Archived-Clairesse Marguerite

Title

Mademoiselle Clairesse Marguerite de Lamont

Personal Information

Clairesse was born in the medieval village of Chateauneuf en Auxois in Burgundy, France, in 1984. From a very young age she showed an intense interest in clothing and fashion, which blossomed when the family moved to the Eighth Arrondissment of Paris, home to the world-famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées, when she was seven years old.

This fascination has remained with her all her life and she now runs a fashion design and tailoring business which operates in the Adelaide CBD, having spent most of her life studying and working towards this goal and seemingly having a natural flair for both the creative and administrative sides of running such a business. Trying to break into what is essentially a cutthroat industry has also given her a sense of ruthlessness which many do not expect such a young woman to have. Even after her Embrace, she has been determined to keep this dream alive.

Appearance

Clairesse has a very petite figure; she is only 5'1" and is very slim, with a slightly olive complexion. Being an enthusiastic fashionista as well as a budding designer, she almost always is wearing outfits that she herself has designed and made.

Personality

Clairesse has a tendency to appear somewhat shy and reserved at first, but within her lies a fierce nature and temper. Raised in a conservative family from a village steeped in tradition, she considers the values of family, honour and hard work to be the most valuable assets a person can have. Having said that, she has a slightly warped view of 'family values', and could be described reasonably accurately as a "Daddy's girl with delusions of grandeur". In public, she shows unfailing loyalty to her vampiric lineage and frequently defers to her Sire for advice, though is careful to make it look as though this is merely a Prince seeking counsel from her Primogen. In regards to the rest of her family however, though she maintains a relationship with her siblings which is cordial and polite on the surface, privately she is exceedingly jealous of her oldest siblings and frequently shows disdain for those closer to her in age. This has led to her attempting to actively compete with the achievements of her older siblings and paying little if any heed to the fact that they've had decades, even centuries, to reach those achievements. She is practically obsessed with earning the approval of her Sire, having noticed that his treatment of her is particularly favourable when he is pleased with her.

However, in the weeks leading up to the end of August, there was a noticeable change in Clairesse's attitude. Ill-disguised resentment and frustration replaced her previous apparent adoration and emulation of her Sire.

She can also be a bit eccentric and, once she comes out of her shell, is a social butterfly, navigating anything from low-key barbecues to High Society dinners with ease. She does however have a sometimes irritating tendency to interrogate fellow guests about their attire and shamelessly uses it as an opportunity to promote her own business.

Mortal World

Prior to moving back to Paris, Clairesse ran a dressmaking shop called "Mademoiselle Clairesse", which showcased many of her designs. When she was required to leave Adelaide this shop was passed on to her assistant to run. Clairesse is very tight-lipped about her activities in France but claims that business is doing well and also that she counts the Prince of Paris amongst her regular clients

Information Known by Kindred Society

Timeline

• 1984 - Born Clairesse Margeurite de Lamont in Chateuneuf en Auxois in Burgundy, France
• 1991 - Moved with her parents to the Eighth Arrondissment (Quarter/District), Paris. Enrolled in school in the Latin Quarter where her best subjects are French, English, Mathematics and Art
• 1999 - Emigrated to Australia with her parents and settled in the suburb of Salisbury, in Adelaide's Northern Suburbs
• 2001 - Completed her SACE and Certificate II Fashion and Design via a school-based Traineeship
• 2002 - Changes her name via Deed Poll, listing Marguerite as her surname. Moves out of home and becomes estranged from her parents. Enrols in Advanced Diploma of Business Management at TAFE. Begins to work for numerous dressmakers and tailors on a part-time basis.
• 2004 - Successfully completes her Diploma and enrols in Certificate IV in Hair and Beauty.
• 2005 - Successfully completes Certificate IV in Hair and Beauty, and enrols in concurrent program's in Certificate III and IV in Fashion and Design.
• 2007 - Successfully completes Certificate IV in Fashion and Design.
• 2008 - Travels to France for a year, visiting friends in Paris and relatives in Burgundy.
• 2009 - Returns to Adelaide and finds part-time work at a dressmaker's shop, mostly cutting fabrics and assisting with fittings. Begins the process of setting up her own business.
• 2010 - Secures a lease on a dilapidated shopfront in an alley in the Adelaide CBD and painstakingly redecorated it. Registers the business name "Mademoiselle Clairesse".
• 2011 - Employs Sasha as a shop assistant.
• 2012 - Travels to Paris to study for a year at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, leaving Sasha to run the business in her absence.

2013

• JAN - Returns from Paris to find her shop on the verge of Receivership.
• FEB - Suspends Sasha without pay and orders her to undertake business training.
• MAR - Begins negotiations with creditors and suppliers. Agrees to take Sasha back.
• APR - Applications for extensions on debts accumulated by the business are granted.
• MAY- Details
• JUN - Details
• JUL - Debts are paid off. Business starts to thrive again. Clairesse buys a house in the emerging St Clair development in Adelaide's Western Suburbs
• AUG - Begins wearing clothes of her own design.
• SEP - Meets Lorenzo Penthriève briefly at a party. "Mademoiselle Clairesse" features in local fashion magazines.
• OCT - Starts taking fabrics and other supplies home from the shop, editing the accounts to make it look like they were never even delivered and even going so far as to chase up suppliers to request credit be given.
• NOV - Begins offering bribes to delivery drivers to give her extra fabrics, strictly off the record.
• DEC - Details

2014

• JAN - Details
• FEB - Clairesse's designs are displayed at catwalk shows for the first time.
• MAR - Confronted by Lorenzo regarding her illegal business activities.
• APR - Is Embraced for criminal embezzlement.
• MAY - Begins learning the ways of the Kindred, under Lorenzo's strict supervision
• JUN - Sets up arrangements for Sasha to run the business during the day, with Clairesse still filling orders and taking care of administration (ie stock counts and orders, and general business paperwork) at night.
• JUL - Details
• AUG - Details
• SEP - Details
• OCT - First appearance at Court. Suggests to some of the Kindred that they visit her shop.
• NOV - Hosts her first gathering of the Adelaide Kindred, at an exhibition of her latest collection.
• DEC - Is released and subsequently appointed Harpy by new Prince Markus Whitlam

2015

• JAN - Expresses her wish to join the Invictus. Attempts to investigate the disappearance of Prince Markus Whitlam
• FEB - Tries (and fails) to take Praxis. Agrees to act as Seneschal for Prince Anton Wolff on the condition that he agrees before the Court that he will step down immediately once her membership of Invictus is confirmed.
• MAR - Receives private tutelage from Henry Tipara, who is visiting Adelaide at Lorenzo's request to assist with difficulties involving the Society of the Accord. Most of this tutelage is in preparation for her to petition to join the Invictus.
• APR - Is accepted into the Invictus. Derrick Cole is appointed her Mentor.
• MAY - Successfully takes Praxis in Adelaide. Calls a Bloodhunt on known members of the Society of the Accord, and also on Anton Wolff after he escapes execution for threatening to breach the Masquerade.
• JUN - Accepts an invitation to attend a religious 'festival' at the temple of the Circle of the Crone. Watches on in horror as her newly appointed Seneschal, Desmond Kale, is torpored and buried as part of a Crone ceremony. Nonetheless, when Lorenzo admonishes her for attending such an event she defends her decision to do so, explaining that it would send the wrong message to the Court if she had refused the invitation. Officially opens the city's new Elysium.
• JUL - DETAILS
• AUG - Steps down from Praxis after being sent to Europe to assist her Great-grandsire. However, not before Embracing a would-be thief and placing him in Torpor.

2016

• JAN - Returns to Adelaide unannounced on the night Praxis is surrendered to Lorenzo. Her old resentments bubble to the surface especially after discovering that not only is her young Childe awakened from Torpor but is being permitted to attend Court with no education whatsoever. She confronts Lorenzo and demands to know how he can permit this with his own grandchilde but is rebuffed.
• FEB - After questioning a number of Kindred, Clairesse comes to the conclusion that Bruce was possibly awakened from Torpor deliberately. Alarmed, she begins to investigate further and notices odd behaviour from her former Mentor Derrick Cole, as well as holes in the story given by Lorenzo. After confronting Derrick in an aggressive argument, Clairesse is questioned by Lorenzo during an Invictus meeting and is forced to admit she lied about completing her manumission. Lorenzo calls for her to be expelled from the Invictus.

Quotes

Quotes By

"All you need to know is that the Second Tradition was upheld, your Grace" - Clairesse's icy response when questioned about her Childe by Lorenzo Penthièvre

"Your Grandsire is the Duke of this city and there are guests, relatives of mine and yours, who are Princes of their respective Domains and THIS is how you see fit to dress for Court?" - admonishing her Childe, known only as Bruce, for inappropriate attire.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find my Sire" - A clearly upset Clairesse storming out on a private conversation with Derrick Cole.

"A Prince needs to be able to make difficult decisions. I run a very successful business. You don't get to where I am without knowing how to make difficult decisions" - On why Clairesse thought she would make a good candidate for Prince.

"You dare attempt to drive other Kindred to Frenzy, when you are a guest in my own home?" A furious Clairesse confronts former Prince Anton Wolff after she is alerted to his trying to cause others to Frenzy during a Court gathering at her St Clair home.

"Forgive me, I hope I am not being impertinent, but may I ask who makes your clothes?" to various Kindred during Clairesse's first attendance at Court.

Quotes About

"I don't know much about her yet, but at least this one seems to know how to act like a Prince. That's probably the best we can hope for right now." - Desmond Kale, upon Clairesse's appointment as Prince of Adelaide.

"When your first time meeting someone is them telling you you cannot live where you live it tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth" - Mikhail Torre

Conversations

"Quote" - reference

Rumours

• That the Prince of Paris was so impressed by her tailoring skills that he now commissions all of his outfits from her

• She claims she returned to Adelaide to check on her Childe, but really? Who would travel halfway across the world to visit someone who nobody knew existed and as far as she was aware was probably still in Torpor? Perhaps there is more to the story than she is letting on...

Inspirations and Soundtrack

• Jean de Florette
• Manon des Sources
• Sedutto e Abbondata
• Downton Abbey
• Ballet Shoes
• Marie Antoinette

Boons

• Trivial boon owed by Clairesse Marguerite to Roxanne Eupraxus Lorainne for a small favour, February 2015
• Minor boon owed by Clairesse Marguerite to Derrick Cole for his support in her attempt to take Praxis, February 2015
• Minor boon owed by Clairesse Marguerite to Henry Tipara for education and guidance, March 2015
• Trivial boon owed by Andrew Blackthorne to Clairesse Marguerite for advice given, May 2015
• Trivial boon owed by Andrew Blackthorne to Clairesse Marguerite as an apology, May 2015
• Trivial boon owed by Clairesse Marguerite to Kostya for services rendered, May 2015
• Trivial boon owed by Clairesse Marguerite to Thrace for delivering a message to the Calipha of Sydney on her behalf, May 2015
• Trivial boon owed by Desmond Kale to Clairesse Marguerite as an apology for being unavailable to do his duties as Seneschal for a month, July 2015 (paid August 2015)
• Major boon paid by Character to Character for details (date).

OOC Information

Member Information
Player:	[mailto: Eva Cavallaro]
Number:	2012060018
Domain:	Adelaide