Maiko Aomori
From SuspireWiki
Background
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Maiko Aomori was born in 1712, to a wealthy Fudai Daimyo in Edo Period Japan. Her family was very well-off, and life was relatively easy. As her father's only child (he had a low sperm count, but of course, her mother was blamed) Maiko was loved by her father none the less, and he wanted her to be educated. She was secretly given the top schooling available by private tutors hired by her father, including a staggering amount of information regarding the western world, which her father had connections and access to via the Dutch East India Company. Even in her youth, Maiko held a keen interest in the arts, and it was soon discovered that she had a special gift for music, most especially stringed instruments. Her favorites were the Violin and the Cello, which she viewed as the lighter and darker sides of her soul, respectively.
Growing up, Maiko was constantly in the lap of luxury. Her father was wealthy and important, her mother was beautiful and supportive, and Maiko herself was treated to education and frivolity that other girls could barely ever even dream of. Maiko was spoiled, to be sure, but she was never unkind to those beneath her. She saw her place in the world, and she saw the place of others. It just happened that her place was higher, and she was content with that. Unfortunately, it didn't last. The government discovered her father's "unhealthy" fascination with the western world, and among other things, Maiko's education was revealed. That alone may not have been enough to warrant what was to come, but when it was discovered that her education included instruction of the various religions of the world - including Christianity, which was a veritable anathema in Japan at the time - Maiko's entire family was sentenced to death. Maiko's mother hid her in a secret place beneath the family home, but her parents were both slain and the house was burned to the ground. Her family's entire fortune was either destroyed or given away, and Maiko, crawling from the burning rubble of her family home, was left penniless and persecuted. She gathered up what little food she could, and fled to the Dejima port in Nagasaki - where the Dutch East India Company was allowed to land and make trade.
At this point, Maiko's options were extremely limited. First off, she was a woman, and thus not in any position to make her own way in Japan. Second off, she was in the heart of the Edo period and it was thus very difficult to leave the country in search of potentially better options. She did the best she could on the streets of Nagasaki, begging what she could and sometimes stealing what she couldn't. She was desperate, and completely unfamiliar with this way of life. As luck would have it though, a trader from the Dutch East India Company (one of the few people allowed in the country at that time) fell in love with her and secretly helped her escape from Japan - Not an easy task, as outsider influence was restricted to a single port in Japan, and only for commercial purposes. Any other Europeans who landed on Japanese soil were immediately put to death without trial at that time, and any Japanese who were actually able to leave were exiled from ever returning. Thus, Maiko fled her country with the Dutch tradesman in tears, knowing that she could never go home.
Maiko's musical perfection attracted a good deal of kindred attention, most of it from members of the Daeva clan, but none so great as that of an Invictus Mekhet, Alder Lord Federico Marini. Lord Marini, though he had been born the son of a fisherman, had grown over the centuries into a talent for business and at the time he met Maiko, was both the owner of a very successful shipping and trading company, and had grown great esteem within the Invictus by financially supporting the interests of the covenant throughout Italy. He was an intensely jealous man, most notoriously of the entire Clan Daeva. He envied their beauty and grace, the places they tended to hold in kindred society, their ability to sway the emotions of those around them, and pretty much everything else about them, to the point where he coveted what they coveted, wanted the things that they wanted, and in most every way emulated them as best he could. This was how he came to know Maiko. Once he beheld her exotic Asian beauty, and the impassable skill with which she teased and toyed with the emotions of her audience through music, Federico was captivated. When he began to hear rumors that several of the Daeva whom had been drawn to her were vying for her embrace, he knew he had to have her for himself. He kidnapped Maiko, subjected her to a full vinculum, and stole her away back to Italy, where she was to be his prize possession and most admired and adored snub to the Daeva Clan. In the Autumn of 1735, at age 23, he presented her with three gifts: a violin and cello crafted by Antonio Stradivarius, and the embrace.
Maiko took very well to her new Requiem. She saw it not as a curse, but merely as another step upwards towards where she belonged in the universal scheme of things. Federico doted on her, and provided her with everything she needed to completely excel in every way. She received the best schooling imaginable (in all areas of classical education, and especially in regards to music), was constantly surrounded by all manner of artistic inspiration, and received near constant praise from her proud and admiring sire. In Federico's eyes, the greater she became, the better he looked for raising such a talented and wonderful childe, and the more he could grin internally at his denial of her to the Daeva Clan. Maiko grew even more talented than she had ever been in her mortal life, and her performances were frequently requested by the Kindred Elite, beginning in Italy, and soon all around Europe. Federico couldn't be more pleased, and the way things were going, Maiko couldn't be more famous. As decades passed, Maiko grew a great name for herself within the First Estate. She was given the title of Baroness for her plethora of musical achievements throughout the Kindred courts of Europe, and was considered one of the greatest kindred musicians of her time. In 1785 - the fiftieth year of her Requiem - she founded a Player's Guild named "Fuoco Della Notte" (Fire of Night) and became its Meister Player, specializing in the instruction of musical theory and the playing of stringed instruments.
As time passed, however, Maiko grew horribly distressed that while the quality of her music was unquestionably beyond par, it was severely lacking in any true emotion due to her state as one of the Damned. Night after fitful night she performed before captivated audiences, stealing their hearts with tonal perfection, when deep down she knew that there truly was no real emotion to her work. It tore her heart to ribbons, and she would frequently rage in ineffective frenzies after performing. She couldn't handle the knowledge that her masterwork was truly hollow, and each standing ovation... each tossed bouquet or roses was one more slap in the face as her soul eroded away. She very nearly decided to walk out into the sunlight, but fortunately a solution found her beforehand. Roughly a hundred years later after forming Fuoco Della Notte, Maiko would - along with other supporters of the arts - join the newly founded Cherubim, and use her station, musical expertise, and the wealth she had at that point amassed through her performances to support up and coming artists and musicians alike.
By this point, Maiko was exceptionally entrenched within European Kindred Society. She had made a name for herself, greatly pleased her admiring sire - whom had more than reaped the benefits of his childe's fame and prestige - and was (for the most part) content, happy, and very well-off. However, her Pride would simply not allow her to sit back and rest on her laurels. She needed to rise higher, reach farther, and all in all, become greater. Far more interested in social highlife and artistic brilliance than in the doldrums of Kindred politics however (though she certainly did know how to play the political game as well as any instrument), Maiko sought for a new avenue of success. She found it in America. Having dominated the musical scene of Europe for well over a century, America was like a shining beacon of potential success to her, and she grinned like a cat at the prospect of devouring the songs of the American Canary. Maiko pulled some strings, called in some boons owed to her, and carefully transferred herself, along with her entire fortune, to Boston, Massachusetts around 1910.
Around this time, Maiko also faced a new challenge. She was beginning to grow tired, and while she had no desire to pause in her immortal musical career, she knew, deep down, that she was going to have need of rest in the near future. Thus, with a heavy heart but a determined will, she groomed a childe to be her Steward, and twelve years later she slipped into torpor, surrounded by velvets, silks, and the near constant flow of her own beautiful music - recorded for her on gramophone disc by her Steward. Maiko slept for a full seventy-five years, while her Steward kept watch over her in most every way from her physical safety to the financial investments of her estate. Maiko woke in 1997, learning to her complete horror how true music had all but rotted away into the modern atrocities she then heard. Enraged, insulted, and emotionally wounded, she returned to her haven in bloody tears, and vowed to try and attempt to bring music back to its classical roots, come hell or high water. Unable to bear living in Boston anymore, Maiko began to make arrangements for a relocation to a more southern climate, and ten years later, in January of 2007, made the trip from the frozen north of Massachusetts, to the warmer climate - and hopefully better musical tastes - of Atlanta, Georgia.
Lineage
- childe of.. Costanzo Giampaolo Renaldo; Lancea Sanctum; Embraced in Naples, Italy, in 1317
- childe of.. Marisa Carmina Bianchi; Alder; Marquise (Naples); Senator & Speaker; Invictus; Embraced in Naples, Italy, in 1102; Deceased
- childe of.. Pasqualino Eustorgio DeLuca; Alder; Duke (Naples); Senator & Prince (Naples); Invictus; Embraced in Rome, Italy, in 823
- childe of.. Amedeo Benito Moretti; Lancea Sanctum; Embraced in Naples, Italy, in 713; Currently Eclipsed
- childe of.. Pasqualino Eustorgio DeLuca; Alder; Duke (Naples); Senator & Prince (Naples); Invictus; Embraced in Rome, Italy, in 823
- childe of.. Marisa Carmina Bianchi; Alder; Marquise (Naples); Senator & Speaker; Invictus; Embraced in Naples, Italy, in 1102; Deceased
- childe of.. Costanzo Giampaolo Renaldo; Lancea Sanctum; Embraced in Naples, Italy, in 1317
Invictus Lineage
Madam Maiko Aomori, Player, of the Cherubim; childe of Alder Baron Federico Besilio Marini, Meister Librettist; childe of Costanzo Giampaolo Renaldo, of the Lancea Sanctum; childe of The Right Honorable Alder Marisa Carmina Bianchi, Marquise of Naples, Senator and Speaker; childe of His Grace Alder Pasqualino Eustorgio DeLuca, Duke of Naples, Prince of Naples; childe of Amedeo Benito Moretti, of the Lancea Sanctum
Retainers
- Marcellus Giordano (Personal servant, Primary contact with Atlanta Society, Provider of transportation, In charge of dealing with lawyer and bookkeeping related issues)
Transportation
Rolls-Royce 20/25 Allweather Convertible
The Rolls-Royce 20/25 built between 1929 and 1936 succeeded the 20HP as Rolls-Royce's "small car". It was intended to appeal to owner drivers but many were sold to customers with chauffeurs.
The in-line 6 cylinder overhead valve engine was similar to that used in the 20HP but was enlarged to 3699 cc by increasing the bore from 76 mm to 82 mm with the stroke remaining at 114 mm. A single Rolls-Royce carburettor was used and both coil and magneto ignition were fitted. The four speed gearbox was mounted in unit with the engine and a traditional right hand change used. Synchromesh was fitted to third and top gears from 1932.
The substantial chassis had rigid front and rear axles suspended by half elliptic springs with braking on all four wheels assisted by a mechanical servo. Separate rear brakes were fitted for the handbrake. The famous Rolls-Royce radiator with triangular top was used with vertical louvres, the angle of which could be adjusted to control engine cooling. To begin with, the radiator shutters were operated manually via a lever on the dash; later cars were fitted with automatic control via a thermostat.
The larger engine allowed the top speed to increase to 75 mph but many owners had large limousine bodies fitted with the inevitable effect on performance. (From: Wikipedia)
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