Character Survey WIP

[cunningwoman]

Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy?

She's tall and about average in terms of weight, honestly. Her weight varies a bit, depending on how the shop's doing and what's going on in her life, but she's never stick thin- just a little leaner, sometimes.

2. How old is she?
31-ish, depending on the point in the story

3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch?

She carries herself decently well. She certainly doesn't slouch often, but she doesn't particularly make an effort to stand perfectly straight either. She has a tendency to balance things on her hip and to lean against things while she's talking to people.

4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?

She's healthy and fit, which is fairly notable, given that she's only a year out from a plague epidemic and her family had some causalities.

5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?

Quickly. She's the sort of person who makes you exhausted just by watching her. In the bakery and when doing her work as a cunning woman, she's graceful, in her own way, though she wouldn't recognize it. It's the fluid movement of muscle-memory, learned from repeating the same tasks day after day, until they become second nature.

When outside of her element, she's not clumsy, but she doesn't exactly have that some flow to her movements.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror?

She's lovely in a very modest sort of way. The girl-next-door type, as cliche as that is. She honestly doesn't spend a great deal of time thinking about her appearance, especially now. She's mildly aware that she was rather pretty when she was younger.

7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
On the fair side, lightly tanned. She has a few scars here and there, from childhood accidents and the like, but nothing serious.

8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style. She has dark brown hair. It's thick and somewhere at the meeting point of wavy and curly. If she didn't keep it back, it would quickly become a hassle.

9. What color are her eyes?
Brown.

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Nope.

11. What are her chief tension centers?
Shoulders, for sure, and lower back.

12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does she have six of the same suit?

Utilitarian, all the way. Like most people of her time period, she probably did not have that many outfits. Maybe a nice dress or two for church and then the rest would be utilitarian work/everyday clothes.

13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them?

They fit well because she makes them lmao. She seems comfortable.

14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences?

In the bakery, she wears an apron. That is the difference.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?

I'll let you in on a little secret. In her time period, ladies didn't wear underwear.

Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?

For once, I picked a PB whose voice actually sounds decently close to how I imagine the character's voice would sound. So here's a clip.

Her voice is probably about average pitched for women, maybe on the higher side. Pleasant, but not particularly noteworthy. Her singing voice isn't anything particularly outstanding either, although she does sing fairly often, just as she works and to her kids.

2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate?

She speaks evenly and easily, by and large. She's confident in her speech, usually knows exactly what she wants to say, and has no problem saying it.

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?

This is complicated because of translation convention. I'm writing her as speaking English as we speak it, but really, she'd be speaking Early Modern English, which is a slightly different beast with it's own pronunciation rules. But no one wants me to type like this.

So by all rights, she should sound odd to a modern English speaker, but I'm playing that down. She is English, and from London. And the emerging middle class. Here's an example of Shakespeare in it's original pronunciation. It's about sixty years too late for Eleanor, but it's still classified as Early Modern English and closer than how we speak today, I'm sure.

4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency?

Fluent in English, just knows some prayers in Latin via memorization.

5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations?

Nope. Well, I mean. Unless you count using Latin in prayers and charms.

6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words?

She's a pretty good impromptu speaker when there's a call for it. She thinks well on her feet and she's pretty articulate.

7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?

She's... I wouldn't say eloquent, but she is good at getting her point across and speaking to people. I think it would only change if she were very flustered or very surprised, neither of which happen often.

Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart?

Eleanor is very intelligent, though she is not well educated at all. She picks up on things quickly, she's observant, and she's creative enough to think of out-of-the-box solutions.

2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate?

She's very good at thinking on her feet.

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?

She's both logical and intuitive; they sort of end up balancing each other in her. I would say that she's guided by her intuition, but her logic lets her sort out the details and put things together that other people wouldn't.

Although she has ideals that she values, she very much falls on the side of practical. She was never much one for idealism anyway, but consider the time period she's living in. The War of the Roses had been going on for the majority of her life, she's only just survived an epidemic of the Black Death, and then there was the Cornish Rebellion a couple years ago...

In short, she's living in a time period where there's been a lot of upheaval, a lot of violence, and a lot of death. In summary, she tries to behave according to her values and ideals, but recognizes that a bit of flexability is sometimes necessary in order to survive in an unkind world.

4. What kind of education has the character had?

Not much of one, which was fairly standard for women at the time. She was lucky enough to have attended an informal 'Dame' school when she was young, where she learned to read and write. From there, she apprenticed in her father's bakery and continued to work as a baker after she married (and then took over the shop after she was widowed).

5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about?

1) She's a damn good baker.
2) She's a damn good cunning woman.

I suppose if you wanted more areas of expertise than that, you could list financials; she can stretch a penny farther than most. She also knows more about plants and herbs than just about city dweller has a right to.

But really, half the key to her success as a cunning woman is just knowing things. Things about healing, yes, but especially things about the supernatural. Creatures like fae, revenants, demons, werewolves, witches- they are all bound by certain rules and it's usually the person who knows these rules- the expert- who manages to save the day. Eleanor is that expert, and she's always on the lookout for more knowledge in that area.

6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert?

She's an extrovert; that's one reason she's successful at her job as a cunning woman. She knows her neighborhood and the people in it like the back of her hand, and she has excellent relationships with many of her neighbors.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?

She's very even-tempered and exceedingly driven- to be honest, "driven" is one of her defining characteristics. Under most circumstances, she is warm, pleasant, and good-humored. "Cheerful," would, perhaps, be over-stating things, especially given her recent tragedies, but whatever heartache she feels, she's not prone to showing to the world.

8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?

She loves people of all kinds and is quick to offer a smile or a comforting hand, but her trust has to be earned. You might say that, when it comes to people, she's cautiously enthusiastic.

When it comes to new situations, her reaction is usually to hang back and assess the situation before running. Caution is, again, the key here. She doesn't trust people right off the bat, and she doesn't trust new situations either. But once she has a handle on things, she adapts just fine.

9. Is she more likely to act, or to react?

Both...? While she is definitely the sort to proactively pursue her goals (promoting her businesses, taking every opportunity to better her kid's lives, etc), a lot of her recent life has been a test of how well she can adapt to sudden change in circumstances; the world turns and Eleanor runs to catch up.

10. Which is her default: fight or flight?

It depends on the situation, but in most cases- flight. She's not a (physical) fighter and she knows it. She'd rather flee and live another day. Back her into a corner, though, and she's as vicious as she has to be. 

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?

She doesn't crack jokes often, though she'll laugh if others make them. Her personal humor comes mostly in form of wry little observations on life. Often, it's rather 'blink and you miss it.'

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them?

No, none.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person?



14. What does she fear?

Her fears are fairly sensible and realistic ones, in all honesty.

-Death
-Anything happening to her kids
-Illness
-Poverty/an inability to support her family
-And she has a healthy fear of/respect for the supernatural elements that she deals with too.

These should be fairly self-explanatory with her backstory.

15. What are her hopes or aspirations?

These sound rather dull when you list them out, but, really, she doesn't have any grand aspirations. She just wants to help her community where she can and earn enough to support her children and leave them all a little nest egg when she's gone.

16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her?

She doesn't really have any huge secrets. She'd be embarrassed if her private thoughts were broadcast to the entire neighborhood, just like everyone else would, but there are no big, dramatic, mysterious events in her past. 


Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents.

She had a good relationship with both her parents, but she was definitely a daddy's girl. She inherited her skills as a cunning woman from her father, Edward, and he spent a great deal of time training her and her sister Bess to use those skills. The three of them were particularly tight knit because of this.

Mary, her mother, was a warm and loving woman, and while she did not have quite as great an influence over Eleanor as her father did, they were close confidants.

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?

She has three siblings: George, Elizabeth (Bess), and Alice. She's on good terms with her sisters, but not with her brother. Bess is the only other one of the siblings who seemed to inherit their father's gift and, because of this, she and Eleanor are particularly close.

George, not having the gift and, thus, never having received their father's lessons and extra attention, is resentful of Bess and Eleanor, so relations there are somewhat tense. George isn't evil, he's just an asshole with daddy issues.

Alice gets along with everyone, largely because she's just that much of a sweetie. The kind of person who is kind to everyone, whether they deserve it or not.

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand?

That's pretty much it for her relatives, at least as far as I know now. It's possible I'll need an aunt or something in a story at some point and make one up.

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them?

In a way, Eleanor considers most of her clients/patients as a sort of extended family. When you know people's lives and their struggles, you can't help but feel a little involved. Part of why she does what she does is from a genuine desire to help the people around her. So she'll remember so-and-so's birthday or bring some flowers with her for a disheartened patient. Little things that she doesn't have to do, but does anyway.

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?

Well, when he was alive, it was probably her husband. Now, you could probably say Father Nicholas Allard, the local parish priest who she drags along on a lot of her supernatural type adventures. Facing the undead together is a bonding experience, you know.

6. Does she have other close friends?


More here later

7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people?

She absolutely makes friends easily, once she decides to. It takes a while for her to trust people, so it's probably more accurate to say that she has a lot of friendly acquaintances. With time, some of those will become friends.

8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends?

Family. Family is near sacred in her eyes and she'd do just about anything for her kids.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once?

She is widowed, and was married only once.

10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?

Nope.

11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest?

TBA. She hasn't really had a crush since William. She'd probably say that she doesn't have the time.

12. What does she look for in a romantic partner?

Obviously, if we're talking about remarriage, there are a lot of factors that she has to consider beside her own wants and desires, many of them financial. But leaving all that aside and just talking about her:

Kindness, intelligence, and strength of character are probably the three biggest things that she would look for. And whoever she ends up seeing has to be someone who would be good to her kids. 

13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any?

She had four children- three survive and about 95% of the things she does, she does for them. They are the single strongest motivating factor in her life, without a doubt.

Anne: At seven, Anne is a quiet, observant little girl- the sort who watches everything and says very little. But she's incredibly intelligent and Eleanor knows it. She trusts Anne with a great many things and has come to rely on her help in the bakery. Consequently, the two are very close and are able to understand one another's thoughts and intentions, sometimes even without speaking.

Thomas: Thomas is far more serious than a five year old has any business being, and this worries Eleanor, quite frankly. Being the only son makes him feel particularly protective of his family. He absolutely adores his mother and anyone who messes with her will face his tiny wrath. Needless to say, Eleanor wishes he did not feel such a weight on his shoulders, but she's very proud of his good and loving heart.

Margaret (Maggie): Maggie is three- sweet, affectionate, and a complete chatterbox. She's all too eager to strike up a conversation with anyone with range. But she's also a strangely perceptive little thing and quick to pick up on and respond to the moods of others. If you come around to Eleanor's house feeling a tad depressed, don't be too surprised if you end up with a three year old offering you hugs. Eleanor is particularly protective of Maggie, both because she is so young and because of this worrying tendency to talk to everyone.

14. Does she have any rivals or enemies?

No one in particular. Not yet, I should say. Later, fae are going to become more of a Thing. Not all of them are going to be a problem, but a good portion are.

15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale?

Technically, Eleanor comes before the modern conception of sexual orientations. But in modern terms, she'd express being a 0, or completely 100% straight,  but is probably actually something more like a 1.

16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her?

This is complicated. Thanks, medieval Catholic Church. So, as I'm sure everyone knows, the Church was not an incredibly sex positive institution at this time. I'm not going to waste time going into detail, but let's just say that religious and cultural ideas of what is proper, what is sinful, etc, are always going to be swirling around in her head, whether or not she actively follows the doctrine.

Personally, she really likes sex. It's a wonderful intimate connection to a partner and it's fun. But as for how important it is? She can live without it- and will have to, at least for a time, now that she's a widow; she's fully intending on being celibate unless or until she remarries, though she's not thrilled at the prospect. Memes or CR development may change this, though. *Cough*

17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?

 Physically, she does tend to be attracted to the tall and muscular type, but that's by no means a deal-breaker.

Really, the key with her is to make her loved and wanted. A partner focusing on pleasing her would be a major turn-on. She spends a lot of time tending to... well, just about everyone in her life. It would do her good to have someone else tend to her needs for a bit- and the effort expended would mean a great deal to her.
 

More here eventually  

Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does she fit type?

She is a Cancer and definitely fit to type (which makes sense, given that's how I chose her birthday...)

From wiki:

"The sign of Cancer is said to be associated with the characteristics: introspective, phlegmatic, cardinal, nocturnal, tenacious, intuitive, emotional, indolent, domestic, eloquent,[14] refined, empathic, and clairvoyant."

Bolding mine.


2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life?

Both, definitely both, and they are more than moderately important in her life.

More will go here.


3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?

Yes. She has a very strong personal code of ethics, formed partially through life experience and her own opinions, but, honestly, a great deal of it goes back to her father's influence- at least when it comes to being a cunning woman.

In regards to her practice as a cunning woman and using her gifts:

Ultimately, Eleanor's philosophy comes down to something very simple: she's not going to do anything that won't let her sleep at night. What this means in practice is that she's generally going to be trying to heal and ease pain. For this reason, there are a few things she just won't touch. She doesn't do curses, and she is very picky about love magic.

4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?

She's more tolerant than you might generally expect, given the time period she's from. Mostly, though, this is because she just really doesn't care. You can believe that the sun is a glowworm, for all she cares, just so long as you don't hurt anyone and don't cause any trouble. It's not her job to go around converting people and she doesn't have the energy for it; she'll leave that to the clergy.

5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them?

Here's another fine medieval mess. I'm knowingly being anachronistic with her because most Christians at this time would have a bunch of really gross opinions that I don't want to rp. So she's more open-minded than she probably should be, but I DON'T CARE.

That said, she still is rather stuck in a Catholic-centric view of the world. She's not malicious in her thoughts about non-Christians, just mostly ignorant. Also given the time period, she's very hetero-normative and has some very traditional ideas about gender roles. Not that she's always happy about those gender roles, mind you, but in her head, it's just The Way Things Are.

If taken out of her setting and introduced to new people and new environments, I think these prejudices would start getting chipped away at pretty quickly. She's a smart woman and fast to adapt.


Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?

She's comfortable, firmly in the emerging middle class of the period. There are lean times, of course, and sometimes she has to scrimp quite a bit, but she's not starving.

2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her?

As stated above, she's firmly merchant/middle class and has been all her life. Social mobility really wasn't very much of a thing.

3. Where does she live? House, apartment, trailer? Is her home her castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does she share it with others?

Like most bakers, she and her family live in a set of rooms above the bakery. Her home is definitely her castle, in part because of this. She takes a lot of pride in her business and in providing a good home for her kids, The bakery is always spotless; her living area rarely is, simply because she has her hands full. But it's not a complete mess either. Mostly, it looks like a home where three children live.

4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on?



5. What does she do for a living? Is she good at it? Does she enjoy it, or would she rather be doing something else?

She's both a baker and a cunning woman, as has been mentioned, and she's great at both. She also enjoys both, but really regards being a cunning woman as her calling.

6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time?

Free time? What's that? More here later.

7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?

Like most people in her time period, she drinks alcohol on a regular basis, simply because it's safer than water. She basically only eats out if she's traveling; the vast majority of the time, mealtime means that she's at home, making sure that her kids eat, so she eats with them.


Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:

1. Color?
2. Smell? The smell of baking bread
3. Time of day? Early morning 
4. Season? Autumn
5. Book?
6. Music?
7. Place? London
8. Substance?
9. Plant? Queen Anne's Lace
10. Animal?


END
{{ Get the HTML here so you can do it yourself. }}