Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2015 10:01:08 GMT -5
Player: Alacrity
Best Contact Method(s): PM
Have you read the General Rules?: Yes.
Are you adopting a character from the Open for Claims List?: No.
If so, have you discussed the required character elements with the contact person?: N/A
Character Name: Flora Gardiner
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Birthdate: July 29th
City / Region: Lockewood
House: Gardiner
Played by: Lucy Griffiths
Appearance:
Personality:
Specific Skills or Abilities:
Background:
Writing Sample:
Best Contact Method(s): PM
Have you read the General Rules?: Yes.
Are you adopting a character from the Open for Claims List?: No.
If so, have you discussed the required character elements with the contact person?: N/A
Character Name: Flora Gardiner
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Birthdate: July 29th
City / Region: Lockewood
House: Gardiner
Played by: Lucy Griffiths
Appearance:
Being somewhat of a tomboy in attitude, Flora doesn't spend much time on looking particularly pretty most of the time. Luckily she makes up for that with natural looks, sporting the bright blue eyes and soft brown hair of the Gardiner family line, as well as the distinctive pale skin tone of a woman who doesn't get much sunlight. Often her hair is very loosely shaped or formed into very simple styles to save time, spending most of her days obsessing over her latest designs, to the point where many suitors have been noticeably repelled by her 'unkempt appearance'.
Being a very obsessive individual, Flora often doesn't have time for ornate dresses, corsets and jewelry, sticking to very simple clothing, such as her favorite loose white dress or her red tunic with tan-colored trousers. Of course, she realizes that she needs to be presentable at formal occasions and thus will force herself to make an effort for them, but it is much to her discomfort that she dons her more ornate pieces, often feeling very faint when wearing corsets.
Personality:
As much as Flora realizes that she is a noble lady and therefore has certain duties that are required of her, she is much more interested in the intellectual pursuits, studying under some of the greatest minds in the land. Having shown a great talent for practical artistry in the form of designing elegant homesteads, she continued this passion in her own time instead of pursuing those goals that most gentile ladies were expected to. The idea of learning how to keep a household was abhorrent to her; she much preferred building the houses to managing them. Many have said that her very rushed looks were deliberately meant to discourage suitors, though it is much more likely that Flora simply did not notice there were any suitors in the first place.
Rather, when it comes to romance and love, Flora is very oblivious, having seen through the tall tales told by her mother and father about the whirlwind romances and wild love at a very young age, developing a very logical outlook on life. That is not to say she isn't interested in such romances, just that she finds it very unlikely to happen and is often unaware of the affections of others. In her younger days, Flora used to spend a lot of time with her extended family, reading and playing and having fun, but nowadays the pursuits of the mind call to her in such a way that she cannot ignore, even if she must sacrifice her own happiness and health in order to pursue them.
In this way she is a very dedicated person, though also very kind and helpful when she has time to be. She has always looked out for the younger members of her family, helping them through their troubles even if she doesn't quite see things the way they do sometimes. Her relationship with her mother is rather strained, simply because Flora tends not to be your typical noblewoman, which makes her mother rather stressed.
Specific Skills or Abilities:
When it comes to Flora's skills, it's clear that she is a very practical thinker whilst simultaneously being very creative, which makes her excel at architecture and planning. When she was young she also invested a lot in the physical pursuits, developing a natural talent for archery, though she is several years out of practice. Apart from these, Flora is very culturally aware, having learned a great deal of languages and the ability to fluently read and write all of them, whilst also understanding their intricacies and puns, allowing her to form either a very formal or conversational rapport.
Background:
Born the eldest daughter of Beecham Gardiner, Flora was always expected to conduct herself with pride and grace from the moment she was aware of who she was. There was of course a degree of disappointment when the eldest child of the family was not male, but that does not by any means imply that Flora was unwanted or unloved. Quite the contrary in fact, her wants were very well catered to.
When she showed no real aptitude for the more gentile methods, she was instead instructed in the more intellectual pursuits, partly by her own request and partly by necessity. As much as she was a noble lady and expected to marry into another family at some point, until such time as she was ready to do so, she had the right to pursue her own dreams. And by age 9, that dream had manifested itself in the form of the ornate and yet incredibly imposing art of castle-planning. Of course, at age 9, such designs were fanciful and not practical in any sense, so it would take a while for her to learn how to balance aesthetic against ergonomic worth.
She grew up alongside her younger sister Amaryllis, often acting as the 'wise older sister' despite only being 3 years older, though often when it came to matters of home management, Flora would rely on her younger sister's counsel, who seemed to have a better head for such things. And of course her younger brother, always starry-eyed when it came to the stories of the knights of old, dreaming of becoming one himself.
As time went on and Flora's aptitude for planning became more apparent, her mother was convinced to let Flora apprentice under a professional architect and philosopher, one of the Romanov family. From age thirteen to age nineteen, she spent her life learning from this man of great intellect, even suggesting that her cousin Annemarie join her when she displayed a similar aptitude for intellectual studies. Like Amaryllis, Flora acted like an older sister to Annemarie, even when such an attitude was perhaps unwarranted or unwelcome but for the most part kept to her own studies, developing what seemed to be an obsession with creating homesteads.
At the age of nineteen however, she was ordered back before her training was fully complete, to take care of her weakening mother and help organize the household in case of her death. Such a morbid thought made her uneasy and Flora spent a lot of time absorbed in her work anyway, trying to take her mind off the idea of either of her parents dying. Ultimately her mother has survived until present day, though her condition has not necessarily improved since then and the tension in the air is palpable.
Writing Sample:
So it was finally here. The day Karta had been dreading. The day where she would finally be forced to put her combat training to the test.
The blonde woman awoke in a cold sweat, surrounded on all sides by the faint sound of sliding doors and hushed but frantic voices, footsteps making that distinct clink sound that faded with time. She pushed the duvet away from her, curling into a tight ball and squeezing her eyes closed, desperation taking over as her mind flashed back to the incident with the pirate boarding party. She was just a medical officer then. Now she was an Admiral. Regardless of how she got to this position, she had a duty to fulfill.
A familiar voice sounded over the comm, measured and controlled as usual but with a hint of panic and stress that she had never noted in said voice before. Kitty-Bear was scared just as she was, it was quite obvious. And instantly Karta regretted anything she had ever done to annoy or upset her friend.
"Your presence is required on the bridge, sir."
Her knee-jerk reaction was to tell her off for the formality, but this wasn't the time for that. In fact she was happy that in times of hardship, Kitty-Bear's first reaction was to go back to the books and do things properly. Karta needed that in her crew. Hell if she could get a maid with her assistant's magnificent abilities, she'd be a very lucky lady. Then again she doubted she'd get any work done with two girls like that working for her. It was bad enough with just one.
"I'll... I'll be down in a second. And in proper dress, don't you worry."
She knew full well that was the least of anyone's worries right now, but in a strange way she was trying to make her assistant realize that for once in her pampered, ostentatious life, Karta was taking this very seriously. A gentle sigh of what sounded like relief preceded the drop of the call, leaving the Admiral alone with her thoughts again. A dangerous prospect to be certain; it was time to busy herself.
Sliding herself off the bed and walking to the wardrobe wasn't exactly a difficult task, even if the walk felt painstakingly long as compared to the last time she did it. Rather, the hard part was dressing in her full uniform for the first time since her promotion. It almost made what they were about to do official. Like the zipper was sealing her fate. And with amusement she remembered a time on Telos where she had felt the exact same feeling, for a different reason. Things were much simpler then.
Dressed in her orange, ochre and black uniform, complete with a matching coat, Karta took a deep breath, fixing her posture. It was no good to anyone to see the Admiral looking so lazy and tired in times of such immense stress. They knew what was coming. Karta had to look like she would get them through it. Even though the likelihood of that was... well, less than she'd like.
Stepping through the winding corridors and passing the many crew members who bid her salutes and greetings, she found herself in what her mind was telling her was her tomb. The bridge. She forced her confident smile before any of the bridge crew could see her, walking with a feigned sense of purpose and power; she thought she saw a few of the crew give gentle sighs of comfort at the sight of their apart fearless leader. They knew it was a ruse. They all knew. But just for a moment they wanted to forget what they knew.
Kitty-Bear gave her an official-looking nod and salute, which Karta halfheartedly waved off, leaving her to return to her work and Karta to settle into her chair, staring into the rippling purple of hyperspace, knowing that within just a few minutes, they'd be in the middle of chaos incarnate.
"Billin, how long?"
"Three minutes, 24 seconds, sir."
A squeaky, terrified voice sounded from behind her somewhere, coming from Navigation Officer Durg Billins. New to his post, young and reckless, he reminded Karta of herself far too much for her to feel comfortable.
"Kitty-Bear, status on the battle?"
"Seems to have only just begun, sir."
"Good... we're not late. Prep the weapons! I get the feeling we're going to be jumping straight into a firefight."
She heard the frantic tapping of control panels behind her, familiarized codes and authorizations being spoken and gunner sergeants dashing off, yelling into their comms for their subordinates to get ready.
This was going to be one hell of a bumpy ride...