Tarja Vygotsky

Introduction

Tarja Vygotsky is a Russian-born rock/opera star who sang with the band Of The Blood. She was a Kindred of the Daeva clan and loyal member of the Invictus convenant. She came to Newcastle in September 2009 at the request of her old friend Luther Ulyanov. She was Invictus Primogen of Newcastle for a brief time, but stepped down and left the Invictus in 2010. She ran КЛУБ in Newcastle, which also served as her haven. She and Luther were lovers up until her final death.

Biography

Tarja Vygotsky was born in St Petersburg in 1836. As her father was a musician and her mother was a dancer, she was born into the world of entertainment, and from an early age she demonstrated a talent for singing. Hoping to capitalize on their daughter’s talents, her parents had no qualms about including her in their working lives and as a result she received singing and dancing lessons on a daily basis from the residents of the tiny theatre in which her parents were performers.

As a child, Tarja loved music and was passionate about the latest operas and music from the great composers. She would often sit outside the back of the opera house in St Petersburg and listen to the performances going on inside.

After watching her performance in Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma, Tarja’s “contract” was bought by the owners of a prestigious opera house in Moscow. Being only fourteen at the time, it was a fantastic opportunity for her because not only was she given the chance to hone her talents, but to also receive a proper education. She was taught to read and write, plus she was taught etiquette and social skills. By the time she was twenty-one, Tarja was a rising star in the opera house and very popular in society. Her new position in society left no room in her life for her parents and her friends at the tiny theatre in St Petersburg. She began to write to her parents less and less until eventually her letters - and money included within them - stopped.

Eventually Tarja became a prima donna in the company and, as a result of her new stardom, she became one of the most sought out women in Moscow. She was invited to the biggest parties, courted by the richest and most powerful men and envied by society women. It was during one of these parties that she attracted the attention of the vampire who would become her Sire - Dmitri Largatski.

Tarja was embraced during a private liason with Dmitri, following a succession of meetings at parties where they were both guests. He never gave her a choice in the matter, essentially forcing vampirism upon her. When Tarja asked him why he had done this to her, his simply stated that he wished for her music to live forever.

Tarja adapted quickly to her new lifestyle and used her status as prima donna to make arrangements for her new condition. She continued to work, perform and socialise as her position required, although her lifestyle became more hedonistic than it was before under the influence of Dmitri. He told her that as a vampire, there were no more limits and she could indulge in her wildest passions. She and Dmitri remained together for only a year before Dmitri decided that it was time for him to move on. He informed Tarja that he was suffering from wanderlust and wished to take his Daeva-ish charms elsewhere to find new sport. His departure left Tarja devastated.

Following Dmitri’s departure, Tarja decided that she wished to travel in order to explore the musical capitals of the world and experience all that her vampiric gifts could offer her. She visited many countries and learned about many styles of music, engraving them in her memory and using them to aid her in her own song-writing.

At the turn of the century, she came to London. She invented a new identity for herself (Tanya Golvonin) and began to perform as a guest musician in various clubs and theatres. When World War One broke out, Tarja's skills were called on to provide morale, although it became increasingly difficult for ehr to hide her vampiric ways. After news of a revolution in Russia reached her in London, Tarja decided to fake her death and go into voluntary torpor until it was all over. It was the late 1970s by the time Tarja re-emerged again to discover that she had slept through not only the remainder for the Great War, but through the entire Second World War and most of the Cold War.

She threw herself back into her studies of music, learning about different styles and influences that had become popular whilst she was asleep - jazz, blues, rock, pop, etc. It was after attending an early Black Sabbath concert that she became interested in rock and metal and started writing music mostly based on those genres, whilst throwing in influences from her operatic and classical background. She performed in various bands under different names and images, but it wasn’t until 2000 that she began to gain popularity in the European metal scene with her band Of The Blood.

Following a succession of well-received albums and reviews, Of The Blood became one of the more popular bands in the European metal scene. Tarja still remains coy about public appearances and magazine interviews, always insisting that she did not "do" publicity, leaving all of it in the capable hands of her band mate (and ghoul) Dutch guitarist Mike Westerholt. Cameras were banned at their early concerts, with the fans given the excuse that "Ms Vygotsky believes that every photograph steals part of her soul, and therefore her ability to create music." With the increasing difficulty of enforcing this (due to the invention of camera phones), lighting effects and dry ice feature heavily in Of The Blood's performances. The band's music videos tend not to feature many shots of the band, and publicity shots tend to include only Mike and the other members of the band. A single red rose is a common feature in all videos or photos as it represents the absent front woman. Publicly, Tarja's "eccentric" behaviour endears her further to her fans and makes her an object of mystery, elegance and beauty in their eyes.

In September 2009, Tarja received a phone call from Luther Ulyanov, who asked her if she could re-locate from Moscow to England in order to aid in solving a serious problem in the area. Unaware of how serious the problem was, but driven by her loyalty to her old friend, Tarja uprooted her entire band and moved to Newcastle. She is now settled in a haven beneath the Newcastle franchise of Luther's Klub, managing the night club as well as working on her musical projects.

At the end of January 2010, Of The Blood released their sixth full length album "Consign To Oblivion", which was inspired by the recent troubles with the Jarl, the politics of the Newcastle courts and Tarja's own feelings about her unlife. As of February she is on a European tour, due to return at Newcastle's Elysium in May.

On Tour in 2010

After leaving Newcastle for a two-month concert tour of Europe, Tarja left Elizabeth Turner in charge of the Invictus until her return. In late February, Tarja and Of The Blood were due to play a large concert in Moscow, and they arrived in the city a few days beforehand. During this time Tarja disappeared without warning, much to the distress of her band mates and Luther. The press got wind of the disappearance and the concert tour was put on hold until Tarja could be found, but with little clues as to when and why she disappeared, those searching for her came up with nothing.

During the March Elysium in Newcastle, Tarja showed up in court. Her hair was matted and her clothes were torn and dirty. She was covered in blood, very disorientated and clearly distressed. Judging from her garbled words and the state of her appearance, the general prognosis was that she had been buried in a coffin and that somehow she had managed to claw her way out of the grave and get back to Newcastle. Since her return, Tarja' has been emotionally unstable, often leading her to ramble incoherently or revert to catatonic states. She has been staying with Luther ever since her return to the city.

The Dreamer's Spire

Tarja's "madness" appears to be down to constant voices in her head and a recurring dream. In this dream, Tarja always sees a cornfield filled with dead bodies with a tower looming over it in the distance. Standing in front of the tower, there are several figures (Kindred) who know who she is and seem surprised to see her there. The dream has some varying factors, but almost always follows the same format.

Analysis of these dreams has led the Kindred of Newcastle to discover the location of the Dreamer's Spire (Grey's Monument), and that it is some sort of conduit, channelling vast amounts of energy towards it through a link of buildings throughout Grainger Town (including the Theatre Royal and the Philosophy Society). It has also been discovered that Tarja's sire is (or was) a member of the Dreamer's Spire.

With practice and determination, Tarja was able to take control of her dreams and was even able to force the Dreamer's Spire into revealing most of their plans to her. Following another month of dreams and messages from Dmitri, Tarja stood up in elysium and ordered everyone to help put a stop to the Dreamer's Spires plans once and for all. With aid from Kindred from the other cities and Dmirti, the Newcastle Court were able to defeat most of the Dreamer's Spire and foil their plans to unleash Woad during a confrontation in the Dream World.

Immediately following the battle, the Kindred present were transported back to КЛУБ in Newcastle. During the confusion, Tarja slipped away unnoticed and has not been seen since.

Final Death

After returning to Newcastle following her brief absence, Tarja continued her love affair with Luther. However, she was still haunted by her experiences with the Dreamer's Spire. Unable to let it lie, Tarja continued to look into finding the missing seven masters of the Spire and researched into ways of stopping them once and for all. After completing Of the Blood's postponed European Tour, Tarja disbanded the group in order to concentrate on the Dreamer' Spire.

In September 2010, Tarja went to final death during elysium. All that is known is that she had gone to sort out some "unfinished business" before appearing in court. Upon entering elysium, Tarja caused the majority of the Kindred to frenzy and was tired and weak in appearance. She did not disclose much about what had happened, but told of destroying the Spire once and for all. Shortly after this admission she died.

Friends & Allies

Luther Ulyanov - Tarja's best friend and lover. Tarja has known Luther for a very long time and would do anything for him.

Mike Westerholt - Tarja's bass guitarist and 'lead ghoul'. Mike also acts as Tarja's assistant. He doesn't like Luther.

Dr Eli Rebus - Dr Rebus has been helping Tarja deal with her problems, particularly by taking her on long bike rides in the country and generally distracting her.

Dmitri Largatski - Tarja's sire and a former associate of the Dreamer's Spire. Tarja got in touch with him after nearly 150 years apart, which unfortunately led to her imprisonment and subsequent madness. Dmitri aided the Newcastle Court in stopping the Spire's plans to unleash Woad.

Quotes

  • "I do not like box."
  • "I am lover, not fighter, dah-ling."
  • "Is all about sex, blood and rock n' roll, da?"
  • "Why does no one listen to the crazy woman?"

Rumours

  • Of The Blood have released several albums since they started in 1996. Two of these have gone gold in Germany and the Netherlands, and another has gone platinium in Russia.
  • Some say that Tarja tried to release a cover of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' as a solo project in 2002.
  • Tarja diablerised seven powerful Kindred in quick succession and this caused her final death.
  • The explosion of the statue on Grey's Monument was something to do with Tarja's actions.

Tarja's Soundtrack

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