Profession: Apprentice Freelance Engineer
Background[]
The eldest daughter of the American Clement Dodge, a wealthy, absent-minded inventor, Vertiline was raised by a weak-willed but socially-ambitious mother (Mary) in a house full of broken inventions and odd tools. Her mother is a British woman of good family who moved to America upon her marriage. Verdie’s earliest playthings had cranks and hinges, and she learned to use tools as extensions of her own hands. As she grew older, her shyness and apparent stupidity made her an easy target of neighborhood bullies; she endured the abuse with stubborn ignorance, until she was set upon and defended herself with her fists. Her younger, sweet-natured sister, Adelaide, pretty and more socially adept, tried to defend her and made the locals ignore her, and Verdie is wordlessly devoted to her.
Their father squandered the family’s money, gleefully anticipating fame and wealth from his next successful invention, a success that never came. Eventually, a cad calling himself Hiram Lewis offered marriage to Adelaide and a business opportunity in canals to their father, but stole the money and vanished; their father died shortly thereafter and their mother moved them across the Atlantic to a tiny cottage in Dorset where she barely earns a living as a seamstress. Aged sixteen, Adelaide was sent off to a girl’s school as a part-time tutor and student; Vertiline wants to send most money she earns to support both of them in better luxury. Her strongest motivation is to prove her father’s genius (he may have had one or two good ideas but most of them were impractical, impossible monstrosities, probably very dangerous). She has a prized set of his notebooks, smeared with grease and almost illegible. She would also love to take revenge on Hiram Lewis, if she can ever find him again.
Nemesis[]
Hiram Lewis is a black-haired, handsome man with charming manners and great intelligence, and has performed similar swindles on others. He runs a small group of bandits and has a personal servant/bodyguard named Tom Cartwright.
Appearance and Manners[]
Vertiline is a large (5’9), brutish-appearing woman who dresses carelessly, more comfortable in men's clothing when she works (when in dresses, she appears awkward and uncomfortable). Her hands are thick and strong, not delicate as idealized by her mother (and to a lesser extent, sister). She is likely to be smeared with oil and would rather use tools than talk. Her appearance hides a keen, well-educated mind and she is extremely competent with tools and mechanical things. As someone who was the easy victim of bullies as a child, she is naturally drawn to the underdog and finds it hard to let go of anger on their behalf, although she generally would not consider insults to herself as something to defend against. She looks very low class, with small, brown eyes, and brown hair cut unfashionably short (she has a phobia that it might get caught in gears or burnt). Powerfully built, she hunches to disguise her size (she was scolded constantly for her unladylike appearance by her mother). She is a bit impatient about polite manners (since they haven't helped her be accepted) and may wander off from conversations that don't interest her. She may also be suspicious of charming people. She has a phobia of thunderstorms, particularly acute if she is outside.
Abilities[]
- Sorcery ♦: Poor (2)
- Fisticuffs ♣: Great+ (8)(She learned to defend herself with her fists early on, and has an interest in learning new techniques - she has great instincts but is relatively untutored.)
- Stealth ♣: Average+ (4)
- Comeliness ♥: Average (4)
- Physique ♣: Good (6)
- Perception ♦: Good (6)
- Courage ♥: Great (8)
- Education ♦: Great (8)
- Languages: English (native), French, German, some Latin (one fewer language than "Great" usually implies)
- Other knowledge: little understanding of Classics but very strong in Physics and Chemistry
- Athletics ♣: Good (6)
- Tinkering ♦: Great+ (mastery) (9)
- Charisma ♥: Poor (2)
- Exchequer ♠: Poor (2) (It would be average but she sends most of her salary to her mother and sister)
- Social Graces ♠: Average (4)
- Leadership ♥: Poor (2)
- Physician ♦: Average (4)
- Mesmerism ♥: Average (4)
- Motoring ♣: Good (6)
- Performance ♥: Average (4)
- Craftsmanship ♦: Average (4)
- Connections ♠: Average+ (5)
- Riding ♣: Good (6)
- Gambling ♦: Good (6)
- Marksmanship ♣: Good (6)
- Helmsmanship ♦: Good (6)
- Fencing ♣: Average (4)
- Sorcerous Engineering ♦: Good (6)
Goals[]
- Social: To ensure her mother and sister's comforts and acceptance in society (requires money).
- Personal: To track down Hiram Lewis and take revenge.
- Avocational: To prove her father's inventions as works of genius and to establish herself as an inventor in her own right.
- Also, to learn sorcerous engineering to a point where she can add sorcerous parts to her father's inventions.
Kit[]
- A bag of junk - containing miscellaneous gears, gizmos and gadgets that may help her repair or invent things (some items are partially complete inventions of her father's)
- A tool kit - containing well-worn tools of various descriptions
- Googles and a hat
- A rough ill-fashioned flashlight, the object she is currently trying to improve in her spare time
- A telescope with a scratched lens
- A battered notebook with schematics and notes on inventions
- A high-pitched whistle effective to drive away dogs and related canids, made on the trip to Damascus
- A Cogsworth-powered stun stick.
- One cure wounds potion from Ting Wu.
- A Model 1874 Colt pump action revolver (AKA the "woodchuck")
Letters to Adelaide[]
- Letter one from a village between Vienna and Constantinople
- Letter two from a tavern outside Constantinople
- Letter three from a caravan between Constantinople and Damascus
- Letter four from Damascus
- Letter five from London
- Letter six from Ireland