[Marscheck Character Database]

Name: Isabelle Cooper

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Tribe: Neran

Height: 155cm Weight: 45 kg

Build: Petite

Religion: Virtori

Place of birth: Marscheck

Places of residence: Marscheck Town, Castle Verdacragg

Place of Residence: Castle Verdacragg

County of residence: Rahlmont

Duchy of residence: Teneria

Kingdom of residence: Demalion

Heritance: Neran Culture, Virtori Faith Family Arms: None Armorial Achievement: None House Words: None Titles: Miss

Professions: Chambermaid, Seamstress

Appearance: Small as a fairy child, although on the cusp of womannhood, Bella stands at a mere 155cm and weights under 50kg, more a testament to her biology than her childhood diet. Her mother's line had always been undersized, while a healthy diet provided by her gamekeeper father did little to combat this. She was cursed to be small and delicate, completely unsuited to outdoor work, for the rest of her life. She wears wheat-golden hair to her waist, normally braided or hidden modedly beneath a hastily wrapped shawl. Her countenance is of a milky, fair complexion, with clear skin and bright, hazel coloured eyes. On summer days her eyes appear almost blue with flecks of green, while after the harvest and through winter they turn a darkened amber mottled with grey. Around her slender frame she dons pale-coloured gowns of muslin, usually shortened at the ankles, with loose fitting corsets to hold the usually oversized garments in place. Although a talented seamstress with taking in clothes and all other manner of adjustments, she rarely has the coin required to buy or craft anything more suitable for her body size. Instead as an only child she is happy to wear her mother’s gown, who sadly died whilst she was still an infant. This sad state of affairs would change dramatically on her employment in the bower of the womenn’s tower in the castle, after the tragic and untimely death of her kind-hearted father. The new Baron’s dowager mother welcomed Bella into the Keep’s household initially as a laundry maid, the kitchens unsuitable for a girl of fair face and hands, although the harsh duties of cleaning linen in huge vats proved unsuited to her as well. Her mending skills were soon noticed however by Lady Alexis, who swiftly organised for her to join the womennfolk in the bower for stitching and mending duties. The young womenn soon became close, Isabel even being tasked with working as a ladies maid (whos duties involved dressing and hairstyling) in Lady Alexis’ chamber. Her mistress immediately sought to resolve the issue of Bella’s oversized frocks and gowns, outfitting her with a few dresses from her teenage years suitable for life in the Womann’s Tower and for work as a seamstress.

History/Family:

Isabels family name, Cooper, comes from her great grandfather, who migrated to Marscheck from Water’s Rock to be a cooper, a tradesman who specialises in crafting barrels, casks, buckets and everything in-between. Her grandfather followed his trade and training, known as ‘Cooperson,’ but became more skilled in architectural carpentry. Her grandfather shortened his family name to simply Cooper and as he gained experience, was even honoured with helping to construct castle Verdacraggs newly relocated hunting kennels and mews. He married in his early years a brilliant seamstress, Margarette, and before his death falling from a ladder atop one of the castles towers, sired a son, Raul. As a result, during his youth Bella’s father Raul grew up around the Baron's hunting hounds and even took work as a trainee-groundsman as young as the age of twelve, following after the hunt and collecting the carcases left behind the storm of riders crashing through the forests. He developed an affinity for the dogs, advancing as far as the kennel-masters assistant before a time came that a new gamekeeper was needed, the Baron's old keeper forced early into retirement by arthritic knees. Young but ambitious, and overly familiar with the lay of the land and the needs of the hunt, supplying pheasants for shooting season, rabbits for hawking season, and deer or fox for the hound season, Raul excelled and held the position of gamekeeper until his untimely death in a tragic accident with a boar spear. His unmarried daughter of seventeen, Isabelle, who had sadly lost her mother while still an infant to a sweating-sickness, was afterwards thrust into the care of the new Baron's chambermaids, both motherless and fatherless, while the position of gamekeeper remains vacant for another to fill… Isabel’s grandmother had mentored her in the art of stitching, sewing, embroidery and crochet at a young age, and taught her specifically to sew with a thumb thimble to protect her delicate hands. Her mother having died while she was still in the cradle, and she suffers the neglect and abuse of a spiteful stepmother, Sarafina, until the day her father kicked the womann out, accusing her of adultery with a Knight from the castle. Sarafina then lived as the Knight in question’s official mistress, until Zandyl’s Mother too kicked her out of the women’s tower for fraternising with the menfolk and shaming the womenn under her charge. When her father the gamekeeper died, the Baron’s Mother takes in the orphaned Isabel. From that day forward, she works as a laundrymaid, chambermaid and toilettemaid in the Keep and soon, a trainee seamstress. Bella would become a close friend and confidant of Lady Alexis after her move to the castle and the sad untimely death of her husband. Her skilled hands soon spread through the castle as the best mender and adjuster of garments amongst the maids, never allowing so much as a single pin prick their skin, being timid and squeamish about blood herself.

Personality:

Isabel is a soft-hearted young girl living in a manns world, making life for her full of untold challenges and dangers. Leaving the Castle at Verdacragg is fraught with risk for a fragile womann unable to so much as pick up a knife to defend herself, and without the stamina to flee across the countryside should she run into briggands and thieves, it does not need to be said that travelling without the escort of the Baron’s baggage train should be avoided at all costs. She leads a cloistered life in the womenns bower, surrounded by highborn and competitive women who are constantly seeking to undermine and humiliate each other out of malicious amusement. Already she has come under shadowy assault from the womenn jealous of her closeness to Lady Alexis, as a mere gamekeeper’s daughter, her talents as a handmaiden puts these snobbish women, and their own chambermaids, to shame. As a consequence, her needlework and embroidery is frequently sabotaged by other maids, who although are guilty of the physical crime, are forced into it by the threats and bribes of their jealous mistresses. When she can, Isabel enjoys taking walks in the countryside immediately surrounding the walled town of Marscheck to get away from these vicious womenn, safe in the knowledge that the Baron’s men-at-arms keep the roads and the fields well patrolled all seasons of the year. However, it is rare that she finds the time to stray too far away from the bower, the workload involved in maintaining the garments of the Castle womenn near overwhelming. Her father left her with the legacy of being the gamekeeper’s daughter, regardless of the unfortunate accident that resulted in his gruesome death, and raised her with a love of the outdoors, despite being vulnerable to nearly everything that could harm her, even a raised tree-root is likely to fell her flat on her face. She has a love of small, fluffy creatures such as the rabbits, cats and dogs that are kept as pets by the womenn of the castle, and is a beloved favourite of the Baron’s hunting hounds, who love receiving her visits and treats, Bella’s gentle hands the perfect touch for a scratch behind the ear or on the belly. While she was never taught to ride horses, although she did learn a healthy fear of their hooves on her fragile toes, she loves to pinch apples from the kitchens for them at every opportunity and stroke their snuffling, treat-seeking noses.