Valentina Zhou

Val Zhou first came to the United States by way of California, when she was 20 years old - accompanying her family and friends trying to find some financial stability in the California Gold Rush. Of course, things did not work out for many of the Chinese immigrants in those days, and for Val, it was no better.

She wound up working in a local saloon, where she sang, and danced - among other things - and where she first met the creature that would become her Sire. First, though, she spent a few years as Alisair Vincenzo's personal consort and servant, until he tired of her and began using his powers to toy with her, molding and changing her form to suit his whim. In the end, however, he decided to make her his Childe.

As a vampire, under the direct control the independent Tzimisce Elder, she somehow thrived, despite being the literal property of such a hoary, old beast.

Together, the two of them helped establish a city in the Idaho Territories. Alisair became infatuated with a native warrior, and Val was left to her own devices. By the twentieth century, shewas creating art again, subconsciously trying to attract her Sire's attention, while consciously seeking to drive him away. She was also exploring all the ways in which her vampiric abilities changed and enhanced her talents.

During the anti-Asian persecution stemming from the distrust of the Japanese during World War II, Val - calling herself Valentina - left her Sire and moved to the City.

When announcing herself to the City's Elders, she was slighted by the Toreador to such a degree that Val - ever a talented artiste in her own right - has made it her mission to destroy the Toreador by usurping everything that they hold dear, making it her own and, when she can, turning it against them.