Charlotte Mercier
Concept: Stolen Ghoul, Shadow Ritualist
Clan: Lasombra
Sire: Sebastian Castagna, Sabbat
Location: Born Queens New York, Ghouled and Embrace in NY, Unliving in Boston
Status: Sabbat x1, Pack Priest
Focus: Linguistics (English, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Arabic), Lore (Sabbat, Camarilla, Nod), Occult
Merits: Medium (hear and talk to ghosts)
Flaws: Nightmares (due to creation ritus), Special Responsibility (handle ferrying of messages and packages for sire/clan)
Years: Born: 1931 | Ghouled: 1949 | Embraced: 1990 | Current year: 1996
Her father was Bernard Mercier, or Benny the Butcher, who worked out of Queens for the mob. He earned the title after working his way up as the go to man for getting rid of the dead. He had a small meat shop started by his family many generations back. The business was not doing too well. And with a new wife and kid on the way, he needed to do something.
In comes The Sicilian, an up and coming mob guy, trying to make a name for himself. He pads some palms, makes time with the locals in need of cash flow, and makes an investment in Bernard. Soon he makes demands, but when he works hard, he gets quite a few bonuses.
Like all strong mob ties, The Sicilian looks into the interests and families of those investments. His wife Isabella was a typical wife. She knew enough to keep quiet, praying for their lives while he worked hard to bring home money. She simply hoped he wouldn't bring work home. Unfortunately, he did without knowing. Their daughter Charlotte had talents beyond her years, drawing as all children do, playing with invisible friends...except these were her dead grandmother and sometimes those her father killed.
The Sicilian reported like always to his master. When the Lasombra known as Gillian Luciano desired another ghoul, a lady of sorts, he could think of no one better. Besides, he needed to hold more sway over the rising star of Benny the Butcher.
Funds arrived, schedules and scholarships, sending the girl to a private catholic school, the perfect place for the Lasombra to watch Charlotte. As she learned her studies in Latin, Literature, and the world, she also was befriended by Gillian. Learning proper etiquette, visiting museums and libraries, meeting influential people. Groomed towards ghouling.
And as a gift after her graduation, she was ghouled into the house of Luciano in the clan Lasombra. For nearly 40 years, she worked in the home and business of the Lasombra. Charlotte handled the woman's personal affairs, destroying her own family in the process, losing pieces of her humanity as she went. Of course, the ghouls were well known among others. And one of these was a rival of Gillian's.
Where she played politics with sheer use of domination, Sebastian Castagna held a more refined sense of torture, control, and a dabbling of shadows. He wanted a clear way of destroying this rival...what better way than through her ghouls. So it was Sebastian offered lessons of another sort to Charlotte, something she never realized she was eager to learn.
The library began. The studies and temptations of what he could provide lured her to reveal more than she thought possible. Strangely, he was snared by something he saw in her. A potential. It took little work for Sebastian to steal Charlotte for himself, birthing her through creation rites over seen by a rather strange Lasombra Ritualist.
Appearance:
She is a petite woman if medium in height. 5'7", painfully thin, with expressive haunted eyes framed by long dark hair. At times she cuts it off harshly, but it is simply back again the next eve. In truth, her clothing is far more pretty than she is. Not plain but not a dashing beauty, Charlotte falls somewhere in between. And that's just fine. She cares more for learning than looks. The dressing is a facade, carefully planned and manipulated.The Courtly Persona: Italian/Victorian:
One everyone recognizes with ease, beautiful flowing dresses, overly complicated, with a parasol. There is a drama to it, one she was reared well to learn through painstaking lessons by Gillian and Sebastian. In many ways, they wanted to use her for their own devices. For the moment, she is content with this.
At Home: 40s American
She does indeed reminiscence of her own past, dipping into the 1940s with abandon, at times a touch of the 1950s. She rarely wears pants, almost unheard of unless forced into them by her pack. Thankfully, they have never made the requirement.
If she does have despicable work, she wears a simple long coat of worn dark gray leather, simple white silk or cotton shirt, and a fine thick skirt of wool. The pieces are worn and meant for getting absolutely dirty. She typically cuts her hair short, no frills, just work. She carries satchels of books and supplies. Of course, she remains impeccable if possible.
Personality:
Among those at the communal haven, they would have varied opinions. When rituals come to play, she is quite the socialite. Always helpful. Always eager. She dives into the parties and sorties with a hunger. But beyond that, she tends to seclude herself. Though she does crave some form of society, her current research and interests holds her back from openly embracing any.
For a vampire, she seems kind. And seeming is as far as they get. She has yet had her anger stoked, not since her bent back days as a ghoul. In a way, this is a short respite, one she relishes.
Extreme Interests:
She is seeking to build a library, one with true works. Not just scientific or philosophical approaches to rituals and religion. She seeks journals of the deranged. Suicidal letters. Anything and everything written or recorded of lives close to death, or the shadow. Those with visions of what lies beyond. Some of these she has caused, tortured out of people. Most she has purchased or stolen.
She hopes to begin taking her own dreams, memories, and further studies down in dictation. Written with ink made of the shadows themselves, on journals made from materials of the dead and damned. It will take time. In them she hopes to find the keys to doorways. And slither through them.
Simple interests:
She adores shopping. Especially by killing off the elderly and wandering through their homes. Taking from the dead though leads them home with her. Her home is becoming rather haunted.Gardening, the stock market, foreign languages, and listening to mysteries all catch her fancy. One needs simpler happiness to offset the insanity of undeath.
