Fiona Thérèse Gerard

Basic Information

Birth Name: Fiona Thérèse Gerard


Aliases: She usually uses a derivative of her given name when she finds the need to change her persona. She always returns to her own name every few “generations”


Place of Birth: France (in the region formerly known as Burgundy)

Age: Born September 14 1628 / 377yo / appears about 26

Male/Female: Female

Current Occupation: Model

Past Occupations: Courtesan / Madame

Appearance

Hair Color: Copper red with a silver-white streak about an inch wide in front

Length and Style: Long (Midback), though usually worn up in some manner. Very straight.

Eye Color: Green-gold

Skin Color: ivory

Height: 5’ 8”

Weight: 118

Nationality: French

Race: Vampire

Body Type: Lean and Leggy, with a nice chest

Description (if an NPC) or name of your creator(if a PC): Philipe St Pól ~ At the time Fiona met Philipe he was approx 300 years old. He was a member of Evenhet, though he had had little direct contact with his clan in well over a hundred years, preferring to wander on his own, away from what he perceived as “Clan Politics”. Unknown to Fiona, he had informed them of her turning and did intend to one day bring her to one of the Clan houses for a formal introduction, but they were separated before he had gotten around to doing so. Philipe was a little over 6 foot, with shoulder length sandy blond hair and dark blue eyes. He excelled at dealing with what passed for the French Aristocracy of the time and found their brand of political maneuvering to be entertaining, rather than the irritation he felt with Vamp politics (this was his perception, not necessarily the reality). Fiona is the only human he’d ever turned, as he had never intended to do so. His embarrassment at having lost control enough to do so was a major reason he put off bringing her to the Clans.

Personal Questions

1. Describe your character's personality ~ Fiona thinks of herself first, period. The only exception to this in her life was Philipe (see history).She is always aware of those around her and their reaction to her, and prefers to be the center of attention. She has had few friends in her life and has learned to cope by simply convincing herself she doesn’t need them, thus casting herself into a bit of a catch-22. Deep inside, she truly wants to find someone who simply accepts who she really is, though she doesn’t believe that’s possible anymore. Her reputation means everything to her and she works very hard to not put herself into a situation that may damage it in any way.


2. Describe how your character would appear to a stranger ~ Her clothes are designer and tailored to fit her to perfection. If her hair is mussy, she intended it that way. Her favorite is a pants suit, usually silk in dark colors, which allows her to move more freely.


3.What does your character like? To pamper herself, dress up and draw attention. She loves chocolate and strawberries & champagne.


4. Dislike? Being ignored, being lied to and having promises broken. Being caught out in the rain without an umbrella. Rude taxi drivers.


5. (For humans) Describe what abilities you see your character having if they were turned.


6. What are your fears? Fiona has serious self-esteem issues, which she covers with her “look at me” attitude. She is afraid of rats and of being outside the circles of power. She also fears she will never find Philipe again.


7. What are your character's strengths and weaknesses?

Strengths ~ When she makes a promise, she keeps it, even if she finds it distasteful to do so in the long run. She is something of a problem solver, though the problem has to effect her for her to put alot of effort into it.

Weaknesses ~ That she rarely thinks of anyone else’s thoughts or feelings. She is not a fighter, can’t stand to get dirty or sweaty.

Hobbies & Skills ~ As a former Courtesan, there isn’t anything about sex she doesn’t know how to do and she takes pride in wielding those skills as a means to get what she wants (power). She took up painting in the mid-1800’s and finds it to be relaxing.

Abilities ~ Suggestions / Glamour / Agility

Flaws ~ Narcissistic / Picky eater (cannot feed from anyone below her perceived social class)

Cosmetic Traits ~ A white streak in her hair, front and center that she tends to work into whatever hairstyle she chooses for the night.

Quirks and Habits worthy of mention ~ Fiona takes forever to get ready to go out ~ every hair has to be in place, makeup perfect, etc. She takes this a bit to the extreme and gives the phrase “fashionably late” a whole new meaning.

Personal History

Fiona was born in the region of France currently known as Franche-Comté. The daughter of a minor branch of the ruling family, she was ignored until reaching puberty when her beauty began to shine. Pleased, her father arranged for her to be presented at court where she met the man who would cast her in the role she would be playing for the next 300 years ~ Courtesan. She was trained to please men in whatever manner they desired and she learned quickly to ignore her own needs and desires, or be punished. By the age of 26, she had been “owned” by 6 men. The 7th was Philipe St Pól, an advisor in the court.

Fiona had been with Philipe for 3 years when she stumbled upon his secret ~ he was a Vampire. She had never questioned the rules he had laid out regarding his home, which included which rooms she could enter and when she was allowed in them. She had misjudged the time and entered his private garden early, to find him biting the neck of one of the maids. Stunned, she simply stood watching, not understanding why blood was dripping down the other girl’s neck. When he was finished, Philipe gently set the maid onto a bench to recover. He turned to her and smiled, showing her his fangs for the first time.

“Well, well. Look what we have here.” He approached her, almost gliding. “Curiosity can get you killed, you know.”

Fiona couldn’t move. She’d heard stories all her life of creatures that lived off blood and ruled the night, but she’d dismissed them as fairy tales meant to scare little children. To see what appeared to be a story come to life before her was almost more than she could take. “What are you?”

Philipe had stopped, slightly confused. He had not thought that his little toy had that much courage in her. He had purchased her to warm his bed, a job she did with great skill but no joy. He preferred it that way, not particularly wanting to get emotionally entangled with anyone, least of all a human slave. “You don’t fear me?”

Fiona shook her head in negation. Philipe had never truly given her a reason to fear him. His manner was refined and gentlemanly, if distant. As long as she did what she was told and did it well, he gave her pretty much whatever she needed.

They stood in the garden staring at each other. Philipe was stunned that she wasn’t screaming in terror. Fiona had already moved forward to realizing what this could mean to her. Her greatest fear was to grow old and lose the beauty that allowed her to live in fine houses, eat gourmet foods and wear the latest fashions. As a courtesan, she was often taken to balls and parties she would never have been given access to otherwise. She had no desire for those things to end, but they could and quickly if something happened to her looks. She was accustomed to the being the most beautiful woman in the district and would do anything to keep it that way.

“Can you grow old?”

Philipe shook his own head, trying to make sense of this. In the 300 years since he’d been turned, no one had looked at him like this when realizing what he was. It occurred to him a little belatedly that he knew next to nothing about Fiona ~ he hadn’t brought her here for conversation, after all.

Elated at his answer, Fiona smiled. “Then I want to be like you. Now. Tonight.”

Shocked, Philipe automatically refused. His own turning had been violent and unasked for. That someone would just ask for it was beyond his comprehension.

They went back and forth for the next two months. Philipe spent the time learning everything he could about Fiona, quickly realizing why she wanted this. Fiona spent the time figuring out how to turn this to her advantage in the long run and learning everything she could about vampires. The more she learned, the more it seemed the perfect solution. She’d be beautiful forever. She refused to even consider the drawbacks, caring only for herself and what it would mean for her future to be forever young.

It became a game for her to ask and him to refuse until one night during sex when he lost control and bit her neck, not realizing his teeth had come out. She lay on the bed while he sucked her blood, feeling only the ecstasy of it while he still moved over her. He came to his senses almost too late and quickly did what he had to save her life. Somewhere along the line, he’d fallen in love with her.

Fiona came to the following evening, confused and feeling very different. Philipe was sitting in a chair nearby, watching her. “You did it,” she said, sitting up. Philipe nodded, afraid she’d hate him for this. “I was dead. I think.” Her neck hurt and she felt… hungry. He helped her to stand and held her while she looked at herself in a mirror.

Her skin had paled a bit and her eyes were brighter. The white streak in her hair, the result of a fall when she was little, seemed to glow to her eyes. She smiled slowly, showing fangs. Thrilled, she turned to Philipe and kissed him, happier than she’d ever been. No longer would she have to worry about growing old or losing her beauty to an accident or time.

Philipe spent the next few months teaching what she needed to know to survive, including how to hunt, which she found to be difficult. She found it distasteful to drink from the staff, feeling they were somehow below her since turning. It wasn’t until they attended a dinner party that she realized it was the elite she wanted to feed from ~ the richer and more powerful the better. She found that using her reputation as an accomplished courtesan was the perfect way to achieve this. Philipe was not pleased with this solution.

They stayed with this court for another 10 years, when Philipe announced it was time to move on. He had explained to her about the need to never stay somewhere more than 15 years or so, since they wouldn’t age and it was one of the few things they truly fought about. Fiona enjoyed her place in high society and had no desire to start over somewhere else. Rather than continue arguing with her, he simply kidnapped her after a party one night, having arranged for the coach to take them on the first leg of their journey while she slept. She was furious when she awoke, especially as she was now stuck in an Inn in a town she knew nothing about. She refused to speak to Philipe for the duration of their journey and was barely civil as they settled into their new home weeks later.

This time, she posed as his wife, which allowed her greater access to the court as he again was posing as a wealthy lord, visiting his city manor. After awhile she began to accept that moves were necessary and even began to look forward to them. They moved around central Europe for the next 100 years or so, usually with a loyal human retainer or two, carefully chosen to assist them. Philipe told her about the Clans, but kept putting off taking her to them. She continued to hunt the way she preferred, enjoying that her enduring beauty allowed hr to do so. She spent large amounts of time selecting the perfect wardrobe and the perfect jewelry to go with it.

The French Revolution caught them off guard. They were in Paris at the time and were separated. Fiona was devastated to have lost all of her belongings, but, like Philipe had taught her, she had stashes all over the countryside. She searched for weeks for Philipe, surprised to find she actually cared about him. To this day she hasn’t seen him and can find no trace of him.

She was able to a combination of glamour and suggestion to get onto a packet boat one evening and made her way to England where she spent the next hundred years or so, going over to the continent to gather a few of her stashes and look for Philipe every 20 years or so. By the end of the 19th century she had lived all over the British Isles, posing as everything from a Madame in Edinburgh to a member of the Court in London, to a widow in Dublin and Wales. She learned that alternating between court life and country life worked the best for her and she began to acquire properties that she could return to every few generations, posing as her own granddaughter. She also found that holding onto outdated and out of fashion furniture made for good investments for the future when items became antiques. She drifted from powerful man to powerful man, using them both for their blood and for their connections. She found this also came in handy later when she wanted to return somewhere ~ often the sons or grandsons were of the right age for her to ply her charms on and regain her connections.

Fiona was not prepared for the changes of the Industrial Revolution and the continued decline of the nobility. She spent some time trying to determine how to continue her activities in the manner she preferred. It was not in her nature to change her preferences just because times were changing, though she had found ways to adapt her activities to the changing times. On a whim, she decided to spend some time in travel and found creative ways to see East Europe, Northern Africa and even spent some time in the British Colonies of India and the Far East. When war broke out early in the 20th century, she found ways to use her talents to her advantage, even spending some time during WWII as a spy, a game she found most entertaining.

She loathed the 20th century. She returned to England and France, finding that the shift in power from the nobility to the wealthy irritating. And the increasing need for documentation was insulting to her way of thinking, though she again found ways of using her talents and the black market to work around this. She returned to posing as her own granddaughter, willing everything to herself and creating death certificates every 25 years or so.

During her life she found no reason to turn anyone, never finding anyone she cared to keep around as long as she had been with Philipe. With the onset of the information age, she found new ways to continue her search for him, but has yet to find a trace of him. She met up with the occasional vampire, sometimes spending a year or two with them, but not caring to maintain those relationships beyond that. It was from Maeve Fraser, a Vampire she spent a few years with while in the British Isles that she learned that the main Clan Elders were in Nachton. Not sure if she was ready to meet the Clan she was technically a member of, she filed the information away for future consideration.

In the winter of 1998, she decided to go to New York and try the United States, which she had avoided all of her long life. She set herself up in a penthouse suite and hired a small staff. Within a few weeks she had found work as a model, using a combination of looks and talent to land the job, finding the attention to be most gratifying. It also allowed her to go to parties and meet the elite of the era, a necessity in her opinion. She still avoided Nachton, though her curiousity about the Clan was growing weekly.

Finally deciding she was being cowardly, she went to Nachton for a weekend. She was surprised to find that the city appealed to her, and she went back to New York trying to decide what to do next. If she had understood what little Philipe had told her, the Clan acted as a kind of family, though they were much more than that, as they were also the Law. But they might also know where Philipe was, or if he’d even survived the French Revolution. That thought motivated her to return to Nachton, this time perhaps to stay.





OOC Checklist

Player name (online is fine) Garnett
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