Lady Viola Tenebris Hawthorn

Miss Vanessa Grace is her "commoner" name, the one she uses when in disguise among the people. To the poor and lower class, her name as leader of the Nationalist faction is "Our Lady of the Revolution" and "Victory's Flower" - clearly playing off her name being close to the color/flower violet.

24

She/Her

As a noble lady, she is the daughter of the former Marquess Hawthorn and the elder sister of the current Viscount for House Hawthorn; in her role as a "commoner", she is the leader of the Nationalist movement, the head of the Noble Faction who opposes the crown.

Human

Anastasia Cebulska

Quick Setting: 19th Century - Victorian/Steampunk - low fantasy. In the fictional kingdom of Arhaim.

Quick Description: The eldest daughter of a now-Viscount house, she is also secretly the leader of a faction of nobles (the Nationalists) attempting to overthrow the current King and court (the Imperialists) because in short they are corrupt and awful people, and replace the current system of government with a democracy. Viola leads a double life to accomplish this - one as the sickly shut in Lady Viola, and the other as commoner Miss Vanessa Grace.

Magic Awareness: Magic is known and other species do exist, but they are banned in the kingdom and live underground as second class citizens (but of course the upper class nobility uses the magitech they create for their own wealth and prosperity).

5 FT 3 IN

Thin & Small; Viola is fair skinned and often a sickly pale, although step close enough to see and one can tell the paleness has been accentuated by makeup to cover up the sun exposure she receives from working outside at the Swan's Nest.

The rumors have always been that Viola has been in poor and frail health since her father's death, that a weak and nervous disposition means that she is hardly physically capable of anything more than moving from room to room in her own home. Viola has done all in her power to encourage these rumors, ranging from the isolation, word from doctors, and gossip from the few friends who see her. When the rare occasion comes where she must step out of doors as herself, her clothing is specifically chosen to show off how thin and small she is, that strength is something hard won for her.

In all actuality, Viola's health is perfectly fine and she's never been sickly. She is strong enough to wrangle children all day as well as work alongside the Nationalists for their movement. If anything her only detriment is that she is often tired from having to maintain both roles, even if one is only to pretend how poorly she is and never be seen in public.

Light Brown

Chestnut Brown

Her hair naturally has some slight waves, and she keeps it to about mid-shoulder length in order to be able to style it as necessary for ladies to do.

As Lady Viola, her hair is always styled in whatever the latest fashion trend is for the time, always with accessories such as ribbons, pins, flowers, jewelry, and whatever else adorning.

As Vanessa, it is normally always swept back into a simple bun tied with ribbon, and nothing else.

None

None. As Lady Viola, her ear jewelry are all clip-on clasps and ear cuffs; as Vanessa, she wears nothing on her ears.

Viola has two wildly different styles:

In her role as a lady of House Hawthorn, she is decked out in the grandest finery the family can possibly afford - her dresses are more the style of courtly life in the finest satins and silks, leaning towards the empire waistlines and slim cut dresses that are common fashion pieces among nobility, in a wide variety of rare colors, and she dazzles in as much jewelry and fashion accessories as one can get their hands on. She also wears heels instead of slippers, to make herself appear a good two or three inches taller; the hem of her dresses often touch the floor to hide this fact.

In her role as Miss Vanessa, her dress trend is entirely the opposite: she wears mostly muted, plain colors like browns and greens, purchasing her clothing from the same place others of her perceived common rank in life would purchase them. She favors the wider hoop skirts of the lower class (long out of style in the courts) with waistcoats, and is usually wearing her uniform for the Swan's Nest Orphanage when she is out and about. She usually wears sturdy flat shoes such as mary janes which add nothing to her height.

Viola has two distinct marks - the first is a birthmark near her right shoulder blade close to her spine, and the second is a small scar on the underside of her knee from a horse riding accident as a child. Although she can cover neither of these things up, the women's fashion of the time make both impossible to see unless she is undressing in front of someone, so it's never been a concern of hers.

The recent history of House Hawthorn paints the family as a tragedy.

House Hawthorn was once a Marquess house, only a step below the duchies of the kingdom - but House Hawthorn has always been a supporter of commoners and commoners' rights hailing back at least two generations. That put a target on their backs.

The late Marquess Hawthorn - Viola's father - was arrested under flimsy charges of terrorism and defamations against the crown, tried in a public and showy trial, and executed. He was put to death in a violent and public manner in front of his wife and children and the crowds when Viola was 12.

The family was too powerful to be completely eliminated, nor was it what the crown desired - the King wanted to keep the Hawthorns as an example to other noble families. So the House was stripped of lands, titles, and much of its wealth, and demoted to a Viscount house.

The late Marchioness - Viola's mother - fell ill from the stress and strain of it all, and did not live much longer. Leaving the care of family and household to her then-16-year-old eldest daughter, Viola.

Viola is the oldest of 4 children - with a younger brother and two younger sisters. She is not the heir of the family nor Head of House, thanks to being a woman, so the title of Viscount Hawthorn has fallen to her little brother. Viola acted as the head of house in her mother's stead until her brother came of age. She would also accompany him as chaperone until then.

Viola and her little sisters are all debuted in court, but none of the four Hawthorn children are married. Viola has not been seen in court since her debutante. The sisters are reserved and appear in court rarely. The new Lord Hawthorn is the only member of the family really "out and about" in high society to the socially acceptable level.

For her identity as commoner Vanessa Grace, she is an orphan who was raised at Swan's Nest, lucky enough to have been sponsored by noble patrons to attend a finishing school for her education, and returned to the Swan's Nest to work as a way to give back to her community. With aspirations to take over the teaching role from the current head mistress someday.

There are records to support this story found in the archives of the orphanage, as well as records at the finishing school to show that Miss Vanessa Grace did, indeed, attend. The funds given by the "noble patrons" were written to be from anonymous benefactors.

Kingdom: Arhaim
Court: Opulais

Setting: Blend of 19th Century Victorian Gothic & more medieval, peasantry countryside

The Imperial Faction ("Imperialists") is currently being led by King Leon I & Crown Prince Malcolm, of House Sangreal

The Noble Faction ("Nationalists") is currently being led by House Hawthorn, a former Marquess house demoted to the rank of Viscount after the execution of Lord Hawthorn some many years back.