Perfidious Albion: A Scientific Romance (Steampunk)

[Caliban]

Perfidious Albion is a steampunk RPG campaign -- a Scientific Romance for ladies and gentlemen of good breeding (ahem), set in the late 19th Century in a well-developed alternate-history setting in which a peaceful compromise (Ben Franklin's "Albany Plan") prevented the American Revolution, the British Empire is the world's dominant power, and steam-powered supercomputers perform econometric calculations in mere minutes!  (For those who really like trivia, there was an earlier point of divergence at the Putney Debates in 1648.)

For Perfidious Albion: A Scientific Romance, I recommend either GURPS Lite or FUDGE.  Even more, I recommend any good steampunk fiction, such as The Difference Engine, Girl Genius, The Two Georges, and so forth.

Some good references for steampunk, and for the Victorian period in general, are:
* What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist -- The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England by Daniel Pool (available for cheap on Amazon.com);
* An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn't, specifically the section on English Literature, which discusses obscure details of nineteenth-century British life (likewise available for cheap on Amazon);
* GURPS Steampunk by my old friend Bill Stoddard (available for cheap as a PDF at Warehouse23.com), hands-down the single best reference source for the period, whether realistic historical or steampunk.;
* Forgotten Futures: The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game by the brilliant Phil Masters (available for free as shareware, he asks that you make a donation to charity, God bless him!)
* Comme Il Faut, a supplement for Castle Falkenstein on daily life and manners in the 19th Century.

(For what it's worth, I did graduate work in English literature and specialized in both sf/fantasy and Victorian/industrial revolution fiction.)

I prefer "system" games, because the system helps answer questions like "How far can I jump?" and "How long will it take to fix the engine?"  I strongly believe in a good story rather than rolling dice, and I also believe in realism and balance. 

Above all, I want to make sure that people who are interested in the genre and/or the setting, and are not familiar with the system, to join and play and learn the system as we go along.

For more information about the game, or if you wish to join, please read the Players Wanted thread.   Please contact the Management of the game there and/or via PM for any questions about the setting, or for the Approval of Characters.

The following players are currently in this game:

Dramatis Personae:

Shihong as Edward "Dee" McReary

Doktor Sleepless as Captain Vargas, a Dreaded Sky Pirate

Miss Yomamaween as Miss Annabelle McFly, a Mechanic and Mechanical Engineer for Aerostats

Mr. DarkTide as a Mad Scientist

Miss BlueMary as Captain Charlotte Duncan, a Dashing Hussar

Mr. GrinningHound as J. P. Money, Business Tycoon

Miss Cay Lee as a Nobleman's Beautiful yet Headstrong Daughter

Miss Asmariamoon as Professor Rachel Masters, a "Clacker" -- an Educated Female and Action Girl

Miss Warm Fusion as Miss E. Cordelia Collingsworth, a Cartographic Archivist

Miss Indigo as Mrs. Helene Morrow, a Ravishing Widow

Kaeil as Davin Avery, a Desperate Soul

MHaji as Edison Von Tesla, a Sort-of-but-not-Quite Mad Scientist

Miss Priscilla -- in absentia now, but shall be joining the crew as time and circumstances permit.

Dalia

Please post character stats (optional), descriptions (recommended), and backgrounds/stories here.

Excerpted from a survey report by the Infinity Corporation:

PERFIDIOUS ALBION (BRITANNICA-8), 1877

CURRENT GLOBAL SITUATION:

A libertarian British Empire (including America) vs. the Holy Alliance (France, Spain, Austria, Russia) and Ottoman Caliphate.

DIVERGENCE POINTS:

1648: The Levellers win the Putney Debates to decide the new government after the English Civil War.
1765: Ben Franklin's "Albany Plan of Union" is accepted by the Whig government of Britain.

MAJOR CULTURES:

Western (multipolar), Chinese (empire), Islamic (empire).

GREAT POWERS:

British Empire (feudal technocracy, CR2), France (dictatorship, CR5), Spain (dictatorship, CR5), Austria (dictatorship, CR5), Russia (dictatorship, CR6), Prussia (dictatorship, CR4).

MINOR POWERS:

Ottoman Empire (dictatorship, CR5), Manchu Empire (dictatorship, CR5), Sweden (democracy, CR4), Japan (feudal technocracy, CR 5).

WORLDLINE DATA:

Technological Level: 5+2 (except TL5 weapons/armor)
Mana Level: low
Quantum: 7
Infinity Class: P1
Centrum Zone: YELLOW

KNOWN ADVENTURES:

A Series of Tubes
Can You Get Sound On That Thing?
First Contacts
Hearts of Steel
League of Extraordinary Ladies & Gentlemen
Sphereland

[NB: This post has been edited to resolve some ambiguities pointed out by WarmFusion in her post below.  Thanx, Ms. Fusion!]

[WarmFusion]

I'm quite interested in this, but have a few questions -- plays coy please be gentle...i'm new...

Are you looking for character descriptions in this thread, or just confirmation of interest?   Is there a template I should follow for a character, if that's the case?

I saw your other thread, where it looks like you're doing this within a system, and not in a PG-13 style. I am lounging about here in non-adult waiting in hope that I am approved, but would be interested in exploring this theme in either realm.  Can you clarify what your intention is?

My apologies for my confusion -- I am better intentioned than informed, it seems.

With gratitude,
wf

[Yomamaween]

Name: Annabelle McFly
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Job:  Mechanic/ Flying Machine Engineer

Strength: Good
Dexterity: Good
Intelligence: Great
Health: fair

Appearance:  good
Charisma: <fair
Constitution: Fair
Dexterity: Good
hit Points: fair
Intelligence" Great
Luck: fair
Magical Aptitude: <fair
Mass: Fair
Perception: great
Size: 5'5"
Speed: fair-good
status: level 0
strength: good
Wealth: <fair
willpower: great

“It’s probably gonna be about five pounds to fix this anywhere else”  She said, pulling her goggles to the top of her head as she pulled her body out of the engine of a Zeppelin parked at the southern dock.  She ruffled her hair as she contemplated the price she would give.  No doubt she was in demand….she was one of the best…but then again...she was a woman…she had to price competitively. “I’ll strike you a deal...three and a half pounds.”  She nodded, knowing the job would only leave her only a pound until her next job.  That sucked.

At least on that kind of money, she wouldn’t get so fat as to not fit into an engine.

Annabelle McFly, the one sore thumb in a line of business owners and doctors.  Good wives, better sons….Great Uncle Atticus McFly had even worked on creating a more efficient Zeppelin model, Great Aunt Andrea McFly was married into a fortune. 

Annabelle McFly was the family outcast who had shamed them all when she said she wanted to fix zeppelins.

Always a good student, she was right at the top of her classes in high school…keeping up with the boys in chemistry and sciences.  Her ‘art’ composed of designs of engines…not ballet scenes, and her best dancing?  How to wriggle around a firing piston without losing a limb.  She was a great daughter. 

Alfred McFly was the  father of only daughters…good daughters who were educated and made his wallet slim with their dowry’s,  Annabelle’s especially.  She was crass, drank in pubs, and always had a little smudge of engine grease lining her cheek.  Yes…a large dowry for his youngest daughter. 

At least she could do one female thing though, her flight suit had patches that would make the homeless envious of her style.  She could sew…and that was good, be it her smock, or her arm that needed stitching it. 

She could sometimes call home for help when money got tight, but her father was becoming reluctant to help her further.  The goal was to marry her off and make her subservient to a man’s world.

Subservient huh?  “I’ll take half today and half  when you pick it up”  She nodded, pulling out the money box she kept in her tool case.  She smiled as the rare notes came to her waiting, gloved hands, in exchange for a contract.  Her eyes were alive as the fountain pen scratched the precious signature over the parchment.  “thank you sir”

[WarmFusion]

I'm posting this profile, but intend on getting it into proper form as I do some reading on that...feel free to comment or offer suggestions about anything that should be clarified or revised.

E. Cordelia Collingsworth, 34, female

Cartographic archivist for the University library.    Responsible for preservation, conservation, authentication, storage and retrieval of the library collection of historical maps. She has the ancillary task of oversight of several private archival vaults, owned by benefactors of the library, as well.

Physical: Average of height, average build and average features. Her auburn hair is generally kept swept back and tacked in a bun at the nape of her neck, especially while working. Green eyes, wire rimmed glasses. Neither particularly athletic, nor feeble, she is certainly not nimble, being somewhat physically hindered by her vestments, common to the day.  As far as costume, she tends to eschew feminine styled garb with ruffles, lace, and full skirts, in favor of more tailored skirts, fitted vests, and close fitting sleeves that will not be loose and interfere with her work. There are far too many stairs, banisters, shelves, and drawers in the archives to get caught up on to be dragging such frivolous garments around.

Skills: Keen intellect, unusually well educated for a woman of the day by her father (who had been the head librarian for the University. Well respected by his peers, she was able to secure her position based on his reputation – hers is not a job traditionally held by a woman, and all of her coworkers and staff are male. She enjoys a level of professional respect not generally afforded a woman, owing to her skill.) Trained in the classics, adept with classical Latin and Greek which affords her some advantage in translation of historical academic documents, be they in Latin or one of the common romance languages.  Well versed in her job, she is able to validate provenance of maps and documents based on paper composition, ink and pen style.  She is oft called upon to authenticate valuable maps for appraisal and academic purposes.
 
Temperament: Even tempered, but reserved and even socially awkward expect towards the few who know her well. Analytical, much to her credit as to her fault.

[GrinningHound]

Why is my guy named J.P. Benjamin?  I never gave him a name.

[asmariamoon]

((Sorry it took so long for me to post this))
Professor Rachael Masters

Attributes: (7 Attribute Points spent)
Appearance: Fair
Charisma: Good
Constitution: Fair
Dexterity: Great
Hit Points: Fair
Intelligence: Great
Luck: Fair
Magical Aptitude: Fair
Mass: Mediocre
Perception: Good
Size: Good
Speed: Fair
Status: Good
Strength: Fair
Wealth: Fair
Willpower: Fair

Skills: (52 Skill Points spent)
Computer Operations: Good
Computer Programming: Fair
Electronics Operation-Computers: Good
Electronics Engineering-Computers: Fair
Mathematics: Good
Astronomy: Fair
Engineer-Clockwork: Fair
Engineer-Electrical Work: Mediocre
Mechanic-Clockwork and Small Gadgets: Good
Mechanic-Vehicle: Terrible
Missile Weapons/Pistol: Good
Research: Fair
Vehicle/Piloting-Glider: Good
Teaching: Great
Armoury-Handguns: Good
Scrounging: Fair
Navigation: Fair
Jumping: Fair

Equipment:
Glider Pack - A backpack of her own design, that has hang glider wings that fold out of it and allow her to glide.  There is space enough in the pack to carry her pistol and any other items she may want to carry.
Steam-Powered Pistol - Another invention of her own design, which uses small refillable cartridges of steam to propel the bullets.  A cartridge only holds enough steam for two shots, but she can carry up to six of them in a special compartment on the side of her glider pack.  Each cartridge is specially insulated to keep the heat in and the cold out, making them safe to touch with bare hands and keeping the steam hot so that it doesn't convert back into water.  The bullet magazine holds twelve bullets, and she usually carries at least three more magazines in her pack.

Backstory: Rachael has had a love for mechanical devices since she was a little girl.  Her father was a clockmaker, so over time, her knowledge of gears and how they all fit together grew to above-average levels.  After graduating from the newly-established Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, she took a job as a Professor in the same field.  Most specifically, she works with the towering computers on the campus, and teaches students how to operate and repair them.  Rachael also creates and repairs gadgets from spare parts.

Personality: Rachael is rather quiet when not teaching, though she is often very vocal when she is working on a machine, many times giving a full narrative to any onlookers.  She isn't very kind unless someone gives her reason to be (i.e. being kind to her).  She loves being around machines of any kind, and can fix almost anything, excluding vehicles, with which she has a long streak of bad luck, usually culminating in an explosion of some sort.

Looks: Rachael is skinny and tall, with pale skin, long, black hair, and amber brown eyes.  She often wears black dresses under her purple lab coat (The type of dress changes with her mood).  She is photosensitive, (her eyes can't handle bright lights) so she often wears her silver goggles with dark tinted lenses, especially when outside in the daytime.  She also wears her glider pack, which is a dull silver, almost everywhere.

((EDITED: Caliban suggested I pick a name less sci-fi and more Victorian.))

[Doktor Sleepless]

Just wanted to share my character's pirate flag; and use this as a place holder for my sheet.



He's a former Captain for Her Majesty; but he believes the military and the rest of the government are corrupt, so he set out to battle injustice, basically becoming an airship Robin Hood... but he still considers himself British, so he's kept the Union Jack as part of his flag.

Inspired by Abney Park's "Airship Pirate", and my own mad love for steampunk and airships. Thanks to Asmariamoon for suggestions.

EDIT: Here's the good Captain himself:

[Caliban]

Just wanted to share my character's pirate flag; and use this as a place holder for my sheet.

You get XP for that!

He's a former Captain for Her Majesty; but he believes the military and the rest of the government are corrupt, so he set out to battle injustice, basically becoming an airship Robin Hood... but he still considers himself British, so he's kept the Union Jack as part of his flag.

Please be advised that I have a tendency to make the British Empire of this timeline into a utopia, or at least into a Mary Suetopia.

With that in mind:  Would you consider being a privateer instead?  That way you could do deniable covert ops missions.

Hey, Haibane, I think we have our plotline!

EDIT: Here's the good Captain himself:

XP for that as well.

[Doktor Sleepless]

Awesome, XPs for graphic design!!! Could it be that the British Empire is an utopia, but there's a secret military cabal inside of it trying to corrupt it? And that's what he fights against?

[Caliban]

Awesome, XPs for graphic design!!!

I give XP for anything which helps the story.  Remember, it was Gilbert and Sullivan -- the Monty Python of the 19th Century -- who talked about "corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative."  And, yes, I am awesome.

Could it be that the British Empire is an utopia, but there's a secret military cabal inside of it trying to corrupt it? And that's what he fights against?

Anything's possible (at least if you subscribe to the Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics), and the question is why he would be outside the military rather than within it.

I still recommend the idea of him being a privateer with a letter of marque from H. M. government.  That's very appropriate for a libertarian society, btw.

"Man, licensed to hunt gophers -- by the government -- of the United Nations."  -----Carl Spackler, Caddyshack

[Doktor Sleepless]

*sigh* If you want me to be a privateer, okay. I wanted him to be an outcast from British society, to have him renounce his prestige among his peers to defend his country's honor...

[The Dark Raven]

Ah ideas...

[Doktor Sleepless]

Do join us, Daylily!

[The Dark Raven]

Working on Lu's stuff now

[Doktor Sleepless]

Awesome. I has pilot.

[The Dark Raven]

Pic of Luci...[sheet in progress]

[Crovonovin]

Woah!  I -totally- did not even notice this thread was here!  Didn't see a link posted in the interest check thread!  Sorry for the delay!  I'll add my sheet as soon as possible!

[Crovonovin]

<A Work in Progress>

Name: Edward "Dee" McReary
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Job: Officially Unemployed
Speciality:  Robotics and Metalworking



Attributes:

Appearance: Great
Charisma: Terrible
Intelligence: Great
Dexterity: Superb
Hit Points: Poor
Luck: Superb
Magical Aptitude: Terrible
Perception: Poor
Size: Good
Speed: Superb
Status: Terrible
Wealth: Terrible

Skills:

Engineer (Clockwork): Superb
Engineer-Electrical Work: Superb
Mechanic-Clockwork and Small Gadgets: Superb
Scrounging: Superb

Gifts:

Perfect Timing
Ambidextrous
Accepting of the Abnormal
Survivalist

Faults:

Absent-Minded
Poor Hygiene
Curious
Coward
Gullible
Obsession
Relates more to Inanimate Objects / Machines

Description and Personality

Edward McReary epitomizes the term 'recluse', hiding away from both high and low society in favor of his loner lifestyle.  He is a penniless wanderer of his own volition, an eccentric who travels from city to city in search of useful scrap metal and other doodads.  He is known to remain in any one location for up to three years at most, and a few weeks at least, depending on the availability of salvageable parts.  Once he has found a suitable and abandoned location, he retrofits it into a makeshift workshop for piecing together his so-called 'art'.

To Dee, engineering is not a science.  Everything he knows has been self-taught, from books or from experience.  He is deceptively intelligent despite his somewhat crude manner of speaking, though he is entirely unaware of more advanced engineering techniques.  Despite this, the mechanisms he creates are often superior functionally to that of university-learned engineers, if not quite as streamlined aesthetically.  His methods are highly irregular bizarre, and often devolve into attaching bits and pieces together at random.  Oddly enough, they always seem to work in some way or another, perhaps in a fashion that he never intended in the first place.

When out and about, Edward is generally followed about by his clockwork constructs.  They range from fluttering little things no larger than a hummingbird, to spindly terrors about the size of a large dog.  He is quite peaceful by nature, and mostly uses them as a deterrent for violence or for carrying around any junk that doesn't quite fit into the basket strapped to his shoulders. 

[Kaeil]

Davin Avery age 28


Objective creation - 24 points
Attributes: 15-6=9
Appearance: Great 2
Charisma: Great 2
Constitution: Good 1
Dexterity: Great 2
Hit Points: Fair
Intelligence: Fair
Luck: Great 2
Magical Aptitude: Terrible +3
Mass: Good 1
Perception: Great 2
Size: Good 1
Speed: Fair
Status: Mediocre +1
Strength: Good 1
Wealth: Poor +2
Willpower: Good 1

Skills: (11*3 = 33 Skill Points spent)
Knowledge-Engineer-Engine: Good 1
Knowledge-Engineer-Mechanical: Good 1
Knowledge-Nature: Good 1
Knowledge-Music: Superb 4
Knowledge-Physics: Good 1
First Aid: Good 1
Repair-Engines: Good 1
Repair-Mechanical: Fair 0
Repair-Guns: Good 1
Music Composition: Great 2
Pistol use: Superb 4
Rifle use: Great 2
Unarmed fighting: Great 2
Singing voice: Superb 4
Dance: Superb 4
Running: Good 1
Jumping: Good 1
Outdoor Survival: Great 2

Gift 4
Danger Sense
Quick reflexes

Fault +2
Owes favors

Equipment:
Smith and Wesson revolver
Winchester rifle
Satchel with Note books, music collections, writing materials.
2 boxes of ammunition one for each gun
Ancillary personal effects.

Backstory: Davin was born in Rhode Island as a poor butchers son. A family of 7 with many siblings, 2 more died at birth. His mother Emily and father Thomas had arrived from Ireland 30 years ago in hopes of finding a more suitable life to bring up their family and escape religious persecution in their former township. Though the did manage the trip and survived the dangerous voyage, it was not without cost and his mother is chronically suffering arthritis and unable to do much around the home. Davin being firstborn was expected to help around the household much earlier than a normal child would, and because of this, had to take dangerous work just to find a man who would deal with his less than stellar abilities. Though he did manage to learn what he could and eventually through hardships become a reasonable laborer.

His desire to do better in his teens put him into touch with more questionable work in the seaport and soon he was involved with smuggling organizations. His work there taught him about using guns, and dealing with guard duty. To past the time, he would sing and hone his voice in the middle of the night suffering through the boredom. Though his job required little that would be seen as illegal, his associations put him on the watch list of the authorities.

In his early 20's Davin was tasked with escorting certain deliveries that would make their way up to Providence and other areas around the state. It was one such purported delivery that was a sever effort that Davin was to be paid with a newly made handgun by the Smith and Wesson company up in Massachusetts. The delivery was a very illicit one. And not only that, but the contact was a officer of the British empire tasked with halting drug shipments in North America. Davin fought for his life, and just managed to escape being captured. He traveled back to his boss, and was told he wouldn't be paid for his efforts, and sent him away. Later that night, Davin broke in and took what was rightfully his.

The next few years were intermixed with doing odd job, some work here and there at factories, and eventually pulling enough favors to be given a job as a bodyguard for a local politician in Boston. His work was seemingly dull and pointless, but the money was enough for him to live on and send a little back to his family to help them survive. Because of his involvement with Boston politics, he gained a much better standing and more money, but the majority of that went to his family to help them since he couldn't.

Not long ago, Davin was able to take time away from his various jobs and return home to see his family. When he arrived he faced a ruined home that had been vacant for years, When he asked neighbors, they couldn't say, but remember a long time ago, about the same time that Davin rebelled against his employers, that the family moved out in the middle of the night without so much as a word. The authorities came to inspect the place, and determined that there was foul play involved and that likely the criminal organization that Davin was involved with had killed them for some unknown reason.

Davin left his home and went back to Boston. He was distraught and needed to escape his life. The military wouldn't take him at his age and with his edited upbringing, so he hired on as a hand in a privateering group. Anyplace but here was all he could think of.

Personality: Davin is a simple man, not one for unnecessary complications, but he does indulge in the art of living quite easily now. Much more so than the man he used to be before he found out about the loss of his family. His past experiences had taught him a good deal about culture, but he cared little for that save the music and song he was able to experience as a servant of the Boston political scene. Though he can be outgoing, he is mainly solitary with his time when its afforded to him.

Looks: Davin is a tall man at just over 6 foot with a good build from the manual work he has had to do all his life. Though he bares few scars well known to laborers, he has not passed to this age with out a few hidden under his clothing. He has a couple sets of clothes when the situation arises, but mainly he wears a well designed leather jacket, and durable dark colored cotton garments that protect him and when necessary hide his pistol.

[Indigo]

Name: Helene Morrow
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Status: Widowed
Job: Photographer/Researcher/Author 

-ATTRIBUTES- (13)
Appearance: - Good  (1)   
Charisma: - Good (1)
Constitution: - Good (1)
Dexterity: - Good (1)
Hit Points: - Fair
Intelligence: - Great (2)   
Luck: - Good (1)
Magical Aptitude: - Fair
Mass: - Fair
Perception: - Great (2)
Size: - Fair
Speed: - Fair
Status: - Good (1)
Strength: - Good (1)
Wealth: - Good (1)
Willpower: - Good (1)
(Total Attribute points used: 13)

Items of import:
   Camera and equipment
   Writing tools
   Rifle

-SKILLS- 33
Mental
   Research: - Good (3)
   Cartography (map reading/drawing): - Fair (2)
   Writing: - Great (4)

Aptitudes
   Photography:- Great(4)
   First Aid: - Fair (2)

Physical
   Rifle: - Fair (2)
   
Knowledge/Language (other then English)
   Spanish: - Fair (2)
   Regional Lore: - Good (3)
   Cultural Lore: - Good (3)

Social
   Influence: - Fair (2)
   Diplomacy: - Good (3)
   Savvy: - Good (3)

TOTAL skill points used: 33


Published works: 'Willard Morrow: Final Word' - 'The Western Americas' - 'Dance, Aboriginal' - 'The Twilight Tropic' - currently starting work on fifth book, 'The Great Scope; Scenes from an Airship'.  She is always seeking interesting subject matter.

Story:  Born and raised by an artistic mother from South America and a diplomat father from Boston, Massachusetts, Helene grew up traveling, much exposed to various cultures and politics.  Helene pursued her studies both close to home and abroad, interested in learning more of the world's people.  After schooling, she turned to her photography and writing in order to document her experiences. Conscious of  exotic disease and the possible dangers of traveling to remote areas, Helene picked up a fair skill at first aid and general health upkeep, along with learning how to handle a rifle.

She was married eight months to Willard Morrow -a journalist- at the age of twenty one.  He was killed while covering events on a 'dissident skirmish', as the authorities coined it.    Helene was stunned, as she had been genuinely fond of her husband, but she surprised her family by stating that "Willard would have consider it cowardly to use his death as an excuse to retreat from life. I have decided to honor him by finishing what he began."  Within days, she was in the same region where he had died, photographing the last events of the 'skirmish'.  She had his unfinished notes on the events published, along with her photographs, under his and her names, to honor his final words.  The work earned her praise from some, while others blasted her for coldly taking advantage of the unfortunate situation.  She used the brief fame, both good and bad, to seize upon opportunities where she could put her skills to work, and has been on the go ever since.

Personality: She can be stubborn, disliking to admit when she is wrong.  Also a bit of a risk taker, fiery debater.  She's focused and curt when concentrating on her work. Helene though is also perceptive, sociable, and friendly, quick to adapt to new situations and cultures.

Appearance: A bit above average in height, average weight, good features. Dark brown hair and eyes, lightly tanned skin.  She is always properly groomed, with a sharp sense of the fashions of the day and region.  She is comfortable in both fancy and rugged wear.