Claude

"Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more"
- Oscar Wilde

Name: Claude de Bourbon
Title: Master Harpy of New York
Coterie: The Green Carnation Club
Notable Traits: Calm, reflective, flirtatious, high humanity
Reputation Traits:

• Acknowledged
• Confirmed
• Guardian (in New York only)
• Noble (in New York only)
• Prominent (in New York only)

High-Level Concept:
Tenderness and kindness in the face of cruelty is more than merely an expression of strength, it is an invitation to heal and to grow.

Physical Description:
Claude is the picture of health and vitality. A male in his mid thirties with a warm hazel eyes, a light brown goatee, and an easy smile that brings dimples to his cheeks. His build is trim, due more to an active lifestyle than any particular design or intention.

Claude favors lighter shades of grey, as well as jewel tone blues, teals, and turquoise. His clothing tends to suit his needs at any particular moment. Well worn jeans in the kitchen or the garden or crisp suits at court. But you'll never catch him wearing a tie; at the most formal of occasions he'll wear an ascot as long as it is entirely necessary.

Persona:
Claude is a warm and outgoing kindred, quick with a smile and easy to talk to. Some might consider a kindred who seems to be so kind and generous to be naive, but those who know him well may well suggest otherwise.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
- Oscar Wilde

Quotes

• "Oh, he is a dear, isn't he? Unfortunately, the sweeter Claude is, the more terrible I then have to be in order to maintain the balance of the universe." - Zoltan Vancura
• "Every day that I see Claude succeed and thrive, I am reminded that even when all seems lost, there is still hope for renewal. - Nissim Melamed
• "Claude? He is more dear to me than I care to admit, he has this unique ability to walk me back from some very dark places. Without him, I'd still be lost." - Rowan St. Cyr
• "If your looking for a Kindred to model an eternity after, look to Claude. He walks the fine line of knowing humanity while always understanding his self." - Randolf Stein
• "I'd not have any other as Harpy, I can always count on his backing. I'd give my life for the fellow even if he were not Harpy and I not Scourge" - Kelly Cassidy
• "For all his warm demeanor and soft-spokenness, do not underestimate him. There is a tremendous fire burning in him, and a clever, all too clever mind." - Agatha Palmerstone
• "The best of us are the most human, a quality that is in such short supply these nights. A quality I plan to protect." - Miguel Cantone
• "I mean look at him and he speaks the language of love? I didn't stand a chance." - Kenneth Bilge
• There's no one in the whole world more likely to make me smile in delight or groan in abject misery than Claude. He isn't a creature of pale passions, and the world is made more vivid with his every word, so listen closely. - Dr. Marcel Trevisani
• "I have been blessed since the moment I became part of my sire's family as a ghoul to have the abundance of mentors and teachers I was denied but always yearned for in my mortal life. Despite occasionally referring to himself as my "wicked stepmother," amongst all of my mentors it has always been Claude who taught me how to remain more human than I ever was as a mortal. His tutelage is a profound gift, and his love even moreso." - Danika Astor
• "I am a very low-maintenance kindred." - Claude, on himself, followed by dismissive scoffing from everybody in the room
• Quote - Name

Timeline

France, 1696 — 1720

• 1696 — Born in Provence, France to a aristocrat and rich banker’s daughter.
• 1701 — Family moves to be closer to Paris and become fixtures at Versailles.
• 1712 — Discovered his interest in men whilst comforting a cousin after a royal funeral.
• 1715 — Met Luka Giovanni while selecting new stationery at an upscale papeterie in Paris.
• 1717 — Studied medicine at the Faculté des Arts de Paris.
• 1720 — Struggled to ease suffering during this the Great Plague of Marseille. First came to the attention of the supernatural.

Tie Sought -- A vampire or ghoul who was Claude's first brush with the supernatural. Maybe you supplied me with vampiric vitae that I used to heal some people, but disappeared before I could get more for you?

Ottoman Empire 1721 — 1730

• 1721 — After surviving a close call in Marseille, a friend of Claude’s suggest that he might join a sailing vessel headed for the great Ottoman city of Istanbul.

Tie Sought -- A friend or lover; human or otherwise. I'm trying to build a story of Claude going on various adventures because people who are good to him invite him to go along.

• 1723 — Sets up a successful medical practice trading on the Ottoman interest in Europe and in tulips. Acquires a reputation for cultivating rarer and unique hybrids of tulips, including a unique night blooming varietal.
  
• 1730 — Turmoil is becoming evident in the weeks preceding the Patrona Halil revolt. Claude accepts a friend/lover’s invitation to return to Saxony (Germany) in the Holy Roman Empire. Shortly after the revolt occurs.

Tie Sought -- A friend or lover; human or otherwise. I'm trying to build a story of Claude going on various adventures because people who are good to him invite him to go along.

Holy Roman Empire (Germany) 1731 — 1738

• 1731 — Retained as a tutor at University of Leipzig.
• 1732 — Attends a University function where one of Bach’s secular cantatas is performed. Despite being Catholic, Claude begins to regularly attend Lutheran services to hear Bach’s cantatas.
• 1733 — Embraced
• 1738 — Travels to St. Petersburg with his sire.

Empire of Russia 1740 —

• 1738 — Begins a very dreary accounting with brief reprieves to enjoy the opera and a new form of entertainment that would eventually become ballet.

• 1740 — (•NPC SIRE•) allows Claude to attend a new opera alone, as they has sudden business. After the opera, Claude learns his sire has disappeared.
• 1740 — While civil disputes regularly break out in Russia, Claude tries to find his sire.
• 1742 — Claude petitions the Ventrue Primogen of Moscow to release him from the accounting after having spent two years searching for his (•NPC SIRE•)

Ties Sought: Well meaning (or cruel) released kindred who attempted/succeeded in making Claude's life easier (or worse).

• 1744 — Preparing to flee Russia for Sweden, Claude's grandsire arrives and takes over Claude’s accounting.

• 1758 — Claude finally secures his release from the Accounting in writing. Is presented at Elysia before he and several kindred crashes a ball at the Winter Palace.

Ties Sought -- maybe you were one of the people I went off to party with at the Winter Palace. Maybe you were one of my kindred allies who helped me secure my release from the accounting 2 years shy of 20 years.

• 1760s — Notes that elders seem to have difficulty modernizing and how easy it seems for them to become monstrous. Begins to work on restoring humanity to kindred. Applying techniques involving art, crafting, and performance, he becomes the talk of the court.

Ties Sought -- Elders who I helped with repairing their humanity. Mentors in the arts.

Unspecified Travel 1770—

Ties Sought -- Trying to leave a gap open to go on adventures with other kindred. I'm really open to almost anything.

France, 1782 — 1789

• 1782 — Sets up a home in the fashionable district of Paris, complete with a walled garden.
• 1780s — Gains a reputation for being capable of helping freshly awakened kindred adjust to the fast-paced, modern world.

Ties Sought -- Kindred who Claude helped acclimatise with the early modern world. Yes, I think this is hilarious.

• 1780s — Works closely with other kindred in nurturing the arts.

Ties Sought -- Art patrons, art rivals, patrons supporting my work.

• 1780s — Begins love affair with Benjamin
• 1789 — Flees Paris with Ben as the French Revolution ignites.

Ties Sought -- Kindred who are helping them flee France. Kindred who are also fleeing France.

England, 1789 —

• 1789 — Arrives in Bath, England with Ben. A triad forms with Luka.

Timeline Under Construction

Rumors

• Smoke...
• or Mirrors?

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Claude de Bourbon

Clan: Toreador
Sect: Camarilla
Domain: NY-004
Player: Greg Glenn
VST: Emily L.

• Player Name: Gregory Glenn
• Member Number: US2004122447