Edith Beaubien is a Nosferatu who runs the Painted Lady and her is currently ignorant of the power the slumbering Ancestor possesses, but she wishes to know more. At this time, Edith acts as the herald to something all Kindred but her would deem nightmarish.
Biography[]
| “ | Beauty is a prison, my dear, but pain is liberation. | ” |
Mortal Days[]
Upon her formal debut in the summer of 1889, the only thing connecting Edith Beaubien to her Native ancestors was an album of faded photographs hidden in the attic of her Métis family’s Prairie Avenue mansion. The belle of Chicago, her suitors were scions of powerful men. The only other young woman who could rival her in beauty, charm, and accomplishments was her best friend Mavis, heiress-apparent of the Blackwaters, another old Métis family whose wealth was built upon trade. All the land surrounding the Great Lakes belonged to their people, Mavis told her, and someday, according to Grandmother Nerissa, it would all belong to them again.
The line of respectable men waiting to wed her bored Edith rigid and her family offered little entertainment. The recently arrived carnival provided the perfect excuse to avoid her obligations and slip away with Mavis to partake in all the delights promised by the traveling show.
The tattooed lady, with her neck, chest, arms, and legs covered in bold black outlines and riotously colored designs, captivated her attention. The woman radiated confidence and power, and when she spoke, she did so with educated eloquence. Edith watched with equal parts horror and fascination as the tattooist, a beautiful young man with dark eyes and an easy smile named Lau Fu, tapped rhythmically on the long, needle-tipped stick delivering ink into the woman’s flesh. It was an arresting act of defiance and liberty that allured Edith. The night before the carnival left town, Edith packed a small bag and slipped out of the servants’ entrance.
It was naivete on her part, thinking that her parents would simply let her vanish with a foreign lover. It took five years for the Pinkertons to find her and Lau Fu. They murdered him in front of her — all of it was something out of a terrible nightmare. Bleeding, sobbing, she struggled to reach Lau Fu, to kiss him one last time before the light left his eyes forever. The vampire who found her in this way didn’t know why he felt the call to Embrace her, but couldn’t stop himself from doing so.
Kindred Nights[]
While Edith plumbed the depths of grief for Lau Fu, sharp spurs of bone erupted down her spine, her fingernails extended into claws, and her bicuspids became fangs. She was hideous. Yet, despite the empty ache in her heart, Edith felt bliss. Khalid, the wise, old vampire who sired her, proved to be a worthy Mawla who pushed her to expand the horizons of her learning. She traveled far and wide, settling for a while in San Francisco, where the influx of immigrants from Asia brought methods of tattooing heretofore unknown in the United States. After the great earthquake of 1907, she rejoined Khalid in Chicago, established her own tattoo parlor, and settled into the rhythms of unlife.
During the Lupine attack, Edith sustained grave injuries but managed to escape beneath the surface of Lake Michigan where she drifted in and out of torpor, experiencing electrifying visions of a vast garden overgrowing the entire Great Lakes region. In her dreams, beautiful and terrible figures slumbered in the muddy depths, and like the slip of a distant melody, they cried softly to their Mother.
Edith emerged from the water to find all her tattoos and deformities vanished, a condition that persisted for a full night and a day of sleep. Waiting on the shore was Mavis, impossibly unaged and in the company of a small, handsome woman with eyes like the night sky. Edith was transformed beneath the lake and bound in service to the submerged Ancestor. Her deformities and body modifications eventually returned, but her mind now belonged to the Mother.
Description[]
A hidden gem in Chicago’s underground scene, The Painted Lady is more than a salon—it’s a testament to exclusivity, artistry, and indulgence. Owned and operated by the enigmatic Nosferatu Edith Beaubien, the salon caters to Kindred and mortals alike, offering tattoos, piercings, and BDSM experiences like no other. Invitations to The Painted Lady’s events are coveted, with membership cards serving as a status symbol among Chicago’s elite.
What makes The Painted Lady legendary is not just its exclusivity but its unpredictability. While powerful Kindred vie for Edith’s attention, she has been known to favor the most unexpected patrons, adding an air of mystique to her choices. A piece of her art or her approval can elevate even the most overlooked Kindred to new heights of influence and admiration.
Loresheet[]
Plus One: By sheer luck, you attended The Painted Lady as someone’s guest. While you could only observe, just being there improved your standing among Chicago’s Kindred. For a week following your visit, you gain two dice to Persuasion rolls and Status (••) when interacting with Painted Lady enthusiasts or fans.- Engraved Invitation: You now possess an exclusive ruby-red business card, embossed with the name of The Painted Lady and a personal invitation. At this level, you gain Influence: Painted Lady Enthusiasts (••). You may participate in BDSM scenes and feed on mortals who consent to blood play.
- Schedule an Appointment: Your membership card has been upgraded to a sleek, matte metal design with your title engraved. You are entitled to attend one party per week and schedule standard tattoos or piercings. This level grants you a Retainer (••) (a Painted Lady regular or artist) and improves your Status among counter-culturalists by one dot if you receive body modifications.
- Vip: Your card now gleams with a silver mist finish, stamped simply with "VIP." You have unrestricted access to The Painted Lady and its most exclusive events, which involve thrilling and often painful performances. At this level, you gain Herd: Painted Lady Enthusiasts (•••) and Contacts: BDSM Community (••), solidifying your influence in both mortal and Kindred subcultures.
- A Beaubien Original: The ultimate mark of distinction, a tattoo or piercing by Edith Beaubien herself is an unparalleled honor. Her work, done in the traditional Japanese tebori style, involves pigments so unique they seem to glow with supernatural energy. Such a piece permanently improves your Streetwise rolls by two dice, grants Status (•••) among Painted Lady enthusiasts and art connoisseurs, and Status (••) among Chicago’s Kindred.
Appearence[]
Most nights, Edith appears as the creature she is: tall, lean, and powerfully built with distinctive spiky bone spurs protruding from each vertebra and from the tips of her shoulders. She is bald, and her unsettling acid-green eyes glow above sharp fangs that extend down past her red-glossed lips. Elaborate tattoos of lush vegetation—flowers, vines, trees, grasses, herbs, etc.—in screamingly vivid hues cover every visible inch of her skin. Because she takes great pride in her body art, she wears clothing that allows her ink to be seen..
Character Sheet[]
References[]
- VTM: Chicago by Night 5th Edition, p. 162-164
