Updated: 20 January 1999
Valérie
10th Generation Toreador
The Composer

	Sire:	Aïsha (1807)
	Nature:	Visionnary
	Demeanor:	Loner
	Humanity:	8
	Secrets:	**
	Status:	**
	Esprit:	*
	Elder Status:
	Toreador Prestige:	**

Background:

                    Valerie was a children of the Revolution. She was 15 when the people of Paris took back the King Louis the 16th and his family into the Louvre, and she was 18 when Louis' head fell on the Place of the Revolution (now marked by the Concorde Obelisk)

But her hopes died with Olympe de Gouges, and her dream about emancipation disappeared, and with it her dreams of becoming a great composer, like Haendel, or Mozart. She barely escaped the Guillotine and soon found herself married to have enough food to live. Her children at first bothered her, but her Bourgeois husband wanted in no other way. But providence somehow touched her (at least from her viewpoint) when a difficult childbirth reduced to zero her chance to bear another child. While her husband was at first furious, his two sons and his daughter somehow were enough to his limited mind. And so, freed from most of the work her station spared her from, she bought a clavecin, and learnt music.

Her husband, who had supported every and each evolution of the politics of France, was now a strong supporter of Napoleon, and felt a woman who could play music would only enhance his status in the parisian night world. What he didn't knew is that his woman, whose talent wasn't so great at playing, played in the middle of known chefs d'oeuvres, her own composition, showing enough creativity to attract supernatural attention. And as always, two Toreador, Marc and Aïsha fought for the right to Embrace her.

Aïsha won over Marc, who accepted his defeat. And so, the exotic woman appeared to Valérie. After discussion, Aïsha was entranced by the music the woman could create, but was saddened by her lack of mastery of musical instruments. So the Elder organiazed an impromptu concerto, which angered Valérie's husband to no end. But to Valérie's surprise, Aïsha simply looked at the man, and hushed him with but a whisper, and continued to hear, entranced, Valérie's music played by musicians from the Opera. Valérie, believing she would at least win her independance, accepted the offer of the Elder at once, and joined the Damned in the night...

Since then, Valérie produced beautiful musics, but not enough to become one of the proeminent membres of the Cour. And as she lacked the ambition and wits to fight her way through Esprit, her appearance at the Cour are rare and appreciated, for she never comes without at least some menuet to charm the Kindred.

Aïsha believes Valérie has been touched by God, for her music inspire the Elder in her own trances. The truth is somewhat different. Valérie had attractred the attention of no one else than Arikel...

Destiny

                    Unknown.

Appearance:

                    Valerie was embraced after three difficult childbirth, and at 33. So while the Curse brought her a new beauty, she still appear as a ~35 years-old woman, charming, but not as strikingly beautiful as the other Toreador. And as she doesn't care (too much, in a Toreador viewpoint, of course!) about her appearance, she doesn't appear out of the crowd when in the Cour.

She has brown curly hair that falls in the middle of her back, hazel, expressive eyes, and little make-up. She usually wear jeans and large pull-overs, and appear somewhat out of place when it comes to wear chic clothes.

Role Playing:

                    Valérie is a discreet woman with a dream which takes her most of her time: She believes she hear some kind of mysterious music which eludes her memory, and she sudden inatention can be the consequences of such ''hearing'' (Her discussions with the Daughters of the Cacophony surprised her as they seem to have the same ''phantom music''. But to the contrary of the Daughters, Valérie believes her music must be divingly inspired, and she works hard to try to remember it, or learn from its exemple...

Vaérie is a feminist and, after her love affair with Aïsha, never considered taking a male lover again. She speaks openly with women, but usually keeps a distance when confronted to male Kindred. Male mortals are another thing, as she knows she can outsmart them physically or psychologicaly, so...

Notes:

                    Valérie is most of the time alone, in her appartment, trying to find the inspiration. She even tried oriental technics like meditation, with the support of her sire. She believes she is near her aim... She recently experimented with computer-generated music, and it seems to work beautifully...

Marc doesn't like her for a lot of reasons.

Actual Aim:

                    To find Inspiration.

Rumours:

• Valérie find, perhaps (!), inspiration in mortal composers she influences. She then steal their creation and attritutes it to her own genius (False).
• Valérie is so jealous of Marc and his talent she feels ashamed to be compared to him, and so, avoids the Kindred (False).

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