Belle Azevedo (WoD)

SchreckNet Data File

Real/Birth Name: Belinha Azevedo
Known Identiy/Mortal Alias: Belle Azevedo
Place of Origin: Ashford, California, USA
Height: 5'7½"
Occupation: Public Relations
Apparent Age: Mid-20s
Embraced: 1962
Kindred Status: Ancilla
Sire: Neil Hargrow (deceased)
Clan: Tremere
Clan Status: Magister (Quartermaster)
Sect: Camarilla
Sect Status: Whip
Player/Type: NPC

Appearance

50%

Belle is a stunningly beautiful woman in her prime that would not look out of place in a Miss Universe final. Her mother was a Brazilian fashion designer and her father a construction company owner and the influence of her Brazilian heritage is clear in her natural tan, figure and dark hair, which is contrasted by her piercing blue eyes that only adds to her allure. She has inherited her mother's sense of fashion and, although she does not have any particular favoured style, always looks impeccable, elegant and fashionable; generally favouring Boycon, Halter, Sheath or Pencil dresses, all of which compliment her figure. Her hairstyle varies based on the dress she is wearing and situation she is going, but typically tends to be long or medium-length and straight or slightly wavy for general use, and tied up or styled for business or high etiquette use. No one has ever seen her without makeup, leading some to theorise that she may have had permanent makeup tattoos done, but she has an extensive range and variety and is an expert at applying the right type of makeup to best suit her presentation for whatever cause she applies it. Belle is not a person who, even when sporting a natural look is actually ever natural (ie makeup free).

Background

Belle had always been a better-looking woman than she'd really wanted to be. Bright, intelligent and educated in business and politics she'd have much preferred to have been judged on her own merits. Instead, she too-often found herself destined for a front-office position when she would have liked to have been in the back room, where she knew all the power plays were being made. Too many companies and clients were only willing to hire her for her ornamental value. When she tried to achieve higher status, she found herself constantly overlooked - "Too valuable to promote" was the term used to describe why she was so frequently rejected or overlooked.

Within the Tremere Belle found she could be rewarded for her personal achievements, and finally found ways to take advantage of her looks, as well. Although her fellow kindred may be beyond sex, they still find her charms irresistible. She was initially recruited, unfortunately, for much the same reason she found her career in the business world going nowhere: her stunning good looks. The Tremere saw nothing more in her than a beautiful woman, someone they could use as bait - a seductive lure to use against the mundanes or those kindred who would be affected by her charms, helping the clan to further its schemes - and someone who was expendable at a moment's notice.

Belle spent the next five decades showing them how wrong they were. Although Belle found herself unable to learn Thaumaturgy (due to a combination of natural inability as well as a lack of proper tutelage from her sire), Belle had to become useful to the clan in other ways. She soon proved herself to be adaptable, cunning and a natural player at the games of Kindred intrigue and managed to prove herself enough to become a Quartermaster, managing the mundane operations of the Chantry's stores, maintaining and organising its mundane supplies. She did this so successfully that she earnt the respect of the Chantry's Regent, Michel Reinhard, who conferred upon her the title of Magister - a title typically given to Tremere who help run the Chantry and educate Apprentices under the direction of the Regent but occasionally granted to more distinguished members who have not sought Thaumaturgical power and instead have become trusted advisors. As Magister, in addition to her duties as Quartermaster, she also assisted in oiling the wheels of the Clan, organising training and seeing to disputes and punishments. A clan role much in common with the role of the Camarilla Whip.

Although many of the more-proficient Thaumaturgists derided her as being little more than the Regent's secretary Belle learnt quickly how to use her position and title to grow her own influence. When Reinhard became the Primogen, her position of trust and influence with him proved advantageous when he officially appointed her as his Whip, despite her not being one of the eldest, nor a Thaumaturgist. Although in practice her responsibilities did not change much, other than more formal representation of the Tremere to the Primogen council, the position granted her the same status in the Camarilla as she held within the Clan. In practice, this meant that defying her was no longer simply defying the Magistrix, but defying the Camarilla's official representatives. The kindred equivalent to the difference between defying a city council member, and a member of the state senate. This was something that, occasionally, would cause problems with some Tremere but Belle quickly proved that she was up to the task of keeping the Clan in line - knowing when to crack the whip (pun not intended) and when to allow slack to best keep the Ashford Tremere loyal to the Clan and towing the Primogen's line. On the few occasions when her own abilities were unable to coerce those who resisted her, well... she had the ear of her Primogen and Regent, who was extremely unforgiving about disloyalty and dissent, and renown for merciless discipline.

As Belle is not a Thaumaturgist and her positions as Whip, Quartermaster and Magister often involve her dealing with kine and kindred of other Clans, she is one of few Tremere allowed to keep a Haven outside of the Chantry. This would likely be what saved her life when the Sabbat Crusade resulted in the destruction of the Chantry and the death of most of the neonates and Thaumaturges, as Belle was not present at the Chantry during the attack. She now finds herself one of the elder remaining Tremere in the aftermath of the Sabbat Crusade and actually more respected by those who remain, and the new recruits, than she was previously. But now there's a new Chantry building and it needs to be rebuilt anew, provisions obtained, resources gained, connections reestablished or replaced and the status and influence of the Tremere Clan repaired. Whilst she is in a better position of power and influence than she ever has been, Belle has a lot of work ahead of her - but is determined to prove she is up to the task.

Mortal Society

Belle interacts little with the kine outside the necessities of her role as Magister and Quartermaster - and when she does she presents herself as a businesswoman/agent representing a registered business that is essentially one of many organisations (or registered fronts) belonging to the Tremere, as appropriate for the purpose.

Although Belle was not particularly successful in her kine business career, she is still the daughter of a man who owned a successful construction company and inherited his company after he died. It took her a short while to successfully fend off a lawsuit from her elder brother challenging the surprise, almost-last-minute change to her father's Will that redirected the inheritance of the company from her brother to Belle, who was always considered by the family to be distant, at best. Things were eventually resolved out of court and Belle's ownership is now unchallenged.

Whilst not as large or influential as Montclair Realty, a subsidiary of the Montclair Corporation owned by [Genevieve Montclair (WoD)|Genevieve Montclair, the Toreador Primogen], it has been somewhat protected from the potential ravages of Montclair's otherwise aggressive policy of crushing or absorbing competitors as Azevedo Construction is considered a Tremere asset by the Clan, and so action against it would be considered inter-Clan conflict. Due to the good long-standing relationship between Ashford's Toreador and Tremere Clans, this has ensured the organisation grow unimpeded and, at times, Azevedo Construction has been subcontracted by Montclair Realty. Every few years Genevieve Montclair makes a generous offer to purchase Azevedo Construction but Belle always refuses. Belle thinks that either Genevieve does not realise that Belle is uninterested in the money, that her interest in Azevedo Construction is as an asset and tool for her Clan; or that Genevieve actually DOES understand this all-too-well and is attempting to steal the asset for her Clan's benefit with a charming smile and large cheque. Nonetheless, Azevedo Construction has grown to become a respectably large construction and realty company and made Belle a wealthy woman with an influential company under her skirt.

Although Azevedo Construction belongs to Belle, she actually typically has little involvement with its daily operations. She is the majority shareholder and company CEO, but relies on her board to operate it. She initially had to share some control of the company with her brother - which she achieved by Dominating him into accepting her reasonable offer of shares in return for dropping his challenge against her father's Will giving Belle ownership of the company; Belle realised she had to at least give him a reasonable settlement or eventually he may resist the Dominate and he, or his family, may re-litigate. Since then she has kept him thoroughly conditioned (Dominate) to run the company for her and serve as its public face - which suited her both because she really knew little about construction, and because it allows her to focus her efforts on serving the Tremere instead of distracted by the business. As her brother aged, she began conditioning his son too (she ensures her brother chose to only have one child, who was groomed to choose to follow his father's career, inherit his shares and assume his business responsibilities; she saw little point in her brother having more children, especially since if he dies the shares will be inherited by Belle). She, therefore, runs the organisation chiefly through her nephew César Azevedo who is the Chief Operations Officer (COO), with her acting as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President. She gets involved on the PR side of business - meeting with clients and helping attract contracts, do damage control, advertising and so forth - the more political and business direction side of things, whilst the management and control is handled by César. Just in case, Belle has conditioned most of the most important board members, both to ensure their loyalty and to prevent other kindred (such as Genevieve) from sneakily taking control of them to undermine or steal the company from Belle.

Personality

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Belle wants to prove she's every bit as good as the next Tremere. She will do anything that she believes may benefit her clan and, whilst she might make contacts and allies outside the clan, she thinks of them much like humans would "work colleagues" - appreciated and liked, but ultimate not friends and secondary to the needs of the clan, and therefore as expendable to her as her clan believed she was to them. This doesn't make Belle a bad person, or so she believes anyhow, just that she knows where her loyalties and priorities lie. Although little distracts her from her relentless climb towards the top of the pyramid, she does allow herself to indulge in a little revenge against the patriarchy now and then.

Other Notes

Whilst the Tremere clan is famous for presenting a united front against outsiders and the loyalty of its members towards the Clan, it is equally infamous for the aggressive political infighting and ambition of its members, often having a "if it's good for me, it's good for the Clan" attitude, whereby usurping other Clansmen and taking their position, is considered to only make the Clan stronger by eliminating the weak and ensuring those in positions do not become complacent.

It is believed that such a position now occurs between Belle and Magister Roland Berrill who, since the Sabbat Crusade, has become one of the Chantry's most senior Tremere and accomplished Thaumaturges. Whilst he has nowhere near the raw Thaumaturgical or personal power or political influence to be considered a serious rival/challenger to the Chantry's Regent and Primogen, it is evident to even casual onlookers that he has a strong enmity towards Belle; perhaps because she is not a Thaumaturge, or perhaps because she is a woman in a traditionally patriarchal Clan. For whatever reason, whilst those who do not know them would see their interactions as professional, civil and (usually) polite, those who have interacted with either Roland or Belle at any length will easily notice that this civility is almost a form of hostility. In Belle's case, her civility is opposed to her natural friendliness, charm and grace; and in Roland's case, infamous for talking down to those he deems his intellectual inferiors (which, apparently, is almost everyone), it is a forced restraint and politeness with a veneer of cold sarcasm. Why Belle herself resents Roland is not known (especially as both Kindred will claim nothing is wrong and say nothing but praise for each other to those outside of the Clan), so most just assume Belle's animosity is simply the natural reaction to Roland's enmity - but others notice that other Tremere visibly stay clear of events involving these two, or as one Brujah described it, "getting out of the way as it's close to High Noon, and you don't want to be between them when the shooting starts."

Combat Style

No information in database.

Social Style