The Duchess
Real Name: Juliette De Lacroix
Age: 240 [eternally 19]
Occupation: Parisian Hellfire's White Queen
Place of Residence: Paris, France
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 105
Eye Color: Ice Blue
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Actor Image: Natalie Portman
Appearance: Slightly below average stature and a tiny frame made her a graceful ballerina, now her size makes her seem unassuming and unthreatening, which she uses to her advantage when hunting. With very dark hair and light blue eyes, she is an enchanting beauty who lures men almost without effort. Most do not notice that her eye color has an ever changing spectrum, the more sated her thirst, the lighter her eye color, the closer she is to starvation, her eyes become a navy blue or even black... but most of the time, she does not delay her thirst and so, her eyes stay mostly in the lighter shades.
Personality: Noble and poised, she is polite but quite aloof and among 'friends' she is cordial and a bit more relaxed. She does not succumb to extremely strong emotions because her turbulent early life sapped her of much of her passion, so she often seems to have a rather flat personality, but still waters run deep and under the surface of her dignified aristocracy lies a complex being. She IS French, inside and out and within seconds of meeting her it is quite apparent; she doesn't bother herself with speaking very much to outsiders, but when she does speak it is with a thick french accent and her english vocabulary, while extensive because of how long she has been speaking it, is often intermixed with french terms and phrases freely.
History: Born into a Catholic Noble Family in 1770 France, Juliette was the youngest child of the Duke and Duchess De Lacroix. As the baby of the family and their only daughter, she was cherished and doted upon throughout her childhood. She was classically educated and after taking an early interest in Ballet, became a prodigy of dance. She was well regarded by her peers and by society, and there seemed to always be yet another Prince trying to court her, most notably King Louis' younger brother, Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angouleme, and while she entertained the courtship at the behest of her parents and advisors, her true passion was dance. At the age of nineteen she won the lead in La Fille Mal Gardee [The Wayward Daughter], a ballet that was being developed and garnering intense interest among the King's Court and all of France. It was opening night of the play that proved to be ultimately life changing for Juliette; at this performance she attracted the attention of Maximus, the notoriously reclusive Marquis de Ratonneau, the vampire who would eventually turn her. Maximus fell in love with the Ballerina on stage, he came to every subsequent performance, but he kept his distance because she was human and thus, intended to be his prey. But eventually the self-imposed distance, the loneliness drove Maximus mad and his love for Juliette turned into an obsession. Maximus began to stalk her every night, from dusk 'til dawn, and later he abducts her and squirrels her away to the fortress on his private island south of Marseille, ile de Ratonneau
At first, upon awakening as a newborn vampire, Juliette is amused and intrigued by her new abilities, her new life, and Maximus teaches her the ways of Vampiric existence, all the while following the traditional conventions of courtship, but never revealing how truly obsessed he is. Juliette is young and naive at the time of her 'rebirth' and she falls into everything that Maximus sets her up for. She finds him attractive, charismatic, wise and powerful and believes she loves him; she does not even realize she is his captive and secretly they marry. However, all is not doomed to a faux happily ever after; Juliette soon realizes she can never go back to her family, and that they will all die soon, while she will never. Living by night at first seems adventurous and novel, but after a while the appeal fades and never again seeing the light of day or the sun on the faces of her loved ones leaves her forlorn. When she finally understands what Maximus took from her, she kills him in a fit of rage, unintentionally inheriting his wealth and property.
Juliette attempts to return to her family. She refuses to speak of the time she spent missing, where she was or what happened to her there, and does not tell them that she is now legally the Marquise de Ratonneau, nearly as wealthy in her own right as they are. Her family, which always regarded her as a delicate ballerina and catered to her every whim, now treats her as though she is made of glass and any disturbance will shatter her forever. She keeps mostly to herself and for a short while, they find a balance. Meanwhile, the French Revolution has set the country into a state of upheaval. The monarchy is overturned, and many of the Nobles lose their lives and their power. Her father, once a very trusted advisor to King Louis, was nearly exiled and deeply considered leaving on his own, but his sons were all highly esteemed members of the Royal Guard and refused to leave the King's side. Most believe this little hiccup will be resolved, but in shockingly rapid succession, all De Lacroix sons are killed in service of the overthrown king and the Duke himself retreats to his castle near Bordeaux and falls into a pattern seclusion and despair. Juliette's mother, the Duchess, dies of cholera and when Juliette can no longer bear to see her father suffer a broken heart over his sons and wife, Juliette puts him out of his misery in what amounts to a very personally difficult mercy killing. After smothering her father, as the sole surviving heiress to the De Lacroix estate, she becomes the new Sovereign Duchess and between the combined inheritance from Maximus and her own family's considerable province, she is one of France's most wealthy patrons. When the wars subside and a republic is formed, many of the other noble familiies are stripped of their power and even some of their lands, but as a vampire Juliette is well equipped to defend her estate and anyone sent to question her sovereign becomes dinner. Subsequent reformations of monarchy alternately shift Juliette's political relevalance from high to low, and she takes advantage of the social climate change whenever it pleases her, but by the people she is viewed as mostly aloof and very mysterious, almost to the point of being a mythical creature dubbed 'The Duchess'.
Over time she comes across other vampires, and maintains acquaintance with all of them, some more closely than others. One of these is Xavier, one of her fellow countrymen who goes to America when France stakes its claim on the territory of Louisiana. She visits him occasionally and enjoys catching up on his exploits in the New World; he likes hearing about happenings back home and they enjoy a long, platonic friendship. The Louisiana Purchase goes through, America begins to take shape, and Xavier expatriates but they keep in touch.
Time marches steadily on, and Juliette lives mostly in solitude, participating in Parisian nightlife when it suits her, or when her thirst dictates. She leads an empty existence for a long time. She travels extensively and becomes autodidactic to pass the time. Monarchies come and go. Modern France arrives and Juliette keeps with the times, adapting as she must. The Twenty First century has no need for Nobility and while she is still referred to as 'the Duchess', the title no longer holds much meaning. She has maintained the level of power by moving with the times; her new reign is as White Queen of the Parisian Hellfire Club. She is often a guest resident at Hellfire New York when she visits America, sometimes she stays with them for an extended period of time.
Powers and Vulnerabilites: Superhuman senses, including perfect vision [much beyond the human standard of perfect], enhanced hearing and smell, much finer motor skills and tactile control than humans, and inexhaustible, intensely magnified strength. Her body does not age or degrade and is in fact capable of withstanding a lot of physical abuse.
As an undead, she lacks the bodily fluids present in humans-- she has only the blood she takes from her prey, so her tears, perspiration, saliva, etcetera are all actually blood. Though her body is very durable and her skin much tougher than mortals, she CAN be cut and injured, but her body is already dead and so no injury she sustains will be life threatening. She can fully heal from wounds quite quickly, within seconds if she's fed recently. Her undead status also means she lacks the electric impulses inherent in human minds and so she is unaffected by telepathic interference and her mind cannot be 'read' because it does register on the same 'level' as mortal humans. She has the affinity to 'hypnotize' humans, when she focuses her gaze directly, effectively stunning them into obedience. Under her 'spell' she can convince them to do her bidding, or even to allow her to feed on them, and any question she asks of them will be answered truthfully by the human in her thrall.
She is not aware that her blood has healing properties when consumed by humans; she knows only that her blood can be used to turn a human to a vampire, and she has never bothered with turning anyone, though she understands the mechanics of doing so. Most of the myths surrounding vampires are bogus. Juliette personally likes to always wear a rosary somewhere on her person, not only to remind her of her human life, but also as a little joke on Vampire Lore. Stakes to the heart, garlic, holy water... all have no effect on a true vampire and she can go into any church or sanctuary she pleases without spontaneously combusting; but DIRECT sunlight WILL burn her and if exposed for an extended period of time, she will eventually die and so, she is extremely careful not to be exposed. Contrary to myth, she CAN move about during the daylight hours, and indirect sunlight will do no more than gravely accentuate her pallor, but she must do so with great care to stay out of any direct beams of sunlight and so she doesn't often leave the safety of a shelter with extremely tinted windows.
