Armand

Armand (Amadeo, Andrei) is an Anne Rice vampire played considerably less dramatically by Maggie, based on the novel version of Armand in the Vampire Chronicles. Manipulative, cold, and very, very pretty, he often spends his time in a state of perpetual annoyance that comes from his interactions with Nicolas de Lenfent, Lestat's former mortal lover and friend, who recently has been known to do things like start a killing spree a la a French Jack the Ripper to catch Armand's attention, or worse, play with Armand's hair.

Armand, along with Mercutio, is Maggie's most often played character. Thus the ridiculous length of this page.

Appearance[]

Armand's character model is Kirill Nikolini, a half-Russian, half-Italian model who made Maggie weep tears of joy when she finally found him. Armand has auburn hair, brown eyes, and was turned into a vampire when he was 17. He is often described as androgynous or sweet-faced, with roughly shoulder-length curls and a slim, boyish, slightly underdeveloped frame. He does not hesitate to use his looks to bedazzle or enthrall, and as he has the ability to induce hallucinations and create illusions, he often does. It's about the only thing he values his looks for, for Armand does not quite think it appropriate that a 300+ vampire such as himself should look so young and tender.

Supposedly 17, Armand is often described in the novels as a young boy, and originally might have been intended to have been turned anywhere from 12-16. Sarrin's Nicolas de Lenfent's favorite simile for him is that he has a 'face like a choirboy,' which is quite fitting as it is based off the line, "Liar, with the face of a choirboy" in The Vampire Lestat, the only book in which Nicolas is a character.

Living in the covens, and under the cemetery, Armand wore rags. Now he tends towards clothes that resemble the fashions of his Renaissance. He likes rings.

Backstory[]

Kidnapped from Russia and brought to Italy to work in the brothels, Armand (then Andrei) was rescued by the vampire Marius de Romanus in Venice and renamed Amadeo, 'beloved of God.' Cue amnesia, pederasty, tantrums, and the eventual turning of Armand into a vampire to prevent him from dying of a poisoned knife wound (from his jealous lover. Yesss.). Armand was 17, and the year was 1499.

Armand got 6 lovely months with his master, and then Santino and the Roman coven swooped in, set Marius on fire, set the villa on fire, set Marius' apprentices on fire, and set Armand on fire, but pulled him out again and promised to let him live if he only renounced his former life of sin and vice. They then kept him locked in a cell in the earth for two months, systematically starving him, driving him mad, and feeding him people like random street children and his former mortal best friend until Armand did, indeed, renounce his former life of sin and vice. Surprise, surprise. After a few decades of being educated in the ways of darkness, Armand - whose new name was chosen for him, as it was not at all appropriate for one who served Satan to have the very word for God in their name - went to Paris to lead the coven there, under the cemetery of Les Innocents.

After a century or so Lestat de Lioncourt came and shook everything up, leaving Armand with a broken coven, no idea how to survive in the 18th century, and Lestat's mad fledgling, Nicolas de Lenfent. (Although admittedly, Armand's kind of responsible for that last one.) Nicolas de Lenfent started the Theatre des Vampires, which Armand visited often. In a way very similar to how he'd been the coven master under Les Innocents, Armand watched, read the plays, helped Eleni (a former coven vampire) run it, and became Nicolas' primary caretaker as the violinist became more and more crazed, assaulting people on the street, playing out bitter and dark pieces with no regard for the hapless listener, and killing carelessly and recklessly. After years of what must have been the world's most frenzied violin playing, Armand cut off Nicolas' hands and imprisoned him for a week without blood; upon his release, Armand agreed to build him a funeral pyre.

Then our narrative skips wildly to the 21st century, in which Armand broke his self-made promise and turned Daniel Molloy, the same boy to whom Louis gave his interview, into a vampire after 10 years of extended cat-and-mouse. Armand loved Daniel, but he was also not, so to speak, very nice to him. Shortly after turning Daniel, Armand and Marius de Romanus meet again for the first time in centuries, a very pleasant reunion after which, nonetheless, Armand shows no interest in regaining any of the intimacy and passion that they once shared. It is possible that he's a little bitter. On the 'Verse, however, this little reunion does not at all come into play, because with an actual Marius de Romanus in Paris, a reunion in the 19th century became rather inevitable.

There was more in that wide skip between centuries, but as the Armand on the 'Verse is more or less 19th century Armand with added Daniel and David bits, the rest is a moot point.

The 'Verse[]

Blaming the niggling feeling that things were not quite right on overdone paranoia, Armand was very surprised one night to find that the Theatre de Vampires was not only where it was supposed to be, but demolished years before. Suddenly, there were dozens of strange vampires in Paris, there was a great big Romanian castle that he was certain had never been there before, and all sorts of old friends and enemies begun to pop out of the woodwork.

He blames this all very firmly on amnesia. Yes, all of it.

Nicolas de Lenfent[]

Mysteriously back from the pyre, Nicolas de Lenfent initially blamed Armand for his return and the two had a very vicious first thread. After a flurry of PMs and rereading of TVL, Armand and Nicolas fell into a familiar groove of alternating intimacy and conflict, occasionally both at the same time.

Still very sore on particular topics *coughLestatcough* and still playing the violin, Nicolas views Armand with a mixture of adoration, affection, and irritation at his near-constant manipulation. Armand is just irritated in general, as Nicolas likes to touch his hair or his cheek and this drives Armand very slowly but completely up the wall. Depending on his mood, Armand feels affection for Nicolas or would like him to go away, lies to him and says exactly what Nicolas wants to hear or tells the truth in a particularly harsh manner.

There are also threads occurring in the 21st century with the two of them on Night Island, as well as a several Facebook and Myspace pages. Currently, Armand has invited Nicolas to come see him at Night Island, because Armand misses him. So far these 21st century interactions have proved that beaches are great, guns are not, verbally abusing Lestat's books lends to duel satisfaction, blenders likewise provide great enjoyment, and that Armand dislikes being told how beautiful he is and that he is loved nearly as much as he always has. Eventually, there will be shenanigans.

Dorian Gray[]

The only universe in which a situation like this could possibly occur, the two spent many of Armand's early threads alternatively sniping at each other, Dorian being smug, Armand being smug, Armand dragging Dorian to theatres, Dorian dragging Armand to opium dens, etc. Armand has seen the picture of Dorian Gray. He was not impressed.

Dorian Gray is also the reason Armand and Daniel met again. Or rather, he is the mutual "friend" who likes convincing Armand to join him at opium dens which Daniel also frequents.

But that meeting was completely accidental! Dorian swears.

Daniel Molloy[]

Armand's 21st century fledgling in the novels, Armand's anachronistic 21st century fledgling on the 'verse. Upon finding himself in the strange new Paris, Armand's first goal was to find Daniel Molloy; instead, he met Dorian, and through him learned of Daniel's apparent fear and refusal to talk of his maker. Armand resolved to leave Daniel alone, and the two might never have met again had Armand not accompanied Dorian to the Opium Den one night, a night on which Daniel had also decided to freqeuent said den. It ended very badly, with near-hysterics on Daniel's part and a mixture of pain, anger, and confusion for Armand who, although surprised by the strength of Daniel's reaction to him, was not particularly surprised to find that his fledgling didn't want anything to do with him. The night ended with Daniel losing consciousness, Dorian being very briefly afraid for his life, and Armand leaving immediately after.

There have been no further meetings, accidental or otherwise, after that night; however, Daniel has established contact with Armand via his myspace.

Marius de Romanus[]

Armand's master and maker, Armand did not quite believe that he'd really died at the hands of Santino's coven, but was still shocked to see him in Paris. That this encounter occurred directly after Armand fled from the Opium Den and Daniel really did not help. After only a few minutes, Armand continued on, promising to meet Marius at the Opera house two nights later.

Vincent Chevalier[]

Soft-spoken and polite, Armand quite likes Vincent. He has no idea that before he invited/cajoled Nicolas into living with him in the tower, Nicolas had been the occasional guest of Vincent's maker, Lord Aurel, and likewise Nicolas does not know that Vincent, Aurel's fledgling, is staying with Armand.

David Talbot[]

Former Superior General of the Talamasca, a psychic order of scholars dating back centuries, David and Armand have a most unusual sort of relationship. In the 21st century of the novels, this included chance meetings, philosophical discussions, sarcasm from Armand and a surprising boldness on David's part. When Armand tells his story in what becomes The Vampire Armand, it is David who draws it out of him. On the 'verse, David has just shown up, and Armand, although not entirely sure why, recognizes him but finds his presence in the 19th century extremely jarring.

Also: extremely skilled as a mortal, and only more so now that he's a vampire, David is one of the very few who can pick up on Armand's heavily guarded thoughts. Armand does not often appreciate this.

Maggie quite adores David, and will love Sarrin forever for making him.

Lavinia Andronicus[]

Armand came upon Lavinia in a bar one evening, and, rather detached and immune to her mutilations, attempted to see whether or not there was still a spark of intelligence in what seemed to him to be an otherwise mad immortal. Alternatively scientifically cold, tempting, and threatening, he failed to gain any real indication of whatever he was seeking and left a considerably happier Lavinia behind when their "conversation" led him to thoughts of Marius.

Claudia[]

In the novels, Armand was the reason behind Claudia's death; or rather, Louis was, and Armand's wish to have Louis to himself led to Claudia's death locked out into a sunwell. On the 'verse, none of this has happened yet, and there is a good chance that it never will. Louis has just been turned into a vampire by Lestat, and the Theatre de Vampires, which was where Louis and Claudia met Armand, does not exist. However, a Claudia has nevertheless turned up; not a ghost, but Claudia after her return from death, with full knowledge of her murderer and a vicious desire to toy with him for it. Armand does not remember Claudia and, at the moment, regards her as little more than a curious nuisance, although her knowledge of his past, his maker, and his fledgling, as well as her cryptic comments, make him wary. Claudia's continued efforts may change his mind.

Santino[]

The same Satanic cult leader who took Armand away from his master and brainwashed him with the cult's ideal is in Paris now, after the collapse of both the Roman and the Parisian cult. Armand is not yet aware of this, but when they meet it should be interesting.

Armand has also met a few other notable persons, such as the vampire Sarah von Krolock, whom he found very pleasant and helpful but suspiciously so, Xiu-Xiu the fox, and, very briefly, Aziraphale and Herbert von Krolock when Armand tried to bedazzle Aziraphale and only earned himself a slightly piqued angel but, more importantly, an extremely angry Herbert.

Fun Facts[]

(Which doubtless no one cares about but which will occur anyway, as Maggie is procrastinating on her history homework again.)

Armand once chopped down Marius' door with an axe. This promptly turned into a oh shit moment after he realized precisely what it was he'd just done, aka, after Marius stared at him in some astonishment, and just before the whip came slithering out of the other room. Thankfully, his punishment didn't turn out to be too, er, bad.
He prefers "right little trooper" over "Botticelli's angel."
He likes blenders a little too much.
His sense of humor is what some might affectionately call sick and twisted.
He has never had anything resembling a last name.
In some quite basic ways, he and Nicolas de Lenfent are much the same.
He painted ikons when he lived in Russia, but after his kidnapping to Venice never painted anything of his own again.
He does actually like Nicolas' playing, when it's not non-stop and crazed as it became in the violinist's final days at the theatre.
He is intensely religious in his own way.

Nicolas' comparisons[]

Nicolas makes the best. Similes. Ever.

A trashy prom date

"You're the sort of thing that resists just to be a pain about it. Something like a prom date who does her best to wear a trashy dress and ridiculous heels and get drunk and then begins complaining of migraine the moment she gets into the car after the dance is over."

A cabbage

"And what if I simply say that when your hair is uncut and the curls are hanging around your face it looks sort of like the heart of a leafy green vegetable? The waving, crisp leaves all draped around the center, almost like the red rose you claim is more appropriate..."

This, of course, is what happens when Nicolas refers to Armand as mon chou and has to explain himself.

A Pisces

"[An] astrologer wrote of the Pisces woman that she has all of the mysteries of Eve and some of her own. That's rather what you're like, except, of course, that it's not strictly female. It's like that, though. Women are sphynxes, but every sphynx is not a woman."

...