A minor officer stationed in Baton Rouge as punishment for a slight against a superior officer, Esteve hoped, one day, to return to his homeland, his wife, and his family. However, fate was to intervene, not in the form of pestilence or native raids, as he might have guessed, but the arrival of an ancient undead crusader who chose him to act as his second-of-command in a war which he was not even aware was taking place.
Had it not been for the Blood Bond which Orlando distastefully forced upon him, Esteve might have fled his sire or even tried to destroy him for stealing his life away from him and foisting upon him an abhorrant half-life as a slave. However, though he burned with hatred, the bond and his lack of knowledge about what he had become held him to his sire. Orlando was only too eager to explain everything, of his ideals and the treacherous actions of the Sabbat and his quest for equality with humanity.
Esteve had little interest in his sire's vision but saw few alternatives open to him. Too much the good soldier to think of going over to the other side, instead he did as he was told. Over the years, he began to get a clearer understanding of his sire's motivations and the passage of time blunted many of the old resentments. While he never really enjoyed his undead state, he learned to live with it. Moreover, he found a means to understand it within the context of his Catholic upbringing as similar to the trials of Job. His loss of life and loved ones was, like all evil int he world, a test for humanity to endure. As such he tried to be as loyal and honorable as he could and did his best to be a good Catholic.
Most of his first few decades of unlife were marked by idle boredom punctuated with vicious attacks by the Acadian Sabbat or natives. Few Camarilla bothered to visit the military outpost, leaving he and his sire to fend for themselves. When the city became the capital of the state in 1849, however, it began to get a bit more attention and representatives of the larger cities in the South and upriver began to periodically arrive to offer their greetings to the Prince and his childe. As the political and economic struggle between Vicario and Orlando grew more heated, direct conflicts, leaving Esteve to secure the city against the occasional Acadian incursion, but otherwise free to persue his own ends. With little interest in vying for influence, he decided to amuse himself by persuing a personal interest: criminology.
Schooling himself in forensics and investigative techniques, he even gained an advisory position with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, an organization which he would retain ties to down to the modern nights. He applied what he learned about security to his duties as Sheriff and used what he learned of intelligence to help his sire gain information about their visitors and activities in New Orleans. It was his work that led to the discovery of Lafitte's visits to Lake Charles and that allowed to coordination of their with military movements during the war. One unforeseen perk of his new usefulness to his sire was that he was not the one sent into New Orleans. With no personal stake in the war, he had no desire to lose his immortality in what he considered a long shot, at best.
While Callough attempted to take the city from within, Esteve kept tabs on the progress of both sides from afar and advised his sire on how best to manipulate matters to serve his elder childe. Orlando's growing paranoia suspected a rivalry between his two childer, but Esteve really felt no such jealousy and his lack of such was proven valid when Callough was destroyed and his pack routed. Esteve was content to see to the security of Baton Rouge and keep an eye on his quickly degenerating sire. The latter affair began to worry him, though. His mood swings and paranoid delusions predict a poor end to their relationship and the younger Brujah is beginning to persue contingencies should his worst fears be realized.
Unlike many of the kindred involved in the Louisiana war, Esteve has no personal lust for power or idealism driving him. His loyalty to Orlando is motivated mostly by his Blood Bond and a desire to survive. Oddly, he is like his sire in that he is suffering from a form of paranoia, if a more sublime one. His interest in criminology and increasing need for security and planning eventualities is driven by a subtle obsession with survival.
In person, Esteve is quite personable, though he tends to be on the quiet side and keeps mostly to himself, playing the silent bodyguard to his increasingly unstable sire. He takes no great joy in dealing with security matters or the more violent duties of a sheriff, but is quite capable of being efficient and discrete in doing the job when it needs doing. He also retains a bit of his old religious beliefs and has been known to take confession, on occasion, which is a vulnerability yet to be noted by the city's kindred (though it has been noted by its revenant spy).
Esteve has been Blood Bound to Orlando for so long that it is little wonder that he rarely questions his loyalty to the man or his feelings towards him in general. He isn't so blind, however, to note his deterioration and has begun to make plans to take over when he is past the point of being an effective Prince. He suspects that there are agents of the Camarilla Justicars in the city and worries over their agenda. He is dedicated, however, to making sure that, should Orlando be removed, that neither LaSalle nor Landau have a chance at control of the city.
He's wary of Horace (who is the suspected Archon in question) and has been trying his damnedest to get more information on the man and his motives, as well as who specifically he is working for. He's very close to Ben, who has been urging him to pre-emptively contact the Camarilla leadership himself and request permission to remove his sire. Thus far, though, he's been unable to bring himself to such a betrayel of trust, preferring to let events take their course without his help and merely being ready to move in when the opportunity presents itself. Despite this, he and Chung share a love of secrets and trade intelligence often.
Esteve is worried about Sheila and her very apparent hatred of her sire and what it might come to. However, given his low opinion of Landau, he isn't sure he wouldn't like to see the frustrated neonate get her wish. He's even toyed with finding a way to help her should circumstances come to a point where Landau's death would help him secure the Princedom more easily. He certainly likes her more than her "brother" Kyle, whom he is glad has moved on to Shreveport and hopes to try and keep him there.
He's aware of Annalisa's dabbling in blackmail and her use of the Elysium to gather intelligence for her own ends. He hasn't stopped her because she is an outstanding keeper and he has been able to get information out of her by making subtle hints that he'll expose her, otherwise. He has, however, been careful never to divulge anything important within her area of influence and has been dropped a few false bits of information just to keep her guessing. He hasn't, however, informed his sire of her doings and has been relying on Annalisa's activities to help him keep track of the extent of Orlando's lunacy.
Esteve and Robert Landau go back a long way and there has always been an emnity between the two. At first, it was merely Landau's attempts to supplant the Brujah as seneschal and his inept power-brokering. Since the Ventrue's banishment from Baton Rouge, however, things have become a bit more heated. Landau blames Esteve for his fall from grace and for working against him over the years and has been trying to find a means to undermine the sheriff's reputation and relationship with his sire.
He's also got a dislike of LaSalle, though it is not quite as personal as his vendetta with Landau. He simply recognized the man for what he is: a conniving leech. He is well aware of the man's aspirations and, though he doesn't think there is much of a chance he'll reach them, he is still wary of what the man will do, or convince others to do, in order to get Esteve out of the way.
It is unsurprising, but Esteve has an uncharacteristic hatred for the Acadian Sabbat and was the one who led the 1970 raid which decimated the ones in Lafayette. Perhaps something in their twisted lifestyle offends his still essentially Catholic sensibilities, but he finds them repulsive and barely human. His low opinion of them has damned the rest of the sect to him, guilt by association.
Esteve has money and influence in most of the local security agencies and even supports a few of the paramilitary groups which train in the bayou. His connections with the Pinkertons and the other large security firms have proven very useful on many occasions, from finding out dates and times of engagements to replacing guards with his own men. He tries to never use this influence in such a way as it hurts the credibility of his contacts, though, in an effort to maintain them. Usually, his use of the information provided is subtle and for intelligence rather than direct attacks.