Contessa Rosa Delphina Marquez
Gender: female
Nationality: Spanish
Allegiance: Ponatowski Foundation
Nature: Leader
Origin: High Class
Vice: Leader
Virtue: Expert
Strength: 2,
Dexterity: 3 (+5 F), Athletics 1, Melee 3 (Sword), Stealth 1 (+1 F)
Stamina: 2
Perception: 3, Awareness 3 (Recognition) (+1 F)
Intelligence: 4, Academics 2 (History), Linguistics 1 (English, Spanish), Science 1 (+1 F)
Wits 2
Appearance: 3 (+5 F), Style 1
Manipulation: 2, Animal Handling 1, Savvy 1, Subterfuge 1
Charisma: 3, Command 1, Etiquette 3, Perform 1, Rapport 2
Backgrounds: Contacts 1, Followers 1 (Carlos Diego, her faithful aging manservant, and former tutor), Influence 1, Reputation 3, Resources 3 (+2 F)
Willpower: 7 (+2 T)
Knacks: Steely Gaze, Lie Detector, One-Woman Army, Blind-Fighter (as Heroic Knack*) (+8 T)
*Requisites: Perception 3+ and either Brawl, Martial Arts or Melee at 3+
Inspiration: 5 (+5 T)
Intuitive Facet: 4
Reflective Facet: 1
Destructive Facet: 0
Optional (if Merits / Flaws not being used, assume that her 'blindness' is a quirk)
Merits: Acute Sense x4 (Hearing, Touch, Scent, Taste) (TPG 127), Ambidexterous (TPG 127), Enchanting Voice (TPG 135)
Flaws: Blind (TPG 130-131)
Contessa Rosa Delphina Marquez was born 26 years ago during a violent thunderstorm. She opened her eyes to a stroke of lightning that burst into the room and quite nearly struck the midwife dead in her place. Since that portentous day, her life has been only slightly less a tempestuous affair of star-crossed romance, sibling treachery and international adventure.
To the viewer she appears as a Spanish noblewoman, dark of skin and strong of features (some would say that her nose is a little *too* strong, not at all proper for a woman’s gentle face). Her hair is worn free, and is lustrous and black, sweeping down almost to her waist, and adorned with golden ribbons, if not actual jeweled ornaments for more formal occasions. She often wears majestic gowns, hand-selected (and often repaired) by her trusted manservant, who has an unseemly eye for fashion and 'womanly arts.' She dresses in soft layers, often with more rugged over-garments of brocade, or even soft- tooled leather. While she has no concept of color, Carlos tends to steer her towards garments in shades of red, brown, gold and white, finding the brighter colors of green and blue to be garish, and not complimentary to his lady's complexion. (They have argued the merits of purple, but Carlos insists that it is a vulgar color, fit only for Gypsies and other unmannered folk of lowly station and mean or little purpose. She counters that it is the color of royalty. He retorts, 'My point exactly.')
The Contessa was born legally blind, and her eyes have darkened to an unbroken expanse of featureless black. She tends to wear delicate dark-tinted 'reading glasses' to keep others from seeing them. Due to her lifetime of experience with her condition, and her supreme dedication, she functions as if sighted in almost all occurrences, moving with an easy grace, and explaining her condition (to those who even notice that she is sightless!) as being the result of years of familiarity and study, as well as honing her other senses to a razor's edge. She tends to attribute her other uncanny skills to these senses, claiming that she can hear tremor's in the voice of one who lies to her, for instance.
Her Steely Gaze is an unnerving sightless stare into the eyes of one who would attempt to make her back down. Being unable to see their own resolve, she has quite an unfair advantage in such matters, as even those who would not back down to a mere woman, find themselves unmanned by the sight of those soulless voids.
It is only in matters such as reading the paper or talking of color that her impairment becomes apparent, and despite her uncanny ability to work around her condition, she still must have her manservant Carlos read to her, or acquire manuscripts in Braille for more leisurely 'reading.' She adores sculpture, as well as relief-work of all kinds, as it is a form of art that she can 'see' with her delicate hands. Needless to say, any museum curator who attempts to keep her from touching the artwork is in for a pointed reminder of his place, and will likely spend the rest of his day apologetically leading the 'dear lady' on a personal tour of the finest sculptures in his care.
Most scandalous to those who expect a
certain deportment, she can be seen in riding garments, galloping down
crowded streets on a magnificent white stallion, somehow avoiding trampling
passers-by. She dances with wild
abandon, exulting in fine music and opera and otherwise takes advantage of her
'condition' to be seen doing things that 'no proper lady would be seen'
doing. After all, she will tearfully
explain, how was she to know that the dress was not the proper cut, her dance
partner was the reserved (and married!) Governor of
Her reputation is a thing of many facets. To some she is a daring adventuress, braving a world that she cannot see. To others she is a wanton hussy, exploiting her condition to flaunt the rules of polite society, thumbing her nose at those whose disapproving glances she will never see. To a select young group of Spanish blades, she is a marvelous creature, a woman who can best a man with a sword, and is more than willing to do so. And to a smaller group of academics, she is known only by her name, and they would perhaps be shocked to find that her well-reasoned treatises on historical matters (her area of interest being medieval swordsmanship and specifically the crafting of such) come from a woman half their age who can swing a blade as pointedly as she argue it's origins.