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The Ace of Spades Joined: 7 May 2006 Posts: 398 | Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:24 am Name: Evette Dominique Chantaclair, née Fontaine (formerly Zielinski; formerly Austerlitz; formerly Perrault; formerly Bosanquet)
Age: 26 years Occupation: Captain of the Wessel Alliance: Herself—claims to have had no interest in the war or its outcome (although she does display severe anti-Alliance tendencies, and has hinted on numerous occasions that the Independents would have had her support, had she cared enough to give her support to anyone. She has never stated anything outright, however, and will deny any preference if asked.) Description: Evie initially comes off as an extraordinarily open young woman; she will answer nearly any question, no matter how personal or who’s asking. The phrase “None of your business” is not one that she can ever remember uttering. She’s been known to spill the details of her entire life story to men at bars that she’s never met before, and she will frequently make offhanded references to places she’s been, things she’s done, people she’s known (and, invariably, married)—overall, she does not appear to be of the mind that one’s cards ought to be played close to one’s chest. However, the few that have spent more than just a few minutes speaking with her—a group which, these days, consists almost exclusively of her crew—have a unique opportunity to compare the stories she tells from one day to the next. Though many individual elements of her stories remain consistent the details tend to be a little fuzzy—timelines don’t quite work out, and she sometimes changes names, places, and the order of events. To all but the most casual listener, it is clear that either 1) much of what Evie says is bullshit, or 2) her memory really is that bad. (Her recall in all other respects is as clear and dependable as anyone else’s, but if called out on her mismatched stories, she will generally use a poor memory as an excuse.) So her explanations for her extremely mismatched repertoire of skills tend to raise more questions than they answer—Evie is a skilled fencer, a graceful dancer, and an acrobat; she knows the very basics of piloting a ship, can shoot with something resembling accuracy, can embroider, knit, and play both the harp and the piano; she holds her alcohol like nobody’s business, can quote Shakespeare from memory, and has proven on multiple occasions to be a remarkable poker hustler. She also speaks a multitude of languages: she is fluent in French (her English still has a touch of an accent, if you listen), the standard English and Chinese, and Russian; in addition, she speaks a little Polish, German, Spanish, and Japanese. If asked, she will claim to have learned various things from her time in a French ballet troupe, a Spanish fencing team, a Shakespearean theatre company, or a Russian circus; at other times, she will claim that her various husbands taught her these things over the years. She seems to be a walking contradiction: though she speaks and dresses like the common ruffians traversing space in independently-owned boats, her table manners are impeccable and she often makes references to things that would indicate that she’s quite well-educated. Despite the inconsistencies in her history and mannerisms, however, Evie’s is a relatively consistent personality. Many of her actions are driven by some deep-seated sense of loyalty—when dealing with her crew or anyone she considers “one of hers,” this loyalty takes on the form of a protectiveness that would lead her to take a bullet for any one of those that she cares about. (And then, if she survived, she would spend the rest of her life insisting that her stepping in front of the bullet had been entirely an accident.) Though she is a deep-thinking person with a strong sense of right and wrong, she’d like those around her to think her more shallow than she is, so she will often make statements supporting this idea, and generally keeps all generous and altruistic notions to herself. She runs a tight-knit crew, and tries to keep things fairly casual, but if she feels that she must, she will not hesitate to make use of her position as captain to keep things running as they ought to. Her bad moods are rare but dramatic, and they come on suddenly—she’s good at keeping them under wraps until she simply can’t, by which time they are usually verging on explosive. Mostly, though, she smiles; those who know her best know that she is capable of tearing a person to pieces (literally and figuratively) with that same smile on her face. She is a pessimist, but accepts the world’s evils and negative outcomes as a part of life that must be accepted and dealt with, like any other. She’s been known to tell her crew that they’re all “probably gonna die. Sorry.” She never minces words or pretends to be more sympathetic than she is; in fact, her worst news is generally delivered with that same tongue-in-cheek attitude and her smile firmly in place, if only because she doesn’t want to give the world the satisfaction of seeing her die wearing any expression but a grin. Physically, Evie is beautiful but not lovely, striking but not glamorous. Her features are not those of the classic beauty; however, the sheer magnitude of the energy that she radiates draws attention, and it is obvious that if she felt the need to grow her hair out and wear more feminine clothing, she could be fairly pretty even in the traditional sense. As it is, her dark hair is cut short like a boy’s; her clothes mostly consist of whatever is comfortable and allows for freedom of movement. Her green eyes are so unusually vivid that she has been accused of wearing contacts or getting the pigments cosmetically enhanced; neither is true. Evie stands at just under 5’7”, with a thin, willowy figure that makes her unsuited for sustaining heavy blows in any kind of a fight; she must rely on her agility and flexibility to get her out of brawls and the like. History (as she tells it): If you believe that Evie has done all the things she claims to have done for as long as she claims to have done them, she ought to be at least a hundred and twenty years old by now; her history is muddled and confusing, and if one were to attempt to keep a chart of her years before obtaining the Wessel, it would prove to be extremely non-linear. It is perhaps more efficient to simply list some of the recurring themes in the various versions of those years: Evie was born Evette Dominique Fontaine on one of any number of planets, most often Ariel, Bernadette, or New Melbourne, to parents that were either destitute or middle-class, (though she has made references to having had servants and a personal maid as a child.) She grew up happy, or relatively so, receiving a fairly lackluster education due to either a lack of money or her own laziness. (Alternatively, she was recognized as a child prodigy and placed in a high-quality school on some sort of scholarship. This story is relatively infrequent.) Her escape from that average or below-average (or extremely privileged) life generally takes the form of her sudden departure from home without the knowledge of her parents; however, this is where the generalizations must end. What she did after running away is a source of much confusion; she has mentioned as possibilities all of the following (though this is not a comprehensive list): she learned ballet and joined a dance troupe; she discovered great talent as an actress and joined a company that performed the works of William Shakespeare; she traveled the ‘Verse on the tails of a famous pianist, acting as either personal stylist, masseuse, or manager (the details are fuzzy); she joined a German street gang and became one of the most feared women on Boros; she robbed banks on Constance; she was part of a world-class fencing team; she worked for the Alliance as an undercover agent; she joined a Russian circus troupe as an acrobat, an escape artist, or a tightrope walker; she tried to train as a Companion but was dismissed from the training due to a lack of the necessary empathy. At some point she married; at some later point the marriage ended (sometimes death, sometimes divorce, depending on how she tells it), and she married again. Four times. This detail remains surprisingly consistent in her stories: she has had five husbands, one of whom she is still married to, although she does not speak of him with anything resembling love or even high regard. She treats her husbands as a source of joke material, often making humorous but disparaging remarks about them, although she insists that they were all “good men.” How she came to be in possession of the Wessel is yet another fuzzy point. Sometimes she claims to have stolen it; other times she says it was left to her by some distant cousin who died in a horrible accident involving a coconut. Often, she claims to have hired someone to steal it for her, having been too busy with her various husbands and hobbies to take the time to find it herself. The significance of the ship’s name is unknown. OOC:I’ll post more about the history after she got the ship—i.e. a very brief explanation of how she came across the crew members—after we figure all that out. |
Digithe Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 884 | Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 2:53 am She is going to be soooo fun. I can't wait. :) |
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