Characters:
Almanoir
The Toreador:I remember my first love, a beautiful woman with a silver laugh. For ten years we were constant companions, but in the end I had to let her go. She begged me to take her but I could not. You may call me cruel, but in the end I realized she was not a real artist, but an imitator. She was unworthy. I don’t think I have ever recovered.
The members of this clan are known for their hedonism, though that description is a misinterpretation of their true nature. They are indeed proud and regal Kindred, highly excitable and possessed of expensive tastes, but hedonism is going a bit too far. Artists are always so misunderstood. The Toreador are known to be the most sophisticated of the clans. They are concerned with beauty in a way no mortal can fathom. They use the rarefied senses and tastes given to them by the Embrace to become as consumed and impassioned as possible. For a Toreador, nothing matters as much as beauty, though in many cases the search for beauty becomes a simple search for pleasure, and the Toreador indeed becomes little more than a hedonist. Like all true artists, Toreador search for truth beyond an existence they fear to be meaningless. It is this struggle for truth, and ultimately salvation, that has inspired the clan with what it considers its mission: to protect the genius of the human race. Toreador are truly in love with the vigor and passion of mortals, and never tire of marveling at mortal creations. The clan as a whole considers itself a clan of conservators; its protectorate consists of the world’s great artists. Toreador specifically seek out those whom they consider the most worthy, and Embrace them, thus preserving their genius from the ravages of aging and death. Toreador constantly search for new talent and spend a great deal of time deciding whom to preserve and whom to leave to their fate. Among the Toreador are some of the greatest musicians and artists who ever lived. The greatest weakness of Toreador is their sensitivity to beauty. They so reflexively surround themselves with elegance and luxury that they sometimes turn into hedonists of extraordinary degree. Some of this lineage become concerned with nothing but their own continued pleasure - the reputation of the entire clan is sullied by their excesses.
Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Presence
Clan Advantage: In their worldliness and continued dalliance with mortals, members of Clan Toreador inevitably collect a herd of fans, followers and hangers-on that can form a convenient and relatively safe source of vitae. The character may harvest one Blood Trait per evening per level of Performance Ability she possesses. No challenges need to be made, but the character must still take fifteen minutes per Blood Trait and must have access to her herd.
Clan Disadvantage: Toreador have a fine appreciation for artistic and natural beauty. This appreciation can reach epic proportions when it concerns truly captivating subjects. Any medium that the Storyteller decrees is sufficiently enthralling or the successful use of the Performance Ability at levels three or higher will entrance the Toreador for half an hour unless he spends a Willpower Trait. While in this state, the Toreador will ignore (but not be unaware of) her surroundings and avoid other responsibilities, even to the point of endangering himself. In this condition, any reasonably unobtrusive foe can surprise the distracted Toreador.
Organization: The members of this clan meet frequently, though these meetings are more social occasions than councils. In times of great urgency, Toreador become united and ferociously active, but they are typically too apathetic to be much of a force.
Aditional:The Toreador are called many things - "degenerates," "artistes," "poseurs," and "hedonists" being but a few. But any such mass categorization does the clan a disservice. Depending on the individual and her mood, Toreador are alternately elegant and flamboyant, brilliant and ludicrous, visionary and dissipated. Perhaps the only truism that can be applied to the clan is its members' aesthetic zeal. Whatever a Toreador does, she does with passion. Whatever a Toreador is, she is with passion.To the Toreador, eternal life is to be savored. Many Toreador were artists, musicians or poets in life; many more have spent frustrating centuries producing laughable attempts at art, music or poetry. Toreador share the Ventrue's love of high society, though not for them the tedium of actually running things - that's what functionaries are for, darling. Toreador know that their place is to captivate and inspire - through their witty speech, graceful deeds, and simple, scintillating existence.
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