by John Gronquist (21 Jun 94)
Orpheus, Toreador 4th generation - (Apollo/The REAL one). Orpheus is indeed the real Orpheus, Thracian bard born of Apollo and Caliope in ancient Greece. He is sleeping deep in the Near Umbra and has much influence over the emotions and feelings of Paris. It is his subconscous will which has driven Paris to become the City of Light. None of the Parisian occupants are aware of his presence, but many suspect something like him to exist. The Tremere especially are on an active campaign to locate him, unbeknownst to all the other clans. Orpheas is in a self induced slumber and has occasionally awakened to find the world changing at an ever accellerating rate. The last time he woke up was in the 15th century when he discovered François Villon and his then rowdy bunch of Dionysian followers. Orpheas knew that this would be the man to lead Lutetia (Paris) in the direction he desired, and embraced him in 1487. For the next three years he remained a part of the mortal world to teach his child the basics of the True Toreador beliefs. Then he dominated him to forget about his existance and returned to the sleep he so desired. Because of this, François is plauged with the feeling of having some knowledge he cannot reach and this is the true spawn of the Pax Arcana, and the impetus of his drive to discover all that can be learned.
During his sleep Orpheus controls the spirits of the Umbra which surround him. His long time spent dreaming in the dream world has caused his surroundings to shift out of the Penumbra and reside in the Realm of Dreams, where his immense will has formed a personal Domain called Thrycia. A moon bridge has formed between Paris and Thrycia and often the unwary or lost will stumble into Orpheus' domain where they will be confronted by guardian spirits straight out of mythic Greece. Only those who understand true beauty will be allowed to wake Orpheus and a test of some sort will be performed to determine if the person has the ability to perceive what is and is not beauty.
Andreas Vesalius, Mummy. Vesalius was a Rennaissance Belgian physician who was the first ever to use human corpses to study anatomy. His discoveries were revolutionary to the medical world at that time. During his investigations into ancient mummification practices he stumbled across the Rite of the Rebirth. In his will he left very specific instructions about how he wanted his body to be treated, and humorously asked to have this ancient rite performed just to see if it would work. Well, it did. Andreas was the first to be surprised when his Ba was refused entrance to the Beyond and he returned to the mortal world to inhabit his body. For many years he struggled through the cycles of death and rebirth, never understanding the truth of what was happening to him. It wasn't until his third death cycle and the spritual journey of his Ba that he encountered another mummy deep in the Umbra. This mummy was a beneficial sort and agreed to teach Andreas the rhyme and reason of his existance, but only in return for the promise that he would spend his life cycle trying to hunt down all copies of the Rite and destroy them. Andreas agreed, and now that is exactly what he does, and also why he is currently in Paris. Parisians are long obsessed with the occult and he beleaves that a copy of the rite is being circulated among hidden groups in the city of lights. Few kindred even know of his existance. Many who know of his existance believe he has knowledge of a form of Golconda which he has garnered on his long quest.
François Villon, Toreador 5th generation - Orpheus. King of Paris. See WOD
Jospehine Baker, Daughter of Cacophany 9th - description missing.
Jean Laffite, Immortal Q4, born 1781. Laffite was one of the most famous privateers (a.k.a. Pirates) of the Caribbean during the early 19th century. His deeds are well documented right up until he disappears into the Spanish Main after being kicked out of his Galveston Island home port in 1821. What is not known to many is that he was killed by an United States Navel Officer in that encounter, only to return to life an hour later, thus discovering his immortal nature. He returned to the Spanish Main and was approached by Arabetu, a powerful South American immortal who heard the rumor of his 'ressurection.' Arabetu briefly informed Jean of his status, and the laws, then left the strong-minded young upstart to his fate. Laffite was always a skilled swordsman and has managed to stay alive all this time by skill and daring. However, in his turbulent recent history he managed to anger a strong Japanese noble immortal named Haki Takihiro. Takihiro knows of the status of Paris and the Pax Arcana and will not follow Jean into the city, where he would have to formally challenge him to a duel and most likely be killed as Jean is a better swordsman.
Ignatius, Tremere 6th - (?). Founder of the Society of Jesus, Ignatius was embraced to be the pawn of the Tremere in the newly formed powerful Jesuits. Unfortunately, the Tremere who sired him didn't realize the complete potential of his childe's intelligence and was quickly blood bound and ridiculed. Rumors persist that Ignatius also diablerized him, but no evidence was ever found, and even his name is now a mystery. Ignatius was always a romantic idealist and built the Tremere under him in a manner similar to the Jesuits, as a pseudo- religious knightly order. This order lasts to this day, and some of the younger Tremere see it as anachronistic and a waste of time. Ignatius named the confraternity the Roseblack Circle, but it is known by outsiders and younger members as The Thorn, for the frequent quoting of Ignatius about the "...thorn of the black rose, with its sting brings forth the blood of all who oppose its beauty..." Ignatius himself is nonplussed by this ridicule of his favorite sayings, as few would dare say it to his face. Ignatius is a powerful man, and during his first few years as a kindred used his strong ties to the church to great advantage, scavaging much occult knowledge from under the grinding heals of the Inquisition. None in Paris know the true limits of his powers, and even less are interested in testing them out. Only Francois himself dares confront the man, having won a significant battle against him in the past and obtaining much of the Tremere's knowelge in return.
Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (Giuseppe Balsamo), Tremere 8th - Cardinal de Rohan. An Italian swindler-adventurer who roamed Europe from 1743-1795, and responsible for the formation of a new form of freemasonry. Cagliostro used to deceive people by selling them mysterious alchemic powders and claimed to be able to work miracles and fortell the future. Together with Cardinal de Rohan he managed to pull of the Affair of the Diamond necklace in order to discredit Queen Marie Antionette and hasten the revolution. The Cardinal realized the man's natural manipulative talents and embraced him formally after helping him escape from prison and fake his death. Later the Count's sire was killed by a Garou who had an enmity with him for unknown reasons, and now Cagliostro is once again unbound and up to his old tricks. Unfortunately for the world he has the power of the blood of Tremere in his veins empowering his mad desires. While he has managed to wrest a position as an elder of the Circle of Seven, he seldom participates in it further than placing his vote when neccessary. He is a bit of a loose cannon to the Tremere and a constant source of obvious annoyance to Ignatius.
Arcana: He is blood bound to Ignatius who found him to be just too uncontrolable otherwise. Now Cagliostro is commonly used as the fall guy for many of Ignatius' wilder schemes and also is commonly sent on hazardous missions, which the adventurous spirited kindred actually enjoys. Cagliostro is little concerned with his standing in the political world of kindred and enjoys playing with the minds of mortals more so than ever. Mostly he enjoys playing god with his herd, a group of secretive freemasons who are fairly anarchic in nature.
Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, Tremere 8th - LeBlanc. A French chemist responsible for the original discovery of the relationship of oxygen with combustion, Lavoisier was a brilliant man with a magnificently varried educational background. However, in 1794 Robespierre in his fit of madness known as The Reign of Terror sent the chemist to the guillotine for supposed cheating of the government. Nicholas LeBlanc, recently embraced by Ignatius, was agast that the government would destroy such a great mind and managed to help Lavoisier to escape and replace him with another man who looked similiar enough for the executioner, who was known to be of poor sight. LeBlanc Embraced Lavoisier that night and was almost destroyed by Ignatius for his impudence in creating progeny without consent of the prince. The only thing that saved LeBlanc from certain doom was the brilliant mind of Lavoisier himself, who managed to turn the whole affair to Ignatius' favor in the Princes eyes. Since that time, Lavoisier has become a very powerful Tremere and quickly discovered the full measure of his powers. He is fascintated by magic and collects every bit of information he can glean, no matter how insignificant the source. He watchs the Mages very closely if he can, and will often get into philosophical converstations with them about Ascension.
Nicholas LeBlanc, Tremere 7th - Ignatius. A french chemist from the late 18th century, LeBlanc patented a process for making soda ash from common salt. This process greatly increased production in the soap, glass, and cloth industries. Nicholas is prowd of his new unlife as a Tremere and is happiest when he can quietly sink into research and ignore the power struggles native to his clan. He cares little for his 'position,' much to the dismay of Ignatius who Embraced him hoping to bring a new fresh mind to bear on the problem of the Pax Arcana. Nicholas is the most accesible of the Tremere and has often compromised their plans just out of neglect of watching what he says. The only reason Ignatius tolerates him at all is that he is a fantastic reasearcher and expert in the manipulative of solid matters, having progressed far in the path of conjuration.
Arcana: He enjoys the company of Vauban and the Nosferatu, and he secretly spends time conversing with Rodenbach, an act which would place him in much jeapardy if his Clan members discovered this. Leverrier, his childe, is unaware of this and believes his pater to be very faithful to the Tremere ideals.
Urbain Jean Joseph Leverrier, Tremere 8th - Nicholas LeBlanc. Leverrier was, during his mortal life, an outstanding astronomer who deduced the existance of the planet Neptune through mathmatic calculations of the orbits of the other planets. He also discovered the then amazing fact about Mercury's orbit being locked into always having one side face the sun. The Tremere understood the power behind such a mind and slowly over the last ten years of his mortal life he was seduced by their call of power and immortality. Now Leverrier is a prominent member of their society and believes that only the magic of Thaumaturgy can possibly save the world from the wrath of the Antedeluvians. He is still intensely interested in space travel and has deduced the truth about the connection between Space and the Umbra. He has invented a ritual which he has named, The Call of the Stars, which allows him to travel the Aetherial Realm during the month of the Vampire's astrologic sign. He has used this to travel to the dark side of mercury, where he encountered the servants of shade and other creatures.
Comte D'Artois (Charles X, king of france), Nosferatu 7th - Vauban. This mostly innefectual king was the last of the Bourbon line, and knew his time would be short. As a man he frequently spent much time telling bad jokes about fate and throwing fabulously torrid parties. On a whim he decided to have one of these parties in the catacombs, to celibrate the only kingdom he would ever really call his. This is when he first met Vauban. Vauban immediately struck Charles as a horror, but steadied by his own boasts of inhumanity, he approached the Vampire and discovered him to be at first incredibly intelligent and polite and then most terribly angered at the defilement of Vauban's home. Charles, with quite possibly the most deft political maneavuer of his entire life, plainly invited Vauban to join in the festivities. They became immediate friends, as Vauban had never encountered a man so unnaffected at his horrid countenence. As Charles' hold over his earthly kingdom slipped resolutely from his grasp, he began to spend almost all of his time discussing life and unlife with the Vampire Vauban. He openly admitted to the ancient architect that he would much rather spend immortality breaking into wine cellars and stalking the night to spook old women than have to put up with one more minute of being king. Vauban sympathized, but was unwilling to embrace the king while he was the center of Politics in Paris, knowing that somehow the Ventrue would find out. But when the revolution came and the Bourbon line was cast out of Paris, Vauban happily invited Charles to spend eternity in the shadow of the "Empire of Death." Charles happily accepted, and true to his word spends much time breaking into cellars and spooking old ladies on late night walks in the park. He enjoys the fax-society of the underground life and is well respected amongst the Nosferatu, even outside of Paris. Often he is the voice of the clan in the city and occasionally puts himself at great risk for the other members of his brotherhood. He is also, quite possibly, the only Nosferatu to boast a broad white mustache and sharp goatee.
Erik Le Vau, Nosferatu 8th - Comte d'Artois. Perhaps a much too well known creature of the night, Erik is indeed THE Phantom of the Opera. Although much glamourized by the story, Erik did fall in love with a young singer in the late 19th century. The relationship did not last past the removal of Erik's mask and he never saw the young girl again. However, his carelessness in allowing a mortal to discover and publish this affair was inescusible. Vauban had to go on the line to protect Erik's neck from the wrath of the Court of Miracles, and Erik lost most of his standing in the Nosferatu as a result. The resurging popularity of the Phantom story has done little to help the poor man's spirits. He now spends much of his time mapping forgotten parts of the sewers and just being alone. He only feeds on mortals brought to him by his sire, which is only often enough to keep him from falling into frenzy. Erik is fairly resentful of his appearance, but refuses to disguise it in any way. He will not wear a mask for any reason whatsoever, and rarely uses his powers of obfuscation. During Carnival he leaves the shelter of his underground home and basques in the freedom of being part of the mortal world again. Le Vau seeks to find a way to rid himself of the curse of Vampirism, or if possible to enter Golconda though he has little idea what that really means. He is a skilled architect and musician.
Vauban, Nosferatu 6th - Patius. This 16th century military architect was a master of his career, designing such works as the Perpignan and the fortifications of the town Briançon. In the late 1500's he was embraced by an old Roman Nosferatu named Patius. Patius has since been destroyed by hunters, who are now searching for Vauban, but with little success as they don't even know who he is, only that in the late 15th century Patius sired a childe of significant intelligence. Vauban was also primely influential in the creation of the Parisian sewer system and had it designed exclusively to be the international headquarters for the Nosferatu. However, the clan's center had to be elsewhere due to political reasons (mainly the Pax Arcana), and so the underground fortress and maze fell into relative disuse. The actual fortress which he designed is still in use but many of the other forts and passages are not. The central fortification is aptly named Palais d'Illuisions (Palace of Illusions). Vauban constructed it to be able to thwart the most incidious attacks from the other clans and surrounded the castle with a classic Minosian maze. Before the Pax Arcana, Vauban would keep the maze filled with deadly traps and the most hideous ghouls imaginable. Now, however many of it's secrets have been discovered and it is used mostly for clandestine dealings and secret romantic encounters. In fact, parts of the maze have been converted into an underground park of sorts, where the Nosferatu may roam and enjoy themselves in a shadowy reflection of the surface world. Vauban is a tall thin man with long wispy hair falling down his back. He has incredibly angular features, and his nearly hairless eyebrows just like sharp ridges over his unnaturally deep set eyes. His mouth is full of neatly ordered sharpened teeth and his overall appearence is viperous and terriblely perfect in its hideousness.
Arcana: Vauban hit upon the original sewer systems very early in the creation of his sewer system, and discovered an ancient Roman Temple. He remembered the words of his sire from the night of his embrace "...Most look to the stars for their destiny, what fools! For true knowledge lies buried right here, under our feet, ripping at the ground to unearth it's secrets." The temple was a very unusual place, existing under the Ile de la Cité in a large natural cavern carved by water erosion. It was dedicated to the God Apollo, but in an unusually personal manner, depicting dining and hunting scenes with a woman and a young boy about 12 years old. The temple is in fact the original site of Orpheus' burial and where he went into torpor around 320 a.d. Of course, Orpheaus' body no longer resides here, now having created the shard realm of Thrycia in Dream to protect him in his long sleep. However, the site does connect to Thrycia via something similar to a moon bridge. The bridge opens whenever any sort of artistic creation is performed in the walls of the temple, and appears as a hazy golden bridge leading out the open roof of the back. Vauban does not know the truth about this site, and has kept it his personal secret all this time perceiving its significance without understand its truth. In reality (or unreality, however you see it), Vauban is being manipulated by a special guardian spirit from Thrycia called a custos, or protector. The Custos is a fairly powerful spirit which believes that Vauban is far to ugly a person to allow entrance the Thrycia, and makes certain that Vauban does not give away the information of its location to anyone. Unfortunately for the spirit it is not powerful enough to make Vauban forget about it, so the battle continues in Vauban's mind.
Jim Morrison, Son of Cacophany 10th - Josephine Baker. Lead singer of the modern rock group the Doors. Josephine was enamored of the mystic power of his lilting voice during the 60's and rescued him from the mortal torpor he had sunk into by granting him the voice of an angel through her blood. After the embrace Jim was revitalized, now being part of the great darkness much of his music spoke of. He was the snake, the immortal being lying under all humanity. Jim began many esoteric movements after his death, and along with Josephine has spent many nights wandering the town dining on enebriated mortals and spreading the chaos their clan so enjoys. He is just now 'coming down' from the trip of being a vampire and wondering what to do with himself for the rest of eternity. He is once again writing poetry, still mostly about his penis, and has taken a young American girl poet as his personal ghoul. In the last 30 years he has only sired one childe, who is not currently in Paris.
George Rodenbach, Toreador 9th - Patrick Bourbon, 19th century poet who's 'grave' is depicted as a man rising from a broken tombstone with a rose clutched in his outstretched arm. He is intensely interested in the Arcanum and mystic philosophies. François is using his talents to research many of the Rosicrucian mysteries. He has discovered much about the mages and has connections with some of the more curious in their ranks. George is still very much a poet though, and has a few ghouls to whom he is currently ghost writing. His poems are rather cryptic and secretive, speaking of myterious emotions and often contains many scenes of psychic trauma. He was a coresspondant with H.P. Lovecraft and also writes some modern prose in that line. Often he drops hints and phrases about possessing a copy of the true Necronomicon. The Tremere hate him with a passion and many have died trying to pry information out of him, as he is under the personal protection of François.
Arcana: George is being led into service by the Templars. He is the only Kindred in Paris who they have any hope of bringing to their cause. The wraith, Jacques de Molay, disagrees with the templar's beliefs and harrasses Rodenbach frequently. Rodenbach is confused by this etherial attention and is researching the subject continuously.
Raymond DuChamp (Villon), Toreador 10th - Rodenbach. Embraced mainly for the artistic talent obviously already running in his blood, DuChamp was one of three extremely talented brothers who greatly influenced the art world in the late 19th early 20th century. Of all the brothers he was the most appriciative of the Toreador's gift and so when it was obviously time, Villon ordered Rodenbach to embrace him. The other two brothers continued until the 1960's occasionally taking the blood of their brother to feed their artistic talents. When his brothers refused to become ghouls forever, Villon regretfully told DuChamp to let them go. Raymond had some trouble with this, and it is rumored that he brought over his brother Marcel without regard to the Traditions. Nothing has ever been heard of a Marcel DuChamp since then, and it is unknown if he ever was embraced at all. Now Raymond is one of the minor figures in the Grand Drama of the Toreador, and relegates himself to trying to continue improving the cubist line of art, even though it is well past its prime. He frequently is known to take students as his herd, in exchange for giving them the gift of his blood to drive their imaginations to inhuman limits.
Arcana: Raymond rather blatantly believes Francois to be responsible for the deaths of his two brothers, to which he was quite fond. He is a bit of a loner, and only goes to the clan functions to which it would be nearly fatal to miss, such as the Grande Masque. He spends almost all his time in or near the university and is a bit of an enigmatic local figure to the students. One student which has encountered him has connections to the Arcanum, and they are currently watching Raymond to see who his associates might be. Unfortunately for the hunters, they chose one of the most antisocial of the Vampires in Paris, and are beginning to believe that Raymond might be alone, in which case they will move to destroy him.
Cheri Antione, Toreador 11th - Raymond DuChamp. A young very talented art student embraced by Raymond out of love, Cheri quickly became enthralled with the power and beauty of the the rest of the clan. She is on peaceful but competitive terms with Olympia, and is often the doll of the Court, playing up her loyalty more than necessary some times. She is however a bit of a primadona and has talents in many artistic fields. She has been a kindred for thirty years now and is enjoying the resurgence of the hippy generation, which was her last mortal years. She is a bit of a hungry feeder and occasionally has been chastized for hospitilizing her prey and endangering the masquerade. She is young, headstrong, beautiful, and talented. Many kindred do not like her, even though she desperately wants to be a significant part of the great Art Noir.
Henri Langlois, Ravnos 9th, Creator of Musee du Cinema
Maximillian Chevalier, Malkavian 9th - Apollo (plus two diablre victems). Owner and proprieter of the gaudy Casino Royal, built almost to exact replication of the original story line. Max is a gregarious, vivacious, almost manic personality who loves everything about late 30's crime pulp fiction. He was brought over during the release of Casablanca and was destined to be the Malkavian's response to some Giovanni who were causing trouble at that time. Max more than solved the problem, and rumor has it gained generation through some mysterious manner soon afterwards. Of course, the ramblings of a Malkavian are known to be poor entertainment at best, so little is made of his position in the society of Parisian Vampires. He is mentally locked in that time period however, and refuses to admit the existance of anything obviously not from the late 30's or earlier. TV's, most radios, new cars ect. are all treated as 1930 equivalents by the slightly wackered kindred. His insanity is a fairly obvious one for this reason, but mostly harmless. There are times, however, when he can take his role extremely seriously, possibly executing someone on rumors that they stole the Falcon, or other such nonsense. He is a handsome dark-haired man with obvious Latino characteristics.
Apollo, Malkavian 10th - Voltaire. Chosen by his sire for his resemblance to many traditional paintings of the god Apollo, he is a robust blond man of strong proportions and mythic appearence. Frequently he can bee seen in Roman togas carrying golden scepters and making great pronunciations on the state of affairs. Apollo has an infatuation on Olympia and frequently tries to impress her with his god-act, which usually just bores her nearly to final death. He is an arrogant man and is quick to frenzy if offended. Quite often he will be surrounded by his herd of three attractive females which he calls 'Muses.'
Arcana: Apollo is being primed by spirits of Thrycia to be a recepticle for the spirit of Orpheus. His obsession with ancient Greece is a result of the spirits flooding his mind with information about Orpheus' history. No one even begins to suspect this and the spirits have done an excellent job in hiding their presense. Besides, who would think twice if a Malkavian started saying he saw ghosts? Orpheus is planning to use Apollo to return to the mortal world in the dawn of the new millenium, where he will call down to Earth his father, the real Apollo, and attempt to usher in a new era of enlightenment and debauchery under their rule.
Charles (Pierre) Baudelaire, Toreador 9th - Patrick Bourbon. Pierre, as he likes to be called, was a reknowned poet in the mid 1800's and composed a work of poetry called The Flowers of Evil, which was subsequently banned by the government for its blatant glamorization of the morbid underside of parisian life. Patrick was immediately impressed by the work, and the two began correspondence and spent many evenings discussing the power of the evil within man. It wasn't until Baudelaire was dying from syphillis and alchoholism that Patrick revealed the reason why they could only meet during the evening, that he was a creature of the night, Homo Vampiricus. Baudelaire pleaded with Bourbon for The Kiss and Patrick brought the matter before Villon, who agreed that such a distinctly interpretive mind would be a terrible thing to squander on death. Bourbon formally accepted Baudelaire as his Childe and brought him over to Clan Toreador. The blood of the clan flowed almost perfectly through the veins of the dark poet and for nearly five years he wrote every night, stopping only to receive the blood offered to him by his sire's herd. The work he finished was a mammoth set of the most incredibly dark yet beautiful poetry of all time. He named the work Blood of the Rose, and it was welcomed with a tremendous fanfare by the Toreador. However, their was a fatal flaw in the work. It revealed to much about the nature of the Vampiric leadership of Paris and the Court of Miracles banned it's publishing almost immediately. The original manuscript was later destroyed after an attempt to steal it was made by an unknown, but widly suspected to be Ventrue sponsored, group of hunters. The loss was tragic to the Toreador's who found great solace in the work. Since then Baudelaire has only done minor, yet notable, works in poetry and some film. He is often refered to as the dark poet or Master of Evil and has a very twisted sense of humor.
Henri Reâl, Toreador 10th - Baudelaire. Henri was a studious late night student at the University of Paris, taking a duel major in Literature and Art History, when he began to discover that non-reproducible techniques were appearing, reproduced, in art across many centuries. He began to get a little curious and stumbled upon the influence of the Toreadors almost by accident one evening. Villon had him imprisoned temporarily to determine what to do with him. A talented young man, Henri pleaded with the Prince to take him into their clan and make him a member of the imortal artistic elite. After a test to determine the measure of his talent, Villon agreed and dictated that Baudelaire be his sire. Charles, intrigued with the idea of the dark process of vampiric creation agreed and brought Reâl over in 1973. Now living his dream, and with the benifit of the Toreador blood sparking his imagination, Henri is high on his new powers and totally devoted to the Toreador clan. The Court has often used this devotion to their advantage and some day Henri will understand that he is but only one of many. For now, he lives for the night of Paris. He is an artist of some skill, and also very talented at music and writing, as well as being farily attractive. Olympia was involved with him for a period of a few years, but they no longer seem interested in each other. He and Cheri have formed a friendship out of mutual circumstance.
Cardinal of Chaos, Malkavian 8th - Unknown. A mysterious individual who only appears occasionally at best, The Cardinal of Chaos seems to beleave it is his duty to disrupt the natural order of the Universe at random and often senseless times. He sired Voltaire, as well as others which immediately were hunted and bled by the Court.
Arcana: The Cardinal is really the Cardinal Richilue, of 3 musketeers fame, who was embraced by the Malkavian leader of the time, Louis XII. Louis has since been killed by unknown agents and the Cardinal is the de facto leader of the Parisian Malkavians, even though none of them have ever seen him. His madness is unique in its totality and he believes himself to be the incarnation of the classic deciver, Lucifer. He is in a constant state of mental war over this delusion, and so spends much of his time haunting churches and 'tempting' innocent mortals, mostly for their blood.
Lorenzo Medici, Lasombra antitribu 7th - ?.
Voltaire, Malkavian/Toreador 9th - Cardinal of Chaos. A famous French philosopher specifically known for his oft-quoted phrase "Écrasez l'infâme..." (crush the infamous thing), as well as his enmity to organized religion, fanaticism, and intolerance. He brought into being the ideas of free speach and religion, and was a massive contributor to Diderot's Encyclopédie. Voltaire was inspirational to Villon during the time of the enlightenment and the two spent much time together, frequenting cafés and discussing the potential of man. Villon often hinted at the truth behind the leadership in Paris, but Voltaire's scepticism would never allow him to believe in such nonsense as vampires running the city behind the curtain of night. Voltaire and Villon had a bit of a falling out after the poet began to realize the truth of the government of Paris, so he escaped into the countryside. After some matters between them were settled and Voltaire realized the differences between the Toreador Prince and the Ventrue, who at that time controlled the government, he triumphantly returned to the Paris which adored him. It was on the night of his return that the Malkavian calling himself only The Cardinal decided it was time his clan had a famous poet in its ranks and Embraced Voltaire while he was backstage. Voltaire collapsed into Torpor in front of his adulant crowd and was quickly taken for dead. He was buried with great remorse by the citizens of Paris and Villon himself went publicly (diguised as an insignificant bystander) to the funeral. The mysterious malkavian which was Voltaire's sire forgot about his childe in a fit of insanity and so Voltaire's body rested in his coffin for 13 years.
In 1791, victorious revolutionaries dug up his body, breaking his long Sleep of the Dead with the scent of their laboring bodies. He lept upon them and raked into their flesh drinking two of them dry. He later escaped from his tomb, the damage being attributed to vandalism, and roamed the streets in his nightly daze. By happenstance or luck, he ran into a Kindred who recognized him and brought him before the Prince, who was dumfounded to find his friend return from the grave as a member of Clan Malkavian. Villon has accepted Voltaire as a Toreador, and has quarelled repetitivly with the Malkavians about his clan status. However, Voltaire is indeed a Malkavian and the curse of Malkav runs strong in his poetically flowing veins. His personal manefestation of The Madness is an intense desire to free everything which is bound. He often has raided the prisons, loosing known criminals onto the streets, and has even been caught running along rooftops opening the pigeon coops. The phrase 'Bird Brain' could possibly have been inspired by his anticts. He does try to control his impulses, but they are as strong as the red hot blood which keeps him alive.
Olympia, Toreador 10th - (Elisabeth), Female inspiration for the Impressionist movement, captured in portrait by Manet, now is involved in digital imagry and computer graphics. She is a bit of a hard-liner when it comes to her art, and feels that the 'old' forms are extinct, although she is still fond of a few of her portraits. Olympia has slipped out of the limelight of Toreador society and is often refuted as having a computer for a sire. Elisabeth, her real sire, was also a model for many paintings including, it is rumored, the Mona Lisa. But she was killed during the tribulant times of the Revolution and sired Olympia in an effort to continue her beliefs. Olympia has done just that. By being both a model and an artist she hopes to experience the true totality of art and prove that Poseurs and Artistes and just two sides of the same coin, true beauty. She has a voracious appetite for art and has a computer system that any graphic artist would give their favorite body part for, on which she has CD-ROM's filled with almost every piece of art she could scan, as well as numerous erotic photography of herself.
Baron Hausmann, Ventrue 10th - Michel Ney. Responsible for much of the look of Paris, architect of many of the parisian buildings and roads. Originally the ghoul of Villon, Hausmann was embraced by Labianus as an insult to the prince and is now blood bound to the Ventrue, as well as compeltely dominated by their leader. Hausmann spends his time controlling much of the mundane aspects of Ventrue society and has little of the creativity he once possessed when Toreador blood ran in his veins. He remembers this time however and secretly yearns for it again, even though he knows it is an immpossibility.
Vicomte de Barras, Ventrue 8th - Louvois. Also known as Paul François Jean Nicolas Barras, this noble statesman born in 1755 was one of the leaders of the French Revolution. Although of noble birth, he became a member of the National Convention, the body which brought an end to monarchy by sending Louis XVI to his death for 'treason.' Later, however, he helped rid Paris of the near tyranical rule of Maximillian Robespierre during the Reign of Terror. Barras was also a direct sponsor of Napolean's rise to power by giving him command of the army which invaded Italy in 1796. In 1799 he again helped Napolean by aiding his overthrow of the Directory. Barras was a powerful, manipulative, and talented politician as a mortal. He was recruited by the Ventrue in an attempt to resurect the power of the Roman Imperial system and was constantly supporting Napolean during much of his reign. Now his powers have grown with his supernatural life as a member of the undead to the point where few will challenge his word. He is responsible for much of the political manipulation in Paris and is believed to be directly controlling the President of France, François Mitterand.
Arcana: Deception is a two edged sword however, for even though Barras has turned Mitterand into a ghoul, unbeknownst to him Villon had already blood bound him and is ordering his vassal to pretend to be Barras' pawn. Mitterand enjoys this immensly as he is looking forward to the reward of immortality promised him by Villon, and will play his part well. Barras is looking to eventually lead the Ventrue, even though most see his current position as fairly low.
Labianus, Ventrue 6th - ?. Born in pre-christian Rome, Labianus was a powerful General in the Roman Army. He lost his family early in his career to rival attacks upon his Theme, and afterwards devoted much of his energy to war. He has a general's mind set and a soldier's body. It wasn't until later in life, long after he had defeated any rivals, that he became interested in matters of the occult. He discovered hidden documents that his wife was a Hecate worshiper and their massacre had really been a ritualistic sacrifice to some unnamed lord. His driving fury of vengeance lead him strait to the discovery of the Roman Ventrue, and thus their discovery of him. He waged war with all of his military might, and almost succedded. In a great final battle, Labianus faced off against the 5th generation Prince, who was badly damaged by Greek fire. The Prince began to drain the helpless General, and just as the last ounce of blood flowed into the vampire a freak shot from a centurion took off the prince's head. Labianus was inundated in a bath of vampiric blood, just enough trickled into his dead mouth to start the 'Embrace.'
The battle ended quickly with the retreat of Labianus' forces, who took his twitching cold body back home, where they quickly buried him in a Mausoleum