Post by Lisette de Vallée Bleue on Apr 9, 2008 7:34:43 GMT -5
Player
[/u][/center]Alias: Shell
Gender: female
Character
[/u][/center]Name: Lisette Arianne de Vallée Bleue
Gender: Female
Age: 18
City: Corus
Status: Noble refugee from Tusaine
Personality
Lisette is a sprightly and active person, and not one who is content to sit and do nothing. She must always be doing something, whether it is bit of embroidery, visiting with friends, talking with her brother, or even doing chores. Inactivity drives her mad, causing her to be irritable with those around her, and often get in others’ ways in her usually vain attempts to occupy herself. At her most desperate moments she’ll offer to help her brother with any paperwork he might need done—a request usually refused.
Lisette’s views on marriage and the role of a wife coincide with the times. She’s fine with the fact the really won’t have any real power in her future household, and that she and her husband won’t exactly be equal. Not only does she knows it’s her duty to bear a male heir as soon as possible after marriage, but she’s also looking forward to it in a way. She likes the idea of raising a child, perhaps in a rather childish and unrealistic manner. Lisette hasn’t really considered all the hard parts of raising a child – the waking constantly in the middle of the night, the messes, the screaming, the tears, the obstinacy, the disciplining over and over again, etc. She views the whole thing as a happy, pleasant experience, and that everything will be all hunky-dory.
Part of her mindset of being lower than her husband is because Deniel’s always managed and taken care of all of their family’s affairs and hardly ever given her a part in it, so she seeks no part in administrating in her future husband’s lands and affairs. Lisette also finds that sort of thing dull, although she knows it’s terribly important. As long her husband let’s her do what she wants (within reason, of course), she feels that such an arrangement is not at all bad. It’s pretty much what she and her brother have between them.
Deniel and Lisette share an interesting relationship. They weren’t at all close until her friend, the Cavall’s daughter, was sent off to school and she had no one else to talk to or hang around with. It started off small and simple – one would ask the other how their day had fared, the other would answer and ask the question, and the conversation would just go on from their. After a while it became a sort of ritual beginning for every discussion between them. It’s also the way they resolve problems and disputes between them – if one asks the question, then usually it means that they’re ready to work things out.
Because it’s what Deniel needs and because it’s what he's strived for, he perceives Lisette as happy and carefree, though she's not exactly. She is happy and to some extent carefree, but she isn't completely clueless as to what is going on with the family finances - though she doesn't know the full extent of the debt and therefore isn't seriously troubled by it. The only issue she sees is that they really have no way to earn more money to pay off the ‘small’ debt.
Lisette has very mixed feelings about her parents. She is not very well acquainted with her mother because Lelia was often bedridden for weeks when she was younger, and is getting yet weaker as she has grown older. Lisette feels pity for her, and sadness that her father isn’t there to comfort and be with her mother. Had she known about how little her parents cared for each other, she might not wish for that. As it is, her mother will not stop going on and on about what the family has lost, about how wonderful her husband was (thus Lisette’s misconception), how horrible and terrible the Revolution was…Sitting with her is quite tiring for she never closes her mouth or stops complaining. Spending time with her is more of a chore and a duty than anything else.
As for Lisette’s father, she never knew him, nor does she even remember him. She’s sad that she never got the chance to have a father in her life, and that he probably died a very painful death (she’s doesn’t believe he survived the mob’s assault). Her views of him are quite warped though– her mother’s fanatical prattling and Deniel’s silence about his character and his insistence that he is still alive! aren’t really a good foundation to base her opinions about him on. So, in typical Vallée Bleue fashion, she simply avoids thinking about him at all, except when she absolutely must.
Lisette doesn’t remember the Revolution very clearly – only vague images of angry men and women, herself crying and screaming, and mostly just an overwhelming feeling of terror. She sometimes has disturbing nightmares about it, but not often. Originally, like her brother, she thought that the new Republic would fall soon and the whole thing would sort have blown over, and the surviving nobility would return to take their place as the presiding class and rulers. But as the years have gone by, that hope has dwindled and she now believes that she will probably spend her life in exile, never to return to her homeland. She and Deniel never discuss that fateful night when they fled for their lives, or pain during the year in hiding. Or really anything at all that has to do with the Revolution – it’s a topic they both avoid like the plague.
Lisette is a naturally affable and talkative person, always willing to make a new friend out of whoever is around. She’s quite easy-going in this respect, and tries hard not to be unkind to those of all stations. She is not usually sad or negative, and one will most often find her with a smile and a quick laugh to share. Strong curiosity and a like for adventure have led her into no end of trouble all her life. She and the Cavall’s daughter were always being caught in places where they shouldn’t be, or doing something they really ought not to be doing. These qualities have not left her as she has aged, but stayed with her quite strongly. The Palace, Corus itself, and the Royal Forest offer no end to indulging in these traits, and so she’s settling into court life quite well in that respect.
-Personality Flaw:
Despite a bright mind and quick wit, Lisette is quite a gullible and naïve creature, believing all sorts of things people tell her. This has caused quite a few laughs among the ladies and young men at Court, but she usually takes these jokes in her stride. She also gets overexcited quite easily – another cause for amusement among the youth at the Palace.
A common flaw among all the Vallée Bleue’s is simply avoiding difficult topics and conversations. If someone has a problem with the new row of trees planted by the new head gardener, then they don’t mention it. Even if someone wants to buy something that they really do need, but think that it’s far out of the question money-wise, then they don’t bring it up. They just suffer without it. Lisette is just as inflicted with this trait as everyone else.
Lisette tends not to think too deeply on things because she doesn’t want to be troubled with unsettling thoughts or moral dilemmas, and feels that her family has been through enough that she doesn’t need to go looking for more things for them to worry about. But even if she did think some things through, she would never discuss it with anyone because it might cause issues or difficulties.
Appearance
Lisette has light brown hair that is cut a couple inches past her shoulders. It's quite versatile, sometimes falling in single, swooping arcs that frame her face, or curls ranging from tight and at the tips to large and everywhere. She enjoys playing and experimenting with it, trying this new hairstyle or that one, or using these new combs or those new ribbons. She takes pains to take care of it and put it up just right before she goes out. She is not, however, devastated if it comes undone as long as it still looks reasonable well.
Her face hosts large hazel eyes which are set beneath carefully thinned and naturally arched brown eyebrows. Her nose is proportionate in size to her face and has a slight hook. Her cheekbones are high and her chin is a touch more angular than is commonly seen. Lisette's skin is olive-toned, and she keeps it soft and smooth, and mostly freckle free by applying various lotions. Despite her efforts, however, her nose and cheeks boast a light dusting of freckles.
She's of averge height but quite light weight, being five feet four inches tall and only weighing one-hundred and eighteen pounds. Her bust is of medium size and of average shoulder-width. Lisette is long-fingered, which is perfect for playing intruments. As per usual of the noblewomen of this era, Lisette has rarely ever done hard larbor (which wasn't very taxing in the few occasions she did) and therefore has no muscle to speak of. She's the very picture of the fragile, pretty, helpless maiden that knights rescue.
-Appearance Flaw:
Rather than being fashionably thin, Lisette comes off as looking starved. She's quite boney and angular. She knows that she's too skinny, but she can't bring herself to eat more than her mentally allotted small portions of food a drink. If Lisette eats more than what she thinks is enough, she feels sick as though she's gorged herself. This makes it difficult to break the habit.
Her right leg sports an ugly, twisted, and contorted scar - a souvenir from a childhood adventure that ended in a nasty fall and a broken leg. The Cavall's healer was able to set the leg straight so the break itself healed fine, but he could do little for the torn flesh. When she was younger it was something to boast about, but during her time at the convent she came to hate it and find it horrifying and scandelous. She now takes care to make sure her dresses are long enough to hide it.
History
A marriage made for gain rather than for love was what brought Alphonse and Lélia together, and thus by doing, made the eventual conception of their two children, Deniel and Lisette possible. Soon after the ‘joyous’ day, Lélia told her delighted husband that she was with child, and pleased him even more with the birth of a son. The line of succession was clear and secure with that birth. Several years later, she gave birth to a little girl – it just kept getting better. So many alliances, political advantages, and other assets could be bought with a marriage – he himself could attest to that. His own union with Lélia was proving quite fruitful indeed.
Six years apart, and separated by gender and position within the family, the two children knew very little of each other at first. As their mother was often bedridden and Deniel was whisked off to boarding school with other noble little boys before she was talking and walking, Lisette spent her first two years of life relatively alone. Nursemaids saw to her needs and such, but she had no playmates or who took any particular interest in her. When her brother was called back home at the start of the Revolution, she was suddenly the center of someone’s attention – a rather abrupt change, but one she basked in. It was of no concern to her that country and world outside their home was collapsing.
A year later, that all changed. The reality of the destruction of the established government came crashing down on the entire family when an incensed mob attacked the Vallée Bleue’s residence and forced the family to flee, on foot, to a neighboring estate with little provisions and wealth with which to sustain them. Unfortunately, Alphonse was seized by the mob during their escape and carried off somewhere, where it is assumed that they killed him. The remaining family members hid in Tusaine for a year and a half, hoping that things would right themselves and that they could return home. But it only became more dangerous and the rebels’ hold more firm.
Eventually, they were able to get safe passage to Tortall. The journey was relatively uneventful, and once in Tortall, they were offered residence with the nobility of Cavall. Infinitely grateful and too weary and heart sore for pride to be an issue, the Vallée Bleue’s accepted the generous offer.
It turned out that the Cavall’s had a little girl the same age as Lisette, which was a great blessing. The two swiftly grew close and became as sisters, doing everything together. When the time came, they even attended the same convent – a smaller one than the noted one in the City of the Gods, but a reputable place nonetheless. There Lisette spent a happy, carefree six years with Tortallan girls, learning their ways, styles, traditions, games, and other things. She genuinely loved the convent and her time there is one she ever looks back on with fondness.
Soon after her sixteenth birthday, she and the Cavall’s daughter returned to the Cavall’s estates. Her friend was almost immediately sent off to Corus with a guardian to spend time at Court and to find a husband. Suddenly bereft of her constant companion, Lisette, lacking a friend, sought to strengthen her relationship with her brother, and to some extent succeeded. She had known very little of him all her life, and the two years they shared almost exclusively together did much to close the rift time, position, and circumstances had made between them. It was during those two years that Lisette gained an inkling of understanding of the debt that they were in, though Deniel was extremely careful to hide the magnitude of it from her.
Recently, Deniel, their mother, and she have moved to Corus. It was greatly discussed and debated, the main points being that Court was where the prospects for a good husband were much higher. Another, less spoken of reason, was that other refugees had been massing there of late, and the Vallée Bleue’s had gained enough of their pride back to not wish to be burden to the Cavall’s anymore. So such is the reasoning behind their arrival at Court several weeks ago.
Family
Alphonse Xavier Julian Renee de Vallée Bleu
Father. Deceased.
Lélia Jana de Vallée Bleu
Mother. 44.
Deniel Alphonse Paol Xavier de Vallée Bleu
Older brother. 24.
