Jump to navigation Jump to search

Nico Caron (WoD)

SchreckNet Data File

  • Real/Birth Name: Nicole Katherine Caron
  • Known Identity/Mortal Alias: Nicollete "Nico" Caron
  • Place of Origin: Domrémy-la-Pucelle, Grand Est, France
  • Height: 169 cm (5'5½")
  • Occupation: Freelance Photojournalist
  • Apparent Age: Late-20s
  • Embraced: 2000
  • Kindred Status: Neonate
  • Sire: Angela Dickinson
  • Clan: Senya (Children of the Light)
  • Clan Status: Kóri (Daughter)
  • Sect: Camarilla
  • Sect Status: None
  • Player/Type: NPC

Appearance

Senya - Nico Caron1.jpg

Nico stands about average height for a European female - which means that she is actually quite tall for a French woman (or even for her Russian other ethnicity) and above-average for American women. Coupled with a tendency to wear hard-wearing boots, platforms, or high-heeled shoes depending on the occasion, and have a slim profile, she gives the impression of being even taller. At a glance, she looks visibly European, but is harder to clearly identify her nationality - though she thinks she looks closer to her mother's Russian nationality in appearance, but tends to wear clothing common to Parisian fashion. She has a slim profile with hazel-brown eyes and naturally dark brown hair, though she often has this styled a lighter shade, or with highlights as she thinks it compliments her more. Her hair is naturally around shoulder-length, typically kept loose when casual, but styled in fashionable manner when the situation calls for it.

Casually, she is fond of both jeans and skirts, with blouses and t-shirts, typically of renown makes that shows she keeps an eye on Parisian fashion trends. She usually wears some light make-up, with natural-look blush, eyeshadow, light mascara and pink lipstick being her signature style. It is common to see her wearing her signature black soft leather jacket.

When dressing more glamorously, she is more likely to have more pronounced make-up, favouring smokey or white eye-liner, heavier mascara and fake lashes, and red lipstick - styled elegantly or glamorously, rather than vampy. For these occasions, she is fond of long dresses and gowns, again typically of renown makes, which accentuate her figure and look elegant. She has a predominance for blue dresses, but this can vary - though typically she sticks to single- or dual-colour dresses rather than multi-coloured ones, which she is more likely to prefer for casual usage. She is more likely to accessorise with ear-rings and bracelets on these occasions. For these occasions, she favours high-heeled shoes which she thinks accentuates her leg-line.

When working, her clothing preference tends to be less colourful and more utilitarian. Trousers (often cargo pants), hard-wearing shirts, polo necks or hoodies, along with her leather jacket are the norm, along with boots that, although in good wear, look like they've seen more action than most Millenials ever will in their entire lives. How rustic or casual it looks depends on if she is in the field or not. When working in Paris or Ashford a black poloneck and trousers would be typical, but when in the field in Afghanistan cargo pants and a khaki t-shirt are more common. Typically, she is seen with her pink rucksack - which also looks like it's been through a war (which, quite literally, it has) - as it holds her photographic equipment, laptop, and other essentials. Her makeup defaults similarly to casual usage - the pink lipstick is a given, but if in the field then she won't wear any other make-up for practical reasons, but otherwise uses it casually. This is both a certain natural degree of feminine vanity, as well as a practical consideration - she knows male sources are more likely to be forthcoming and helpful when the person interviewing them is pretty. Nevertheless, the look is more "business casual" than "social casual." Whilst working her hair is almost always tied up, some strands hanging loose at the sides, but otherwise tied back in a practical, and typically professional-looking manner.

Background

Nico was born in Domrémy-la-Pucelle, the village that was the birthplace of the legendary Joan of Arc, a fact of which she is quite proud and an example she sometimes likes to think of herself as following ("a strong woman who was brave enough to follow her convictions no matter the cost, not the fact she was a religious nut"). Her father, Thierry, was a french pilot who had served in the Armée de l'Air Française (French Air Force) and Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Never able to have a lasting relationship, he began to believe that he had lost the opportunity to marry and have children until he met Valeriya by chance in Paris and her fiery character rejuvenated him. Valeriya was born in France, but from an ethnic Russian family of White Army supporters that had fled Russia during the Revolution. They were happy together awhile, and their union led to Nico's birth, but Thierry' fate struck again and when Nico was 8 her parents split up and her mother went away with her new boyfriend. Although saddened, this just made Nico become closer to her father, who she was already close to, even going so far to say that he was like her older brother to her. When Nico was 12 her father bought her a camera as a birthday gift, and she loved it. She frequently travelled to historic areas and self-taught herself the rudiments of photography, developing a love for it. Unfortunately, shortly after the summer vacation was over, Nico witnessed her father's death in an explosion caused by a plane crash, which was believed to be caused by an undetected engine fault.

The death hit Nico hard and, although she was cared for by her grandparents, she never grew particularly close to them and learnt to be independent, moving to Paris as soon as she finished Lycée Polyvalent Pierre Et Marie Curie (Comprehensive School Pierre Et Marie Curie) to study at the École Parsons à Paris (Parsons Paris, now the Paris College of Art). She would have loved to study Photography at Parsons but this was before the digital age and, although as a French national the tuition was paid by the French Government, the costs of the course were way beyond her means, so instead, she did a degree in Fine Art, which included photography and video editing. Although she did well, she struggled financially through college, often going to the park to poach squirrel hair which she would sell to art stores (for use in creating paintbrushes) just to make ends meet. In the end, her headstrong, forthright and sarcastic personality led to too many clashes with a senior professor she disliked (as she suspected he was doing "extra curricular activities" with students) who made her life miserable, piling on more and more work which she was unable to financially cope with, causing her grades to suffer. Ultimately, this caused her to drop out of college in the final year, just a few months before she would have graduated.

She got a lucky break shortly after, however, as her eye for photography got her a job as a freelance photojournalist for La Liberté. She found herself liking photojournalism, and did well in her new career - allowing her to take a few journalism courses, which she found easy as she'd always had a natural grasp for linguistics. Her nose for a story, sheer bravado and determination to uncover the truth, thwart corruption and take a stand for those who need it led to various succesful stories - including one of corruption at the École Parsons à Paris which led to the firing of the professor that had caused her to leave, and a scathing exposé about Parisian Government corruption which gained acclaim but also got her enemies in high places. As a "reward" for her award-winning article, La Liberté conceded to send her to the Delegation for Defence Information and Communication (DICoD) training for journalists, training in survival, combat and medical skills in 1998. Shortly after she went along with the french army to report on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), doing a crash course in both Albanian and Serbian language and customs in preparation. A year later she wrote an exposé about the ineptitude of Nato/UN forces in preventing the expulsion of Serbs, Gypsies and Kosovar Albanians from Kosovo, which annoyed a few people (which is, what Nico would claim, how you know you did a job right) but also got the attention of Angela Dickinson, a Clan Senya kindred and human rights lawyer for Amnesty International, working in collaboration with UNMIK. Nico saw the offer of the Embrace as a form of "big break" and validation of her success.

For the next twenty years of her Adoption period Nico remained with her sire - learning about the clan's customs, traditional languages, and how to use her new abilities to better infiltrate and expose the truth behind corruption. Her sire would use her position within Amnesty International to steer Nico onto leads (especially those that AA were not able to fight effectively) and Nico would investigate and write exposés, along with award-winning photojournalism. This led to a little too much notoriety, which made Angela feel that remaining in Kosovo could both endanger her aims with AA as well as the masquerade, and so they began moving around - spending several years at a time in different war zones and problem areas, such as in Afghanistan, doing AA work and doing exposés. Eventually, Nico's Adoption period came to an end and she decided to visit her sire's sire, who she had heard much about due to his meteoric rise from Brethren to First Among Equals in just a couple of decades since his arrival at Ashford. With her clan's rise in power and the new opportunities for power in the domain since the Sabbat Crusade a few years ago shook up and punched holes in the power structures, she thinks that there may be opportunities for her or, at least, opportunities for interesting stories.

Mortal Society

Senya - Nico Caron3.jpg

Under her real name of Nicole Caron, Nico achieved wide acclaim and fame in Europe for her work at La Liberté including her exposés about corruption in Paris and her work as a war correspondent in Kosovo. She spent two years prior to her Embrace reporting in Kosovo which led to her Embrace by her sire who was a human rights lawyer for Amnesty International, working with the UNMIK (United Nations Interim Council Mission In Kosovo), and remained there for another handful of years investigating and reporting on UNMIK corruption and the sex slavery trade fueled by UN troops. For the remainder of her Adoption period, Nico followed her sire Angela around with her Amnesty International work, reporting on corruption and hard-hitting human-interest stories uncovered by Angela's work. Being on the move around Europe every few years, and her correspondence with her La Liberté editor being principally via telephone and Internet correspondence, her visible lack of ageing was not really an issue as she was rarely around people long enough for them to notice, and newly met people rarely ask.

But when her Adoption period ended, Nico desired to "take a break" from travelling. She had heard of her clan's status rise and activities in California under the direction of her sire's sire, Braxton Donahoe, who was a Protos Metaxy Ison (First Among Equals) and, therefore, the representative for her clan in the entire state of California - a conflict zone between the beleaguered Camarilla, the dominant Anarch Movement, and the Sabbat stronghold of Mexico to the south and their conquered domains to the east. A kindred warzone, in effect, and warzones are were Nico excels.

Realising that using her real identity the kine would quickly realise that, although she looked in her late 20s, was actually in her late 40s, she thought it would be best to keep her real identity for use over the Internet with her contacts and allies, as well as with the kindred, and adopt a new identity for use in kine society. And so she created the identity of Nicolette, Nicole's own daughter (hence the derivative name, which can still be shortened to the common name "Nico" which has been the lifelong name used by family, friends and close acquaintances). Gradually, she is "transferring" many of "Nicole's" contacts and allies to her new identity as "Nicole" is semi-retiring, and "introducing her old contacts to her daughter who is continuing her mother's trade."

Although she has not been in Ashford long, Nico is continuing work as a freelance Photojournalist (though the inability to act during the day means she has to do more journalism and less photojournalism in practice) and established contacts and allies before coming to Ashford, so she is already set up and ready on arrival. She freelances principally for the Ashford Scoop and Ashford Californian papers, especially the Scoop as she has made an ally of the editor-in-chief. She is aware (from due diligence and investigation) that the Ashford Scoop is owned by Gideon Monroe, the Brujah Primogen and a leader of Ashford's Anarch Movement - which she thinks could be interesting as he (and the Scoop) are well known to enjoy writing articles that attack the establishment (both the kine government as well as the Camarilla, in an indirect way to preserve the Masquerade). She also is aware that the Ashford Californian is owned by Don Theodore Carrington, the head of the Ashford Branch of the leader of E. W. Scripps Company, which is known to belong to the Glass Walkers tribe of werewolves. Though she doesn't understand the nuances, she knows that this tribe - and the E. W. Scripps Company - aggressively fight corporate wars against the powerful Pentex multinational megacorporation and their subsidiaries, who are often involved in corruption of government and influential agencies and individuals, as well as other unethical and illegal practices. She hopes that, with both the post-Crusade Kindred-Lupine alliance in Ashford, and her ability to ferret out and expose truths about corruption, that it can be an "in" to getting involved with the Lupines and their activities - which would be both of benefit to her clan, as well as to the Camarilla to understand their traditional-enemy-turned-cautious-allies. Or it could get her torn into dozens of pretty little pieces. It's a coin toss really. But hey, no risk, no reward. So far her point of contact is with an Abomination called Nicole Llambert, a lupine of the Glass Walkers and Consul of the Camarilla (Ambassador to the Lupines - essentially a role equivalent in practice to "Primogen of the Lupine Clan").

Personality

Senya - Nico Caron2.jpg

Nico could be described as a street-wise, forthright and sarcastic individual who has always been passive in situations that could be considered as mythical. She is courageous, though not foolhardy, and is often unfazed or defiant when facing obvious threats, typically becoming sarcastic and antagonistic in the face of danger. She has somewhat of a short temper, though not to the same degree as Brujah, more reflected by a lack of patience for those who waste her time or get in her way. She stands steadfastly by her principle of finding the truth, especially to thwart corruption and take a stand for those who need it - regardless if kine or kindred, she stands for whoever she believes is ethically and morally in the right. Some have described her determination to expose the truth as being compulsive, and she is seemingly overconfident, making her aggressively annoying if she launches one of her mini-crusades against you. She may be a neonate and thus not have the power and contacts of her elders, but a keen eye, sharp brain, and two decades of investigative journalism skills make her someone that even elders cannot underestimate.

Although she enjoys social company, she is highly independent, having lived by herself for much of her life. She is used to living in one place for a few years, making networks of contacts and allies, but one day just getting up and moving on - and so it is hard to get very close to her as she expects that one day the relationship will effectively end when she moves on.

She has a sharp eye, good at reading between the lines and often detecting the undercurrents of things. As she once said about her determination to follow a seemingly-pointless lead that ultimately panned out, "there may not have been any storm clouds in the sky, but I could smell the rain." She loves art (especially photography) and literature, and is fond of reading and learning new languages - she currently speaks a dozen languages: natively she is bilingual in French and Russian but has over the decades learnt to be at least conversational in Albanian, Dari (Farsi), English, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, Pashto, Serbian and Spanish.

Other Notes

George Saxon

Senya - Nico Caron-Saxon.jpg

Although Nico is independent and did a lot of research and preparation before coming to Ashford, there is only so much you can do whilst avoiding the daytime and not actually having been to a city. Nico realised she would need an "assistant" and began making connections before coming to Ashford. She came across George Saxon, a lawyer who specialises in civil & human rights and discrimination cases, who had good Yelp reviews and was known to take worthwhile cases pro-bono. Although he'd lost as many cases as he'd won, or had to make sub-par settlements, she knew often that was because odds were stacked against the underdog by the corrupt who had a whole team of expensive lawyers and enough financing to bury most things. That didn't matter to her as much as his character - he fit her profile for someone who would know the city and what likely went on behind the scenes and could be worth her looking into. So she approached him and struck an amiable relationship via Internet correspondence then, after arriving in Ashford, starting the process of blood-bonding him to her was her second priority (introducing herself to the Prince and asking permission to enter and reside in his domain was her first - she values her unlife, after all). She keeps him mostly in the dark about anything kindred related, trying to keep her relationship with him not dissimilar to how she would have treated any of her allies and contacts whilst she was alive or as a reporter, except she intends to gradually take advantage of him and the growing infatuation for her he has now developed (because of the blood bond) to have him handle things she is incapable of, whilst keeping the Masquerade preserved. As usual, Nico wants to be able to simply be able to walk away if she needs to without any messy complications such as having to ensure his memory is erased by someone (likely causing her to owe someone a boon) or have him meet an "unfortunate accident" just to preserve the Masquerade.

Combat Style

Nico dislikes violence and tries to avoid it where possible. She doesn't even like carrying a gun, which is actually officially frowned upon by both most photojournalists and Reporters Without Borders. But over two decades of being in war zones and other problem zones have made her realise that, in practice, photojournalists carrying a pistol is a catch-22. Having a pistol is likely to have you treated as a combatant and therefore not protected by the Geneva Convention laws about journalists and noncombatants. But not having a pistol when facing threats who don't give a merde about the Geneva Convention, such as the Afghan Taliban or the sex-slavery traffickers in Kosovo she crossed, is just as risky. After surviving an attempted murder by a corrupt municipal official she was investigating, she got to carry a PAMAS G1 (French military version of the Beretta 92F) provided by an ally in the French army. Although she had to give it back eventually, the reliability and ease of use of this weapon gave her a fondness for Beretta pistols, so after arriving in California she bought the PX4 Storm (California-Legal version) in a gun shop in Los Angeles (she didn't go directly to Ashford, but visited a few locations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego first - things she'd wanted to do since she was a child but had just never gotten around to doing it. She chose this weapon over the 92FS compact after reading various comparative online reviews and YouTube videos, and as it was slightly smaller than the 92FS, which was good as she wants it for concealed carry and to be used only in case of emergencies. As pistols generally do little against kindred, this is intended mostly to discourage potential problems with the kine. Nevertheless, although she is not the most dextrous individual, she has practised with pistols enough both during her initial Delegation for Defence Information and Communication (DICoD) training for war correspondents and subsequent years to be a respectable shot, although she lacks actual combat experience as she is usually taking cover and running from gunfire as a noncombatant than shooting - although she has had the odd occasion to have had to use it in practice.

Firearms aside, Nico has little to offer in combat support. Although she had a fairly active childhood, she never really participated in sports so she's not the most athletic individual. In a chase, her tactic against the kine would be "try not to lose them and wait until they get tired" (as kindred do not tire). As such, she's not particularly good at dodging attacks either. She did a little karate in her youth, as well as some self-defence in her DICoD training, and has been in a few scuffles enough to be able to handle herself reasonably, but her fighting ability is comparable to a typical regular bar-brawler at best. Though she has been given some training with knives and other melee weapons, "I know where to stick the pointed end" is about the level of her capability. The best that can be said about her is her physicality - she was always active and used to a lifetime of constantly walking around with a heavy backpack, and so although about average strength and agility, she is quite enduring - especially when combined with her clan's signature Discipline of Fortitude (although she is only a neonate and not a Discipline she focused on). Like most Senya, she has the ability to not just take punishment (Fortitude) but to be able to heal quickly in combat (an Apparitionem ability) as well as being of a low generation. Therefore although she lacks Potence and Celerity, she can use her own vitae to quickly empower her physical ability or heal rapidly, which can make her a lot more effective in combat very suddenly, although increase the risk of hunger frenzies.

She is, however, very good at changing her form. Although this is common for most Senya, Nico is particularly good at imitating others. Although she cannot change her clothing, she can quickly take on someone else's face, which can potentially cause a momentary pause or distraction that she or allies may be able to take advantage of.

Social Style

Senya - Nico Caron4.jpg

Nico is naturally friendly and easy to get along with. She is used to being sociable and easy to converse with - both because of her occupation and natural inclination. Growing up in a village of little over a hundred people, she always craved wanting to meet others and enjoys diversity. Although certain characteristics are human nature, she has travelled enough to appreciate how and why people differ, and their motivations and beliefs. As such she is naturally open-minded when approached by those she does not know and not typically prone to pre-prejudice based on culture, society, belief or race (though she may be wary if she feels there is merit - such as being wary if meeting a Taliban as she is well aware of what they have done to fellow reporters and their attitudes towards women). From a kindred perspective, this means that she rarely has an innate bias of specific clans that traditionally clash with her own, or with her interests. So a Malkavian approaching her would not be treated with kid gloves or disrespect unless they did something that deliberately affects her. A Nosferatu or Gangrel would not be treated as illiterate barbarians unless their actions proved them to be.

Information is her trade (and often, her secret weapon). Money is a means to an end, but not something she craves unless she has specific needs. Kindred offering information that she can use - for example, solid leads on cases that may be of interest to her, such as potential corruption or human rights violations, or being introduced to usable contacts or sources she can employ in the future, are far more valuable to her. Failing this, boons are always good - as she regularly tends to get herself in over her head and having boons owed can often help smooth things over (though this may mean someone who owes her a boon may find themselves owing a boon to a kindred they dislike because she gave them the boon as payment/to smooth things over) - kindred would be wise to remember that boons are a form of currency to her and that she will use them as suits her overall best interests. As she values knowledge, being taught a Discipline she does not know is also of value to her (she has especially expressed interest in learning Obfuscate and, to a lesser degree, Dominate).

Despite being easy to deal with, actually becoming a friend is not so easy. A lifetime of being on the move and either losing those she cared about (like her father, and some friends who died in trouble spots) or eventually moving on and leaving them behind (although she admits the Internet and Social Media often makes this far easier to remain in contact now than it was when she began her career) make her naturally wary of making long-term connections. To gain her complete trust and true friendship others will have to prove it with consistent and long-term actions along with compatible personalities - which often means putting up with her sarcasm, hot-headedness and propensity to get into trouble.

Signature Equipment

TacSeven Tactical Rucksack

Signature Quotes

  • [when told she speaks very good English for a French girl] "Thank you. You speak very good English for an American."
  • "He had the eyes of a cocker spaniel set in a face like a deflated soufflé"
  • "That fool wouldn't know Pernod from cat piss."
  • "I can be loud. And at times, I digress I'm a little bossy. Maybe even a little crazy. But I get the stories that matter."
  • "Listen, Squid Lips..."
  • "I guess I'm a sucker for stray dogs and naked men... OK, that didn't come out right."
  • "He was a pear-shaped guy with a fine display of multiple chins."
  • "You can save your Holier-Than-Thou, made-for-TV platitudes, and drown them in some holy water, mister."
  • "I don't even know how to get huffy, ok? I do happy. I do sad. And I do 'stop giving me the runaround, salope, or I will come for you!' "

Gallery

  • Senya - Nico Caron1.jpg
  • Senya - Nico Caron2.jpg
  • Senya - Nico Caron3.jpg
  • Senya - Nico Caron4.jpg
  • Senya - Nico Caron-Saxon.jpg
Retrieved from "http://fentonia.net/index.php?title=Nico_Caron_(WoD)&oldid=4015"