Valerie Blythe

Full Name: Valerie Blythe

Age/Date of Birth: 20

Gender: Female

Race/Ethnicity: Durantian

Citizenship: Unexcitingly, Durant.

Appearance: Valerie is most noticeable for her easy, laughing smile and expressive eyes. She's rather slender and girlish in figure, with red hair and indeterminately hazel eyes, topped off with the pallor and freckles such a complexion demands. The soft fragility of her bone structure-- inherited from her delicate mother-- is offset by the force of her cheerful personality-- her father's defining trait. Her hands are always moving when she speaks, whether to gesture or serve food or clean, and seem to have a life of their own when sketching out shapes in the air or playing with her jewelry. They make her focus seem all the more intense when they come to rest as she listens.

Languages spoken: Durantian Common is the only language with which she professes to be fluent, but she can communicate to an extent in High Ghalean, because people who wish for privacy will occasionally speak it around her, and she hates to be impotently curious.

Occupation(s): Valerie is a barmaid and tends to the rooms over the The White Rabbit Inn in which she works, as well. It's a clean, well-decorated and comfortable place that attracts a wide range of pleasant middle and upper-middle class clientele.

Likes: People watching, reading, striking up conversations with people from all walks of life at work, Nicholas Garret, new dresses, people with a sense of humor, fresh oranges.

Dislikes: Drunks, being brushed off, brass instruments, people who take themselves too seriously.

Biography: Valerie Blythe is remarkable only in personality. Her mother died of complications in having her little brother, Anthony, fourteen years previously, and her father is a chimney sweep and repairman contracted to a nice little hotel. He has a steady income, but it is something of a struggle to make ends meet, as she and her father are determined to have Anthony educated. She has been working since she was first able to try to lighten the load on her father. It is clear that she loves to interact with the people passing through The White Rabbit and hear their stories. The revolutionary group The Inquisitors frequent the place fairly often, as the owner is somewhat sympathetic, and she enjoys their company, though she does not talk to them about politics. One member in particular, Nicholas Garret, has been seen stepping out with her, and mischievously stealing kisses when she's attempting to work. He, presumably, is the source of the lovely new dress she recently received. She is very much fond of him.

Quote: "Mr. Garret? Are you THE Mr. Nicholas Garret, the novelist? I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I've read a few of your books, and I've always wanted the chance to tell you... I love the life you give your characters, even though your plots are absolutely awful."

Aliases: Occasionally, the nickname Val crops up.

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Clothing Style: She is passionately fond of fashion, and avidly follows court styles, though she is a good bit too poor to emulate them. She maintains her own wardrobe well, sticking to more neutrally cut pieces that can be worn for anything. Long, narrow, high-waisted skirts in muted reds or purples or greens are a common sight, with fairly plain blouses whose collars quickly come unbuttoned as work picks up.

Religion: As a Durantian citizen, she is of the national faith. She does not allow this to prevent her from questioning political decisions, though she has a reverent respect for the Archduke-- and his ministers, to a lesser extent. It is difficult to separate a respect for power from a respect for divinity, in a way, but she probably leans towards the former and calls it the latter.

Political Affiliation: The main thing that keeps Valerie awake at night is the fomenting revolution. Her feelings for Nicholas have not prevented her from disagreeing deeply with his politics. As a member of the lower class the Inquisitors would like to liberate, she is terribly aware that they are not prepared for such a responsibility. It is her strong belief that empowering the lower class would lead to anarchy and widespread economic and diplomatic crisis, and that the romantic, unrealistic views the young gentlemen of the revolution have of the poor are dangerous.

Education: She was educated by her mother, to about grammar school level, and is quite literate. Any further knowledge came from the patrons of The White Rabbit or some indulgence of her own curiosity.

Weapons: It's very rare, with the clientele that The White Rabbit attracts, but every so often, some drunken sod will be waiting outside when the place closes, or will attempt something in the bar itself. Valerie has the only weapons a woman needs: a nice pair of heels, a swift knee to the groin, and a suitor.

Special Abilities/Skills: Valerie has developed a fair knowledge of wines, from her experience serving them. She also loves to place small bets on the lifestyles and occupations of new customers, and is often very astute. Few people know it, but she loves to sketch the faces and hands of strangers, and sometimes a scuffed shoe or the flower in a buttonhole.

Organizations: She is loosely affiliated with the revolutionary movement, through association only.

Mannerisms: Valerie loves to interact at work, but afterwards, tends to go on long walks alone, her patience with people exhausted. She seems quite outgoing, but in such a way that prompts others to speak comfortably with her. Despite giving an impression of being talkative, she spends more time listening than anything else when surrounded by people. It is quite likely that she would have been very intelligent if properly educated, from the curiosity she often displays.

Relationship(s): Valerie is being courted rather sweetly by novelist and Inquisitor Nicholas Garret. She has considered how often upper-middle class gentlemen do more harm than good by young women much below them, but has decided that she likes him quite well enough to risk trusting his intentions.

Interests/Hobbies: Reading, conversation, keeping copies of The White Rabbit's accounts because her employer is awful with figures, sketching.

Family: She lives over the inn, but drops by the rooms where her father and brother live several times a week, often with groceries. Her father is definitely getting older, and she hopes he'll be able to leave chimney sweeping to her brother and simply work less strenuous repairing jobs in the future. He's a bitingly witty man, but also deeply kind. They're quite close, as are she and her younger brother, Anthony, who is still quite a young scamp. They annoy one another equally, as their senses of humor are almost too alike.