Adrianna Josephine Dior was living the dream in 1983. She was a starlet in the underground D.C. Ballroom scene and face of the House of Dior. She was a woman of the trans experience and had many friends in the Black trans and queer community in Southeast by night, but had found love with a wealthy man in Reston-Herndon by day. She lived a life of relative luxury, but never rested on her laurels to eat bon bons. She had great artistic talent and convinced her boyfriend to buy her an artist studio where she could work and show her wares documenting the exuberance of the Ballroom scene in her paintings.
One night with her House at the Ball, she got a wall of “10’s,” but her winning walk was witnessed by a smitten Toreador. Danė quickly got to know Adrianna and used his great Presence to invite himself to see her artist studio the following evening.
Danė was captivated too much by the talented beauty and lost control when feeding. Adrianna lay dying on the floor of her own studio when the Toreador twink cut open his wrist to embrace her.
Danė had committed a great crime by the unauthorized embrace, and that may well have been the end of them both, but Adrianna (changing her name to Desirée) was given the opportunity to prove her worth to the Clan of the Rose with a blank canvas. She painted for her life, but her creation could not have been more stunning. The enthralled Toreador Guild could not believe the raw ability of Desirée and spent a full hour in stunned silence, staring at the painting.
And so, given her chance at unlife, the Keeper of Elysium (and Desirée’s grandsire) Melisand Granger took Desirée under her wing and passed her off as her own childe. Danė was punished with a decade spent in a box. Desirée was accepted by the Prince of Alexandria, but at great cost: the Toreador were forced to ceed Shirlington to the crown as well as pay a fine of over $2 million (on top of Desirée’s Elysium dues of $1.7 million). Thus, Melisand had the most expensive childe she had ever contemplated raising in the blood.
Desirée had her ups and downs over the years, but managed Danė’s former club now as her own and rebranded it “Club Euphonia.”
The Toreador befriended a Brujah neonate, Thaïs. Thaïs helped Desirée in getting back a missing painting and the two became close after that, forming a coterie of sorts.
Desirée is a dual citizen of both the Domain of Alexandria and of Georgetown, though her primary allegiance is to Alexandria and her citizenship in Georgetown is more of a “travel visa,” so to speak, as she has no permanent haven there.
Statistics:
Died: February 12, 1983, aged 23 years
Generation: Tenth generation Toreador posing as Ninth
Sire: Danė (secretly); Melisand Granger (officially)
Havens: Penthouse atop Del Ray Towers, Reston estate shared with ghoul/boyfriend Eli, artist studio in Del Ray
Alliances:
On good terms with her Clan, is seen as a great artist among their number, which increases her status.
Is publicly known to be the childe of the Keeper of Elysium of Alexandria
Is in a coterie with a respected and rough Brujah
Has contacts with the Nosferatu for her good sportsmanship in working with them, despite their deception
Owns "Erato,” a talent agency venture with Thaïs, represents some local talent.
Has a small group of thin-blooded Kindred she calls the “Daughters of Mercury” who owe her favors.
Enemies: Desirée has made an enemy of the Settites of Anacostia for her dealings with Marcel. They haven’t overtly made a move against her . . . yet.
Ghouls: Elijah Fields is Desirée’s consort: she keeps him around for his love; Sebastian and Theodore are her bodyguards/drivers/blood dolls/whatever else she needs; Elizabeth is the “face” of her operations by day and Bernice Gray is the manager of her club. Alexander is the head of security at Euphonia.
Special Abilities: Desirée is a very talented artist and, unlike most Toreador, her abilities seem to have only been enhanced by the embrace. She has a smattering of Disciplines as would be expected of her Clan. She is very attractive and uses seduction as a weapon: brute force is rarely her method.
Weaknesses: Desirée is not particularly martial or good with weapons. As a Toreador, she can be distracted by items of great beauty. She possesses a dark secret: for she is not Melisand’s childe, but Danė’s.
Desirée “inherited” the club at the base of Del Ray Towers after her sire was staked by the Clan elder. Even though Danė has finished his sentence, all of the territory seeded to Desirée remains hers, and this includes the newly-refurbished “Club Euphonia.”
The Club is a two-story venue with a dance floor, a catwalk on the second floor and spacious VIP lounge. There is a golden elevator that goes from the most exclusive part of the VIP lounge up to the penthouse where Desirée keeps a haven. The elevator also travels down to the underground parking garage where Desirée keeps her Bentley.
One of Desirée’s ghouls, Bernice, is the manager of Club Euphonia. It remains a popular destination for an upper class clientele of Kindred and humans alike.
Desirée is also the landlord of Del Ray Towers proper. As well as the penthouse at the roof, there are 40 units in the 12-story building, not including the club and the penthouse.
Desirée also “bought back” her artist studio down the street in Del Ray from Melisand Granger. It includes a public-facing gallery and a private workspace in the back.
