Thomas Arturo is the Toreador Harpy of New York City.
Biography[]
Thomas’s introduction to the world of the Kindred came through his professional life. He was an assistant to the prestigious architecture firm of Richard Meier & Partners in New York City. Arturo had worked on a design for an exceptionally wealthy client. At the project's completion, the client decided that she’d like to preserve the talents of the person creating her haven. Although dubious at first of his client’s bizarre form of payment — he almost greeted the sunrise out of despair during his early unlife — Thomas grew to understand that along with its drawbacks, unlife had many benefits. In fact, he retains a few professional contacts with Meier & Partners to this night, many of whom joke that he hasn’t aged a day since they met him. While a mythical “day job” keeps Arturo from meeting with his associates during the daylight hours, he’s perfectly able to “freelance” for them at night.
As Meier & Partners’ fame spread in the mortal world, it spread as well in the Kindred world, and Arturo rode along with it. As one of the few Kindred who made his haven in New York before it was liberated from the Sabbat by the Camarilla, Thomas has been a part of the social elite from the moment he completed his sire’s haven. He’s done designs for mortals (the musician Moby is rumored to be among them), Kindred of Manhattan, and even Cainites of the Sabbat who knew of his reputation when they were the prominent sect in the city. It is a sign of great prestige to live (or otherwise) in a Thomas Arturo design, and that prestige is even more quantifiable among Kindred.
This prestige paved the way for Thomas to become one of the Harpies after the Camarilla’s victory over the Sabbat. As the undead would do almost anything to have Arturo design their havens, he acquired a caliber of social gravity usually reserved for primogen and other policymakers. In the absence of such a body, Arturo became one of the harpies, whose opinions could make or break a Kindred. While he has yet to snub a Kindred so badly that it’s better for the poor Lick to leave town, Arturo has reserved his favor for those in the traditional power bloc of undead society: the Ventrue, Toreador, and (albeit grudgingly) Tremere. Some of his more recent projects include the guest library and sitting room of the Tremere’s Maupassant chantry, the penthouse haven of his fellow harpy Hellene Panhard, and an ambitious gallery/haven for a wealthy Toreador in TriBeCa. Arturo hasn’t made many amicable contacts among the Brujah, Malkavian, or Nosferatu, though he does have a respect for Calebros that the Nosferatu seems to reciprocate.
When working for Kindred, Arturo is known to accept almost any kind of payment that suits his fancy at the time. He’s designed havens for no recompense other than prestation, accepted cash or stock options, and even taken a blood bond. While he does little design on less than the million-dollar scale, he has been known to redecorate interiors for significantly less money (or whatever form of payment he chooses to accept). Many of the candidates for the princedom plan to tap Arturo for designs in locations they wish to designate as Elysium if their claims to the domain are successful.
2020s[]
He had spent decades looking for the meaning of life, but now feels silly about the entire search. Through his machinations, he got both Prince Panhard and Boss Callihan blood bound to himself.
Despite the mystery veiling his machinations, Arturo's deep-seated contempt and vanity are unmistakable. One of the most ambitious Kindred in New York City, he exploits his influence as Harpy to skillfully navigate Court games, employing any measure that could benefit him in the long run. However, with the weakening position of the Prince and no suitable replacement he can easily manipulate, Arturo struggles to maintain his meticulously designed unlife.
Following the destruction of the Elysium by hunter forces, Thomas assists a wounded Panhard to the emergency Elysium. He is unable to maintain support for the Prince when Qadir forces her to strike back at the hunters. Upon killing the hunters' leader Aaron Fletcher, Thomas actually shifts his support to Qadir and suggests he become Prince.
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: New York by Night, p. 67-68
- HTR: The Nocturnal, p. 16-17, 19-25, 52-61
- VTM: Coteries of New York
- VTM: Reckoning of New York