"Halflings are watery and bland, Dwarfs thicker to the point of being flat and stagnant. One does not drink such things unless one absolutely has to. Elves are like well-aged claret—rich but often overly sweet, a treat best reserved for special occasions or as a dessert. Personally, I prefer a Kislevite—of Gospodar descent if possible—but they are a little strong to serve at a dinner party."
- —Lady Ariette von Carstein[1]
Lady Ariette von Carstein, First of the New Generation, is the eldest of the most recent branch of the Von Carstein family. When Hermann Schtillmann performed the dark ritual that brought Mannfred back from the dead, it was young Ariette who was intended to be the count’s first meal. However, the three were interrupted by the arrival of Gotrek Gurnisson and his ridiculous biographer. It took Ariette twelve hours to escape from her “rescuers” and return to look for the handsome man whom she knew could give her everything she wanted.[1c]
On her journey back, she formulated a plan to present herself to Mannfred as a young noble girl who’d been carried off unwillingly by a pair of travellers. She explained to Mannfred that she escaped while the two disgusting men slept, and she had watched them kill a poor peasant girl that they had deemed “tainted.” She told Mannfred that these travellers aimed to return with reinforcements, and upon learning this, she knew she had to return to warn him at all costs. Impressed by her courage and passion, Mannfred agreed to grant her the Kiss.[1c]
Ariette has gone to great lengths to hide her true background. Previously, she was an irrelevant peasant. Now she has power, wealth, influence, and a mind to use them, and she has no intention of ever losing her current status. She enjoys the finer things in life but is not over-indulgent. Most of all, she loves to travel. Sometimes, she does this to help re-create the cult around the Von Carstein name in the younger Sylvanian nobles; other times, she just wants to see the world. She has even been known to fall in amongst adventurers because they travel to such exotic places and see so many strange things. Also, as adventurers tend to be rootless vagabonds, nobody complains if she gets peckish en route.[1c]
Ariette has gone so far as to tarnish the reputations of other von Carstein vampires. She managed to seriously damage the reputation of her rival Lady Carlotta when she encouraged her to embrace the seemingly spotless Lord Engelmier, only to reveal afterwards the scandalous gossip that Engelmier’s grandfather had been a crofter, a commoner tainting their line.[1b]