History

Life

Jocelyn was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to a suburban upper-middle class family. Her father was a commercial litigator and her mother was an investment banker at Bank of Columbia. Jocelyn had a pleasant enough childhood as the comparatively overlooked middle child and stood out from her siblings through her interest in digital photography, which her parents encouraged. She went to college at UC Davis, where she majored in studio art, and seemed on track to have a comfortably ordinary life.

Embrace

Jocelyn went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras during the spring break of her sophomore year. She’d expected to get sloshed at Bourbon Street with her sorority sisters, wear some plastic bead necklaces, and maybe flash her breasts from a balcony as part of any coed’s timeless rite of passage in the city.

She hadn’t counted on meeting the most fascinating woman at one of the music clubs. There was something about her that made Jocelyn want her approval, and she soon found herself telling her friends she’d “catch up with you later” as she spilled her life story and most intimate secrets to her new acquaintance, including the fact that she felt responsible for driving her ex-boyfriend to suicide after they broke up. The woman was appropriately sympathetic and seemed impressed by the photographs Jocelyn showed from her portfolio. Jocelyn hadn’t thought of herself as into girls when the woman invited her somewhere “more private”, but didn’t say no. This was the sort of thing that happened at Mardi Gras.

The woman told Jocelyn to close her eyes once they were on the bed. Then she felt something sharp pierce her neck.

Early Requiem

Jocelyn’s sire Sally Ward was a Camarilla archon and follower of the Lancea et Sanctum who’d spent many previous Carnivals in New Orleans. Jocelyn isn’t completely sure what drove Sally to Embrace her: there were smarter, more driven, better-looking, better-everything childer the elder Toreador could have picked from, and Jocelyn has never felt entirely satisfied by Sally’s answers.

The Camarilla archon was a supportive enough sire, though, and stayed in New Orleans for long enough to properly educate her childe, induct her into the Sanctified, and make introductions to the local clan. The “vampire church” accepted Jocelyn graciously enough, but her clan left much to be desired. Although Pearl Chastain and the elders who followed her opinions afforded Jocelyn the medial respect (or at least courtesy) her bloodline was due, they took an exceedingly dim view of digital photography as an art form. Jocelyn has been deeply frustrated by the fact that the “clan of artists” whom she expected to spend eternity with has so little appreciation for her chosen medium. Sally tried to encourage her childe to look for that elsewhere, but was at a loss to suggest exactly where. Jocelyn loved everything else about their clan and ardently wanted to participate in its system of guilds with artists who’d had centuries to perfect their craft.

The Storyville Krewe

It wasn’t long after Sally left that Jocelyn fell in with Gwendolyn Wade and Evan Bourelle, two other Toreador who’d been marginalized by their clan. Evan was a musician of middling talent who seemed to mostly coast by on his good looks and winsome personality, which his clan labeled him a poseur for. Gwendolyn was a painter of even more dubious talent who was “a bit of a wuss” and seemed haunted by past trauma from her home city of Houston. The three found meaning in their shared Sanctified faith and stuck together out of friendship and the need for mutual protection, like so many of the city’s neonate krewes.

In time, Evan brought his Ventrue lover Roxanne Gerlette into the nascent coterie. Roxanne had been marginalized by her own clan for her weak blood, but still had a Ventrue’s ambition and seized upon the group’s faith as a means of advancement. She brought in the Malkavian Wyatt Jenkins to further enlarge the coterie and organized predations upon sinful mortals in general and attacks upon the Baron’s mortal followers in particular to win their elders’ favor. Jocelyn found Roxanne abrasive and “a bit of a bitch. Okay, more than just a bit.” Still, she was happy to have a purpose in her Requiem and willing to follow the Ventrue’s lead when Evan was mostly able to temper her worst tendencies. Roxanne’s approach bore fruits too, as the coterie was lauded (if mildly) for their efforts and rewarded with expanded feeding privileges.

Jocelyn was also the one to suggest the five name their coterie the Storyville Krewe, because she’d seen Storyville’s original sign to “beware pickpockets and loose women” and jokingly described their krewe as as being composed of “loose mostly-women who take things from people.” Roxanne was less than amused by Jocelyn’s name, but Evan got her on board when he suggested a more serious theological meaning they could offer to other Kindred. That dynamic would define much of Jocelyn’s relationship with Roxanne: functional so long as Evan was around to mediate.

In the summer of 2015, Evan disappeared without a trace. Jocelyn joined the other Storyvilles in ardently supporting their sole remaining leader (Evan had truthfully always been their co-leader) as she organized a search for the missing Toreador. Thus far, however, Roxanne has failed to locate him—and it’s anyone’s guess how long things will last for the Storyvilles if she fails too, or if Evan turns ash. The bossy, stubborn Ventrue is already starting to seriously grate Jocelyn’s nerves.

And without the Storyvilles, Jocelyn honestly isn’t sure what she has to live for (or at least exist for) in New Orleans.

Influence

Domain

Jocelyn and the Storyvilles hold a small amount of territory in the Central Business District. It’s modest hunting in an otherwise decent location. The Storyvilles have earned the right to feed at choicer areas on several occasions, including within the Arts District, though they have yet to receive the privilege permanently. Jocelyn also has minor feeding rights within some of Riverbend’s outer student hangouts. She still looks the part of a college student and can pick up vessels from that demographic fairly conveniently. She’s miffed, though, that Roxanne was unable to help her obtain choicer hunting grounds. (Her krewemate’s bloodline enjoys special privileges in Riverbend, thanks to Roxanne’s great-great-grandsire being the parish’s regent before Donovan.)

Ghouls

Jocelyn has had three ghouls over her Requiem. The first, Lizzy, was another young artist acquired by Jocelyn shortly after her Embrace in 2012. Jocelyn came to care for the ghoul as a friend and near-equal, and was heartbroken after an untimely frenzy claimed Lizzy’s life. Jocelyn took photographs of the still-bleeding corpse, which she considers some of the most personal and deeply meaningful pieces she’s ever taken.

Jocelyn’s second ghoul, David, was a more experienced bodyguard on loan from her sire. He was killed by Doc Xola after the Storyvilles launched an ill-fated attack on some mortals he regarded as his. Sally has been unwilling to trust her childe with further ghouls as a result.

Jocelyn’s third and current ghoul, Megan ‘Meg’ Wilkins, was her roommate in college. Jocelyn invited her to the city for 2014’s Mardi Gras and subsequently had her drop out of UC Davis. Meg suffers from anorexia, suicidal tendencies, dismal self-esteem, and at least several other mental health issues that the blood bond has made simultaneously worse and better: in the words of Jocelyn’s sire, “suicides need someone to live for.” Meg is considered weak-willed and pathetic even by the Storyvilles’ other ghouls. Even Jocelyn sometimes feels sorry for her, but admits she’d rather not have to vacuum her haven, run errands, and perform those other tasks of night-to-night living herself.

Mask

Jocelyn still uses her mortal identity. She’s far enough away from her hometown and former college (she’s since dropped out) that no one knows her. She told her lover Caroline Malveaux-Devillers that she “just [wasn’t] in touch” with her mortal family. She’s admitted it’s something to deal with down the line, but for now she hasn’t found it a particularly pressing issue.

Pawns

Jocelyn has some mortal “boyfriends” she leeches off money from. Otherwise, she cultivates little in the way of mortal influence.

Status

Jocelyn has made a small name for herself among the Sanctified through her activities on behalf of the Storyvilles. The larger Camarilla cares less for these accomplishments, while her clan largely discounts her artistic endeavors altogether. Jocelyn’s sire has some clout as an archon, though is away from the city too frequently and too difficult to reach for these ties to be of much use. Jocelyn can also draw on the Storyvilles for aid and assistance. (Camarilla Status -, Lancea et Sanctum Status •, Storyville Krewe Status ••, Toreador Status -)

Recent Events

Story Three and Four

In 2015, Jocelyn met Caroline Malveaux-Devillers and pursued a relationship with the younger Ventrue. Jocelyn proved a great assistance and source of emotional support to the sireless fledgling during those tumultuous early nights when she was charged with hunting down her alleged sire René Baristheaut, and for a time the two neonates knew happiness and respite in one another’s arms.

Story Six, Seven, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen

Yet Jocelyn was not without troubles of her own. She enlisted Caroline’s help in locating her erstwhile krewemate, Evan Bourelle, who Caroline came to believe had met final death. Jocelyn’s already deteriorating relationship with Roxanne Gerlette shattered at this news, leading to a final split between them. Her relationship with Caroline fell apart, too, after the Ventrue turned in Gwendolyn Wade for illegally siring a thin-blooded childe, for which Gwen was executed by the prince. Jocelyn blamed Caroline and the two had their first of an increasingly vicious cycle of fights, breakups, and shaky reconciliations. As Caroline came into her own over the coming months and established a place at Prince Vidal’s side, she grew increasingly exhausted by Jocelyn’s self-destructive and attention-seeking behaviors. The Ventrue came to feel she had outgrown the ambitionless Toreador, but could not find a way to conveniently rid herself of her.

Caroline finally did so during the Battle of Mt. Carmel, which pitted Caroline, Louis Fontaine, and their allies against Sheriff Donovan and his own supporters. Caroline texted Jocelyn to bring her people a vessel before the battle proper again. Unfortunately, Donovan preempted this, and intercepted the younger Toreador on her way to Caroline. Jocelyn arrived at Mt. Carmel High School bearing a vessel whose poisoned blood weakened Caroline’s allies when they feasted on it, as well as a backpack full of explosives set to detonate. The Toreador was torpored during Donovan’s subsequent attack and Caroline lost track of her amidst the battle’s chaos.

After the dust settled, Jocelyn’s remains were discovered by Sanctified responders. Philip Maldonato believed the Toreador met her final death at the hands of the wraiths allied with Lou, who’d subsequently turned on the victorious vampires.

Caroline previously thought she no longer felt anything for her ex-lover.

She realized otherwise then.

Genealogy

Lineage

Jocelyn is the childe of Sally Ward, a Camarilla archon originally from Boston. Sally serves under the current Toreador justicar, Diana Iadanza. She comes to New Orleans most years for Mardi Gras and to to catch up with her childe. She’s almost impossible to contact otherwise and is “so paranoid” in the opinion of her childe, but it’s kept her undead. Jocelyn knows she’s been involved in at least one assassination on the Camarilla’s behalf, the details of which she’s refused to disclose.

Sally is the childe of Julian Dupre, another archon of less certain origins who’s been linked to Boston and Quebec City. Rumors also link the two as mortal siblings, husband and wife, or even both—it’s known that Julian Embraced Sally while he was still very new to the Blood himself. Julian was made an archon before Sally and employed her as his servire for some years. The two were also lovers during that time, though their respective paths in unlife only allow them to see one another occasionally now. He’s since retired as an archon and now serves as Quebec City’s keeper of elysium.

Julian is the childe of Vidal Jarbeaux, a former mortal con artist who continued to cheat and swindle Kindred across the world following his Embrace. He was eventually press-ganged into the Camarilla’s service during the 1960s by the former justicar Montecalme and has since established himself as one of the sect’s top-most archons. He is most notable for having helped expose his former superior Madam Guil’s ties to the Sabbat, which has earned her a place on the Red List—the second justicar in the Camarilla’s history to achieve such infamy (and the second such Toreador, much to the clan’s embarrassment).

Jarbeaux is the childe of Margaret d’Hautmont, a lesser-known Parisian elder who was one of Prince Beatrix’s many hangers-on. She met final death during the French Revolution alongside her prince and many of the city’s other elders.

Jocelyn does not know her ancestry beyond her great-great-grandsire, but places herself at the eleventh generation. Jocelyn’s bloodline is a moderately respected one, mainly notable for Vidal Jarbeaux’s place among it.

Broodmates

Jocelyn’s older sister-in-blood Genevieve Paternoster is the primogen of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. It’s a largely titular position, given her youth (the Setites, Samedi, and Lasombra antitribu are the true powers on the island nation), but it’s brought some further acclaim to their bloodline. Genevieve is also a follower of the Lancea et Sanctum, though did not find faith in Longinus or join the covenant until fairly recently in her Requiem.

Childer

Jocelyn is not known to have Embraced and has expressed little present interest in doing so.

Other Kin

The broodmate of Jocelyn’s great-grandsire, Anthony Sebastian Sands, is the primogen of his clan in Las Vegas. He’s an architect well-respected by the city’s Kindred for his role in the design of numerous casinos and seems to have “a rep kind of like Sundown’s” from what Jocelyn has heard of him. He recently arose from torpor after being thought destroyed by hunters in the early 2000s. Sands’ grandchilde Tobias Rieff is one of Chicago’s harpies. Tobias’ descendants all continue to make their homes in the Windy City. Veronica Abbey-Roth is the only one to achieve any particular acclaim through her almost un-Toreador-like financial acumen, whose profits she’s used to bankroll a number of local Kindred artists. Jocelyn met her once at a Mardi Gras she was in town for.