Madame Villanelle, Song of Midnight – Staff of the Moody Badger Tavern

(As Known in London, Anno Domini 1553)

Those who wander the twilight halls of the Moody Badger Tavern soon come to know her voice before they ever know her name.

Madame Villanelle of the Daughters of Cacophony is spoken of in hushed tones and affectionate sighs — a figure of impossible grace and haunting beauty, her presence as intoxicating as the finest draught of spirit-forged wine. French by birth and by manner, she carries the elegance of the Loire courts about her like an unseen perfume: soft lilac, faint myrrh, and the whisper of old vellum touched by candle-smoke.

She is tall and slender, her posture eternally poised as though each movement were a verse in a carefully composed sonata. Her hair, a cascade of midnight-black touched with hints of deep indigo beneath lamplight, is often worn in intricate braids or loose curls threaded with silver pins shaped like crescent moons or musical clefs. Her skin is pale as moonlit marble, contrasted strikingly by lips stained rouge-dark as ripened cherries.

Her eyes — ah, her eyes — are pools of dusky violet shadow, keen and knowing, yet unfailingly warm to those who listen rather than merely stare. When she smiles, it is soft and slow, as though she is sharing a secret harmony meant for only one soul at a time.

By night, she sits upon the small raised stage of the Moody Badger, cradling a lute of pale ash-wood or a strange, delicate stringed instrument not seen in any court of Europe. Her fingers dance with preternatural mastery across strings and keys alike. She knows every form of music known to mortal man in this age — ballads, madrigals, church plainsong, courtly love verses, druidic laments, war marches, sailors’ hymns, and ancient Gaelic keens — and more besides, melodies taught only by the Badger Spirit itself during the slow, silent hours when tavern and moon conspire to listen.

Her voice is liquid silver and crushed velvet, rising and falling like tide and breath, capable of coaxing laughter, tears, yearning, or dreadful stillness from even the most hardened Kindred. It is said that more than one Brujah warrior has paused mid-rage merely to listen to her final note fade into silence.

When not performing within the Moody Badger, Madame Villanelle is often seen as a guest within the guarded halls of her protector and paternal figure, London’s Kindred Sheriff — Andrew de Moray of Clan Brujah. With him she displays rare gentleness and loyalty, their bond not born of blood but of mutual respect, love, and the strange kinship of Monsters who yet choose beauty over brutality.

Notice Posted in the Moody Badger and Declared at Elysium

A Statement of Concern and Vigilance Issued by Order of Sheriff Andrew de Moray And the Keepers of the Moody Badger Tavern

Let it be known to all Kindred of Avalon and those who labor under her shadow:

There are troubling whispers upon the wind and darker rumors carried by silent wings — that another of the Daughters of Cacophony blood approaches London.

This Kindred, once known in mortal life as the beloved song-maiden of Wales, Nesta ferch Gruffudd, has abandoned her former name and form. She now claims the title Master Villanelle, having reshaped flesh, presence, and voice into a perfect echo of masculine dominion. It is said his singing voice rivals the choirs of Heaven and eclipses the proud horns of kings.

He is believed to be the blood-kin and shared childe of the same sire as Madame Villanelle — and more terribly, he is known to have consumed that sire not thirty years past, rising to a dread and terrible mastery of the Cacophonic Blood.

Whispers declare that he has learned of his sister’s existence in London, and seeks to reclaim her — whether by persuasion, domination, or darker art none dare speculate.

Thus, this request is issued:

• Watch for a tall Kindred with commanding presence and unnatural grace.

• A voice of impossible depth and resonance that bends the ear as a lover bends to a kiss.

• A mien both regal and unsettling.

• One who bears the name Master Villanelle.

Any person who sees, hears, or suspects this individual is requested to report immediately to:

• The Moody Badger Staff

• Sheriff Andrew de Moray

• Or the presiding authority of Elysium

This matter is considered one of grave concern for the safety of Madame Villanelle and the peace of London.

May the music of the Badger remain unbroken,and may silence never rule where harmony dwells.

So witnessed beneath candle and curse,By Kindred and Keeper alike.