Clan Toreador

Name: Toreador
Pronounciation: tor'-ey-ah-dohr'
Nicknames: Degenerates, Perverts / Pervs (Sabbat), Artisans (archaic), Torries
Antediluvian: Arikel
Faction: Camarilla
Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Presence

Theme Song: Poseurs: "What's Love Got to do With It" - Tina Turner / "Big Shot" - Billy Joel; "[Familiar Taste of Poison]" - Halestorm

Artistes:

The Toreador are some of the most beautiful and glamorous of the Kindred. Famous (and infamous) as a clan of artists and innovators they are one of the bastions of the Camarilla, as their very survival depends on the facades of civility and grace on which the sect prides itself.

Cave Drawings - the Early History

It is said that the Clan's founder, Arikel was a mortal painter in the First City. Famed throughout the lands for her work, after her Embrace she painted a mural on which the past, present and future of Kindred society was depicted. When Caine saw a terrible future for his race, he cursed her with the affliction that affects Toreador today - the art that she loved most dearly would now be her obsession and distraction above all things.
Courtly Love - the Dark Ages

In the middle age, the Toreador were a member of the High Clans, and their numbers were made up of the same types that are common in the modern nights - minstrels, painters, poets and actors. They were heavily involved in the political spheres of the Dark Ages than in the Modern Nights - or, at least, they were more obvious about it. Though they lacked the same strong influence in Rome that the Ventrue and Malkavians enjoyed, once the continent was settled they wielded exceptionally strong influence in what is now France and England. The "Courts of Love" were THE political force in the feudal domains of the Franks, and Toreador diplomats were famed far and wide for their harsh negotiating skills and ruthless demands of etiquette, all hidden behind a dazzling smile.

In the city of Constantinople, the Toreador Methuselah Michael the Patriarch established a Cainite "Dream", which promoted the fine arts, intellectual growth, and the socio-political development of the Eastern Roman Empire. A convert to the Orthodox Church, Michael and his two lovers, the Tzimisce Dracon and the Ventrue Antonius, sought to build a utopian society for Cainites in order to pursue ultimate spiritual transcendance. Unfortunately, the Fourth Crusade in 1204 brought a swift end to Michael's Dream, as well as Michael himself.

The Convention of Thorns and the Creation of the Camarilla

The father of the Camarilla's "Masquerade" policy was Rafael de Corazon, a Toreador elder. He was also the representative of the Clan in the council at the village of Thorns, England. When the seven Clans who would soon form the Camarilla met with representatives of the Anarchs, Assamites, and other key political figures (such as Radu Bistri and Myca Vykos), de Corazon put forth his inspired idea for the implementation of a massive counter-intelligence campaign that he styled "the Masquerade". According to this scheme, vampires don't exist - at least, that's what mortals would think.

The Masquerade was received with a varying degree of enthusiasm: the Ventrue, Tremere, Nosferatu, and Malkavians embraced the plan, while the Gangrel, Brujah, Lasombra, and Tzimisce really did not see the need for such a convoluted solution - in the case of the latter two clans, it would mean the complete annihilation of their way of unlife. The Anarch Cainites, as well as the four remaining Clans, would receive the benefits of the misinformation war, yet would not be responsible for upholding any of the Camarilla's laws. The Toreador, naturally, threw themselves wholeheartedly behind the idea wholeheartedly, not least because it was proprosed by their own clan representative. With the Masquerade, the threat of the Inquisition would be negated, and the Toreador could still benefit from plying the mortal population for works of art and childer.

Like most Clans, some of the members left the Clan proper upon the formation of the Sabbat. Toreador antitribu are the dark reflection of their Camarilla cousins - while they are beautiful social butterflies, their weakness has twisted so that all antitribu derive joy from the emotional, physical and mental suffering of others.
Beauty is a Virtue - the Victorian Age

The Toreador revelled in the Victorian age. The Industrial Revolution led to a phenomenon that only the rich had been previously afforded - leisure time. A heyday of theatre, music and art began in cultural nexsues like New York, London and Paris and spread throughout the globe. While the influence of the Church in people's lives (and consequently, the influence Toreador held over the church) waned, those Kindred that latched themselves onto businessmen prospered. Possibly the one thing most Toreador love with the exception of beauty is money, and it was now accessible from places other than the landed gentry of the time. While the Clan has had peaks and troughs, this was a time that cemented them as a true power in the Camarilla.
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful - the Final Nights

The Toreador play their games as they always have, albeit at a slightly more frantic pace due to the upheaval of the various skirmishes the Camarilla have fought. The recent innovations of cinema, television and the internet means that new forms of art and expression are being discovered almost daily, meaning the Toreador have become even more varied.

However, the Toreador are still a noble and aristocratic clan, and many perceive the Embrace of graffiti artists, Wall Street Wizards and CGI technicians as a pollution of the vaunted ideals that the Clan used to stand for. Many nights are filled with one Toreador bickering with another over what can be considered true art, and each Toreador's opinion is as varied as the definition of art itself.
Organization

The Toreador of a city organise themselves into Guilds. While this has something of an artistic ring to it, most Toreador in the city are members, whether they are Poseurs or Artistes (see below). The head of the Guild is typically the oldest and most influential Toreador within the city, with the other members forming a complicated stratified social system, the rules of which boggle many an outsider. This system was inherited from an Elizabethan-era convention, where actors, jesters, and other performers would enroll in a respectable guild, such as the smiths or tailors, but pursue their own craft on the side. Thusly, while a Toreador may claim membership to the city's Sculptors' Guild, they may in fact do nothing but harp at their rivals in Elysium, never once producing a passable sculpture.

The clan itself has two divisions. The Artistes consist of the sculpters, the painters, the musicians and the writers. They consider themselves to be the 'real' Toreador as inheritors of the Clan's original values and goals. The Poseurs make up the other faction - they can include the failed artists (or those that happened to be Embraced while their sire was riding a particular fad), as well as the professional critics and those who consider their bodies to be their life's masterpiece. It should be noticed that neither group has a nickname for themselves - they tend to be only flung at the opposing faction as a derisive epithet.
Antitribu

Where "beauty" and "gentility" are used to describe the Toreador loyal to the Camarilla, "depravity" and "tragedy" describe those in the Sabbat. While the Camarilla Toreador interact with mortals and vampires on a sociable level, praising art and taking pleasure in the world around them, the "Perverts" of the Sabbat do whatever they can to live up to their nickname. Toreador antitribu are typically sadistic and deranged, taking pleasure in others' pain and finding grief, ugliness, atrocity, and despair as stimulating as other Toreador find beauty and grace.

Culture

It is said that while the Ventrue are the mind of the Camarilla, the Toreador are it's soul. It was one of their number, Rafael de Corazon, who was instrumental in it's formation. The Toreador are the greatest supporters of many of the Camarilla's traditions, most notably that of Elysium. This is where the Toreador are in their element, showcasing their latest pieces and practicing their highly effective (and sometimes deadly) form of social manouvering. From the outside, most other Clans think of one face of the Toreador, but see another. When speaking of them to another, most envision Toreador as the Artists - billowy shirted, frock-coated fops who crow about the beauty of the ages and lamenting their lost humanity. In reality, outsiders are less likely to meet such characters, given as they are to sequestering themselves away to work on their latest masterpiece. Far more often encountered are those Toreador whose unlives have become dedicated to the Kindred social scene - Toreador are often a large contingent of the city's Harpies, and having spent years with their bitchy and conniving clan-mates they are more than capable of ruining someone's reputation with a pithy comeback or a damning piece of gossip whispered in just the right ear.

The Toreador portray themselves as the vampires closest to the living breathing pulse of the humans around them (though this honour might be shared with the Brujah). They claim that this is what keeps them so vital and modern. Indeed, Clan members are often the first ones to be aware of what mortals are wearing, eating, buying and sleeping with. While a Malkavian elder might be found in his 1800s finery, the Toreador is much more likely to be wearing something from this year's Paris runways.
Style and Appearance

Toreador almost uniformally dress in the latest, hottest fashions, the better to charm and bedazzle the mortals upon whom they feed. They also dress extravagantly in order to satisfy their love of beauty - their bodies are just as much works of art as anything produced with paint or chisel. Toreador of an elder age prefer stately eveningwear, such as ballroom dresses, tailed suits, and primped hair. Many even still affect accessories such as opera glasses, monocles, and gloves - whatever helps contribute to the image they are building.

More modern, progressive Toreador still dress at the "high" end of fashion, but are just as focused on sexual appeal and fitting in as they are on pure elegance. The fashions of New York and Paris are set by the Toreador, who spend as much time on their wardrobe as other Kindred do hunting or for business.

The effects of this dedication to appearance cannot be discounted. Even though vampires are distant from their humanity, everyone is still impressed when a vivacious belle in a long, flowing dress enters the room, or a dashing beau suited in silk takes charge of the meeting. For all their work, Toreador seem to reap the benefits, as they have been at the top of Camarilla society for centuries.

The Art of Manipulation: Toreador in the Jyhad

Few Toreador regard performing the menial tasks of hunting, theft, blackmail, or assassination to be on par with their class. All that mucking around, and for what? A broken nail and having the Nosferatu primogen angry at you? No, no. Many, if not most Toreador prefer to act through as many layers of proxies as they can assemble, with the vampire at the center of the web tugging on the heartstrings of their minions. Aside from presenting a much smaller risk to their own hides, the more social Toreador regard such manipulation as as fine an art as sculpture or dance. If one wishes to influence the Prince, then it is so very crass to actually go up and talk to the man. It is far more elegant to ingratiate onself into the Prince's herd, and gradually turn their loyalty over to the Toreador, who can whisper words into a few ears that will, by social osmosis, eventually come to the Prince's attention. If the proposed idea is not found acceptable, then it is the proxy's neck in the noose, and the Toreador can then throw their support behind (or pretend to throw their support behind) the opposition, bring it down from the inside, and leave the Prince no choice but to act according to the Toreador's original whim.

Love at First Sight: Toreador in Love

The Toreador would say they are great lovers, both in the physical and spiritual sense. What they are, in fact, are great "lusters", favoring physical attributes such as beauty, grace, and wealth over personality and intelligence. This usually works out well for the Toreador, since thanks to their Presence Discipline and social skills, they tend to be the focus of attention even when surrounded by other beautiful people. As such, what use are a lackey's mental skills if they're never going to be put to use?

In the off chance a Toreador actually grows to love someone or something (objects of art, a home, a pet, etc), the relationship is almost doomed from the start. Thanks to the above situation, Toreador come across as shallow or self-centered most of the time, which means that even if the Toreador's love is pure, they will likely end up alienating their companion. They will be able to sense this, and in the true form of a jilted lover, will express their displeasure in vicious and under-handed ways. The words "fickle" and "capricious" are not applied to the Toreador without reason.

Parry, Dodge, Riposte: Toreador Combat

Discretion is the better part of valor, and Toreador have been gifted with Celerity for a reason. This is not to say that all Toreador are cowards, who will flee an enemy on sight, but the strengths of the Clan do not lie on the battlefield. Certainly, Celerity can be adapted for use in combat, and Auspex is useful for rooting out spies and ambushes, but the Clan is very proud of the fact that they can get other vampires to do their dirty work for them.
Embraces

As stated before, there are two rough moulds that clan members fall into. Artists make up a large proportion of the clan, which in the modern nights can include computer graphics artists, avant-garde performance artists and sportsmen alongside the singers, dancers and writers. The other portion consists of businessmen, critics and those who are simply beautiful. While the main detractors of the clan, often the Nosferatu and the Brujah complain that Toreador coddle their childer, the truth is a much more brutal one. Toreador sires are notoriously faddish, and while the subject of their Embrace can be the most cutting edge, the most innovative, the most beautiful, the most now, they can easily be terribly passe and embarrassing the following week. The sire then inevitably dumps the new childe as soon as is feasible, leaving the young vampire confused and struggling to make their own way. Such is the nature of the Toreador.