SchreckNet Data File
- Real/Birth Name: Johanna Maria Ferguson Sundström
- Known Identity/Mortal Alias: Nightingale / Jenny Sundström
- Place of Origin: Klara, Stockholm, Sweden
- Height: 5'5"
- Occupation: Dean of School of Arts & Humanities, California State University Ashford
- Apparent Age: Mid-30s
- Embraced: 1855
- Kindred Status: Ancilla
- Sire: Genevieve Montclair
- Clan: Toreador
- Clan Status: Influential
- Sect: Camarilla
- Sect Status: Whip
- Player/Type: NPC
Appearance
Despite her comparatively humble origins, Johanna appears a genuine noble lady to all who grace her presence. Long, natural auburn hair and blue-grey eyes, with stately features and porcelain skin, she is an elegant and striking figure. She is typically seen wearing fashionable clothing, though typically more practical than that favoured by other Toreadors - she wears elegant and designer makes because she likes them and they suit her and her status, not simply to make a statement about her social seniority. Trousers and blouses/polo-necks/jumpers are typical for most daily circumstances, gearing somewhat more to short (but rarely mini) summer dresses in the hotter months. For formal events, smart suit (typically with trousers and blazers) for business and long ball gowns for social situations are the norm. She always looks classy, even when deliberately wearing "common" clothing.
Background
Johanna was born the illegitimate daughter of a bookkeeper and a schoolteacher. Her mother had divorced her husband for adultery but refused to remarry until after his death in 1834, when Johanna was 14. She was raised typical for the time - and quite well educated as her mother ran a day school for girls out of her home. When she was 9 she had a lucky break when the maid of the principal dancer at the Royal Swedish Opera heard her singing and returned the next day with the dancer, who arranged an audition which led to her admission at the acting school of the Royal Dramatic Theatre. By the following year, she had begun singing onstage, increasing in roles over time and experience until getting her first great role when she was 18. By the age of 20 she was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of music and a court singer to the King of Sweden and Norway. She had a successful career performing in Denmark, Germany, Britain for nobility and royalty, including Queen Victoria herself who attended her every performance and threw flowers at her feet. But when she was 29 a clergyman told her that singing on the operatic stage was 'evil' - something her own mother had also expressed views on, which led to her retiring from opera and continuing performing in musical theatre or as a non-opera singer, including a highly-successful 2-year tour of America under P.T. Barnum. Although her success meant she commanded high salaries, she was renown for her philanthropism in many ways - singing for the ill, giving money to charity, and sponsoring many educational and musical programs (especially for women). She married when she was 32 and officially retired, but still performed occasionally.
Or at least, that was the official story. In reality, her talent had gained her the attention of the Toreador clan long ago - and various Toreadors had certainly gained prestige by being able to get her to perform, or promote her - but her fame was too great for anyone to Embrace her during such sensitive years. So once she retired and returned to Britain with her new husband, it was the right time for Genevieve Montclair to Embrace her - a move considered risky by elder Kindred but the ambitious young ancilla, not quite a century old, managed to ghoul and blood bond Johanna, then paraded her as her latest protege in Elysium and the Toreador Salons until she proved able to protect the Masquerade enough to get permission. Although many expected her sire to fail, and bring the newly-embraced Johanna down with her, Johanna's talent combined with Genevieve's ambition and social acumen proved to be the perfect combination, and their fortunes would rise exponentially together.
Johanna followed her sire to the USA when she answered the Ventrue Kratus' call for aid in a campaign to capture the small Sabbat town of Bakersfield, which he believed in Camarilla (ie his) hands could be guided to great potential. Although Johanna did little in the actual assault other than aid her sire in gaining control of key mortals and institutions, after the conquest and reincorporation of the town as the city of Ashford, Johanna had a great impact. Most people remember Kratus and Genevieve as being the kindred who made Ashford great, and a Camarilla stronghold in an otherwise-hostile state, but whilst Kratus and Genevieve did much to encourage industrial and commercial growth, in reality, it was Johanna who did most of the work to encourage the growth of the music industry; although her sire typically gets the credit for this too. But whilst Genevieve represents the commercial side of Ashford's Entertainment, music and art industry, Johanna is its heart. As Johanna is a patron of the arts for art itself, rather than for prestige as her sire is, Johanna does not mind too much - her sire has mentored her, protected her and guided her well, and always gives her credit where its due.
But the reality is that since the Sabbat Crusade the situation has changed. Genevieve has always been reviled by the anarchs and the "low clans" but when the Ventrue and Toreadors dominated Ashford this was not an issue as their enemies could be squashed into submission. But now that the Brujah, Malkavians and Nosferatu dominate, their situation is more tenuous. Even many Toreadors believe Genevieve's time is past and that she should be replaced - and many look towards Johanna as a potential replacement. Johanna has no ambition in this regard - she became Whip at her sire's bequest, not for her own ambition - but cares for her clan and wants what's best for it... and even she can see that her sire is now being wary of her, and is acting like a caged tiger... lashing out viciously at anything that she considers threatening her. And she worries that perhaps Genevieve's ambition and refusal to give up power will damage the clan - and take Johanna down with her.
Mortal Society
During her mortal days, Johanna was a legend - she toured Europe much of Europe and performed for Kings and nobles. Then she retired and was Embraced. Then she spent decades performing purely for the Kindred whilst promoting mortal talent, until her move to America. There, enough time had passed that after another decade or so she was able to start performing again in the public eye, although this time it was an endeavour to promote the arts, which were sadly lacking in the industrialised region. Once again, she became a legend until, once again, she had to retire in order to preserve the masquerade. But by this time she had used her influence and, along with her sire's commercial and industrial power to provide financial backing, the music scene in Ashford grew exponentially and Johanna's Opera House was the pride of Ashford. Until more modern music began to take the public interest, forcing her to rechristen it as the Nile Theatre. This held off for a few more decades, during which time the Brujah Primogen and elder Thomas Wingfield approached her with an ambitious plan for a new College, asking her to lead the Arts & Humanities section. Seeing this as an opportunity to encourage the arts, gain clan prestige for discovering and developing talent, and perhaps bring back interest in opera and the classics, she accepted - and found it to be most gratifying.
Although she kept the Nile Theatre for around three more decades, interest in theatre and cinema declined locally and, truthfully, she found her status as the Dean of the School of Arts & Humanities gave her enough fame and prestige to satisfy her Toreador instincts, yet kept her out of the limelight enough to make preserving the Masquerade easier. As such she eventually decided to close the theatre for good and dedicated herself to the Doré Theatre and the University.
These days she is known as the Dean of CSUA's School of Arts & Humanities, which is generally run by directors of different departments who communicate with her during the day via her personal assistant, with her attending meetings after dark "due to busy schedules". She regularly oversees the music, theatre and opera classes - always in a non-intrusive (and pre-arranged) way respectful to the tutors; although she states the intention is to engage with staff and students, help the courses, and monitor quality, in reality, it is mostly for her to be able to see first-hand the latest talent to decide if any of them are worth her personal attention and tutelage for greatness - and possibly the Embrace.
In mortal society, she is a renown philanthropist and pillar of the community. Just as she once contributed much to charity and promotion of music and education in her homeland of Sweden, she now donates considerable finances and support to artistic, musical and educational charities and organisations in Ashford and Kern County. She has sponsored many educational programs and - unlike her sire - has been known to even regularly be a patron and promote non-Toreador artists. Of course, this leads to her gaining status for promoting them, but most believe that this is done out of a genuine Artiste-sensibility to promote the art and support other artists, as opposed to her sire's Poseur-like sensibility of doing it mostly for prestige. Like most kindred who have been in a domain longer than a decade, she is renown to be a bit of a recluse and typically deals with intermediaries in her name. Typically, only those she personally mentors or deals with (mostly at the University) ever see her face, and even then, most know her mortal society alias of "Jenny Sundström" rather than her real name and, like most kindred in the modern nights, every few decades she changes her identity to keep away the Society of Leopold and other vampire hunters.
Personality
Johanna is well-educated and refined and thinks that society is going down the drain because people no longer respect old-fashioned values. She acts like a proper lady, like she was during her mortal days (although she was of relatively common birth, her career propelled her social mobility) - a manner that both got her Embraced, and now serves her well in the halls of Elysium. Additionally, she is renown for being seemingly compassionate and kind-hearted, well-known for her many philanthropic actions, programs and support of the arts, especially musical education and encouraging music and theatre.
That being said, Johanna is fully aware that she is a gifted singer who was a legendary singer during her mortal days, and is an ancilla of the Clan of the Rose; so whilst she loves her adoring fans, and seems to be compassionate and caring, and treats others well, she very much has an aloofness stemming from belief that she is a rose amongst daisies. She has earnt her position through talent, training, hard work and sacrifice, and will use it to encourage the arts and help others - but she innately believes she deserves the adoration she gets (and that all beneath her status owe it to her).
Those who underestimate and come into conflict with her, however, learn the hard way that no matter how beautiful, every rose has its thorns - and hers are very sharp and dangerous when they need to be.
Other Notes
Inja Djokovic
Those who deal with Johanna on a regular basis, especially mortals and other ghouls, will quickly become acquainted with Inja Djokovic, Johanna's current ghoul. Unlike most Toreadors who replace their ghouls as often as they change fashions, Johanna kept her previous ghoul for decades, even long after other kindred would have dropped the ghouls when their lack of ageing began becoming its own masquerade concern. But her previous ghoul died during the Opera House Massacre of the Sabbat Crusade, and Inja is her replacement.
Inja is a Serbian-American Alumni of California State University, where she double-majored in Music (Education emphasis) and Communications (Public Relations emphasis). Johanna picked her not for her musical talent, but for her dedication and versatility. To quote Johanna, Inja has enough interest and ability in music to make a succesful living but not enough to ever make it big. Under Johanna's guidance, Inja graduated and followed up with a Masters in Business Administration (Marketing emphasis), ghouling her after her graduation. Since her graduation, she has worked as Johanna's personal assistant, public relations advisor and musical accompanist. Inja was fond and grateful towards Johanna even before the blood bonding effect of Johanna's vitae, so now her loyalty is unshakeable and she works hard to keep her domitor happy and, in return, Johanna treats her more benevolently than most kindred would do. Certainly, there is no denying that Inja has achieved more recognition as Johanna's "face person" and principal accompanist when Johanna has performed in public or in the Salons, than Inja could have achieved on her own merits.
Doré Theatre
Located on the campus of California State University Ashford, the 500-seat theatre is home for three student productions each year, as well as a number of professional acts through the Dorian Society Encounters with the Arts series. The Encounters series has sponsored productions with the Guthrie Theatre, Berkeley Shakespeare Company, Missouri Rep, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Roger Wagner Chorale, Texas Opera Theatre (traveling wing of the Houston Grand Opera), and the Western Opera Theatre (traveling wing of the San Francisco Opera).
Combat Style
Johanna abhors combat - and as a lifelong socialite is more likely to scream and run than stand and fight. Nevertheless, in her mortal days she participated in both fencing and archery as sports, mostly target archery but, on occasion, hunting with royalty. As kindred, it was a useful skill to keep. Soon after her Embrace she helped her sire conquer Ashford. Although she didn't really participate in any of the combat, it was a reminder of the reality of kindred existence - there were enemy vampires like the Sabbat and the crazed Lupines always out to get you, and so she kept up the practice of both for defensive purposes. Decades of association with an ex-military Malkavian who thought he was a Toreador embraced by Johanna's sire, and her chief of security, has given her the ability to train with the Malkavian and her sire. Although both Johanna and her sire think combat is gauche, they have trained reasonably well in case of an attack by Sabbat, Lupines, or their many enemies.
Although the Malkavian died protecting Johanna and her sire during the Sabbat Crusade, the training proved worthwhile and both have kept it up; even though Ashford is safe for a few decades from another Sabbat assault, and the unholy pact with the Lupines reduces their threat - it is a dangerous world and one needs to be ready for when the uncivilized come breaking down your door. She keeps her Grizzly recurve bow in her haven, typically only taking it out when she goes practicing (or expecting trouble, such as during the Crusade). If attacked in her haven, this will be the weapon she will reach for and try to use her speed and agility to keep her distance. But since the Crusade she always keeps a knife with her, typically concealed on her person or in her handbag (it is legal for open carry, but illegal if concealed - so she relies on her Presence and Dominate to prevent legal hassles). When fighting with it, she prefers to rely on her speed and agility to evade and strike back quickly at her aggressors, wearing them down with slashes rather than going for a killing blow. Her knife has been (at considerable expense) warded by the Tremere against kindred and lupines, which presents a nasty surprise to those who don't expect it.
Social Style
Johanna is often thought of as being Genevieve's appendage, or her common sense, depending who you ask. Both sire and progeny are elder enough to gain respect, and the difference in age between them is not so great that Genevieve can lord it over her progeny. In fact, many believe that were Johanna to challenge Genevieve for primogeniture, she might win - at least, if the popular vote was to count.
Johanna is often thought to be everything Genevieve is not. Genevieve was embraced for her beauty and cunning, not her artistic skills. Johanna was embraced for her artistic accomplishments and social graces. The two are a power-dynamic that just works. Whilst Genevieve can be trusted to keep her word only as long as it benefits her or her clan, and that her motives and actions are to the benefit of herself or her clan (and by extension, benefits her), Johanna is renown as being far more compassionate-seeming and altruistic. She is far more likely to support artistic and cultural causes championed by non-Toreadors than Genevieve, with little reason other than for its own sake. As such, many people prefer to deal with Johanna as a proxy for when they really need to deal with her sire - and as this keeps the riff-raff away from Genevieve, has suited her just fine. Detractors claim this makes Johanna somewhat of a "secretary" for Genevieve, and that rivals could take out Johanna far easier than they could Genevieve, in order to harm the elder - but most Toreadors (and especially non-Toreadors) prefer to ensure Johanna stays where she is to help temper Genevieve's actions and ruthlessness, and those that do not typically underestimate Johanna, learning only too late that the song of the Sirens' may be beautiful, but also deadly.
As a general rule, kindred approaching Johanna with respect and an interest in the arts (especially music, theatre and opera) will easily get along with and potentially earn Johanna's respect, if not friendship. Johanna is acutely aware that in the post-Crusade Ashford, the Toreadors are not the major power they once were, and whilst Genevieve is consolidating her assets and playing even more ruthless and cunning to hold and grow her power-base, Johanna appears to be more humbly extending olive branches and trying to work alongside the new status quo.
Signature Equipment
- Expensive high-end fashion clothing
- BodyGuard bullet-proof leather jacket (when not in high-fashion clothing)
- Land Rover Range Rover
- Warded Gerber MKII combat knife
- Bear Archery Grizzly recurve bow
- variety of arrowheads for target practice (bullet point), hunting (mechanical) or defence (broadhead)
Signature Quotes
- "If you knew what a sensation of the nearness of a higher power one instinctively feels when one is permitted to contribute to the good of mankind, as I have done, and still do! Believe me, it is a great gift of God's mercy!"
- "I have brightness in my soul, which strains toward Heaven. I am like a bird!"