#is he less of a person than santiago or leblance

[itachi86]

the casterwill test has to done alone but sophie’s allowed to bring lok?

[for-peace-war]

[Art lovingly provided by @diermina because she’s an angel! A super late birthday gift for @jessiphile]

Dear Georgette,

I trust that this letter finds you in good health and high spirits.  I have been told in times past that I have a means of romanticizing an event; however, it should be said that I felt our first meeting was a rather important one.  The Clan Toreador has endured a great many changes since I was embraced, but none so much as how we view ourselves in these modern nights.  To see you, with your rather... unique coterie and within a bustling center such as Savannah did my heart great good.  It reminded me that though times are ever changing, we possess the means and methods of remaining not only relevant but important to the affairs about us. 

For that, first and foremost, I would like to thank you.

There are few women or men that can come to mind with more poise, capability, and a certain level of... spirit that can awaken within the hearts of so many desire.  I have for many nights favored the lustrous glow of the moon, but let it not be said that it could not be enjoyed with the utter beauty and perfection of the night’s sky that surrounds it and offers us the life we but take for granted with each passing night.

Perhaps... I am a bit ahead of myself.

Allow me to take a moment to apologize as well.  After my arrival at the soiree hosted by good Celia, I fell into conversation with Seibyakuren and Rufus LeBlanc about the nature of the primogen within Savannah.  Naturally, as I am inclined toward hearing tales of bravery and camaraderie among our clan, it was not long before your name was introduced... and well, the importance that it has held not only during those terrible events in 1967, but also the nights that followed. It is a great honor, of course, to have met someone willing to sacrifice everything she possessed to purchase life and liberty for the kine and kindred of this world -- a certain species of bravery that I must admit reminded me of myself when I was perhaps a bit... liberal with my views of immortality as an ancilla.

I do not mean to imply that we gossiped after you or even that there was anything negative that might have been said, but I believe you would have been most delighted to hear how they spoke of you: how even the demure delectation that normally laced Seibyakuren’s lips became something more expressive and how proud Rufus was to not only have sired such a scion but also to have witnessed you grow into such an impressive and imposing woman.  You have a certain aura about you that inspires awe: not merely some mystical application of our blood, but rather a charming and disarming breed of gregariousness.  I saw it as did they.  It was most enjoyable: a sort of corona that motivated others to approach you amiably and for you to address them with no less charisma and genuineness. 

Hah, do you see?  It was a night of no less splendor and respect than that.  Truly, had I thought to do so I might have used my cellular device to record some of it for you... but Imogene, my childe, has often stated I am... electronically illiterate in things that do not require a simple pressing of buttons.  Perhaps that is so.

By the time you are reading this, I believe, I will have departed from the city as Cambridge cannot for too long be without its prince.  It was the matter of travel that made me wish to speak with you though: of the importance of remaining connected to one’s bloodline, so that we might know in truth what it is that defines us as kindred and Cainites.  Forgive me if this seems suddenly dire, but as you are a primogen and I a prince, I feel it best to share a bit of my own experiences with your position so that one day you might find mine all the more enjoyable.

Blood.

How dramatic a word, I know, but it is important.  The blood that now runs through your very soul is the same blood of your sire, her sire, and all of those that came before them.  Seibyakuren, one of my oldest and dearest friends, was sired by a man named Florian Zantosa.  I will not spend overly much ink or time on this creature, for I believe that is a tale she might share with you personally; however, let it be said that the sins of the sire should not always fall upon the childe.  When I witnessed your coterie mate, Countess Zuyeva, make her proclamations according to the Traditions without interpretation, I was most appreciative that you too took umbrage with that sentiment.  Punishing others for the mistakes of some... that is truly cruel.

And cruelty is something we must not allow to become our means of communication.

But Florian... Florian was a man that was not a kind one.  There is a certain level of animosity that even I cannot properly conceal, but that I believe is important to understand what it means to be reprehensible.  Your fine bloodline comes from this man: his evils do not influence you, but it is important to remember that they are there.  That any of us, no matter how beautiful, can fall to the ugliness of our inner beasts.

As you advance within the night though, do not forget that you should take strength from those around you.  There are few tasks that I have completed on my own.  My predecessor, Prince Lisbette, was a woman that often accepted a great number of burdens upon herself in silence.  When she left me in charge of Cambridge, I did all that I could to understand the sacrifices she made and realized the greatest one was that which likely might have prevented others: her friendships.  I love and respect her and know that wherever she is, she is doing the best she can for those around her... but do not allow isolation ever become your path.

But this is not the burden of the ventrue alone.  One closer to myself and by nature, you as well, was guilty of such sacrifice.  I once had a brother named Mateo Victor Pascual Antonio de Salazar, a beautiful man that was intelligent, passionate, and impossibly strong willed.  He was ever the one destined to become prince: his nature was one of persuasive authority and he wielded it with such effortless grace that even I found it intriguing.  I do not doubt that Mateo held some contempt for me, as I was the younger and embraced perhaps out of spite from our sire... but, Mateo was truly a visionary and brilliant man.

He died though.  Alone.

The young woman that I arrived to the gala with, Rose Sinclair, is a good friend of Mateo’s childe -- Zsofia Bathory.  Your sire, Rufus, served under her in Sacramento... though I doubt much has been said of her.  She moved to Cambridge not long after the events in 1867 and found peace there that I hope helped ease her mind of all of her pains.  For though we Toreador are taken with the passion of love and the excitement of adventure, we too allow tragedy to become an all too pervasive thing that must be moderated lest it consume us.  The light of friendship battles that.  Keep it well attended and it will protect you.

All of this is to say that though I have lived many years and had many reasons for misgivings, you reminded me very much that there is still greatness ahead of us.  I think at times of the friends I have lost from my own coterie: Hiram, Lisbette, Kinley... and consider what the world would be like if they were still by my side.  In truth, they are in some ways... even absent, they speak to me in the experiences and memories that I hold of them.  I hope that you too have such experiences and memories and that they continue to grow and guide you.

Continue to excel in all things you do and I do not doubt you will bring honor to those that look to you for guidance and wisdom.  It may not seem like it, but there are those that look up to you even now, and as time goes on you will find you have fewer compeers and far more disciples.  This is a strange thing, but it is good: the lessons we teach are always perfumed by those we learned them with.

I must extend my deepest gratitude to you for your hospitality while we visited.  If you should ever find yourself in Cambridge, please, allow me the honor of spending an evening with you and offering you the sights of my domain.  It is a small town, but it has a great deal of meaning to it.  

Perhaps, if we are fortunate, we might create a few of our own memories to guide our path in nights to come.

Sincerely and with the utmost respect, Rodrigo Santiago del Sagrado Espíritu de Cristo Guerrero-Salamanca, Prince of Cambridge