Dramatis -- Artemis Seth

[brujah_barkeep]

Name: Artemis Seth

Age: 250

Race: Vampire -- Malkavian

Artemis York–-who would later become Artemis Seth-–was born in the year 1759 in Notting Hill, England. She was the third child of Adam York, a professor of ancient religions, and his wife Lilith York, a Parliament member's daughter. The family was surprisingly well off, Adam being from new money. Artemis was a completely unexpected surprise, born seven years after her sister Diana and thirteen years after her sister Selene. She quickly became the complete apple of Adam's eye.

From an early age, there was something "slightly off" about Artemis, however. Something that alienated her from her mother. She often reported strange dreams. Unlike other girls her age, she showed little interest in dolls and pretty dresses. At times, she would say completely erratic and unpredictable things. Although her mother sometimes scolded her for predicting that Diana would one day march against the military or that Selene would bathe in rivers of blood, Artemis persisted, insisting that she was only telling the truth. It would be many, many years before Artemis and her family realized that these childish utterances were actually prophetic.

Like her father, Artemis grew up bookish and sharp, despite all of her eccentricities. When it was decided that Diana would be given an education--Adam himself began to tutor her in ancient religions and also taught her ancient Gaelic--Artemis would often sit in on these lessons and she and Diana grew closer. Meanwhile, Selene simply grew up and was married in 1762. A year later, Selene's daughter Eve was born and her husband was killed in the French Indian War.

Unfortunately, the closeness Diana and Artemis shared was cut short when Artemis was seven. After a clumsy accident that cast a bleak outlook on Diana's marriage prospects, she was sent away to be the companion of the Countess of Sussex. It was Lilith's fondest hope that Diana would marry into money, high above her station. Artemis suddenly found herself without a constant companion and bedmate. Because of her peculiar tendencies, she had difficulties making friends with other children. Seeing how sad she was, Adam would sometimes take her with him to Cambridge. There, she learned to love libraries and learning. While not precocious, her intelligence endeared her to the scholars on the university grounds.

Despite her strange visions and prophecies, Artemis' childhood was uneventful. By the age of seventeen, she had grown into an ethereal beauty and she attracted the attention of two young suitors in Notting Hill. The first, who her mother preferred, was Thomas Grossmith, a man nearly twice her age and incredibly wealthy. The second, her father's favorite, was Edward James, who was studying to be a doctor. Artemis, who didn't know how to flirt and never even dreamed of a husband, had little interest in either of them, although she found Edward to be somewhat endearing. In the end, however, it hardly mattered.

One night in 1776, Adam disappeared during a trip to St. Joseph's church, one of his favorite places for reflection and meditation. After weeks of endless searches which turned up nothing, the authorities were forced to declare him dead. Artemis and Lilith were both devastated. While her mother closed down, Artemis broke with reality completely. Or so it seemed to everyone around her.

The emotional trauma of losing the person she loved most in the world awakened Artemis' prophetic abilities, full-force. It was no longer a simple matter of dreams and stray trains of thought. She had a hard time separating reality from what she was seeing, making her incredibly prone to fits. Artemis started forgetting to do things like eat and sleep. Her appearance rapidly changed as her body began to deteriorate, leaving her to resemble a wide-eyed skeleton with unkempt curls.

Diana returned home, at Selene's insistence, to take care of her mother and sister, but Diana's patience quickly wore thin with Artemis' constant prophecies. Diana was miserable back in Notting Hill, missing all of the excitement and glamor of her life with the countess. She made it very clear how much she resented her mother and sister for robbing her of the high life, constantly making snide remarks about how low-brow their lifestyle was and never letting anyone ignore the fact that she was terribly bored without fancy balls and salons to attend. The tension filled the household. Frustrated, one night, Diana screamed at Artemis, lamenting that she would never ever find a husband. Artemis very calmly suggested that Diana visit their father's favorite church, to seek guidance. Diana left the house and did not return. That same night, Selene disappeared. They were both declared dead in a matter of weeks.

For the next two years, Lilith and Artemis were largely supported by family. Like Diana, most of them offered their assistance only resentfully. Lilith's increasingly withdrawn presence and Artemis' erratic behavior made them both family embarrassments. To try and keep the gossip from spreading, the two of them were kept inside at all times. Lilith barely noticed, but Artemis increasingly became restless as her health returned. She began to insist she be allowed to visit St. Joseph's church. Something was calling her there. She just knew it. Her dreams whispered it to her. The family was reluctant to let her out of their sights, but after a lot of pleading and begging and promising, they allowed her to go.

It was 1779 when Artemis returned to Notting Hill and she was twenty years old. St. Joseph's church was much the way she remembered it from her youth and Artemis was disappointed when she first arrived. She roamed the halls, certain that something was waiting for her there, but she found nothing. Finally, she settled down in a pew to pray, wondering if she really was as mad as everyone said. She wasn't there five minutes before a tall, dark-haired man approached her. A handsome Irish gentleman, he asked for her name and when she gave it, a blond woman appeared, holding a lantern. She hurled the lantern at Artemis and just barely missed. It hit a pew which immediately went up in flames as the oil splashed over it.

Other strangers appeared, shouting and arguing, using words that Artemis half understood, as if out of a dream. A fight broke and Artemis was flung through a window. The church was lit on fire and people began rushing out. Among them, much to her shock, was her father, Adam. She watched as Adam fought against the dark-haired man, whose name was Liam, and who spoke disparagingly of a group called the "Children of Eden." Eventually, some of Adam's allies managed to drive Liam and his followers, including the blond woman, Ursela, off.

Artemis was broken and bloody from her fall. Her father found her and fed her some of his blood. Her wounds healed and he carried her away from the church and from Notting Hill. The least surprising thing she learned was that her father was now a vampire, from a mad and prophetic clan, known as the Malkavians. Adam Embraced Artemis that night with the Prince of London's blessing. She did not fully understand what had happened, but Adam impressed upon her the fact that she could either join with him or be killed for seeing all that she'd seen. Artemis was only too happy to be reunited with her father, no matter what. Adam renamed her Artemis Seth.

After Artemis reawoke as a vampire, Adam told her the rest of the story. When he disappeared in 1776, he was abducted by a very old vampire, a Malkavian woman who called herself "the Father." She had reawakened from a long slumber to be disappointed by the state of the world. Madness and megalomania led her to decide that she was God and that it was her duty to recreate paradise on earth, by reuniting the vampire world with the humans. To that end, she set up her own Garden of Eden and chose Adam to be her new Adam. He was ordered a year later to Embrace Selene and Diana, renaming them Selene Caine and Diana Abel. The Father insisted on Artemis' Embrace as well, but Adam stalled for a few years, protesting that she was too young. In truth, he couldn't bear the idea of killing his third child. He had simply been left with no choice.

Afraid of being followed back to the new Garden of Eden that the Father had created, Adam took Artemis to Paris and taught her the Father's vision (or what little he knew of it) to bring together vampires and humans in a new paradise. The Father had great and mysterious plans for Adam and his three girls. Adam was only able to convey the symbolism of it, however. According to the lore of the vampire world, the story of Caine and Abel was true, Abel being the first murder victim, Caine being the first vampire. Their younger brother, Seth, was the progenitor of the entire race of men to date. In the Father's mind, bringing together Selene and Artemis--Caine and Seth--represented the unity of the mortal and immortal worlds. And somehow, all of it would eventually hinge on Diana. Adam knew nothing more.

Artemis, still new to the world of vampires, was intrigued by the notion of recreating paradise. She and Adam traveled across France for years, spreading the gospel of the Children of Eden. Artemis began to sense, however, that her father's heart was not in the cause. He admitted that he missed his life and he missed his family, especially Lilith. The two of them returned to England, but there, they learned that Lilith had died.

As Adam struggled to come to terms with his losses, he and Artemis found themselves under attack. There were many who thought the Children of Eden was a fool's errand and hoped to destroy it by destroying Adam. Among them were Liam and Ursela. The pair tracked down Adam and Artemis, locating their London household. Adam had employed several servants, among them, a Middle Eastern woman called Shauzia Merali. One night, Shauzia was cornered by Liam. He was looking for Adam, but decided to use Shauzia to send a message. Liam violently raped her, but left her alive. Fearful for their lives and the lives of their servants, Artemis and Adam packed up the household and fled to Ireland. There, Shauzia gave birth to a dhampir daughter. Artemis was immediately taken with the mother and child and promised to keep them safe at all costs. In her mind, the little girl was the very symbol of the marriage of vampires and humans. An idea she still wanted to protect.

They weren't in Ireland long before Liam and Ursela caught up with them. They hunted Adam and Artemis down, finally cornering them in the streets one night. A fight broke out. By this point, Artemis had begun learning how to defend herself. Her willowy frame made her a surprisingly versatile combatant, but she wasn't good enough. In the end, Adam was killed. Artemis only barely managed to escape, clinging to her father's old coat. She raced back to their household, packing up Shauzia and the other servants.

They fled again. To the new world, this time. And they settled in California, which was just barely inhabited at the time. There, Artemis tried to start her own branch of the Children of Eden, calling it the Order of the Silver Crescent. She insisted that all of her followers feed primarily off of animals, a prudent decision, seeing as there were more animals than people. In the case of Ventrue who had to feed on humans, she insisted upon a strict rule of no killing. Unfortunately, without Adam's guidance and without the Father's influence, Artemis was uncertain of how to create the perfect Garden of Eden and her Order gradually became something of a police force, fighting against vampires who killed and flouted the Masquerade, the sacred tradition separating worlds. This earning Artemis a large number of enemies.

She earned some unexpected allies too. The dedication that both Adam and Artemis showed for protecting mortals was extremely atypical of vampires. Grateful for the sacrifices they made, Shauzia dedicated her life to serving Artemis and when Shauzia's daughter came of age, she too pledged her eternal loyalty. She took this a step farther, however, purposefully going out into the night and allowing herself to be ravished by a vampire. Soon, she too gave birth to a dhampir daughter. It became a family tradition, bordering on sacred rite. Generation after generation of the Merali family followed Artemis across the west, bearing dhampir children who would take over in service. This had the dual effect of garnering Artemis a considerable amount of protection and a reputation as a harborer dhampir orphans, wayward ghouls, and thin-blooded vampires. Always, it would be a descendent of Shauzia Merali serving as the leader of the mortals within the household.

In 1800, Artemis pinned a target on her back by killing a Lasombra Bishop who attempted to break into her household to kill a vampire she was protecting. Afraid for her safety, the members of the Order of the Silver Crescent insisted that she flee for a time. She returned to London and met the Father for the first time. She was immediately struck by the Father's arrogance, finding more ego than idealism to her. When she told of her accomplishments in California, however, the Father seemed pleased and offered Artemis protection, setting her up as a servant in the household of one of her ghouls, Noah Sheffield.

As it turned out, Artemis was a terrible servant. Noah's estate had a large library and Artemis constantly forgot about what she was supposed to be doing, distracted by all of the books. She managed to save face, largely due to her friendship with another maid in the household, named Jenny. Jenny had absolutely no idea who or what Artemis really was. It was the first real friendship Artemis ever made with a human.

The other human in the household that Artemis grew to care for was her master's youngest son, Japeth. Japeth was a hot-headed young man, the sort who was too intelligent for most of his studies. He was immediately drawn to Artemis, despite knowing from his father, exactly what she was. They spoke frequently and eventually--very much by accident--ended up falling in love. Unfortunately, Artemis realized that she belonged back in California. She didn't like the Father and didn't like what she'd learned about the Father's plans: Namely that the Father intended to thin the blood of her followers and start breeding dhampir to form an army that could march against her vampire enemies in the daylight. Remembering the Merali bloodline and her intentions to protect those who needed protection, Artemis finally decided to leave London.

Japeth wanted to go with her. More than that, he wanted to marry her. Noah was furious. The Father would have none of it. And while Artemis did love Japeth, she decided that he could not be a part of her life and her world. Artemis returned to California. Japeth dutifully married the woman that his father chose for him to marry and he and Artemis never met again.

In 1851, the last person that Artemis expected on her doorstep showed up: Liam. She could tell that he was a changed man. On his knees, he offered himself to Artemis as a servant, explaining that the Father had punished him for crimes against the Children of Eden. Artemis understood immediately that the Father had used dementation on him to rewire his brain. While this resulted in creating a better person, she didn't approve of the method. Feeling pity for Liam, in spite of the fact that he'd killed her father, Artemis took him in. At once, he set about the task of making things right with her. He gifted the Order with an enormous California estate, a compound where both vampires and mortals could live together and protect each other. To add to that, he gave her a far more precious gift: Her family.

Through Liam, Artemis learned that Diana and Selene were alive. Selene had turned into a coldblooded killer, but Diana had become a virtuous champion of right. Liam brought Diana to Artemis. Diana was a changed woman, completely unlike the selfish, spoiled brat that Artemis last remembered. The reunion was happy, the bond between the sisters growing deeper than ever before. Artemis, Liam, and Diana also all came to agree that the Father's plans for a dhampir army to use against her enemies was dangerous and immoral. Since the Order of the Silver Crescent had considerable wealth and many, many members, Artemis agreed to turn her compound into a safe haven for thin-blooded vampires and dhampir.

Liam, Diana, and Artemis worked in tandem to set up an underground railroad across the United States. Artemis' compound would serve as the final destination, a school at which dhampir could learn self defense against the Father or any other vampires who sought to use or destroy them. In 1855, Selene arrived in California and met up with Diana, who kept Artemis and the Order of the Silver Crescent a secret. Selene warned Diana that Milton--her former Brujah lover--had fallen in love with her daughter, Eve, now a ghouled vampire hunter. Afraid of leading trouble to Artemis' doorstep, Diana convinced Selene to join her and Liam as they traveled to set up a Camarilla court in the new town of Los Angeles. Liam established himself as Prince and merely warned Selene to keep her violent activities outside of the city limits. Unfortunately, the real problem was Ursela, who had arrived to reclaim Liam. Seeing that Liam was now in love with Diana, Ursela attempted to kill Diana. Soon after, Diana and Selene left California for the east coast, Selene so she could take part in the slaughter of the Civil War, Diana so that she could start finding dhampir.

By the end of the 1800s, the dhampir railroad was in place and working beautifully. Artemis' compound was filled with followers, both dhampir and vampire. Liam's Camarilla court was thriving. Given the relative success of the Order's efforts, Artemis left responsibilities in the hands of her retainers for a time in the early 1900s and returned to London, hoping to find the Father. Rumors began to swirl that the Garden of Eden had been destroyed by Eve and Milton and a new one was being created. Artemis had no luck locating the new garden, however. Throughout the two world wars, Artemis assisted the Camarilla of London with the Sabbat, as they fought to control the city.

During her sabbatical, Artemis also took to books once more. She set herself up to study everything there was to know about the occult. The world, she learned, was far greater than simply what existed between humans, dhampir, and vampires. She quickly became an expert, gleaning fact from fiction in the very books of mythology her father once read to her. She also gained an appreciation for the Wiccan faith, which was so intimately tied to her studies. She ended up converting, which had a unique effect on her abilities. She found that she could draw upon the power of her faith to, quite literally, repel vampires. Like crosses and garlic repelled them in stories.

Following World War II, Artemis became an official adviser to the Prince of London, Prince William Spence, educating him on life in the Americas. She traveled back and forth between London and California several times throughout the late 1900s. Of note was an incident that sent her home in 1992. The entire vampire population of Oakland, California vanished. Liam went to go investigate and called Artemis and Diana frantic. He explained that based on the reports of a surviving ghoul, the Father had led a dhampir army to Oakland and, bright and early in the dawn, the army had visited every vampire haven, opening up windows and doors to allow the vampires to greet the morning sun. Artemis was appalled at such actions and crushed with the knowledge that despite all her hard work, many dhampir had still managed to fall into the Father's clutches. Still, she was determined to carry on.

By 2004, however, life in London had become utterly unbearable for Artemis. She learned that Prince Spence had grown fascinated with zombies and his use of them didn't sit too well with her. She left permanently, settling back down in California where Liam named her the Malkavian Primogen of his court. Artemis didn't make much of a statesman, but she was better able to run her Order and educate new dhampir back home. The coven had grown quite powerful and many times had lent their abilities to aid Liam as he dealt with running the city. One night, however, one of Liam's enemies found out about the coven. Learning that they were going to cast a spell on Liam's behalf, the enemy attacked, slaughtering many dhampir, including the leader, Parvana Merali. Parvana's daughter, Fatima, survived the attack and was brought home by Liam. Although young and stubborn, Artemis saw incredible potential in Fatima and elevated her to leadership, despite the fact that she was only sixteen years old.

Artemis, Liam, and Fatima took several years to settle into a comfortable arrangement, but Liam loved Fatima like a daughter--and Artemis sometimes suspected that he was, in fact, her father--and soon enough, they'd found a routine. At first a parental figure to Fatima, Artemis eventually became her friend and equal.

When the entire vampire population of Phoenix, Arizona was reported missing in 2008, Artemis and her allies immediately suspected the Father's hand and decided to investigate. Liam, Fatima, and Artemis chose to send Diana and Selene to the scene. Although they knew Selene was just itching for a fight with the Father, they also reasoned that going to Phoenix might benefit the railroad. Surely, many misfits in vampiric society would make their way to fill in the power vacuum, after all. And among them, they might find people they could help.

Phoenix turned out to be a huge disaster. Working with magic beyond their comprehension, several vampires investigating the disappearances managed to create a Wyrm, which destroyed all technology in the surrounding area. Artemis ordered Diana and Selene to leave. Selene escaped to Mexico. Still close enough to suffer the effects of this magic, Diana's van broke down. She got out to walk to the nearest gas station and was immediately attacked by a handful of the Father's fringe followers. Their leader, baptized as Solomon by the Father, had Sabbat leanings which he impressed upon the entire group. Among them, they practiced feeding off of vampires. He convinced the others that the best way to protect Diana, the vampire messiah according to the Father's gospel, was to keep tabs on her at all time. Diana was therefore strung up in their safe haven and a nightly ritual of feeding was established, each of Solomon's followers becoming blood bound to Diana while she continued to suffer an unending amount of aggravated damage from their teeth.

As Liam and Artemis began to realize that Diana was missing, Artemis happened to run into a Ventrue named Joseph. Joseph was Liam's childe. More importantly, he had once been engaged to marry Diana. Liam, in his wicked days, had Embraced Joseph on their wedding night, as a way to torment Diana. When Joseph learned who Artemis was and that Diana was missing, he immediately insisted on joining Artemis and Liam in their attempt to find and rescue her. This caused a lot of tension in the Order, especially given the fact that Liam had fallen desperately in love with Diana, though she had never once requited his feelings. Nevertheless, the three of them finally managed to track Diana down to Solomon's stronghold. Liam ripped Solomon's heart out with his bare hands and carried Diana off, Artemis and Joseph trailing after him. They all reunited back in California.

There was no respite for them there. Diana's spirit was broken and Joseph's less-than-wholesome past was following him. Determined to kill two birds with one stone, Artemis inducted Joseph into the Order an sent him on a field mission with Diana. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of her troubles...