Vignette

“

The chamber's dimmed lamplight models a plain young woman, dressed in a wool serge gown of a mutish brown, prim even by Coerthan standards. There is, in the fine lines of her face, a plainness and regularity that could otherwise only be found on certain statuaries; with her rote half-smile, and the vacancy of her wide gaze, she looks, for all the world, like a sort of ivory figurine given the semblance of life. Her dark eyes are the source of any and all liveliness in her queer little face, and betray, if not trepidation, a certain ill-at-ease.

About

A young creature of some unremarkable appearance, most recognise Isolde by her father's name. Rousselot was a genius, goes the accepted opinion. No one knew exactly when it was that he took a turn from brilliance into madness. Was it that excavation at Xande’s tomb in Mor Dhona, twenty years ago? The dig site at the aetherochemical spill, where he unearthed a horrific, bloated chimeric specimen? Whatever it was, Eaulmont Rousselot went from a recognised leader in the Faculty of Aetherology into an embarrassment shunned by his peers. With his career and reputation in shreds, he vanished from public record around the time of the Dravanian colony’s abandonment, leaving nothing in his legacy but one young daughter.The child, it seemed, had been raised in obscurity; not one of his colleagues or confidantes had heard of the child before he had already vanished, leaving her in the care of her aunt.In Aldenard, she’s even less than that – a meticulous and restless young woman obsessed with aether and its workings, fuelled by purpose and a fervent desire to redeem her late father’s reputation. She presents herself as a travelling occultist, and an expert in arcanima, – never mind that, two moons hence, she was naught but a pencil-pusher running inventory in the byzantine bureaucracy of Labyrinthos.At twenty-and-two, with her proud nose, wide-set eyes and dark chestnut hair, she’s no elegant beauty. Those who knew her father say she already has that same look of his in her bright, brown eyes; that look that burns with the dark fire of obsession.

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Basics

name	Isolde Rousselot
gender	Female
age	Appears to be in her early twenties
birthplace	Sharlayan
current residence	Oldcross House, Ishgard
race	Hyur Midlander (half-Elezen ancestry)
occupation	Occultist, secretary, antiquarian
education	Sharlayan Studium Graduate, Certified Arcanist (Somanoutics Minor)
voice	Low and grave, with an arched accent. Jessica Brown Findlay as Lenore.

Word of advice: don't let a dimensional predator use you to know itself.

“

The woman hovering by the door turns in the half-dark, presenting a narrow form plucked from the illustrations on a book of etiquette, rendered in lines of sepia ink. She's as slight as a whisper, in her high-necked and starched blouse, an onyx brooch affixed to her throat, like a relic of some distant period of mourning. In profile, she's delicately beautiful, her nose bridge high and narrow, the curve of her brow descending gracefully to meet it. Her lips have a painted quality to them -- that is, not in that they look painted with rouge, but in the same manner a doll's might be painted: with a fine, sable brush and a glazed crimson tint.

Physical

height	5 fulms 2 ilms
weight	125 ponzes
build	Small, delicate limbs, shapely
hair	Dark chestnut
eyes	Brown
face	Heart-shaped, concerned expression
distinctive features	Heavy brows, prominent eyes, high nose bridge
clothing	Modest, frumpish

Likes

Rare and unusual books; ballroom dancing, particularly waltzes; tea; the arcane; melancholic tunes; muted colours; puff sleeves; flaky pastries

Dislikes

Nicknames; informality; traditionalism & orthodoxy; the Studium; the Sharlayan Forum; strong flavours; extroverts

Themes

Period pieces
Gothic horror
Renaissance alchemy
Liminal spaces
Arcane mysteries
Endless hallways
Soulsborne-inspired

Persona

sexuality	Bisexual (male preference)
positive traits	Meticulous, analytical and practical
negative traits	Fastidious, judgemental and standoffish
alignment	True Neutral
big three	♍︎ • ♊︎ • ♐︎
myers briggs	intj

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Dark knowings

inquisitors, witch-hunters,
Halonic zealots

The erstwhile activities of a certain theological society, once in favour with the ousted Orthodoxy, might strike some as curious. These arcane minds — once put to use against the Dravanian Horde, when any advantage was a good one — now sit idle, and restless. Whispers of dark rites and forbidden magic resound in the streets. It is only a matter of time before an inquisitor decides to look into it.

Three quarter notes

unexpected visitors

To a nostalgic melody warbling out of an orchestrion phonograph, a young woman waltzes, her taffeta skirt rustling as the music tilts and twirls her. Stepping into the scene of the enchantment, you're left feeling almost certain that there is an invisible dance partner guiding her through the steps.

Pale of cheek

aether-sensitives

A gifted individual might notice something strange about her; a young, hale, magically-gifted woman should surely be possessed of more natural aether than that. Spend a little more time with her, and you'll see her drifting off, pale of cheek, and cold to the touch. But the brightness in her eye is life-like enough; few have paid it any heed.

Old world heritage

Sharlayans and scholars

Does that name sound familiar? At home or away, you’ve probably heard of her infamous father’s downfall in Sharlayan's academic elite. Once a celebrated scholar, Eaulmont Rousselot ended his life exposed as a quack, but only after obfuscating his research to oblivion.

Collector

artifact-hunters, merchants,
and shopkeeps

At a rundown antiquities store, or a gleaner's den, a curious slip of a girl pays a visit. A creature of boundless curiosity, Isolde is a likely visitor to stores that might pique her interests on her travels. From souvenirs to artifacts to pastries, a wide range of goods might catch her eye. Can you help her?

Knowledge-seeker

for all archetypes

An early life ensconced in Sharlayan and an education at the Studium must count for something, as she's quite a gifted aetherologist. Her erstwhile studies revolved around the science of somanoutics — yet she only possesses an incomplete set of nouliths of her own. Her purported 'research' takes her all over, perhaps even across your path.