Melissa d'Acques
Lady Melissa d'Acques is a elder female vampire of the Lahmian Sisterhood. [1]
Appearance
A pretty blonde haired girl about twelve years old. [1a] Her voice can be musical and she often appears in light makeup and clothing appropriate to her station, looking almost like a doll. However her eyes are different, although few notice, they are full of experience in a mask of innocence. [2]
History
She claims to be distantly related to the royal families of both Bretonnia and the Empire [2] and was born in 1390 IC. [5a]
She was transformed into a vampire in 1402 IC [5a] when her coach was stopped by a brigand who wanted more than money [1a] - a barbaric, wild haired monster of the bloodline of Belda the Melancholy who killed her parents and turned her. [2]
In 2492 IC her coach is attacked by bandits in the Grey Mountains who try to hold her for ransom - she kills them all. [5a]
After about a thousand years in the world she retired to the convent of the Order of Eternal Night and Solace [1a]
When the vampire Wietzak sent assassins to kill Tio Bland, she travelled to Altdorf to prevent it, determined to avert a new war between humanity and the Undead. She posed as a child in the theatre of Detlef Sierck until her granddaughter in darkness Genevieve arrived to assist her in foiling the plot in her own unique way. [3]
Children in darkness
She was quite prolific and proudly noted that she had created more than hundred handsome sons in darkness, a rarity in the sisterhood who like their queen favour creating female vampires. [1a] Her descendants in blood include:
- Chandagnac, who created [1a]
- Genevieve Dieudonné [1a]
- Kattarin A bloodthirsty Kislevite princess and later Tzarina who Melissa warned him not to turn - eventually she was destroyed by Tsarevich Pavel who gave his name to a vampire hunting society.[2]
Quotes
| There’s nothing more ‘’boring’’ than a gathering of elder vampires. Believe me. I’ve suffered enough of them in my centuries. All those long grey faces and ragged black cloaks. The stag-at-rut jousts as two old fools get in a squabble about some mortal morsel. You hear the same stories over and over. Mostly, yarns about how we didn’t really loose the Undead Wars blah blah blah and are just biding our time before we emerge from our mountain fastnesses and take up our rightful positions as rulers of humanity blah blah blah.
~ Melissa to Genevieve and Detlef Sierick.[3] |
Sources
- 1: Drachenfels (novel) by Jack Yeovil
- 1a: Chapter 2
- 2: Silver Nails: No Gold in the Grey Mountains by Jack Yeovil
- 3: Silver Nails: The Ibby the Fish Factor by Jack Yeovil
- 4: Realm of the Ice Queen
- 4a: Cities of Kislev, pg. 75
- 5: White Dwarf 140 (UK)
- 5a: The Old World Timeline, pg. 16
