Vicomte Eduard Mourin de Saint-Simeon

• Eduard
• The Vicomte
• Saint-Simeon

Background

The Vicomte Eduard Mourin de Saint-Simeon was in great demand in pre-Revolution Paris. From one of the lesser French noble families, his charm, wit and talent had carried him high in society. As well as a great swordsman, dancer and lover, he was one of the most talented artists of his time. However, St-Simeon much preferred the ballrooms and boudoirs of Paris to the hard work of painting. He would paint portraits of his friend and lovers and many of the most beautiful women in Paris owned portraits of themselves he had painted, usually kept locked away. Other than that, he agreed with his acquaintences and despised artists in general as lower-class artisans.

One night, dancing at a Royal Ball, he met the Marquise Marie d'Anseny. He was enraptured by her pale silken skin and shining hair. At once, he demanded that she accompany him to his room to paint her. Amused by the forwardness of the young mortal, Marie agreed. However, once the painting had been finished, she was much more than amused. The next night he spent with her was his last as a mortal.

The Marquise believed she had chosen her new companion well. At first St-Simeon revelled in his new form. His powers of entrancement, already great as a mortal, had increased immeasurably and he could have any woman he wanted in Paris. He delighted in creating scandles, returning to entertain Marie with tales of each new conquest. Amongst the jaded Elders of Paris, his fledgling inventiveness and enthusiasm made him a great favourite. He and Marie shared Blood together and made believe that they were truly in love.

As the novelty of the world of the Kindred wore off, St-Simeon began to feel a strange emptiness. Excusing himself from his Sire, he went to the quiet of a country house belonging to his family and tried to paint again. He found that despite his new vision, his abiltiy to capture the life and atmosphere of a scene seemed to have vanished. Every canvas he made looked lifeless and contrived. After several frustrating weeks, he abandoned his efforts and returned to Paris.

St-Simeon had not realised how much he had valued his talent until he lost it. The paintings he had made for his friends seemed to be everywhere around Paris, mocking him. In one angry night, he travelled across Paris and destroyed all the canvases he could find. He demanded that Marie give him the portrait he had made of her but she refused. Although he could not hate his Sire, he deeply regretted his Embrace and vowed he would never himself take the life of an artist.

Some of the greatest of France's Kindred perished in the fury of the Revolution but Marie and St-Simeon escaped the conflagration at the last moment. They travelled around Europe for years but could not settle. There were many Kindred fleeing France and everywhere the Toreador of the greatest cities guarded their Status and Elysuim against the newcomers. Although St-Simeon cared unusually little for such things, Marie would not settle for a new place at the bottom of the hierarchy. They eventually settled in the growing fief of York. Marie saw the potential of the fief for expansion and planned to make herself the center of the Toreador society which would grow with it.

Then, one night he and Marie visited the house of one of her mortal acquaintances. There, St-Simeon saw a painting which entranced him utterly. Although clearly the work of a young and untutored artist, he could sense a surpassing skill in the painting. The canvas reminded him vividly of the lost talent of his youth. Surprised by the urgency of his enquirey, his hostess told him it was the work of Anne Cartwright, the child of a family friend

St-Simeon could barely restrain himself from rushing to find her at once. It was only the memory of the destruction of his own talent by the Embrace which stopped him. Determined to move with the utmost caution, St-Simeon promised himself that he would not intervene personally in her life, that her mortal genius would never be polluted by contact with the Kindred. He would provide only the opportunity for her pure and innocent talent to blossom to it's utmost.

Everything was arranged for Anne. Money was provided for her to study with the best teachers. When it became clear her family expected her to marry, St-Simeon provided her with a husband in the person of one of his most trusted retainers, Neville Harnsworth. Marie was at first amused, then secretly irritated by his obsession, but she did not interfere. Anne's paintings, exhibited under her husband's name, became famous in the art world.

In her early forties, Anne became ill with tuberculosis. St-Simeon was frantic with worry. He paid for the best doctors, stays in spas and journeys to the Mediterranean for the winter months. However, by 1820, it was clear that nothing more could be done. Breaking his promise to himself, St-Simeon petitioned de Lascy for permission to Embrace Anne.

After the Embrace, St-Simeon's fears that he had destroyed Anne's talent seemed justified and he became increasingly distant from her. Although he still loved her he found her presence reminded him too painfully of his own Embrace. After she rediscovered her love for art through the modern mediums of the 20th century, her newfound enthusiams and creativity reminded him even more of his loss and he began to actively shun her. This culminated in his attempt to kill Neville Harnsworth (see Anne Cartwright), after which they were permenantly estranged.

Although Eduard returned to live with his Sire, he found that the memory of his mortal days was becoming a constant torment. He often thought of going to Anne and asking for her forgiveness. However, he found the idea of her pity even worse than her hatred. Hiding the extent of his loneliness and despair from both Anne and his Sire, St-Simeon left the fief to travel around Europe, hoping that if he stayed away from the reminders of his loss, he might be able to forget again.

For a while, he believed he had succeeded. Then, one evening in Florence he attended a concert where he heard a recital by a boy sophrano. Eduard had fed well on a very drunk tourist before attending the concert and he was enraptured by the delicate figure on the stage. Wandering out onto the steet after the concert, St-Simeon felt he could see the child's life layed out before him. He knew that most boy sophranos lose their magic when their voices break and he could not bear the idea of the child losing his talent, as Eduard had lost his. Drunk on the music and the beauty of the city as well as the wine-rich blood, St-Simeon decided that he alone could protect this beautiful child from the losses and disappointments of life.

Eduard returned to York with his new Childe. Marie was first alarmed, then amused by his choice. She understood him better than he would have liked to admit and she had recognised the growing despair in him which she had witnessed in many Kindred before. However, with his new Childe as a constant companion, Eduard seems to have returned to his old self.

Clan

Image

In conversation, St-Simeon will assume whatever pose takes his fancy. Most people in the fief are wary enough of his bloodhound insticts for gossip to watch what they say, however bored he seems. However, amongst mortals and those Kindred visiting the fief, St-Simeon loves to play the part of the brainless fop until he has wheedled out all he wants to know.

Influence

Secrets

Habitat

Ultimate Goal

Eduard pretends that he wants only to become the undisputed king of the Toreador social scene (with Marie as the queen, needless to say).

Immediate Goal

Resources