, council member and edgerunner.

History
Only 32 years old, Prince Leo is the youngest of the councillors, having inherited the position of Voice of The Diyonisians from his nowretired mentor (and legendary party fiend) Amber Novak. Unlike other members of the Edgerunner Convention, Leo does not represent an enclave. Instead, he is the spokesperson for a growing number of young Edgers raised in the megacities who have no political agenda beyond seeking out the greatest high, the most vivid experiences, the most fabulous parties and designer chips.

A child of the industrial Midwest, Leo was conceived in a bundle of coats behind the DJ platform at a huge warehouse party, and will cheerfully tell you that the combined effects of the colossal amount of drugs his mother and father had taken that night, mingled with the particular resonations of the fabulous Nu Breaks set that DJ Select was spinning, amplified exponentially by the psychic emanations of the tripped-out crowd, and finally focused by certain unique astrological events has had a profound and fundamental effect on his development. Well, he’ll tell you that.

The facts are that Leo was born to a culture of squatters and urban nomads that migrated between major Rustbelt conurbations, putting on world-class underground parties and moving drugs and stolen good to fund their transient lifestyle. The group’s children were raised in an unruly feral pack, being taught by whichever adult was available or patient enough to impart information at the time. This resulted in an astonishingly varied education, from basic electrics to motor mechanics; breaking-and-entering to martial arts; classical philosophy to cookery. Leo was raised by the community to believe in a bastardized mix of New Age and Epicurean principles; that the world was his playground, that anything he wanted from life was his by right; that material wealth was transient and that all property, and that meant everyone’s, was communal. He grew up to become an immensely charismatic, charming, amoral sensualist, with a natural gift for music and an astonishing physical grace that gave him expertise in Parkour, Capeoira (and of course dancing) and zero restraint when it came to helping himself to other people’s stuff.

At 18 he knew he had achieved all he could on the Rustbelt scene. The drugs had gotten boring, the sex was too easy and he saw the same tired old faces wherever he stepped up to spin his set. It was his reputation as a maverick more than as a DJ that encouraged Amber Novak, a rockergirl on the cyberscene, to offer him the chance to join her entourage and see a larger world. His confident charm and capable intellect quickly promoted him from pet savage to part time lover and confidant. Together they pushed back the frontiers of excess, taking drugs that didn’t yet have names and rocking parties that even names like Silverhand and Eurodyne couldn’t score invites to. Even the 4th C War didn’t impact their lifestyle much; the globetrotting ceased but the party still boomed.

In the end it was Amber who called it a day on their carnival of excess. She’d been partying hard for decades, and it had begun to catch up with her. She had tutored Leo as best she could, imparted all of her experience, ingratiated him with her scene, and now Amber was ready to hand over the torch for him to carry. She retired to Detroit to produce dance music while Leo, now his own master, went forth to spread the word of just how much fun life is when you’re totally unfettered by restraint.

Now Leo tirelessly promotes young talent, provides financial resources for new collectives, networks for the scene, distributes music, publicizes parties and expands the markets for new drugs and statchips, undermining traditional thought and encouraging hedonism wherever he visits. His libertarian attitudes and complete disregard for convention have brought him both celebrity and infamy. He’s the public spokesperson for the Edger movement that calls themselves the Diyonisians, an increasingly vocal group who

Skills
Performance 8, Charismatic Leader 5, Dance 7, Authority (Council) 6, Capoiera 8, Handsome 5, Athletics 7, Wealthy 7, Education 6

Outfit
Neural Net, ports, links & amps, subvocal phone, controversial novel chips, drugs, really expensive Agent, stylish armor clothing, vast chip collection of new music.