Eleni Firenze

CHARACTER
Full name: Eleni Firenze
Age/DOB: Changed when she was 21 during the year 1581 in Paris, France. During the current day she is over 400 years old.
Race: Vampire
Occupation: History, technology, performing arts and dance enthusiast.
Birthplace: 1560- Florence, Italy.

Personality: Determined when she wants to be; Eleni can come across as obsessive of what she sets her mind to and is outspoken, but only when it’s necessary. She would take a position as an observer from the sidelines rather than be at the front of the crowd. Over so many years she has developed a sweetness to care for those she deems important and a fierce loyalty for them as well. This allows others to become comfortable around her relatively with ease. She sometimes seems emotionally off limits because she sinks into her observant moments where she closes herself off to others. Relatively being in control of her emotions Eleni is only completely open to others when surrounded by things she adores: theatre, dance, acting, musical films (MGM and the new age show-films), and learning about the continuously changing lives of mortals.

At 5’6” Eleni is relatively thin but has noticeable breasts and prominent hips. Her hair is long, thick, and wavy. While being a mortal her hair appeared to be brown in the light of the sun but now resigned to nighttime life it looks black. Her eyes are equally dark and very intense. As a mortal her skin was tan and while the immortal blood has caused her to pale dramatically she still has a tint to her skin that only deepens when she feeds. She tends to wear black clothing due to the many years of being in the Paris coven and theatre but depending on her mood will wear a color that emphasizes the light tint in her skin (pale colors). When looking for comfortable clothing she enjoys skirts, choosing the lengthy peasant skirts that are popular in this day with flats. At times she will happily dress up in modern day fashions- including styling her hair for a night, making it straight or giving herself bangs. Generally she wears her hair loose however will put it into a modern up do if she so feels inclined.

Biography: Leonardo Firenze created a strong respect for the Firenze name through bribes, blackmail, and fierceness previously unknown to the family. At 23, when Catherine de’ Medici, daughter of the ever powerful Medici family, was married into the French court, Leonardo saw an opportunity to further push his family into power. However, it was a slow and calculated process and did not make much progress until his son Gino had a daughter, Eleni.

Eleni was immediately immersed into a life of greed, determination, and high-class luxury. A happy and loving child who could spend hours in sunlit gardens playing by herself it took the Fierenze men some time to get Eleni to focus on what was important- the movement of their family into a more powerful position. She received the proper education for a young Lady and excelled in all subjects. Singing, drawing, becoming fluent in French, Latin, and Greek came easily to the girl. However her passion was for dances of the Italian court. Gino and the elderly Leonardo were pleased by this- knowing that the Queen of France missed the Italian balli of her youth. When word spread that the Queen was looking for a new Lady-in-Waiting the Firenze men quickly sent Eleni on her way in hopes of ensuring future fame and money for the sake of the family.

Catherine easily grew to adore Eleni and appreciated her abilities after discovering the girl was not only from her homeland but a lover of balli as well. She was intelligent and better yet- very knowledgeable of the Italianati court dances, masquerades, and happily provided ideas for costumes so that the court members could be dressed en travesti. With Eleni’s status secured, and the Firenze men content, Eleni entered the world of the court. She was favored by the Queen and happy to partake in many of the ballis and ballettis. At times she would even instruct other members of how to do the graceful social dances of her homeland. This gave Eleni a popularity that allowed her to discover the secrets of other court members. Through sex she would find out the secrets of the men and with her quiet observances, which caused the ladies to feel she was no threat. She would listen to the gossip of the ladies and store it all away. Through this she would filter the information as needed to those who had the capability of causing the most damage to her enemies. With little care, Eleni would watch these foes falter and fail; and there were many rivals of which to speak: those who were smart enough to see through Eleni’s seemingly sweet nature as the power hungry woman she was and the others who were simply standing in her way.

Initially it was Eleni’s ruthless pursuit for power that caught the attention of the Paris Coven. They appreciated her determination and enjoyed the cockiness she displayed during the highlight of her career as a Lady-in-Waiting. In 1581, the year that Eleni were to die, she partook in the Ballet Comique de la Reine. The King’s closest confidant, Jules, approached Eleni with kind words but she refused him in front of the other members of the court. Drunk off pride and wine Eleni was harsh with her reply and not only made the ever-observant coven more interested in her but also Jules’ newfound prey. The man was just as determined as Eleni however his determination was not for the power of the court but the power over another human being. He raped many of the courts women, fathered many bastards, and more than once a lady had been found bloody and dead.

After weeks of taunting her and failed attempts at capturing her attention Jules discovered her in an empty hall and attacked her with full attention of controlling and raping her. Typically the women he hunted would scream, cry, bite, and fight with their hands and feet. Eleni fought with a dagger. Eleni stabbed him in his side then slit his throat. She left his body in the hall and felt no remorse. Unbeknownst to her, the fallen blood by her hand had sealed her fate. Shortly after Eleni was kidnapped from the castle and forced to become a vampire of the Paris Coven.

The coven had been recently established and Eleni, confused and lost without a purpose and distraught that she had failed her family, at first readily obeyed all orders given to her. She longed for the brightness of the sun and the glamour of performance and yet felt she had no way of escaping the dark life she was thrown into. After half of a century Eleni’s fierceness had all but disappeared and been replaced by a seemingly permanent melancholy. All that had been important to her had been taken away and all that was left was haunting the nighttime streets of Paris. Her personality only sparked when new vampires were brought into the coven. Instructing these mere children to ease the confusion of such a transformation Eleni became the outspoken voice of the weaker ones. Through her attendance of them she began to rebuild her mental state and her vampiric powers.

When Lestat and Gabrielle appeared in the Parisian streets, which the coven had claimed as their territory, it caused chaos. Armand threw many of the coven’s vampires into the flames. But with Eleni, due to her age and strength survived along with three other coven members. Displaced as they were the four wandered the streets until they came upon Lestat. The others feared this strange vampire and yet Eleni stepped forward. Her hope was that this modern day vampire would also hold modern day forgiveness and understanding for all that the coven had done to him and his beloved Gabrielle and Nicolas. She hoped that he would not be so vile and interested in revenge as the vampires she had been surrounded by and if he was interested in revenge then so be it. But he welcomed Eleni and the others to all their surprise.

When Lestat gave over the financial control of the theatre to Eleni she felt more alive then she had since her mortal death. Her small group was still cautious of Armand but Eleni refused to show fear. 200 years and her strong personality was returning. However vampirism did take away the angry edge she had as a mortal and brought forth the kinder side of Eleni that had not been seen since she was a child. With the addition of Nicolas to their little group they created an odd family. Amongst calming Armand’s temper, logging all information of the theatre, and trying to help control Nicolas she felt that she had regained a purpose. But it was the allowance to dance on the stage of the theatre that brought her the first feelings of happiness she had felt since entering this dark world.

The happiness lasted for only a few years. Nicolas became more unruly, Armand more stressed, and finally the damn broke. The theatre members adored Nicolas despite his erratic ways. They loved his creative plays and adored his music but he became a danger to them all. Armand lost his temper and tried to control Nicolas but it appeared to have an adverse affect. Shortly after Nicki condemned himself to the flames and Eleni was left with Nicki’s most beloved possession, his violin, which she sent to Lestat. The strange little theatre family she had grown to adore was broken and shortly after she left the group.

She traveled the world; traipsing through lands she had heard of as a mortal girl only to discover that what had been shinning new in her youth was now destroyed with age. But the arts… they captured Eleni’s attention and she enjoyed it solitarily. She dared to go into the east to see what dances those cultures had but was frightened away by the vampire gods that resided there. She was lucky to have gotten away alive. But generally, dances of different lands stirred Eleni’s soul and more than once she considered returning to the theatre so that she could perform on the stage once again. After a few years she did return to Paris and slipped into the theatre to watch a show. With pain in her heart she saw that some of Nicolas’ plays were still performed but other than that the theatre was unrecognizable to her. She did not know any of the vampires, aside from Armand who she sensed was nearby, and the shabby theatre had been turned into a high-class exhibit. But without the vampires she had known, without Nicolas’ violin playing into the night, it simply was not the same.

Eleni continued her travels until the 1970’s. Tired of the world she considered ending her life by fire or sun. Death by the power of fire reminded her of Nicolas and tugged at her heart. But to have the sun on her skin again, something she had always enjoyed as a mortal, would nearly be a dream come true- the perfect way to leave this world, but she told herself she was too afraid of what true death held to go on with it. Secretly she felt she was simply too old for the sun or fire to do much damage. So she crawled into the earth and allowed herself to sleep. Her mind went blank other than dreams of her mortal childhood and the crackling dreams of the red headed twins. There was no conscious knowledge of Lestat’s explosion into the music industry, nor that Akasha had destroyed so many vampires; simply the sleep of the living dead with the occasional entertainment of her dreams.

Finally, Eleni emerged from the ground feeling refreshed and more interested with the world around her only to discover that the world had yet again changed completely. Entirely new technology and fads but so much history had already occurred in the short 30 years she had slept. Wars had begun and ended, the Berlin wall had been destroyed, the towers in New York that Eleni had marveled had fallen and the city of New Orleans, like many others, had been destroyed by some of the most violent of storms. But what was most unnerving was that she felt silence about her. The constant humming of other vampires in the world was suddenly gone.

Sorting out her priorities Eleni devoured as much information about the modern day and began to move amongst mortals again. But it was not enough. She was craving companionship that mere mortals could not offer- unless she made a fledgling. She wanted to be near someone, to confide in them and experience the endless nights with them. Maybe not just one person, although it was what she would prefer, maybe more.

After devouring the books that exposed all the vampires secrets to the world Eleni felt she knew what she had to do. She read that New Orleans was rebuilding and hoped that maybe groups of vampires would return to the city that seemed to interest them so. Unsure of what she would find Eleni used her cloud gift to bring her to the American shores.

Abilities/Powers: During her time as a dancer in the Theatre des Vampires Eleni emphasized her abilities to move with the silent grace of a dancer. Typically she moves silently and startles those around her (immortal and mortal both) without intending to. She also excels at reading the emotions/body language of those around her whether they are mortal or vampire. Before her brief stint of immortal sleep Eleni discovered her ability to take to the air and also move objects with her mind. She enjoys the power of flight, finding it similar to dancing.

EXAMPLES
First person: I returned to Florence today. For most of my mortal life I avoided the city because I was afraid of the memories it would bring me. Now I wish I had frequented it on occasion. The city lines were once so small but have now reached out into the hills of Tuscany. The land is barely recognizable. And the very energy of this place I once called home is completely different. For hours I wandered the city streets, looking at the beautiful buildings that surrounded me, but I could not pinpoint where my childhood home stood. It is that changed. Maybe if I had visited through out my 400 years the different shape of the city would not be so much of a surprise. Alas, I waited the length of my immortal life before taking this pilgrimage.

My hope was that seeing my birthplace would inspire me and bring back to life the passion I once felt for the world, however, it has only left me craving the mortality that has been lost. The Fiorentini wander the streets in beautiful clothing and sun-kissed skin that creates such an envy in me that I find it hard to think. I crave for that darkened skin so intensely that I accidentally feed too much on a mortal. I drink the mortal dry, even though I have no need, and leave the dead body in a darkened ditch. But the trick to gaining back some of my former skin coloring must be this- to drink a lot of blood. At least then the flush leaves me looking more vibrant, more Italian, more like my former self.

But finding where I came from? Returning to my past? It’s impossible. Not in this city. This city is not the Florence I knew. The Medici family is all but forgotten aside from a few statues and my family is long gone. We never achieved the fame my grandfather desired. I might be able temporarily to obtain a visual of my mortal skin tone, but I realize now, truly realize, that the mortal Eleni is dead.

Third person: After pulling her starving body from the ground Eleni realized she had a few tasks at hand. Not only did she need to relearn how to exist amongst mortals again but she also needed a place to call her own. During her existence she had acquired a lovely sum of money and used some of it now to purchase a small cottage in the county of Clare in Ireland. The cottage overlooked the ocean and was far away from any neighbors or towns. It was here that Eleni read the books written by Lestat and the other vampires she did not know aside from Armand. So they both still lived, so did Gabrielle. Eleni spent money on electronics as well, filling a room with the objects that were popular. Little music players that were fantastic; attaching to clothing easily so that she could dance about, rather than playing a loud stereo system in the otherwise empty house. She did not need to have cassettes anymore; in fact, they were outdated as were the objects that replaced them. Everything had become digital. And computers were insanely interesting. Eleni did not bother with buying history books but took to the ‘internet’ to read everything that had happened since she had gone to sleep. She spent multiple nights simply staring at the bright screen learning as much as she could. To think that all the newspaper articles were available with a simple brush of keystrokes. Amazing.

Then she made the decision to actually go out in public. She felt knowledgeable enough about mortals but this would be the ultimate test. In the evening after she woke Eleni carefully put on a black dress. The dress was smooth to touch and hugged her body, displaying her tiny waist and round bottom, and the incredibly high heels she had ordered made her legs look longer than they were. She had ordered this outfit through the internet; another marvel, and even better the clothing had been delivered to her door. Taking to the sky, enjoying the brush of cold air on her skin, she used her gift of flight to bring her to London. The West End had elaborate displays of theater and she would begin her return to the mortal world with what made her the most comfortable- performing arts.

There was a special performance of some show that developed during her sleep. Something called Billy Elliot that involved dance on some level. Landing on a nearby roof and darting through the shadows until she was on the ground Eleni stepped out onto the busy London sidewalk and stared breathlessly at the famed theatre district. She was so enraptured by the sight that she did not sense the rushing mortal who bumped into her. He jumped back, muttering an apology; Eleni simply stared until realizing that she had to speak. “It’s nothing, I was in your way,” her voice was soft but loud enough for the mortal to here. He glanced back at her, a brief smile, and then he paused. He was absolutely lovely.

“Are you lost?” His voice was thick with a Brummie accent. Eleni was silent for a moment, looking at his face and reading his emotions easily. The beautiful woman in the little black dress, much to Eleni’s amusement, intrigued him.

“I’m going to see Billy Elliot however I am unsure of the theatres location,” Eleni’s voice was a little louder this time as she gained confidence. Her accent was odd, the underlying Italian that she had spoken in her mortal life and the sweetness of a French accent from her years in France. With her capability of picking up languages effortlessly as a mortal it was made easier when she became a vampire. Her English was near perfect but the mixture of the French and Italian influences gave it an exotic sound. “Maybe you could help me?”

The man grinned, she had snagged him with so few words, he offered his arm and Eleni took it graciously. Emerging herself amongst mortals was not going to be as hard as she had presumed.

MISC
General plan: Eleni is driven to New Orleans interested to see if she will find Lestat, Gabrielle, or Armand. She is craving to be near someone more than she previously ever did and would appreciate the companionship of a fledgling or other vampire(s). She also finds herself wondering why Akasha had decided not to kill her sleeping and vulnerable body but doubts she will find any answers. So, her main goal is to gain interaction with more immortals and hopefully learn more about them. While she would love if she had the opportunity to dance on the stage again she does not necessarily foresee her dream every panning out.

Pertaining to the objects, if she knew they existed, the appealing ones would be those that made her most like a mortal. Specifically being able to walk out in the sun.