Parnesse

Parnesse
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Parnesse.jpg}}|250px]]
Details
Race	Vampire
Birthplace	New Capenna, New Capenna
Lifetime	Present
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lore:"Parnesse"

Parnesse, the Subtle Brush is a vampire wizard of the Maestros family in New Capenna.

Description

Parnesse is the wife of Errant, the daughter of Toluz, and the daughter-in-law of Anhelo.

History

Being skilled and confident enough to paint a vampire is a valuable skill that leads to a dangerous job. They can't see themselves in mirrors, see? So the way you paint 'em is the way they see themselves. Lotta risk there, lotta reward. Even for other vampires, who run every risk from getting a stake through them for a poor review to never getting their own portrait done.

Parnesse is one of the best, a portrait artist who specializes in painting vampires not necessarily how they look, but how they wish to be seen. She has a subtle brush—and a flashy bit of Obscura magic (a gift, from a friend)—that helps her see her subjects most confident self-image. A touch of smoother skin here, a lift of the fang there, a tug over there—the vampires who commission a portrait from Parnesse see themselves clearer and more beautiful (or fearsome) than ever, and for that, they keep Parnesse paid in full and booked for the foreseeable future.

Parnesse and Errant's nuptials are targeted by Fiero Vespin, a Maestro assassin and art dealer looking to make a name for himself. Fiero attacks Parnesse prior to their rehearsal dinner, leaving Parnesse smelling of blood and with broken ribs. Parnesse is unwilling to tell her fiance what occurred, however, refusing to talk about it at all out of what Anhelo refers to as 'knuckleheaded pride'.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
The Family Man	K. Arsenault Rivera	2022-03-30	Streets of New Capenna	New Capenna, Dominaria	Anhelo, Errant, Toluz, Evelyn, Fiero Vespin, Severo, Parnesse

Note on Parnesse's background

It is possible that Magic Story has confused Parnesse and Errant's names. Errant, Anhelo's daughter in The Family Man, is described as having 'warm, brown skin' like her mother, and 'thick, wavy hair', like her father. On a card in the set SNC, Errant is presented as a human street artist, seemingly not direct affiliated with any crime family (no watermark), but shown in the art making grafitti which appears to be the Maestro insignia (Errant, Street Artist).

Parnesse is described as Toluz's 'knuckle-headed' daughter in The Family Man, but is presented in the cards as a vampire (with UBR colors) and a member of the Maestros, despite Toluz being described as a high ranking human member of the Obscura. The connotation that Errant and Parnesse's wedding will help forge bonds between the Obscura and Maestro families seems somewhat muddled, if Toluz' daughter is a already a member of the Maestros.

A description of Parnesse's character history (from an article on the Legendary characters of New Capenna) may support the theory that there was a mix-up, as that text reads that Parnesse uses an Obscura observation device gifted by a 'friend'. This might be her mother Toluz, who is a member of the Obscura, or some other Obscura member she knows through her mother's connections, but the implication of the wording is that the that the author was trying to suggest the device was a gift from her lover and wife, Errant, who perhaps (at the time the article was drafted) was considered to be Toluz's daughter and a member of the Obscura.

However, the nature of any mix-up is unclear. The character descriptions for Evelyn and Anhelo make clear that vampirism on New Capenna is a gift that originates from Xander, and thus may not be an inheritable condition. Errant is noted in the The Family Man as having 'warm brown skin' which agrees more with Errant's art and nature as a human, than Parenesse's.

Furthermore, Errant, Street Artist has the useful ability to make copies of copied spells, making her useful to a Maestros strategy, especially to Anhelo and Parnesse in Commander, and Errant also has 0 power, keeping her safe from being the sacrificed victim of the Maestros' keyword, Casualty. There is no particular synergy between Parnesse and Anhelo, however. This suggests Errant's card (in Streets of New Capenna) was perhaps designed with an eye toward her use with the Maestro commander deck in Streets of New Capenna/Commander decks, although reality is that Errant may have been simply designed for use in any Casualty oriented deck. Rather than their identities being confused at some point, an alternative hypothesis is that Errant perhaps became a human late in design, after Magic Story had started working on the fiction, or that Parnesse became a vampire late in design, leading to the apparent inconsistencies.

The author of The Family Man, K. Arsenault Rivera is quite clear about which character is which, in conversations on Twitter, including a possible explanation that Parnesse may have become a vampire, and a full-fledged member of the Maestros, after the events in The Family Man due to her incredible artistic talents.

In-game references

Represented in:

Parnesse, the Subtle Brush