Emilie Ackerman [WIP]

[Emilie Ackerman]

Emilie Ackerman Appearance Race: Human Gender: Female Age: 17 Birthday: Season of Spring, Day 38, AV 496. Birthplace: Zeltiva Appearance: She isn't conventionally attractive, but since receiving Vayt's gnosis, she has been doing just fine. Emilie has a long face with a rather unique bone structure. Her cheekbones sit rather high and are very pronounced, but she manages to make it look good. Her nose is also bit strange, but the look suits her. She has beautiful pink lips and a very pronounced cupid's bow. A thick, honey-blonde bob frames her face. Her hair complements her deep green eyes and long eyelashes. Emilie's complexion was once sallow and pale, with dark circles under her eyes, but now her skin has a healthy glow. Emilie's hair used to stick flat and greasy to her skull, but it has thickened out and become something the other women of East Street are jealous of. Her teeth aren't completely straight, but that isn't an unusual feature where she walks. To be honest, it's a wonder she still has all of her teeth. Emilie has a slender build for her height. She stands at about five and one-half feet tall. Her collarbones and hips are defined. Her stomach is flat and her ribs are visible from the scarcity of food she's lived with, although she's been gaining some weight back since the recent upswing in her wages. Personality Emilie was a sweet child, but has hardened in recent years. It's understandable given the conditions she lives in. Since her mother's passing Emilie has developed into quite the survivalist. Her morals have become more flexible over time; She has taken to stealing, begging, and hooking in order to make ends meet, though she has limited her thievery to food and other necessities on most occasions. One exception was when she stole a beautiful fur-lined felt coat from a wealthy customer that had taken her back to his home in the Denvali Quarter. Emilie has been know to start up a playful banter with the people she sees often on East Street. The conversations she engages in are usually on the impersonal side, because she doesn't trust most of the shady characters she runs into. Emilie has developed a bit of an aversion to emotional intimacy. If she does decide to reveal anything personal, she usually employs a bit of self-deprecating humor to distance herself from it. She has a tendency to go on the defense during conversations like these and usually ends up has ended up verbally attacking the other party on more than one occasion. Emilie puts on a completely different face for paying clients though, playing up different aspects of her personality the man (or woman on some occasions) may be into. Character History Emilie's father, Christopher Ackerman, was a fairly successful merchant, originally from Syliras, who travelled by land and sea to fetch and sell goods. He was an integral part of a large and influential network of merchants. Christopher routinely delivered exotic and foreign fabrics to a family-owned tailor shop in Zeltiva owned by Zachariah and Melanie Mulloch. When supplying the Mulloch's with accoutrements of clothes-making he often stopped to talk to Zachariah's plain-looking daughter, Leisl, who was about his age. During his second or thrid visit he was stuck in Zeltiva after a travel delay kept him from boarding the vessel he was scheduled to leave on. He was stuck in the World's End Grotto for a most of the summer season. Leisl was a plain-looking girl and the two started talking platonically, but after a few years the letters they were corresponding with began to take on a more romantic flair. After about two years knowing one-another Christopher was kept away on business for three whole seasons. At the end of this time, Christopher returned to Zeltiva with a set of beautiful Isurian-crafted wedding bands that he bought off of an elderly Svefra woman. Leisl and Christopher had a small wedding right in the tailor shop, consisting of Leisl's family, a few neighbors, and two of Christopher's dearest friends from the merchant network, Raphael Jacobson and Bartholomew Everret. Emilie was born in the Season of Spring, on Day 38, in the year of AV 496. It was an easy birth and a happy day among the family. During the last part of Leisl's pregnancy and the first year and three seasons of Emilie's life, Christopher halted his travels and the family lived off of Christopher's savings and the generosity of Leisl's parents. Christopher had to resume his travels during the second winter season of Emilie's life when one of the food shortages struck Zeltiva. During the shortage Zachariah began developing tremors in his hands that made him unable to measure and stitch the clothing. Sales dropped sharply when Melanie was forced to take on almost all of the work. Leisl' could only offer minimal help because her days were full with taking care of a toddler who often fell ill in the poor conditions Zeltiva had been offering up lately. Melanie passed away due to nutritional issues that his aging body couldn't handle. Zachariah sold his business soon after and moved into his daughter's house. After seeing Christopher's safe return Zachariah journeyed to Syliras to seek safer, more stable conditions. Christopher tried to talk Zachariah out of traveling in his old age, but was unable to convince the stubborn old man. Christopher decided the safest way to get Zachariah to Syliras was to pass him along the safest routes in the Merchant Network. Zachariah wrote back to his family to ensure them he had arrived safely. He continued to write back regularly for several years. Once the initial food crisis was over and economic prosperity returned the Ackermans began taking Emilie to see the culture of Zeltiva. They often visited West Street, the Denvali Quarter, the docks, and the University. Christopher still traveled periodically, ensuring that the family always had enough money to live comfortably. The family continued to live this way for several years, saving money in case of food shortages or other hardships and managing to maintain a stable lifestyle. Shortly after Emilie turned eight her mother became pregnant again. Three seasons later Fletcher was born. Money was a bit tighter with two children, but the family remained happy and healthy for another four years. At the end of this time trouble creeped into the Ackermans' life. Christopher left on a routine merchant trip to Syliras and all correspondence stopped. When Leisl stopped receiving letters there was nothing she could do, but ask the Bartholomew and Raphael to spread words throughout the network that Christopher had gone missing. The two of them rode out on their horses and gathered a search party that spread over the area between Syliras and Zeltiva, but nothing was ever found that indicated Christopher's whereabouts. Most people guessed that thieves or bandits had raided Christopher and left him to die in the wilderness. Leisl worked odd-jobs around the nicer parts of Zeltiva while searching for something more permanent in a tailor shop or somewhere else where her skillset would be useful. She was able to keep her family afloat for just shy of three seasons using the money she and Christopher had saved for food shortages. In her desperation Leisl sold her beautiful wedding band and killed the family dog for food. When their money was almost exhausted Leisl began stealing food to feed her family. This didn't even last for one whole season before another shortage struck Zeltiva. Leisl and her children were out on the streets begging for food or even a few copper mizas. Fletcher fell desperately ill due to lack of nutrition. Leisl had seen what had happened to her mother and refused to let this happen to her son, too. Leisl fed what little food she could procure to her children, leaving next to nothing for herself. Leisl began writing to Raphael and Bartholomew, asking for help, but neither man could afford to take a child out into the wilderness. Towards the end Leisl no longer begged for money, but she asked the wealthy to take her children. Nobody wanted to adopt Emilie, who was a dirty, emaciated thirteen-year old. Fletcher was taken in by some rich elderly couple only a few days before Leisl passed away. Emilie watched her mother die in the gutter. She was only thirteen. Emilie managed to keep her house for less than one season before a family who lived near East Street pushed her out. They claimed it was only fair, because they had a family of five and Emilie was just a one little street-rat. Emilie spent two days searching for the family's cottage. During the night she was homeless she snuck into the stables at the World's End Grotto to sleep with the horses, hoping she wouldn't be stepped on. The empty cottage she found was less than disappointing. Emilie continued to beg and steal to get by, until she was propositioned by a sailor shortly after turning fifteen. Emilie lied about her age and collected the coins the stranger offered her. After this she regularly paraded herself up and down East Street, looking for drunken sailors, wealthy citizens, or anybody else with a few coins and shoddy morals. Becoming a prostitute brought Emilie little in the way of money, and it seemed like only the sleaziest of men approached her. Poverty had taken it's toll on her, which meant that she had to lower her prices. The only men who would pay for a greasy-haired, long-faced urchin were those who couldn't afford any better. What little coins she saved after eating, Emilie spent on lingerie and other accoutrements of her craft. Emilie had almost made it to her seventeenth birthday when she started to feel the effects of a disease that burned like fire up her center. It made her next to useless as a whore. Over the course of a season the disease became so bad that she could hardly walk, coughed up blood, and often lost consciousness from the pain. During this time Emilie prayed to Rak'keli constantly, but never recieved aid. Not even Kelwyn would answer Emilie's prayers to keep Dira away. It wasn't until she was face-down in an alley, calling on any god to help her, that assistance finally arrived. Vayt appeared to her and offered her beauty and health in exchange for her service. Emilie hauled herself up off of the ground, gripping the brick wall beside her, trembling with exertion, and pledged her life to Vayt. She recieved her mark behind her right ear and left to infect her customers and do Vayt's bidding. Things have been looking up for Emilie since she has been marked. Her prices have soared, since Vayt gifted her with beauty. She's recently started dabbling in poisons, as well. She's biding her time in Zeltiva until other members of The Shroud come through. She plans to travel with them and serve Vayt as a part of their ranks. Language Fluent Language: Common Basic Language: N/A Poor Language: Fratava Skills Skill EXP Total Proficiency Seduction 15(RB), 15(SP), 30/100 Competent Begging 10(SP) 10/100 Novice Stealing 10(SP) 10/100 Novice Intelligence 5(SP) 5/100 Novice Poison 5(SP) 5/100 Novice Wrist-Knife 5(SP) 5/100 Novice Lores Lore of Zeltiva Streetplan Lore of East Street Prostitution Practices Possessions 1 Set of Clothing -Cotton Chemise. Lace Trim. -Cotton Skirt -Cotton Undergarments. Lace Trim. -Leather Tall Boots 1 Waterskin 1 Backpack which contains: -Comb (Wood) -Brush (Wood) -Soap -Razor -Balanced Rations (1 Week's worth) -1 eating knife -Flint & Steel 1 Fur-trimmed Felt Coat (Heirloom) Wrist-Knife 99 Gold Mizas Heirloom: 1 Fur-trimmed Felt Coat. Felt dyed blue-ish grey. Includes buttons. Priced at 7 gm 5 sm. Stolen from the home of a wealthy client. Housing Location: Zeltiva, between East Street and the Dock Yard. House: Basic 20x20 one-room starter cottage w/ starter furnishings. Ledger Purchase Cost Total Starting +100 GM 100 GM Wrist Knife -1 gm 99 GM Thread List None yet! Shoot me a message to be the first.