Second Dawn: Elizabeth Rowell

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This is a reference document for the LARP The Second Dawn.

Elizabeth Rowell Player: Isabel K Professional assassin and construction worker Age: 31

Additional information (read first): Plains States, Star Brothers

Background: You were born on the edge of the Eastern Union, in the Adirondack hinterlands west of Lake Champlain. Life was hard up there, a long horse ride from the closest railroad; many of you felt closer to the independent trapper communities in the mountains to the east than you did to the Union itself. Life for women up there was even harder, most of them expected to be quiet and meek wives, acquiescing to men grown rough from lives as lumberjacks, miners, and farmers. You consider yourself one of the lucky ones, though: rough and strong and tomboyish, you fought hard for your independence and won it. But with all the boys afraid of you, you were forced to move out when you were 16, making your way southeast into the flatland counties around the Hudson River. The culture of the rest of the Eastern Union filled you first with wonder, then disgust. These people had countless conveniences and sciences, toys and wonders, but those niceties made them weak and mendacious. You survived on the fringes of society, a runaway strong and tough enough to take care of yourself. That worked for a year or two, until you ended up killing a man who tried to take advantage of you out in Worcester. You fled westwards and kept going, enjoying the wide-open spaces out past the upper Hudson river, eventually making your way to New Buffalo out on the edge of Lake Erie. You worked on the docks for a little while, until at 21, a run-in with the Great Lakes Pirates made life difficult again. The pirates live out on the lakes, occasionally raiding traffic between the Plains States, Maple Kingdom, and Eastern Union. They’re known for their barbarity and violence, but mostly prey upon the larger westerly lakes, and therefore on the Plains States. New Buffalo has a tense relationship with the pirates; they don’t attack ships within a certain distance from the city, and don’t cause trouble within the city, and the local authorities let them come ashore. Noone really likes the setup, especially when the pirates inevitably get rough with locals- as one tried to do with you. So, you killed him. Now, no New Buffalo court would ever convict a Union girl for attacking a pirate in self-defense, but they have too many bribed watchmen to be able to protect you from private retribution. So, as before, you fled… but you were caught. Not by pirates or the law, but by a foreign agent, a man from the Plains States named George Stavraky. To make a long story short, George offered you a job. He saw how you despised the soft, duplicituous ways of the Union folks, and saw how easily you’d killed a heavily-armed pirate. So, you became an assassin in the employ of the Plains States. George didn’t want you to come back to the Plains; no, he wanted to offer you some professional training, assistance in your current problem, then let you return to the Union and make your own way in the world. In return, you helped him kill a certain pirate leader named Lyman Shark, a two-person job for which he’d had no partner. You worked well together, and you liked him; he was like a father to you, better than your real father had been. You and he left Buffalo together, but parted ways in Albany after half a year. As George asked, you went on with your life. First you traveled around some doing odd jobs (including the occasional assassination), slowly moving eastwards to where you got a job helping build the Second Dawn. You’ve heard no word from the Plains, no job that they need you to do. You’d kill for them again if they asked, though; you believe in the superiority of their straightforward no-nonsense culture, and you’d do it just to show them that their trust in George was well-founded. Over the past two years, you’ve spent most of your time having a simple little life here in New Providence; this whole spaceship thing is rather interesting, and likely to put you into a good location to help the Plains someday. As the workers’ salaries dwindled, you began putting more time into your background career: as a freelance assassin. It took you a while to find the right contacts, so you haven’t had many jobs yet, but by now people are starting to learn who to find around New Providence if someone needs to be killed. Which is good, since you had to lay out a lot of bribes to various shady folks in order to get your name out there, and you’d better finish paying off that debt soon before they find a competitor to extract it from your knees. One particularly memorable job involved a bit of travel - you were hired to kill a certain assistant to the congressman of New Hudson. Your contact managed to finagle you an invitation to the fancy dinner party at the congressman’s estate. The party itself was a blast, you spent the whole time flirting with a man named Conrad Gaudet. He even invited you back to his room for drinks. You were severely tempted, but you were on the clock so you had to decline. You’ve had a few other things on your mind the past few months as well. First is religion. You never bothered with it much before, but you came across a small Old Faith sect called the “Star Brothers” here in New Providence, and their philosophy really appealed to you. They teach that powerful celestial beings live beyond the earth, creatures beyond human imagination. Humans must prove themselves worthy and meet them in the heavens- and the unworthy must fear their unfathomable power. You’re still an initiate, but you like what you’ve heard so far. Second, you’ve started to get lonely, of all things. You’re not some simpering romantic, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want company. Unfortunately, virtually every man you’ve met starts out thinking you must be some dainty woman-thing; but when you show a little strength, they end up in awe or fear. Sometimes they still want to date you after that, but you hate that; weak folks aren’t worth an eyeblink of your time. With so many high-and-mighty citizens here, not to mention the Plains States delegation, you’ll surely find work tonight. Do be careful, though; here on the launch platform sailing south from Naragansett Bay, you won’t have anywhere to run if things go sour! There is one more thing on your mind. Amazingly, unbelievably, the Premier of Congress is your sister! You haven’t seen her since you ran away from home at 16. You’d heard the name Eleanor Truman many times, but only now seeing her face tonight do you realize that she’s Ellen Rowell. You’re conflicted about seeing her. You were very close growing up, but she’s a politician now, an embodiment of everything you hate about the Eastern Union. And how can you explain to her what you’ve been doing since you parted all those years ago?

Roleplaying notes: You are strong, and you only respect those who’re strong enough to take care of themselves. You aren’t mean, but don’t usually think or care about abstract moral issues. You’re good at inspiring fear, but you see that as a two-edged sword; fear can be useful, but makes it hard to find real peers. Because of this, you usually restrain yourself, only letting people see your strength (and skill) when it’s useful. Your youth on the streets has made you an eminently practical woman, almost but not quite to a fault.

Goals: 1) Demonstrate your loyalty to the Plains States, and don’t get killed. 2) Advance through the ranks of the Star Brothers. 3) Find a partner who will respect you without fearing you. 4) Make enough money to pay off your debts.

Opinions: Second Dawn: The ship is good construction, no doubt, even if you haven’t been paid so well for it. As to whether or not its launch will succeed, the Star Brothers teach that this will depend on whether or not the celestials find mankind worthy. Religion: The Star Brothers are technically an “old faith,” being theistic. They teach that mankind most prove itself worthy of great celestial beings, or else fear them. This matches your experience with the way the world works: if you cannot prove your strength, something will end up crushing you, intentionally or otherwise. Tinkers: Clannish, secretive hoarders. Why trust someone who won’t trust you? Black Science: Evil stuff, you were taught to fear it strong and early. You imagine the Tinkers use lots of it, and the rest of the Union turns a blind eye for a bit of comfort. Plains States: No fancy easy-life sciences, no conniving politics; just the will of a warlord, the honesty of strength. Sounds like a damned fine place. Eastern Union: Full of duplicitous, soft people, who seek strength through manipulation and lies. There are plenty of exceptions, mind you, but that’s the culture. Appalachian Confederacy: The stories remind you of home, for both good and ill. Maple Kingdom: They often passed through your childhood hometown, but rarely bothered to trade. They’ve always struck you as self-important.

Key Information: •Your mentor, George Stavraky, recruited you in Buffalo to help kill a Lake Pirate leader named Lyman Shark. He went above and beyond his normal jurisdiction by recruiting you in the field. You haven’t heard from him since you parted ways 2 years ago, but that’s to be expected. •In order to pay off your bribery debts (assassin startup costs), you will need to get 4 Valuable items; a renegotiated contract will provide you with the equivalent of 2, but not immediately. An assassination job is worth about 2. You owe this to a loan shark named Alfonso Goff, thankfully not at the party. •Few people outside the Plains States even know the name of warlord Cordelia Wayne; despite ruling that nation, she’s quite reclusive. •You are an initiate in the Star Brothers, still in the lower ranks but looking to get more involved. •Your construction-worker friends have seen your tough side; the Star Brothers have not.

People (in approximate order of importance): Isaiah Whittaker (Joey B): High Priest of the Star Brothers, you look up to him greatly. Your advancement through the ranks (and into the secrets) of the faith is all up to him. Walter Palmer, Plains States Ambassador (Ilya M): You don’t know anything about him, but he almost certainly knows about you. While helping him is not your most immediate priority, it should take precedence if the situation arises. Eleanor Truman/Ellen Rowell, Premier of Congress (Alison H): Your fraternal twin sister whom you haven’t seen since you ran away. The two of you were very close growing up. You can’t imagine why or how she got involved in the despised world of Eastern Union Politics. You also hope she doesn’t still try to call you Liz. Mario Patriarca (Paul S): Manager of the construction crew. He thinks the best way to deal with the salary tightening is by going on strike. You’re not yet convinced that’s a good option; it’s rarely a good plan to openly defy the group with the army. Conrad Gaudet, Maple Kingdom Ambassador (David C): The attractive man you were flirting with at that fancy dinner party! He’s sure risen in the ranks, you don’t think he was the ambassador of the Maple Kingdom when you met him a year and a half ago. William Cone (Richard S): One of the construction workers, he fascinates you. He’s wary of you but not afraid; you’d like to get to know him better, but he’s usually been on different shifts and different parts of the crew in the past. Rawle James Kershwin (Sean C): A construction worker originally from the Appalachian Confederacy, he’s told you many stories of his homeland. You get along well enough, but he reminds you too much of home sometimes. Diedre Lamprey (Emily B), Peter Dogfish (Bryce K): Those are definitely Lake Pirates. What is they doing here? More importantly, might they have known Lyman Shark, or that first pirate you killed? Olan Hyndman (David R): An important general from the Plains. George told you he’s been instrumental to Minneapolis’ military successes. Edward Dockrill (Dan S): The Plains ambassador’s assistant. Potentially, he could either be your contact, or he could know nothing; it depends on who’s giving who plausible deniability. Stupid politics. Raymond Latour (Adam K): A fellow member of the star brothers, he became a higher order initiate and then left suddenly. You and he got along back then, though you know Whittaker is unhappy with him. Eugene Kennedy (Simon M): Another member of the star brothers, he is a simpering pampered rich kid, the son of the Chief of Staff. You definitely deserve to be initiated in the higher mysteries more than he does.

Ratings: Pilot: 0 R: 0 D: 3 G: 2

Nametag Symbols: E, R, F

Attributes: Physical: Defense 4 Pool Rating 4 [] [] [] [] Mental: Defense 2 Pool Rating 2 [] [] Social: Defense 3 Pool Rating 3 [] [] []

Recoveries: -Hear someone show fear or nervousness about you (+1 point, 3/hour, once per person) -Dismiss, ignore, or otherwise brush off the weak (+1 point, 2/hour) -Prove your loyalty to a person or cause that deserves it (+2 points, 1/hour)

Abilities: Evasive (x1), fisticuffs, attack, suspect, sneak, supposed to be here, survivor (x1), professional confidentiality, a killer’s will, judge and mark, Poison (x2)

Items: Knife, Pistol, smoke bomb