Born in 1759, Artemis was the youngest child of Adam York's, a religious professor at Oxford, and the complete apple of his eye.  Like her father, she was bookish and shy and considered "slightly off" by most other people, including her family.  As a girl, she and her older sister Diana were tutored in ancient Gaelic.  Artemis and Diana grew close in their childhood, but shared very little with their older sister, Selene, who was married off at a young age. 

In 1776, when her father was killed after disappearing at his favorite church, Artemis was devastated.  Despite the fact that she had two prominent suitors vying for her hand, Artemis became withdrawn, burying herself in books and imagining that her father was still alive to talk about them with her.  The family as at a loss for what to do with her.  Her sanity was shattered and Diana, who had left the household to become a lady's companion, returned to deal with the deranged Artemis.  A great resentment formed between them, as Diana had been enjoying her lavish lifestyle and was angry to give it up.  The following year, however, both Diana and Selene disappeared without a trace.

In 1779, Artemis was praying at her father's favorite church.  A fight broke out among a group of strangers and Artemis was flung through a window.  The church was lit on fire and people began rushing out.  Among them, much to her shock, was her father, Adam.  She watched as Adam fought against a man named Liam who spoke disparagingly of a group called the Children of Eden.  Eventually, some of Adam's allies managed to drive Liam and his followers off.  Adam Embraced Artemis that night with the Prince of London's blessing.  Adam renamed her Artemis Seth.  And admitted that he had also sired both Selene and Diana, who had been renamed Selene Caine and Diana Abel, respectively, owing to their membership into the Children of Eden, a vampire cult created by Adam's sire, a Malkavian woman who went only by the name of the Father.

Afraid of being followed back to the new Garden of Eden that the Father had created, Adam took Artemis to Paris and taught her the Father's great plans (or what little he knew of them) to bring together Kindred and kine.  Artemis approved of most of the ideas, but did not fully understand how it was possible.  She and Adam traveled across France for years, spreading the gospel of the Children of Eden.  In 1780, they went to Ireland and it was there that Liam and Ursela caught up with them.  Liam managed to kill Adam, but Artemis escaped with his coat and several of his followers.

She traveled to the new world and settled in California to start her own branch of the Children of Eden, calling it the Order of the Silver Crescent.  She insisted that all of her followers feed primarily off of animals.  In the case of Ventrue who had to feed on humans, she insisted upon a strict rule of no killing.  Unfortunately, without Adam's guidance and without the Father's influence, Artemis was uncertain of how to create the perfect Garden of Eden and her Order gradually became something of a Camarilla police force, fighting against the Sabbat and anarchs and earning Artemis a large number of enemies.

In 1800, Artemis pinned a target on her back by killing a Lasombra Bishop who had attempted a coup.  Afraid for her safety, the members of the Order of the Silver Crescent insisted that she flee for a time.  She returned to London and met up with the Father, telling her the story of what had happened to Adam and her accomplishments in California.  The Father seemed pleased and offered Artemis protection, setting her up as a servant in the household of one of her ghouls.  Artemis remained there for many years, having a brief love affair with her master's youngest son, Japeth.  Eventually, however, Ursela and Liam turned up in the city and Artemis returned to California.  Japeth, her unrequited lover, dutifully married the women that his father chose for him to marry and the two of them never met again.

In 1851, Liam visited California a changed man.  He offered himself to Artemis as a servant, explaning that the Father had punished him for crimes against the Children of Eden.  Through Liam, Artemis learned that Diana and Selene were alive.  Selene had turned into a coldblooded killer, but Diana had become a virtuous champion of right.  Liam brought Diana to Artemis and through them, she learned the Father's intentions were to create an arm of Dhampir to use as cannon fodder against all her enemies.  Artemis, Liam, and Diana all agreed that they were detestable intentions.  Since the Order of the Silver Crescent had considerable wealth and many, many members, Artemis agreed to turn her compound into a safe haven for thin-bloods and Dhampir. 

Liam, Diana, and Artemis worked in tandum to set up an underground railroad across the United States.  Artemis' compound would serve as the final destination, a school at which Dhampir could learn self defense against the Father or any other vampires who sought to use them.  Liam would serve as the man responsible for screening and tracking all potential students.  Diana would form the network that created the railroad and personally escort young Dhampir safely to California.

Given the relative success of the Order's efforts, Artemis left responsibilities in the hands of her retainers for a time in the early 1900s and returned to London, hoping to find the Father.  She had no luck locating the new Garden of Eden, but she was curious to see what had become of her lover Japeth.  Throughout the two world wars, Artemis assisted the Camarilla of London with the Sabbat, while at the same time trying to track down Japeth's family.  She was met with several descendents from his brothers' lines, but could learn nothing about Japeth's eventual fate, not even a grave.