Vashti Shir-Del

Advantages:
Discordant Perfection-an obsession with asymmetry and imbalance has caused Vashti to delight in areas just a bit off. +1 to Charisma and Presentation
Starving Artist-Having grown used to long stretches of time barely able to afford food, Vashti is no stranger to going hungry. In unlife, she is able to go just a little bit longer than most of her fellows without feeding, however, the longer she pushes her luck, the more prone to frenzy she will become.
Burst of Creativity-when inspired, Vashti gets +2 to stamina.
Disadvantages:
Shattered Mirror-All Toreadors have obsessions, Vashti’s is an obsession with asymmetry. If something is symmetrical, it must be “fixed” to fit what it should be. Vashti must roll to avoid her tick becoming evident or even violent when faced with something or someone who’s a little too symmetrical for her liking.
Hell is Others-Unlike many in her clan, Vashti finds the company of others draining and will find herself growing rather irritable should an event get too social for her liking. -1 to Charisma and Stamina when around large groups.
Familiar Face-The problem with being an immortal artist is making sure you avoid detection of your unnaturally long life even as you keep creating. As such, Vashti must make an effort to either make her work difficult to date or play around with the signature. Even so, by remaining active, she yet runs the risk of being found out.

History:
Born in the midst of a bustling city in Iran in 1420, Vashti was the lone daughter in a family of sons, yet it was rather clear from an early age that she was not to be underestimated nor ignored in the face of her brothers. Cool-headed yet outspoken, and in possession of a natural beauty, young Vashti often found herself a neck that turned the head, even if her brothers often complained that she was bossy. One of Vashti’s fascinations in life was always watching the artists painting the local mosques and fashioning sculptures. Often when her father went to make his deliveries of paints, Vashti would bat her pretty eyes and try to persuade him to let her come along so she could observe the painters and sculptors at work. Back at home, she would mimic what she saw, trying to craft her own image with their techniques. It was not long before her parents discovered what she was getting up to in her spare time, given all the paint stains and missing tools.

Perhaps blessed with permissive parents who adored her, Vashti was allowed to study under some artist friends of the family. She took to both painting and sculpture like a fish to water, soaking up every technique, every method, every tip on how to craft a perfect detail like a sponge. In time, she surpassed even her mentors with her skill, possessing a discerning eye for small details to create a grander whole. Her father began to joke that her artwork was as lovely as his daughter, who had grown into that highly coveted prize known as beauty. Yet despite a budding career of her own and multiple marriage offers, Vashti was not satisfied. There was so much more to learn, new places that she had only ever heard of in books and tales now accessible. So she made the decision to pack up and leave all that she knew behind to try and make a name for herself in Europe.

Vashti’s path eventually led her to the heart of Italy, and the very first inklings that marked the birth of the Renaissance. Yet, life in Europe was not as glamorous as she had once hoped. Unlike her home, Italy was not nearly so welcoming to a female artist, less so who was so starkly foreign. She was told to consider becoming a model as opposed to an artist, that her “exotic” features would grant her success. Nevertheless, she persisted, though not without first assimilating to the culture in which she now lived. When in Rome, is that not how the saying goes? She put away her hijab and donned the clothes of Italian women, and then she went out and brazenly challenged her male fellows with a tenacity. For better or worse, she had commanded the art community’s attention, and unfortunately for her rivals, her talent could not be denied.
Still, she faced massive competition in acquiring patrons, and so often found she was not in a position to turn down commissions. Until finally, she was visited by a stranger in the night who offered to become her patron. She accepted, and soon she was showered in all the tools and resources she could have ever needed, as well as lavish gifts. All Vashti had to do was keep him company every once in awhile, though her enigmatic benefactor never touched a drop of drink or scrap of food when offered. Or rather, she did until he decided their arrangement was not enough. Shortly after her thirty-fifth birthday, he called for her and when she met with him, she was embraced. Now to spend the rest of eternity amongst clan Toreador.

Since that fateful night, Vashti has disentangled herself from her sire and struck out on her own, still continuing her art career, though these nights with far more discretion. That an art historian occasionally finds a “lost” Shir-Del is neither here nor there. A rather non-traditional Toreador, Vashti prefers her own introverted company, holed up in her studio and working on her art. As far as politics go, unlike her sire, Vashti has chosen to lean Anarch, and genuinely seems to hold the faction’s values of freedom and doing as one pleases. Though if one is to go visiting this particular Kindred, it is recommended one makes an appointment, lest she forget to hide her tools and injure someone who was a little too symmetrical for her artistic sensibilities.

Scent: Bastet Perfume Oil