Maria Vesette

This document has been contributed by: Maria Vesette

Content warning: Blood, vampirism, unwitting & unwilling draining of blood, possesiveness, toxic & unhealthy relationships

Lady Maria Allura Vesette- Escher, of House Vesette of Meidal

Maria Vesette, born Maria Escher, was a member of Meidal's nobility. The second born of the elven-human Escher family, she was married off to the son of the vampiric House Vesette, where she was killed and turned. However, her transformation was incomplete, and Maria maintained a semblance of her humanity, unbeknownst to her new house. She stayed in Meidal into her adulthood, before getting wrapped up in the activities of the Exaltation of Nethyr, which eventually led to her leaving Meidal. She remained in Reuni, however, to track down those who had wronged her and led her to her current state.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Early Life

Maria Allura Escher was born in 1650 A.G.W. to Elisaria Magdalene Escher and Osric Ricard Escher, both half elf, half human. She was the second child of her family, with an older sister by the name of Serena Nezette Escher, who would be continuing the family name and inheriting her father's title. The Escher family was low-ranking nobility, and Maria's responsibility was moving up among the ranks of the nobles. Her childhood was spent learning ettiquiette, studying the nation's history and politics, learning diplomacy, and attending formal events and gatherings to make connections and find a partner. As all members of her house, she would learn how to wield a spear, which became her weapon of choice.

Courting & Marriage

In 1669, when Maria was 19 years of age, she caught the attention of Cain Vesette, heir of House Vesette, who had been looking for a bride for the past half a decade. The pale elven man began to court Maria, and she reciprocated. Only six years later, they were engaged to be wed. For the first few years of their marriage, the pair were outwardly happy, attending social events together and maintaining appearances. However, this was soon to change. Cain revealed to Maria his true nature, and the nature of his family; they were all vampires. Maria was concerned, but Cain reassured her that no harm would come to her while she belonged to the family. Despite these red flags, Maria was convinced, and stayed with her betrothed.

Death & Undeath

However, only a few months later, Cain began to act strangely around Maria. She would wake up with dried blood on her neck, and when asked about it, Cain would brush her off and change the subject. One night, however, Cain went too far, and drained too much blood from Maria in one night, too soon after a prior event. Maria was dead, and so Cain got permission from the family to turn her. Because she had died prior to the start of her transformation, she did not become a full vampire, like the rest of the family. She gained a much weaker form of the condition, lesser vampirism, which made her weaker than the rest of the house, but also curbed some of the need for blood characteristic of the greater condition, and allowed her to walk in the sun, albeit with some pain.
Maria was infuriated when she awoke. Her anger only emphasized by her newfound form, she went on an uncontrolled rampage, one ending in the lives of two servants, before being contained and subdued by the family. Eventually, she calmed down and realised that she was now eternally tied to the Vesettes, and that her best chance of continued survival was with them.

Member of House Vesette

It was at this point Maria's identity as a member of House Vesette was fully solidified. She stayed with Cain, despite their past, and the two became powerful members of Meidal's nobility. They were incredibly influential, and some would even say they owned the city. They held sway in all of Reuni's offices, and were rumoured to have even met the God-Queen of Reuni herself. However, their power, unlike their immortal lives, would not last forever. Rifts began to grow between the members of House Vesette, and they would begin to fight against one another. Their focus turned inward, rather than outward, each member fighting to keep what they had while trying to gain more power.

Fall of House Vesette

With all of their internal fighting, the Vesettes were now open to external attack. House Escher would also begin to experience their own difficulties - their eldest child assassinated by a rival house, the Eschers now had no heir, as their only other child was already married off. Elisaria would attempt to give birth to a new child, but she was well past her prime, and the pregnancy did not end as planned. The Eschers turned to the only source they could, and made a deal with Nethyr. They were successful in this, birthing a new heir to the family's title, at the cost of their lineages being forever tinted by the infernal. In the meantime, Maria became the sole individual holding her new house together, the Vesettes in an unsteady truce maintained solely by her. Her new brother, Cassian Escher, saw her power, and fell jealous of his sister. Her marriage had brought her into a much more influential family, while he was stuck as the last resort child of a second-rate family. It didn't take long for him to realise the cracks in the Vesette's seat of power, and he spread rumours that Maria had been the one involed with Nethyr, and the cause of his tiefling heritage. The other nobles were skeptical, but the commonfolk believed him, and a mob soon stormed the Vesette estate. While the rumours eventually stopped circulating, this was enough for Meidal to discover Maria's true nature as a vampire, and would then lock her in a cell for centuries.

Imprisoned

In the centuries that Maria was imprisoned, the generations of mortal humans would eventually forget about her connection to the Vesettes or the source of the scandal that led to her imprisonment. Eventually, she was moved to the much smaller city of Erellei. Starved and eventually forgotten, left in a dungeon at the bottom of the city's keep, she was eventually found and freed by Sha'Ren and the members of his adventuring party, in the year 1985. While the monster hunter had originally wanted to kill her, he was convinced to let her live, under the condition that he would never have to see her again. She armed herself, with the intention of going after those who had wronged her - starting with the members of Nethyr's cult, who had caused the birth of her traitorous brother.

Return to the World

Much had changed in the time that Maria was gone, and her return to Meidal was marked with no recognition of who she was, and a complete shift in the seats of power among the nobility. Her family, House Escher, had been completely wiped out. She heard whispers that told her that her brother's plans had originally succeeded, and that the Escher family had been well-known and renowned. However, in the past few years, there had been a sudden shift in power. After 22-year-old Caisimir Armannis, of the minor noble house House Armannis, inherited his title as lord of his estate, he had begun to make moves for power in the city. In 1984, the entirety of House Escher was killed in one night. Maria also found that her newer house, House Vesette, had been forced to retreat into the shadows, forced to give up their lavish lifestyles and find their way feeding on beggars and criminals on the streets. She learned that her husband had fled, coward that he was, and had not been heard of for decades. She deemed the city a lost cause, and went to find her husband, or whatever remained of him.

Current Status

Undead

Species

Mixed Lineage

Conditions

• Lesser Vampirism
• Undeath

Date of Birth

18 Nerynne

Date of Death

1 Nevaug

Life

1650 A.G.W. 1679 A.G.W. 29 years old

Birthplace

Meidal

Place of Death

Meidal

Pronouns

She/her

Eyes

Bright red

Hair

Black, with grey and white streaks

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale white/grey, with visible blood underneath

Height

5'8"

Aligned Organization

House Vesette

Other Affiliations

• Exaltation of Nethyr
• Reuni