Sierra Van Burrace
Sierra is a young Japanese-American woman in her 20s. She prefers flowing gowns and dresses over business wear, but also wears patterns common to her heritage in a unique merging of her background. She intends to always look striking, if not fashionable. First impressions matter.
As a former member of the Sabbat, Sierra tends to make others uncomfortable by forgetting to imitate breathing, failing to blink, or feeding with a little too much gusto. She has been working on these things at her sire’s order.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Mortal Days: In a Man’s World
From a young age, Lucy enjoyed spending time with movers and shakers, attending galas and social events. When Lucy’s father Shinji emigrated to Chicago to continue running their international hotel chain from there, she found herself frequently traveling back and forth between Japan and America, staying with her dad whenever possible. During their time together, Lucy’s father trained her on the delicate balance of running a successful company. He allowed her to sit in on meetings, introduced her to his business partners, and frequently allowed her to negotiate deals on his behalf. She was a natural diplomat and salesperson, helping the company grow exponentially. Shinji quickly grew to consider her one of his trusted business advisors, taking pride in his daughter’s accomplishments. When Lucy’s father passed away, she took over the family business. She knew how to make profitable business deals, but also to not bend easily when faced with adversity. Lucy ruthlessly negotiated large-scale acquisitions for her company, a task not easily completed due to the ingrained prejudice she met every day. She was a woman and she had inherited her role. Lucy constantly called out those business owners who used her gender against her, publicly shaming them. While her vocal attitude dismayed some potential partners, she never let it stop her from meeting her ambitions. Lucy fended off many attempts to buy her out, wed her, or take over her business, but when a colleague aggressively solicited Lucy for sex, she lost her temper. Years of suffering peer underestimation made her lash out. She swung a marble paperweight and killed him instantly. Following the act, she coolly put his clothes in a black bag, kept his jewelry, wallet, and other identifying baubles separate, and took a shower. Only then did she contemplate what to do with the body. A few hours after the murder, she’d paid a hefty sum to the pimp of some of the escorts who used her hotels to make the body disappear.Kindred Nights: Sea of Maniacs
It was her skills as a ruthless negotiator and her refusal to let anyone diminish her self-worth that caught the attention of a Lasombra admirer. Lucy demonstrated a strong conviction that this vampire, named Talley, found intriguing. He took Lucy under his tutelage as a ghoul for a while, allowing her enough time to transition the company into the ownership of a prefabricated Mask named Sierra Van Burrace. She had the board take over day-to-day running of the business once she could not safely continue her position, but Sierra acted as majority shareholder. Lucy continued to conduct operations from the shadows, using it as a way to help her sire. Talley eventually Embraced Lucy, inducting her into the horrors of the Sabbat. As far as the mortal world was concerned, Lucy Asako died when her car went off the Wells Street Bridge in a well-publicized accident. She only had one mortal relative remaining at the time of her “death” — her nearly 100-year-old grandmother, Aiko. In a care home and possessing little contact with the outside world, Aiko is the only person to whom Sierra is still Lucy. For all the bloodlust and carnage the Sabbat embodied, Sierra remained out of the fray, choosing to align herself with those who showed restraint. Sierra wasn’t a street-fighting fool; her sire kept her mind unclouded while encouraging self-control. She was bound to a pack, but he was never far from her ear. Sierra spent many nights gathering influences and pulling strings to assist in the agendas of the Amici Noctis, via her sire. When Talley informed her she and her brother-in-vitae, the Camarilla-Sabbat war hero Preston Malenkov, would be leading the clan defection to the Camarilla in Chicago, Sierra saw new opportunity for growth. She never thought much of her pack, the Dirty Titans, using them more as shields and lackeys. When the time came for her to return to Chicago for the first time in years, she sent the Titans ahead, deliberately setting them in the path of the city’s Gangrel Wolf Pack, leaving them to die on the battlefield. Sierra still has nightmares about it. She doesn’t agree with the demands the Camarilla will put on her clan, and is working to try and lessen some of those requirements. She worries her clan will be left without upper leadership and guidance, and that may cause a fall from grace for the Lasombra. Sierra is aware her appointment as ambassador is likely because she is more expendable than any vampire much older, so Sierra remains calculated in her efforts. She knows there is a lot of pressure on her, so she travels to Chicago focused and ready. She doesn’t know Malenkov’s intentions, but is determined not to be outshined by her older sibling.Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Plots and Rumours
- Chosen Delegate: Sierra has been sent to Chicago by her elders as a point of contact with the Camarilla. She is to continue negotiations with those in Chicago who would be integral to the transition of Clan Lasombra to the sect. She fully intends to deliver on the Amici Noctis’ will, no matter the cost.
- Rooms Without a View: Sierra has a personal goal within the city of Chicago as well. She wants to expand her hotel chain, which her pack-mates never rated as an investment of value. If she can successfully integrate into the Camarilla it will open up multiple doors for her business, as hotel rooms doubling as temporary vampire havens could earn her a fortune. The Ventrue and Toreador have a tight grip on the service industry in Chicago, but she is confident she can work out an agreement.
- Gathering Dirt: Sierra knows there are several Chicago Camarilla with questionable loyalties. She has been looking for any information she might be able to use to gain leverage for her clan. She does not hesitate to use her connections to gather this information, and is close to pinpointing a few of these Kindred. She has been careful to cover her tracks, knowing she could easily disappear. She currently seeks incriminating information on Jason Newberry, if any is available, and he has grown wise to her probing, positioning the Malkavian Primogen completely against Lasombra admission to the city, let alone the sect.
- Elitist: Apparently, she already believes herself a member of a “High Clan.” Sierra only mixes with prestigious members of city courts.Whispers:
- Dirty Rumors: Rumor has it, Sierra is already Prince Jackson’s lover and attempts to manipulate him using more than her words.
- Fall Guy: Many Kindred believe Sierra is important only because she thinks she’s important. She has no real authority or power.
- Quick Retribution: Sierra does not appreciate being told to smile or being looked down upon for being a woman. Stories of her retaliation against such requests are widespread.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Yoshinori Tsukioka (Allies 1, Influence 2, Retainers 1) Sierra frequently enthralls men who believe they are better than her. She still holds no tolerance for men who use her gender against her, but has no qualms about using their underestimation against them. On the Yama Hotels board, she only permits women and respectful men seats. Yoshinori Tsukioka, a young business powerhouse over from Endron International, acts as the chairman. Sierra holds a lot of respect for Yoshinori, not least because she’s found no dirt on him, he insists on a company without secrets, and keeps his hair, suit, and smile perfectly pristine at all times.
Asako Aiko (Contacts 1) Sierra moved her grandmother Aiko to a new care facility in Chicago in advance of her arrival. Even when in the thick of the Sabbat vaulderie, Sierra has never been able to fully decouple from her mortal roots. She knows Aiko will likely die within the decade, and greatly fears the loss to the last of her mortality.
Mr. Beazley and Mr. Warde (Retainers 2) Sierra keeps two ghouls — Mr. Beazley and Mr. Warde — the former acting as her driver, the latter as her bodyguard, though both are capable of either task. They were attached to her pack before and never shied from Sabbat excess, so they see the idea of defecting to the Camarilla as quite amusing.
Talley (Mawla 4, Respect) Sierra’s closest relationship is with her sire, Talley. While he lurks on Chicago’s periphery, she doesn’t believe he’ll be entering the negotiations. She respects his cool pragmatism and ability to adapt when survival is at stake, and while unbound, would still act to defend his life if it were at risk.
Malenkov (Rivalry) Sierra cannot stand Talley’s other childe, Malenkov. He brags about his “singlehanded” assault on New York that left the Camarilla in pieces, and his subsequent defense of the domain that would have succeeded had “Polonia not gotten cold feet.” She mockingly refers to him as Leonidas due to his pomposity, and seriously worries his ego might cost the Lasombra their chance with the Ivory Tower.
Jason Newberry (Target) In her attempts to put hooks in Chicago ahead of her arrival, Sierra’s been digging in to some of Jason Newberry’s crimes. His activities appall even her, but she requires evidence before presenting her findings to Prince Jackson.
Kevin Jackson (Formal) Sierra reached out to Prince Jackson before traveling to Chicago and was met with a cordial, curious response she believes Alan Sovereign penned. She believes she knows how to win Jackson’s favor, but doubts she’ll get more than a single shot.
Relationships
History
Eustace knows Sierra is leading the transition of the Lasombra into the Camarilla. Craving the respect she has, he has begun planning her demise. To Eustace, she is nothing more than a new Talley waiting to thwart his plans.
Wealth & Financial state
Diamond Yama Hotel (Haven 3, Resources 3) Sierra intends to keep her haven in one of her family’s five-star hotels in downtown Chicago, the Diamond Yama Hotel off Michigan Avenue. This was her father’s first hotel in America, and though she’ll be checking in under the name of Sierra Van Burrace, she intends to use her shareholder privileges to book out an entire floor indefinitely.
Japanese Business Interests (Contacts 2, Influence 2, Resources 3) Sierra already supports many of the Japanese-owned businesses in the Chicago area and intends to meet her contacts there once the diplomatic situation has calmed. She has no connection to the Yoshitomi Group Yakuza ring present in Chicago, and personally deplores their activities. To this end, she strives to keep all her businesses legitimate and feeds primarily from criminals of her ethnicity.
Species
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Aligned Organization
Character Prototype
Mask
Sierra is a walking Mask, her original identity considered dead for the last decade. She pays taxes, appears on the census, and votes. As far as Sierra’s concerned, she does the Masquerade better than most Camarilla Kindred (Mask 2).Statblock
Sire: TalleyEmbraced: 1998 (Born 1970) Ambition: Have the Lasombra accepted within the Camarilla of Chicago Convictions: I will never show weakness Touchstones: Asako Aiko — beloved grandmother residing in the Autumn Health Retirement Community Humanity: 4 (Path of Power and the Inner Voice 6) Generation: 8th Blood Potency: 2 Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2; Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Composure 2; Intelligence 4, Wits 3, Resolve 4 Secondary Attributes: Health 5(8), Willpower 6 Skills: Firearms 2, Larceny 2, Melee 1; Etiquette (Boardroom) 4, Insight 4, Intimidation 3, Leadership 3, Persuasion (Negotiation) 4, Subterfuge 2; Awareness 2, Finance (Hotel Operation) 4, Occult 1, Politics (Amici Noctis, Camarilla Court) 2 Disciplines:
- Dominate 3: Cloud Memory (6), Slavish Devotion(Harder to Dominate), Submerged Directive (7)
- Fortitude 3: 3 more health, 3 times harder to coerce or use mind control, +3 to resist soul scry or telepathy
- Oblivion 2: Shadow Cloak, Shadow Cast, Blinding the Alloy Eye
- Presence 2: Awe, Daunt
