Faraday of Port Legann

A spritely, spirited young Tortallan noblewoman, Faraday of Port Legann is just one of the many myriad intesting characters to have invaded CiT. She's a fairly flexible character, and can pretty much enter a role play thread with any character that should arrive.

Appearance
If one were to classify Day in three words, it would be pale, dark, and elegant. And she is. Her skin - that that's not been touched by the sun - is a pale, translucent pink. Where it has been touched by the sun - namely her hands, arms, face, and neck - the skin is a light tan that can easily be covered up by cosmetics. The skin is young and taut, supple and flexible. She's got a number of small scars on her hands and arms, but hardly anyone can see them, as they've been seen by healers and have healed well.

She's fairly muscular, though rather than having muscled out and beefed up, she's toned in - her muscles, though subtle to the casual outside viewer, are wiry and rock-solid, and very much there. Her apparent lack of strength, however, is deceptive to many, as is her stature; she's fairly slim and stand's only at five feet six inches in height. Of course, that's right in the middle of the height range, but the vast majority of people that she deals with are just as tall or - more often - even taller than her; nineteen times out of twenty, they also weight more than her meager one hundred thirty-five pounds. Which is okay - she's become a master at a little thing called leverage, and she usually wants to be underestimated, in any case.

Her hair is long, falling to her lower back. Often, she bind it back in a loose chignon or ponytail, and when she's feeling particularly attentive to it, she'll braid it back. For state occasions where she must make nice and play pretty, she'll let her hair hang loose, a thick, rich, wavy, deep, dark brown curtain of hair that frames her oval face. Her eyebrows, a few shades darker than the rest of her hair, are thin and straight, arching ever so slightly. At the corner of her right eyebrow, the hair-line becomes slightly crooked, but only people who are looking very closely will notice it, as it's barely perceptible. Inset in the face under her eyebrows (as such things generally are) are her eyes (gasp). They're a bright green, cat's eyes, some call it. To her, they're just eyes.

Her fingernails are long and somewhat thin, the exception being her thumbnails, which are still long, but a bit thicker than the rest. Her fingers themselves are long and thin, graceful musician fingers. Except for her middle fingers, which are a bit crooked and gently arc away from her thumbs. She has one scar that is particularly prominent, which can be found trailing out of the left side of her left ring finger. The scar itself is about a centimeter long and is very thin, but the skin is a pale, flawless tan in comparison with the rest of the hand. She tends to hide this by using her right hand rather than her left - which is okay, as she's right-handed in any case.

Her brand of clothing runs towards breeches, boots, belts, and loose tunics, generally of base, earthen colors such as browns, greys, and whites. Her jerkin's will vary, generally being of sub-dued colors, though every once in a while she'll throw in something a little more gaudy. When dressing up and playing the part of noblewoman, she wears all of the latest fashions, much to her private horror. She leaves it up to her mother to choose, which is why most of the colors are pinks and yellows and pale blues and light greens. Feminine colors.

Her weapons of choice are a set of knives.

Personality
When Day was twelve years old, she led a group of rats on a raid on her father's dogs, pilfering through the coffers and making their escape without a hitch - they were never caught.

I suppose that this could tell you any number of things about Day. That she's feisty, a bit of a dare-devil. That she's got little regard for the law. That she's a radical rebel. That she has no qualms with obtaining information and using it to further her own ends, sometimes even using the information against the informants. It could also allude to her skills as a leader, as a organizer, and as a thief.

You'd be right, on all counts. Faraday of Port Legann was always a bit of rebellious daughter, same as her twin sister. But where Shaylynn rebelled and pursued the position and honor of lady knight, Day went for darker, more shadier places. Her father had been the Deputy Provost of Port Caynn, and from birth, she'd been told that she was to not associate with so and so; she'd been bottle-fed the stories of the Dogs and their exploits, and the evil of the rats. When she came old enough to an age to think and reason for herself, she struck out on her own, thinking independently from the lines that her father and mother had laid out for her.

She's always been a bit of a free spirit. She and her twin always had each other, and that relationship allowed them to distance themselves from others. In any case, from an early age, Day knew what she wanted. Her mother would pick out clothes and her maid would dress her, but as fast as the eye could follow, Day would head back, undress, and change into clothes that appealed to her. She would have to be forcibly restrained to be prevented from doing this, and it often resulted in her pitching a fit and bawling at the top of her lungs; it got to the point that her mother and the maids gave up. This was all done when she was a toddler, and it set the precedent for later years. She would do what she wanted, how she wanted, or life would be made miserable for others. Selfish, yet, but Day was young then. As she aged, her strong will was tempered by wisdom and experience, and she learned that no, she cannot, in fact, get whatever she darned pleased. It was a hard lesson, though, and one that still smarts.

That being said, not all lessons were bad, and she's come out the other end all the better for them. Her time with the rogue has sharpened her instincts, and she's quick to notice things, though she doesn't always let on. She might feign being obtuse about the matter, but nine times out of ten, she's acutely aware of the situation. She'll let the lie drag on, too. The lass is all too fond of playing people, and she takes great delight in fooling folks. That's why the people's belief that she's a man amuses her so - it's one of her greatest deceits!

She's a bit contemptuous of the nobles as a result of her prolonged exposure to the commoners, and she takes a perverse pleasure in frightening them or putting them down, and she's no problem with being nasty about it. Usually, however, she'll play the part of lofty and witty dame, world-weary and yet innocent; she gets a kick out of toying with the courtier ladies and their huffy expectations. They're rather foolish, in her opinion, them all jumping at the new king like they do, hoping to be chosen by the king to become the next queen of Tortall.

Speaking of which, Day's mother, Kaya, has designs to marry her younger daughter off to the king. She believes that Shaylynn's beyond hope, but that Faraday might just be able to pull through and elevate the family - little does she know of Faraday's job, or her opinions on Richard himself. Farday, for her part, tolerates her mother's administrations, knowing better than to throw her job in the woman's face to let it be known that she has no intentions whatsoever of seeking the throne - not after the pretense that she's worked so hard to build. And so, she views her mother's attempts to guide her in the political arena with some amusement and a touch of irritation.

Her relationship with her mother is that of tolerance. Her mother's a silly duck that means well, but she's really just getting in the way. Her relationship with her father, on the other hand... When she was little, she viewed him with awe and a little bit of fear. As she began to hang out with the rats, she began to see him in the light of the big baddie, and by the time she was thirteen, she'd developed an open dislike for the man that had nothing to do with him personally and everything to do with perceptions and the choices that she'd made. He stood for the law, and she was a wild woman, a bit lawless and definitely of the mindset that laws were made to be broken at one point or another. As she's grown older, she's come to appreciate the value of laws, but at the time, they were terrible things, limiting her 'creative freedom.'

Her relationship with her sister is something else entirely. When they were little, they were like glue, stuck to each other. They totally loved each other and did everything together. However, as they grew up, they began to develop interests that didn't coincide with the other's and so, when they were eight years old, the made a deal with each other and began to go their separate ways. And now, twelve years later, they're hardly the sisters that they once were. Shay's cold and distant, cordial but uninvolved. For her part, Day's distant as well, unsure of how to deal with this cool stranger that replaced her beloved sister. They hardly talk, and Day finds it rather difficult to engage in conversation with the Lady Knight - the Lady Knight in question never seems to want to talk to her.

Quite the opposite to Richard, who's willing to talk but hardly ever has the time to do so. Richard's got a lot on his plate, and Day empathizes with him; she's often busy doing impossible things, as well. Her personal opinion on Richard as non-marriageable material has nothing to do with his personality (she likes him well enough for that) or his position - she doesn't need, doesn't want it - as being Queen would make it difficult to be Spymaster or to walk the cities unfettered. Rather, she just doesn't find the man physically attractive, nor does she find his personality to be enticing. And that's a must-have for her to consider giving her body and hand to any man.

And in any case, if she married Richard and became the Queen, she'd have to attend all sorts of blasted social functions, which would mean wearing long dresses and shoes - things that Day loathes. She hates wearing cramped shoes, and much prefers to go barefoot, or at least to wear big, clompy, roomy boots that don't constrict her and don't get in the way. Personally, she'd prefer to just go barefoot, but one never knows what manner of things they'll find in the slums, and it's better on the whole to be prepared and come with protection for their feet. Long dresses have earned Day's hatred for their lack of mobility and constriction. It's hard to chase after bad guys when your legs are all tangled up, and it's hard to run from good guys if your feet are all fettered up by the long hem of the dress. Too bad long dresses are the latest fashion of the court.

Another thing that is little-known about her is that Day has an intense and utterly irrational fear of heights that is inexplicable. Ever since she was a small girl, she's been terrified of them, and so she makes a point to keep away from them. Small cramped spaces, the dark, spiders, deep water, underground? Bring it. Heights? Not so much. When she's encountered with heights, she locks up, her wits deserting her and making her panicky. It's hard for her to breath, and she loses orientation if she looks down. If she's looking up at heights, she has to suppress the shudder that wants to crawl through her shoulders, and her heart begins to race as a feeling of dread creeps through her. Similarly, she's got an issue with piercings. She's got no problem sticking other people with pointy things, but something about a small point going into her point strikes her as so incredibly invasive that it goes against everything that she's about; it's the ultimate attack, things going into the body, through the flesh and under the skin. It makes her squirm, and though she's gotten better about as she's aged, she tenses up something awful whenever needles are involved, and she has to fight the urge to panic.

A personal pet peeve of Day's is tardiness. She hates being made to wait and very much disapproves of people are are late. As such, she's one of the most prompt people you'll ever meet. This is augmented by her inner compass and her inner clock; she's very well orientated and can find her way to almost anywhere, and she's always got a vague sense of what time it is.

Because she dislikes tardiness so much, she inherently dislikes the Head of the Royal Intelligence Agency. Oh, they work well enough together, and he seems like a nice chap, but his one vice is to be perpetually tardy. Sometimes it's only by a few minutes, sometimes its hours or days late, but it all weighs on Day's mind. As it was once said, tardiness costs lives. And above all, Day wants to prevent the death of those at risk.

She feels a sort of connection with cats, as she's always been compared to them. That, and she sees them as kindred spirits. Lithe and small, deceptive in their appearance, sneaky, fierce and independent, smug in their own right, and tough as nails when they need to be. She likes horses well-enough, and she's a competent rider that loves to go fast, but she does prefer moving on her own two feet when she can.

Day lacks the Gift, but she's got a thorough understanding of magic, such as one non-Gifted can have, at least, and as such she's developed a healthy appreciation for it. In her line of work, magic's a very helpful little thing; she particularly delights in the essence spells and truth spells that some of her mage operatives are able to perform. Essence spells, in fact, make a long, boring day of reviewing information all the more brighter. Speaking of which... Day never expected that there would be so much paperwork involved in her job; she mostly reviewed information and then passed it on to someone else. As such, whenever there's a chance to go out into the field or meet with an agent, she's all over it. If she had known the amount of desk-work she'd have to be doing, she'd have thought twice and thrice about taking the job - she was really more of a hands-on type. However, as it was the King that had asked her, and as she felt duty-bound to serve her country, she'd jumped right on it. She'd thought being the head-honcho would be fantastic, but she'd never in her wildest dreams imagined the number of people she'd be responsible for, and she's not sure she likes it. And she has a new-found appreciation for Richard and his troubles and woes.

Likes »
-knives -horses -Con, the pig-head lout -cats -dogs -warmth -food -roaming the city -her new-found authority -a good scrap -her family -her twin, despite their differences -playing the part of courtier -dissing the nobleladies -having the upper hand -taking long, luxurious baths -learning new things

Dislikes »
-the chaos her homeland is in -the Mad King -the visible spymaster -how stubborn Con is being -being cold -being hungry -being bossed about -shoes -tardiness/being late -being made to wait -heights -being responsible for so many lives -being caught at something -her mother's plans to marry her off to Richard -long dresses -earrings -piercings of any sort, really

Strengths »

 * 01. Quick Witted - She's smart, this lass is. Not only did she attend the Royal University of Corus (and graduate with honors!) but she's spent a good deal of her life in the streets, where a sharp mind and quick reflexes are needed to survive. This makes her ideal for managing a network of operatives, where the decisions that she makes affect the outcome of the mission and the lives of the operatives. She needs to be able to act promptly and decisively, lest it's too late.


 * 02. Educated - In more ways than one. She studied at the Royal University, and as such she has a thorough grasp of the history and laws of the realm, as well as a grasp on the theory of magic and the structures of the other kingdoms. Having spent time with the Rogue, she's accumulated a variety of skills, such as picking pockets, forgery, lockpicking, varieties of breaking and entering, and lying, to mention a few. She's better at some than others, but she knows how to get it done. She was busy busy girl. Lastly, she's got a noblewoman's education, much to her chagrin; her mother made sure that she learned to curtsy and behave properly, and she's been forced to attend numerous social gatherings in heels and a dress, of all things.


 * 03. Close-Quarters Combat - Her unorthodox education in weaponry and the art of fighting came from a number of the rogues of the cities, and she's become quite proficient at close-quarters combat with her fists or with knives. She's had training, proper training, and that's a major advantage that she'll have over a number of people. She's also small and appears to be vulnerable, which leads many people to underestimate her and come out the loser for their pains.


 * 04. Ruthless - If there's a threat to her or her people, or to the safety of the realm, Day has no qualms with squishing it out like a bug. Some people think this to be a bad thing, but she views it as is; it's a method of survival, and quite frankly, if it's between them or her, she's going to chose her. And she's going to be decisive about it - none of this dithering about, debating about the ethics or morality of it.

Flaws »

 * 01. Pride - She's the Shadowman, the Royal Spymaster that orchestrates everything behind the scenes. The best of the best! Or so she likes to think. Having spent over half of her life dabbling with the rogues and the art of spying, she's fairly confident of her skills and abilities. She's made mistakes, of course, but as this point, this far into the game? She's gone past them all. What she doesn't understand is that there are many more challenges yet to come, and how she approaches them will dramatic influence the outcome.


 * 02. Idealistic - She truly has Tortall's best interests in mind; she was raised on the stories of the legends of old, and she's built up in her mind an idea of how Tortall should be - and how they should go about getting there. In her mind, the people should all work together and strive to become a unified nation once again. However, things don't always work out like that. Despite having heard the opinions of both the commoners and the nobles in regard to the other, she still believes that they can all work together. It worked for her, so why not for everyone else?


 * 03. Stubborn - Normally a flexible opportunist, once she gets her maw locked onto something, it's there for good, unless something major should influence her otherwise. This can make her unwilling to see reason or make change for the better.


 * 04. Mathematics - Some people are better at some things than others, and this holds true for Day. Math? She sucks at it. She grasps the theory of it, alright, but somehow, even knowing how it's supposed to be done, it seems to elude her. Basic calculations are no problem, but anything beyond simple numbers and her head grows woozy - mental calculations are head-ache inducing, and she generally stays away from them.


 * o5. Fear of Heights - Day has an intense and utterly irrational fear of heights that is inexplicable. Ever since she was a small girl, she's been terrified of them, and so she makes a point to keep away from them. Small cramped spaces, the dark, spiders, deep water, underground? Bring it. Heights? Not so much. When she's encountered with heights, she locks up, her wits deserting her and making her panicky. It's hard for her to breath, and she loses orientation if she looks down. If she's looking up at heights, she has to suppress the shudder that wants to crawl through her shoulders, and her heart begins to race as a feeling of dread creeps through her.


 * o5. Fear of Needles - Similarly, she's got an issue with piercings. She's got no problem sticking other people with pointy things, but something about a small point going into her point strikes her as so incredibly invasive that it goes against everything that she's about; it's the ultimate attack, things going into the body, through the flesh and under the skin. It makes her squirm, and though she's gotten better about as she's aged, she tenses up something awful whenever needles are involved, and she has to fight the urge to panic.

Other »
Her favorite color is green. Her least favorite color is purple.

History
Date of Birth » October 13, 549 H.E.

family » Aaron of Port Legann(father) Kieran "Kaya" of Port Legann (mother) Alexander of Port Legann (older brother) [d.] Shaylynn of port Legann (older twin sister) Kale of Port Legann [Lord of Legann](paternal uncle) Johanna of Port Legann [Lady of Legann](paternal aunt) David of Port Legann(paternal cousin)

family history » Sir Aaron was a younger song of the Port Legann fief. Kaya was a lesser daughter of the powerful haMinch clan. They fell in love and married. They had a child together, a young boy named Alexander of Port Legann, but he died early in infancy. full history » On the thirteenth day of the tenth month in the year five hundred and forty-nine of the human era, born of Sir Aaron of Port Legann and to lady Kieran of Port Legann nee haMinch, two little girls came into the world. The first sported a blonde tuft of hair, and squalled something fierce. the second arrived but minutes after her sister, too sporting a pale shock of blonde mane and also screaming at the top of her lungs. They were the second and third children of this couple, and at that moment in time, they were the only surviving children. Their names became Shaylynn and Faraday, of Port Legann.

They were both bright little children, and their parents doted on the two. In the girl's early years, they lived in the Port Legann castle with their uncle and aunt, the Lord and Lady of Port Legann. However, when they were on the cusp of turning three years old, their father accepted the position of Deputy Provost of Port Legann, doing so in hopes of bettering the family position. From that day on, the girls were raised to be respectful of the dogs and to be wary of the rats.

The two girls were inseparable growing up, and they were as loyal to each other as they come. They were fraternal twins, and as they grew up, changes began to be wrought between the two. Faraday was the more quiet of the two, prone to sit back and observe people and find out their secrets; Shaylynn, on the other hand, was forthright and liked to bludgeon her way to the heart of the matter. They had things in common, too, such as the darkening of their hair as they grew older and a love for dogs (the animal.)

Everyone expected them to like and want the same things, and they treated the girls thusly. The girls rebelled against this, and through this their independent interests began to emerge - and they didn't coincide with one another. When they turned eight years old, they made a mutual agreement to split ways and help each other do so; they would still love each other, always, forever, but they were their own people, and they needed to do their own things.

They'd do the work that they were good at for the other twin, and then they'd sneak out of their home and part ways. Shay headed over to the Dogs, following them about like a puppy. Day herself headed to deeper, darker avenues. She pretends to be a simple street-urchin (her first alias coming into use this time, Elizabeth Foster) and goes to the Rogue, seeking work. They see through her, but permit her to work with them anyways; the King of the Port Caynn rogues felt that it would be very hand indeed to have an ally in the Deputy Provost's house.

This went on for several years, Day suffering the administrations of her mother and the people that taught her her studies and then haring off with the commoners in her spare time. When she was ten, her sister went to the Royal Palace to serve as a page and try for knighthood. Their mother and father strongly discouraged Shay from going, but Day sided with her sister, arguing that the realm needed soldiers and that her sister was just as good as any of those dumb boys. Eventually, their parents gave in, and Shay was shipped off to Corus. Though Day had helped Shay achieve her goal, she was unprepared for the feeling of emptiness that came with the departing of her twin.

A year later, Aaron went to visit the Lord Provost in Corus, and they stayed a while to visit with Shay and make a few trips to the Royal University to look into Day attending. When they visited with Shay, Day met the prince, Richard, for the first time. She wasn't a whole lot impressed, as she'd heard stories that the royalty were supposed to be black and blue, and he was brown. She didn't let it bother her too much, though. It was also while staying in Corus that she dipped her feet into the business of the rogues of Tortall's capitol city. She met a variety of interesting characters, including an older boy of sixteen who she followed around with almost puppy-like adoration through-out the duration of their stay in Corus.

Faraday and her father returned to Port Caynn quite quickly, but they would continue to make visits to the capitol city until the year Shay became a squire and Day was accepted into the Royal University. Then, Aaron shipped his family off to a small town holding in Corus. Faraday lived with her mother in the house, and she attended the University, studying all sorts of things from the theory of magic to the art of fencing. Sometimes, she'd skip classes to hare off in the city, but most of the time she was a student by day and a rogue by night. She was a good friend of Con's, and was one of his chief supporters when he took on the old Rogue and killed him, ascending the throne and becoming the new King of the Rogue.

Months previous to the Mad King's return, she was struck with a vision of the Crooked God, whom she had prayed to many a time but had never thought to see. He laid his hand on her shoulder and grinned, telling her to make life interesting for him. And so, she was also there with the return of the Mad King and the rebelling of the courtiers. When the city was in a lockdown, she was involved in the sending of information to the "Traitors," and though she's unaware of it, she had a hand in the murder of King Jonathan.

With the murder of Jonathan, Richard, the boy that had not impressed her, became king of the realm. He was impressive, now, but she still rather view him with neutrality. It was a shock, really, when he discretely asked her to become the spymaster of the shadows, the one that gave orders behind scenes. When she demanded who nominated her for the job, the King would not say; despite this, she accepted. She figured she could always find out later.

It's been two years since becoming the spymaster, and the people are getting a sense of her presence. Except that they think she's a man, and they call her the Shadowman. Her mother is conniving to marry her off to the King, and that's the last thing she wants; she rather likes her freedom. She's been going after Con to use his power for good and employ the full extent of his contacts in the network, but Con's being surprising pig-headed on the subject. And let's not say anything of her sister, the Lady Knight Champion of Tortall. She's just impossible, Day's decided after trying to reconcile their relation for two years straight, without success.

Trivia

 * The idea for Faraday was conceived over a year before Crossroads in Time ever came into being.
 * She was named for a book character belonging to the Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglas.
 * A frequent ooc joke is that Faraday is insane in the brain. They might just be right! ;)
 * Though they might look different, Faraday's nickname, Day, rhymes with that of her twin sister Shaylynn's, Shay. This was an accident that occured after the names had been chosen.