SchreckNet Data File
- Real/Birth Name: Lady Jane Grey (Lady Jane Dudley by marriage)
- Known Identity/Mortal Alias: Jane Grey / Lilianne Grey
- Place of Origin: Leicestershire, East Midlands, England
- Height: 5'5"
- Occupation: Student (Jane) / Curator (Lilianne)
- Apparent Age: late teens (Jane) / Early 40s (Lilianne)
- Embraced: 1554
- Kindred Status: Elder
- Sire: Isabela (Bat-Zabbai)
- Clan: Senya (Children of the Light)
- Clan Status: Lorekeeper
- Sect: Camarilla
- Sect Status: Keeper of Elysium, Deposed Prince of Oxnard
- Player/Type: NPC
Appearance
As an elder of Clan Senya, it is unsurprising that Lady Jane is capable of drastically changing her appearance at a whim, and therefore could take any conceivable appearance she chooses.
Despite this, like most Children of the Light, she maintains a regular form. For many years Lady Jane has maintained an appearance different to her own natural look (which would be thought of as under-age by most mortals), under the mortal alias of Lilianne Grey but for reasons unknown (clan members suppose that she may simply be preparing to discard her Lilianne identity) since her arrival at Ashford Lady Jane has been appearing in a close resemblance to her natural form in increasing amounts.
As Lady Jane masquerades as both Lilianne and her daughter, it is not surprising that both share commonalities. In both personas Lady Jane is auburn-haired, her natural hair colour, although Jane has younger and more vibrant looking hair, and often keeps it in more fashionable or modern styles than Jane's more old-fashioned and professional mother. Jane has natural sapphire-blue eyes, whilst Lilianne has hazel eyes.
Lilianne tends to have a professional demeanour and dresses to match. Her hair is usually kept tied neatly in a ponytail, or some other form of style suitably appropriate for work - though normally simple. Lilianne only tends to style her hair differently when she has to attend some appropriate event that requires a bit more care, and even then it is rarely very complicated or attention-grabbing. Lilianne favours wearing business suits for the most part (traditionally with a skirt), or a sheath dress; with gowns for elegant situations. Lilianne favours black and earthy colours. Lilianne wears little makeup, usually some light natural-coloured lipstick or gloss and understated eyeshadow; but again wears more, though still understated, when the occasion requires it.
Jane dresses as one would expect from a teenage girl raised by an old-fashioned and devout protestant single mother; modern but slightly traditional and conservatively for the most part. She is the kind of girl that most fathers hope their daughters grow up to become. Jane usually keeps her hair shorter than Lilianne, kept around shoulder length on average, but styles it more than her mother. Whilst she does occasionally sport a ponytail or low-slung bun, these tend to be for more formal occasions such as when she helps out and trainee-curates at Lilianne's gallery. Most of the time she keeps her hair in a long-bob or tousled style, which looks more fashionable. Jane is far more likely to vary her hairstyle in many different ways for different occasions and environments, and seems to enjoy experimenting with anything from long side-parted, or plaited up-do, to short pixie cuts. Her lipstick (and other makeup) preferences are more notable than Lilianne's, with shades of pink, fuchsia and berry being favoured. Her styles of dresses are likewise more casual and modern, varying from jeans and t-shirts/blouses to flared and slip dresses; with colours being bolder and more varied than Lilianne's, with no particular colour preference. Whatever Jane wears, however, always complements and accentuates her natural beauty and is at least safely appropriate for the situation. Whilst she may wear dresses that may be glamorous, Jane is almost never seen wearing anything deliberately provocative.
In reality, Lady Jane is somewhere in-between. Her hair is naturally auburn, a little over shoulder-length and wavy. Whilst she seems to enjoy looking pleasing, and as such has good sense of taste in dresses, which more closely resembled that of Jane's tastes, her natural conservatism lends her more to 'Lilianne's' colours and styles; and although she has good taste, Lady Jane finds it too exhausting and time-consuming to even attempt to keep up with modern fashions (she notes that even Genevieve Montclair does not do so herself, generally relying on her aides and fashion consultants to keep her informed of what is in fashion), and doesn't try. At Elysium she will dress more like Lilianne, wearing suits or appropriate dresses; but if caught unprepared for an occasion, will be most likely wearing a casual dress or jeans and a blouse. Lady Jane naturally favours pink shades of lipstick and keeping her hair wavy-loose, or straightened into a ponytail or similar.
Background
Queen for Nine Days
Lady Jane was raised as a proper noble lady, and given the best humanist education possible - studying Latin, Greek and Hebrew with John Aylmer, and Italian with Michelangelo Florio, as well as ettiquette, archery and hunting, needlework, courtly dancing and how to play some musical instruments. Through the influence of her father and her tutors, she became a committed Protestant and also corresponded with the Zürich reformer Heinrich Bullinger. Lady Jane preferred book studies to hunting parties and regarded her strict upbringing, which was typical of the time, as harsh. Nevertheless, she excelled in her humanist studies and gained a passion for The Almighty.
Her life was blessed until she became the Queen of England for nine days, which she would describe as the worst period [figuratively and literally] of her life. Barely 16 when crowned, she became betrothed against her will by family manipulators who wanted to retain their influence over the throne. Although an unwitting and naive pawn, she paid for their machinations with her life. Or would have done, had a Brujah scholar and politician named Thomas Wingfield not aided Isabela of Clan Senya in rescuing Lady Jane and leaving a dominated body-dupilicate in her stead (for further details of the rescue, of which Lady Jane actually did little except walk out in disguise, read Thomas Wingfield's entry).
Death is But a Step Towards Salvation
The three kindred left England and travelled to France, where they remained for several decades, with Thomas and Lady Jane in time becoming both close friends and, if rumours are to be believed, lovers. In time, the three would decide to brave the new world of the Americas, with Isabela seeing an opportunity for the future of her Clan. Believing it worth the risk, Isabela commanded most of her progeny (if not already domain holders) to follow her to the new world, where they scattered to French and Spanish settlements all around the country; although all three would on occasion, over the centuries, travel back to the old world for their own reasons. After much travelling around, Lady Jane and Thomas eventually settled in the growing settlement of San Diego in 1797 as it became the settlement with the largest population in Alta California.
Pious even before her death, Lady Jane did not see her new unlife as a curse, but rather as both a reprieve from death for her piety and a trial from The Almighty for her mortal weaknesses and naivete - a trial involving the constant need to prove her faith and keep the Beast at bay. Under her sire's tutelage, Lady Jane grew from a naive young girl to a respected Elysium regular in time, with many years spent with her sire navigating various kindred courts and societies, and all the time in-between learning as much as she could about virtually everything - especially the Kindred condition. Her belief about her condition being a test of piety was only bolstered when she became a Clan Lorekeeper, whereupon her studies of the Book of Nod led to her learning about the mythical state of Golconda, a state upon which kindred can receive forgiveness from God. Since then, Lady Jane has spent much of her existence seeking out and learning lore about the Book of Nod, Golconda and Gehenna (which she takes as the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelations, and believes that those kindred who achieved Golconda would be taken with the kine when The Rapture occurs). She is known to be well on the path of enlightenment, and is often sought for her wisdom in this regard by those seeking to begin the journey themselves. Some believe she may actually have secretly achieved the mythic state, but chooses not to claim the status this would grant for her own reasons. In her studies and travels both to seek Golconda and as a Lorekeeper, she studied many belief systems - both modern-surviving ones such as Buddhism and Islam, to ancient ones no longer worshipped such as Akkadian, Greco-Roman and Egyptian, eventually resulting in her losing her faith to a degree. Although she would remain steadfast in her worship of The Almighty, she moved away from her Protestant roots to have her own faith.
To Rule Once More
Trusted by her sire for her learned wisdom, personal power, and social and political experience, Lady Jane was sent to Oxnard in 1850 after Oxnard was conquered from the Sabbat by the Camarilla, in order to help establish her Clan's secret presence. After many years of travelling with Thomas Wingfield, they parted ways as he had affairs and ambitions of his own, such as aiding a Ventrue Elder known as Victor Kratus and his Toreador ally Genevieve Montclair conquer a growing Sabbat settlement they believed had more promise with Camarilla rule under Kratus; with his own domain to do with as he pleased being the offered reward. Once her Clan was established and organised in secret, she became the Matriarch of Oxnard in 1856, although would simply be known to the Camarilla as a respected Toreador elder until the Clan ended the Great Deception.
In Oxnard Lady Jane eventually gained the position of Seneschal, respected by all the clans for her wise counsel and apolitical handling of affairs - often seen as the calming hand behind the unpopular Prince. This would prove fortuitous when the Prince of Oxnard was killed by Anarchs in the Second Anarch Revolt of 1944 which led to most of the cities in California becoming territories of the new Anarch Free States, whereupon she assumed the mantle of Baron of Oxnard in 1945 by consent as she sought only to end the bloodshet and foster peace between all kindred in Oxnard, regardless of affilitation. Attempting to bring an end to the bloodshed, she gained the respect of both the Anarchs and Camarilla by working hard to ensure that the remaining Camarilla loyalists were treated fairly as kindred of Oxnard, and [relatively] allied with the Camarilla against the Sabbat, who were both a threat to the fledgeling Anarch Free States as well as, to her mind, ungodly and unrepentantly evil creatures. Under her rule, Oxnard became a great multicultural centre of growth. This strength would ultimately prove her undoing when, in 2004, the Cathayan vampires with whom she had established working relations to improve inter-sect relations, revealed their true colours and betrayed her. In a few nights of horror, the Cathayans launched unprovoked attacks on many Camarilla kindred that had been considered allies or contacts, catching most by surprise. The Cathayans toppled their power structures and took control of Oxnard (and launched ultimately-successful assaults on many Anarch and Camarilla cities in California, conquering the long-held Camarilla stronghold of San Francisco amongst others). With the assistance of Valerie Leigh, a clan adoptee, Lady Jane was able to escape from the secret bolt-hole she had been secreted to by her Knight Elodan who lured away most of the Cathayans who were searching her haven seeking her destruction, and thus creating a lightly-protected opportunity for Valerie to reach, and then secret Lady Jane out of Oxnard and to Ashford.
Since arriving in Ashford, Lady Jane has claimed only her former title of Lorekeeper (a title that is almost never removed, as the title of honour denotes knowledge, not political status) and has seemingly thrown her attention and interests into the Noblesse Oblige gallery, and of late her Jane Grey identity. Some say it is almost as if Lady Jane is going back to the beginning for some reason. Some believe she is playing the long game, holdings her cards carefully and soon plans to claim the title of Matriarch or possibly even depose Braxton Donahoe as Primogen, perhaps even First-Amongst-Equals. Others believe she has abandoned the power struggles of the kindred to dedicate herself to her search for enlightenment. They point to her mysterious seeming-absence of nearly two years from Ashford following the Sabbat Crusade as possible evidence of this - leaving her affairs handled by her retainers and returning to kindred society seemingly more serene and calm than ever.
Mortal Society
Lady Jane has two mortal personas, both with full appropriate mortal legal status. Lilianne is the known owner of the Noblesse Oblige gallery, housed in one of the city's oldest cultural mansions. She is known to be a workaholic who rarely leaves her office/home and relies on her managers and staff to operate the gallery during the day for her whilst she does administrative and social work, and seeking new acquisitions. As described in the appearance section, when Lady Jane is seen as Lilianne she uses her Clan's Apparitionem discipline to artificially age her appearance to appear in her early-40s.
Most of the time, of late, she actually masquerades as Jane, Lilianne's teenage daughter (Lady Jane's natural physical age), who is being home-schooled (helping explain lack of presence in schools, and why both mother and daughter are unavailable during the day), and works many nights at the gallery, learning and building experience to become an Art Curator. Most Senya believe that she plans to retire Lilianne - likely have her leave the country for good, or more likely die in some accident. This has become almost standard practice for Senya (especially Children of the Light), to be able to pass their legacies on to their mortal identity's children and thus begin a new cycle of continuing what they are doing, with a fresh face that allows them to stay in the mortal eye without endangering the masquerade. Whilst many Senya tend to adopt the living inheritor from abroad approach, those with more experience think it is a cunning way to smoothen the transition.
Whilst Lady Jane does actually own the gallery, and the mansion it is housed in, which is her acknowledged Domain along with the adjacent streets, the gallery has recently been declared one of the city's Elysiums. When Prince Wingfield holds Elysium the gallery is closed due to a private function; that is to say, mortals are prohibited entry. The gallery itself has various sections:
- Azure Wing: The artwork in the first of the main two wings are Jane's own impressive personal collection of artworks - ie bought by the gallery. Prestigious artworks on loan to the gallery are usually housed here.
- Argent Wing: This section hosts artwork of promising kine artists, sometimes donated but more likely that arists petition to have their work displayed. The contents of this section fluctuate often as local talent is showcased periodically but cycled around.
- The Crown Wing: this wing holds Prince Wingfield's personal art collection, and of those that he sponsors or otherwise chooses to favour with a display in his wing. As the Prince owns California State University Ashford, this section is tied with CSUA's school of art for educational usage as well as showcasing of student work.
- Rose Wing: This wing is intended for the city's Toreadors (and other kindred artists) to display their works. Whilst the elder Toreadors only occasionally "gift" their art to the gallery (as they prefer to use them in and gather prestige for their own galleries), younger Artistes and those not graced by the Toreador elite have began taking advantage of displaying their work (boon-free) and competing with others over the popularity of their work. Whilst various elder Toreador Poseurs have objected to this, Lady Jane argues that if their own work, or that of their protégés, is so superior to that of the young artistes that are too inferior for their work to grace the Toreador salons, then surely there cannot be any insult, or even threat to the Toreador salons. Whilst this argument does not convince them, it does silence them and in reality as an Elysium has resulted in the Toreadors being forced to be more fair to youths to compete for prestige amongst all the kindred (as many non-Toreador kindred will go to Elysium, but not Toreador salons). Finally, the Ankh Wing displays artwork by any other non-Toreador Kindred (kept separate to appease the Toreadors).
Personality
Lilianne is known as a pleasant, polite but all-business person. Everyone speaks well of her and her knowledge and leadership skills, and she is the consummate professional host. Yet she seems to rarely do much to bring undue attention to herself and seems to never have time for anything other than her professional affairs.
Jane is a rising star - she has her mother's sense of decorum and professionalism, but a livelier and more outwardly friendly personality typically served with great booming smiles. Well-mannered but spirited, she is quicker to laugh and joke, and has a more outwardly caring personality. Jane appears more fashion-conscious, seemingly enjoying wearing fashionable dresses (or outfits) that vary from casual dresses popular for nights on the town, to elegant ball gowns.
In reality, Lady Jane's true personality is a mix of both. She's still at heart the polite, pious, noble lady of her mortal days and undeath has not changed that - she enjoys elegant events and the finer things in life, especially elegant clothing, art and social events such the salons of Elysium, although she is no hedonist, and is down-to-earth and incredibly studious. She is impeccably polite and courteous, and unlike many elders never speaks down to those younger than her; and is always ready to give them advice. She claims that not only is it the right thing to do, but that the young of her clan gaining wisdom and prospering is ultimately also good for the clan, rather than relying on jaded elders to hoard power for themselves. This approach has lead her to be greatly respected. Perhaps because of her high humanitas and enlightenment, Lady Jane often seems to have a more youthful personality that would be expected of her age, although this tends to slip with her vocabulary which tends to always be proper. She may have adapted her vocal skills to the modern nights, but it is unusual to hear her using contractions or modern slang, and almost always speaks Her Majesty's English impeccably. She is also willing to provide her wisdom to those not of the Clan. Although some clan purists believe this is wrong of her to do, she states that the clan made the decision to join and support the Camarilla, and that as such empowering the young of other clans only strengthens the Camarilla, and thus by extention her Clan. Despite this, she is reluctant to give any advice of political/jyhad nature and prefers to keep out of things, usually restricting her advice to issues of enlightenment, faith, art, and dealing with mortal society. Her support for neonates, especially at Elysium, has made her popular with neonates of every clan; but elders watch her warily, wondering what her end play will be and watching for the moment she launches her master plan.
Enlightenment
Assuming such a thing truly is possible, Lady Jane is possibly the Ashford Kindred most on her way to achieving the mythical state of vampiric inner harmony known as Golconda. Some even claim that she has achieved the mythical state, perhaps during her recent absence since the Sabbat Crusade. If this is the case, her status would rise precipitously as she would earn the title of Transcendant, but have many eyes on her and extra attention, which perhaps she may be trying to avoid.
Whatever the truth is, the fact is that Lady Jane has shown to have special Humanitas-related advantages that normal kindred do not, such as:
- No-one can recall ever seeing or hearing of Lady Jane frenzy. Even her sire has stated that as a neonate she had a calm heart and incredible degree of self control and willpower. Lady Jane herself only claims that through her enlightenment and meditation, her beast is spiritually locked in a cage as it were, and does not control her actions.
- Lady Jane naturally looks almost human. Her skin is flushed, her tears and other bodily liquids look indistinguishable from that of mortals (whilst most kindred find theirs reddish or visibly bloody, depending on their humanitas) she draws breath, her heart beats and she subconsciously does many of the actions mortals do that kindred naturally ceased and forget to do (such as blink). Of course, it is known that Senya of Elder generation have the Simularent Motalitatis (Feign Mortality) power from mastery of the clan Senya Discipline of Apparitionem so this could simply be the perception based on this power. Regardless, it is seemingly impossible to determine her Kindred nature without advanced medical or magical means, as even those who have read her aura state it is as bright as that of the living. Even Lupines who are rumoured to be able to 'smell' the Beast or sense true kindred nature are rarely able to detect that she is anything other than an ordinary mortal.
- Lady Jane rises before the sun sets, typically about an hour or so. She awakens during the daytime slumber with ease if there is need, and can act with little obvious difficulty. She has been known to stay awake past sunrise on many occasions. The supernatural day sleep has less pull on Lady Jane than on most kindred.
Combat Style
Unsurprisingly for someone with high humanitas, Lady Jane absolutely abhors violence - but the loss of Oxnard, and the existence of the Sabbat and invasive Lupines are reminders that no matter how hard you try to foster peace, there will always be others hell-bent on destruction who just cannot be reasoned with. As at the insistence of her former Oxnard Paladin Elodan she keeps a Heckler & Koch P30SK pistol with her most of the time, a subcompact pistol small enough to keep in her purse or a pocket. used to belong to Elodan (who still carries the Katana and Tanto from the same daisho set) but was loaned (and later given) to her during the fall of Oxnard. Lady Jane keeps this in her haven, and usually only carries it when she feels there is a genuine risk (such as during the Sabbat Crusade).
In combat, Lady Jane's pacifistic outlook would surprise the unprepared. She would generally rely on her pistol, often hoping the intimidation factor would help prevent bloodshed, or if an opponent is dangerous enough to warrant keeping her distance. However, even if she does not have her pistol she is a surprisingly competent melee combatant; being equally competent at archery, unarmed combat and with melee weapons. She credits both her sire and her noble upbringing, having been taught archery during her noble tutelage; and then after her Embrace her warrior-queen sire insisting she learn Hellenic Boxing and fencing to protect herself, amongst other martial forms. When it became popular in America, Lady Jade became a practitioner of Aikido, enjoying it as a form of self-defence, for its meditative qualities, and a passive art that would help her defend herself but limit how much she would hurt others. As such she is far more competent than might be expected.
Despite this, and a respectable level of her clan's discipline of Fortitude, she knows she is no warrior in stature. If she believes she is in danger and outmatched, then she will use her elder vitae (empowered by her mastery of Apparitionem) to exponentially boost her physical prowess, which can push the edge to make her a very surprising and dangerous combatant. Despite this, she fights as one who is well trained but lacking in experience, and who fights fair and therefore relies on more warrior-like kindred for both protection and combat leadership, and defers to a supporting role.
Social Style
When amongst kine Lady Jane (as her main Jane Grey persona) is sweet and friendly, with an almost-constant friendly smile and plenty of tales. When amongst kindred she is still friendly but acts more maturely - the change can be quite dramatic to observe occur, as she suddenly goes from appearing like a smart, friendly teenager to a wise elder in a youthful frame, with her eyes reflecting her true nature, wisdom and power.
Whether playing a persona or being herself, Lady Jane respects compassion, piety and honour (some say in that order), and is known to refuse to feed from the faithful. Whilst she will never seemingly be rude or antagonistic to even those who deliberately attempt to goad or offend her, she will not willingly suffer the presence or assist those who show a lack of respect for herself, or those who are compassionate, have faith or act with honour. This respect for honour has led her to gain the mutual respect of many Children of the Dark, despite being a Childe of the Light herself. She is known to not track minor prestation debts (especially to Neonates), believing that goodness is its own reward, and that someday if she needs help in return she expects that those she once helped will do so in similar recognizance. Although this has backfired on occasion, with some taking favours, and then when asked for one in favour refusing, stating that there is no requirement as there is no formal prestation debt, doing so will immediately earn her disfavour. Whilst Lady Jane never openly seeks vengeance for slights or betrayals, as she believes that doing so feeds the Beast, once her trust in an individual is broken she will never trust and aid that individual again. Furthermore, she will have no qualms with assisting the rivals of those who have betrayed her, many of who will feel a need to repay the favours she has granted (even though Lady Jane would not consider them debts) by avenging her honour; which can be ultimately far more punishing. For more serious debts, Lady Jane is an elder after all, and follows the rules of prestation. Unlike many elders, however, she is known to honorably keep the spirit of her word (which extends her loyalty to the favour granted beyond that of the letter of the agreement), rather than exploiting it for her benefit or minimising her commitment. If she commits to helping, she helps to the best of her ability; and expects fair treatment in return.
Some call Lady Jane the most naive elder in the Camarilla whilst others say she is a cunning player of kindred intrigue building up a massive powerbase from the youth, who will respect, support and be indebted (there may not be prestation debts, but any Ventrue with dignitas, Toreador with self respect, or Brujah and Gangrels with honour, will feel a need to repay their debts, or aid the kindred that helped them, regardless). And of course, the Harpies who frequent Elysium (of which she is the Keeper) still track all debts - official or otherwise - and a kindred who does not repay favours given but not owed find the Harpies very quick to spread the juicy details of that kindred's untrustworthiness, ingratitude, and inability to manage without the aid of their betters, to the rest of kindred society. Although this is not always necessarily a negative thing (most Tremere would simply reply that if there is no owed debt, there is no requirement for assistance and Lady Jane was a fool to help without forcing a debt), it will often affect a kindred's chances of cooperation with other kindred who will now doubt their persona. The overall result is that whilst most neonate distrust (and often hate) most elders, Lady Jane is overall liked and trusted by the neonate and academic kindred communities.
Signature Equipment
- Miguel Caballero Suit (especially as Lilianne)
- HK P30SK Pistol (usually kept in handbag)
- Kopis sword (given to her by her sire when she was trained in swordplay; kept in haven or vehicle)
- Jaguar XJ8
Signature Quotes
- "I ground my faith upon God’s word, and not upon the church… The faith of the church must be tried by God’s word, and not God’s word by the church; neither yet my faith."
- "I was once the Queen of England, and now without subterfuge, I am not even permitted to enter a bar! My how the mighty have fallen!" [laughs]
- "The Almighty obviously does not intend for me to rule. Historically, every time I have ruled a domain, people have ended up deposing me and wanting to execute me!"
- "And the archangel Gabriel said unto Caine: Son of Adam. Son of Eve. Behold, the mercy of the Father is greater than you can ever know for even now there is a path opened, a road of Mercy, and you shall call this road Golconda. And tell your children of it, for by that road may they come once again to dwell in the Light."
Gallery
Lady Jane
Lady Jane
Lady Jane
Lady Jane
Lady Jane
'Lilianne Grey'