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Nanette Courant

The quill is mightier than the sword, but both pale in comparison to the brush.

Social Rank: 7
Concept: Eccentric Scholar & Artist
Fealty: Thrax
Family: Tyde
Gender: female
Marital Status: married
Age: 24
Birthday: 1/3
Religion: Pantheon
Vocation: Painter
Height: average height
Hair Color: champagne
Eye Color: jade green
Skintone: beige

Description: A champagne head of straight hair comes to a point at the nape of Nanette's neck - feathersoft to the touch, the strands are fine and there's always a few stubborn fly-aways that shift in the breeze or with the slightest movement of the woman's head, giving her an almost ethereal, weightless look. She takes great care of the fringe that hangs like a thick-bristled brush across her forehead, casting shadows over her eyes and adding a youthful flair to the otherwise severe manner in which she carries and portrays herself.

While her fawn-beige complexion is unblemished, Nanette does have prominent under-eye-circles, though only a small trace of them remain after she's applied a light touch of make-up. Her doll-like eyelashes are as black as crow feathers, framing her intense green gaze which is usually focused and agile when the woman is working, darting over her work be it at the easel or the desk; but when she meets the eyes of another there is a certain unwavering intensity and raw emotion that can be quite arresting - like a pair of jade whirlpools, they hold the gaze of the other person and dares them to blink or to look away first.

Nanette often leaves a crisp, fresh smell in her wake, like the cold sharpness of an Autumn morning - the woman bathes often and enjoys both soaps and good perfume. However, the heady trace of oil paints never fully leaves her.

Personality: In many ways, Nanette is much like the portraits that she paints - on one hand, she is the finished product, a quiet beauty to be admired by others. On the other hand, she's the fiery, passionate and messy stages in between not-started and complete.

There's the Scholar, the highly educated and ever-hungry mind of a near-perfect Thraxian woman. She is pragmatic woman who works tirelessly to fill her mind with knowledge to the point of near-obsession, though she would call herself focused. There is a quiet intensity about her at all times, like she's in a permanent state of holding something back.

This would be the Artist. A woman of many passions and an unrelenting lust for life. Hedonistic and always on a quest for more. When let out, Nanette is prone to bursts of Artist's Fury, yet just as prone to flashing a toothy, youthful smile that takes over her whole face, complete with crinkled nose, pinched-shut eyes and raised cheeks. And she's the woman to whom, on her quest to get to know somebody fully, nothing is too immoral or off-limits. She will find the buttons she needs to push to see true despair, violent anger, unadulterated passion - and she will push them.

While these two sides are deliberately kept separate, they are certainly not mutually exclusive, and Nanette's best work often comes when the two sides work in harmony.

Background: Nanette always knew that she was the bastard child of her mother, Sylvia Courant, and some Lord or another from the Mourning Isles. Her mother travelled often, selling her services as an adequate painter of portraits, landscapes and animals like, with a preference for working with nobility. During one such commission, to her the woman tell it, a married Lord fell for her and in a careless moment of passion, they conceived a child.

The Lord and Sylvia - the latter being sworn to Tyde - never got a chance to figure out what to do about the child they'd created, as the Rebellion came a short year after Nanette's birth and threw the young single mother's life into utter turmoil. As Thrax's navies approached Tyde Hall, Sylvia fled with her daughter.

Sylvia was not a gentle mother. Raising Nanette alone, the painter attempted at every turn to work her daughter into the model of a Thraxian woman - reserved, demure, aware and accepting of her role in a world run by men. She only grew more callous and impatient as the years passed by, reprimanding the wayward child with words and cane alike. It was a constant, uphill battle, though mother and daughter did find a common interest in art - to an extent.

Nanette had an eye for painting from a very young age, but whenever her mother tried to refine that talent, the young girl gravitated towards more morbid, less commercially viable subjects. A dead bird here, a few withering flowers there, a scarred old sailor over a wealthy noblewoman. This was not to say that her mother forced the trade on her daughter, far from it, Nanette took to it like a fish to water and adored every second that she had a brush in her hand - she simply didn't have the same tastes as Sylvia, who saw painting as a trade by which to make a living. There was little money to be made from sketches of carrion.

Years went by, with Sylvia intending for Nanette to continue her trade - no more, no less - when her own eyes faded and her hands lost their grace. As luck would have it, however, another path called the young artist. With House Tyde formally reestablished and Tydehall University opening a few years later, a new direction opened itself to her. It took some convincing - there was arguing, shouting, tears - but eventually even the bitter old woman could see the merit of her daughter broadening her skills. Experience, worldly knowledge and a foot in the door in many subjects only helped make art blossom after all, and the connections she'd make should ingratiate her in the right circles; the ones who would pay good silver for good work.

For a time, it seemed like Nanette's future had been firmly established - she'd study at the university and leave as an educated commoner with the knowledge and means to live out her days in moderate comfort. However, her path saw fit to twist yet again. Halfway through her education at the university, on her twenty-first birthday, Nanette was sought out by a servant who claimed to have worked for her father. The retainer had come to make good on a promise they made to the man long ago. A promise to give Nanette an old family heirloom, a signet ring, along with one of the last journal's he penned before his death - a journal proving her lineage and bloodline, and serving as a will wishing her legitimised as his child.

Nanette had only just started to feel comfortable being a student, a scholar and an independent artist, but now the rug had been pulled from under her feet and she was expected to be so much more. The old servant, intent on making good on their promise, started to drill Nanette hard - teaching her the way of being not just a Thraxian woman, but a Thraxian Lady, while encouraging her strongly to finish her work at the university with more than just passing grades. It worked. Nanette graduated with distinction a few years later, and with her now-retainer's help, she managed to coax the University into sending Duchess Tyde a strong letter of recommendation.

Now, Nanette has come to Arx in hopes of doing a good job as both a subject of House Tyde and a budding artist in the Capital, while simultaneously getting to know her father's side of the family. So far, she's kept his identity secret, having yet to declare herself as anything more than Mistress Nanette Courant. She knows it's not a secret she can hide for long, but until it is made public she's chosen to simply go with the flow.

Relationship Summary


Acquaintance:
  • Rodica - Everything she has and does is highly inappropriate. It's disconcerting, but I find myself curious about her.
  • Dycard - If he didn't have the name to prove it, I would not have believed that he was nobility. A passionate whelp whose brain struggles to catch up to his actions.
  • Poppy - A woman who shines bright. I hope nobody succeeds in their attempts to change her.

  • Family:
  • Sylvia Courant - Mother. You have never been kind, but it is clear that you only want the best for me.

  • Rival:
  • Samira - A friendly rival. She's a wonderful woman who I find myself agreeing with more often than not.
  • Name Summary
    Corrigan Reserved, austere, visibly bites down on her cheek when trying not to laugh. It's distinctly possible that there's an interesting person beneath the surface.
    Dycard Curiosity kills some cats, but those that survive it probably know a great many fascinating things. The woman is keen to probe and seems to only hold back from full-on interrogation out of propriety, asking her questions with a very carefully controlled blend of delicacy and directness.
    Esme She's very proper. I think that's most wonderful. I teether across both and I fear she met me in my more Lycene form. However, I am sure that we are going to meet up and be great friends.
    Ian That might have been the woman who fainted when Prince Luca fought a Champions duel naked.
    Jules You think she's an artist, either that or maybe a dealer ... but you think an artist. She seems a nice enough sort and interested in people. She seems as though she'll do well in Arx.
    Lucene An artist whose main theme revolves around death. I can see how people like me will grow into appreciating her artwork in the future. She's also quite curious, which should be a good trait for an artist.
    Martino Certainly very Thraxian and very Tyde. There is that icy chill, that reminder that they are the people of salt and sea. When past that, though, you have someone who is shrewd, clever and cautious
    Petal She seems very intelligent and very helpful. She is probably clever and quick thinking.
    Poppy While I doubt I will enjoy her art, I like that she stands firm in her opinions and won't paint sugar coated versions to please everyone. For that, I am glad we've crossed paths.
    Porter This was fun! I'll be waiting to see the foul temper, however. It doesn't even need to result in a bar fight! Maybe one of these days I'll see someone else annoy her, since I evaded the mark.
    Ras Artist, lawyer. She'll probably be like Blessed Brigida when she gets that old. For now, might be she gets scared a little, but she doesn't back down. Not a bad person to have in your corner, even if she ain't there for you.
    Rosalind She comes off as a bit--stern? A traditionalist? But I saw something. She maybe a bit warmer under all exterior that doesn't smile! I'll have to get her alone one day and talk to her, I think there's more to her! She's really interesting!
    Samira A fellow artist and a Scholar who is in the process of setting up a gallery in the city. She possesses a quick wit and a fair amount of sarcasm. Time will tell if we are destined to become friends or rival - or perhaps a little of both? I look forward to seeing how things unfolds between us.
    Tatienne A woman who clearly does not understand the value of freedom, a soul at risk of being lost to the abyss; if it isn't already. I can only pray that she can see wisdom one day.
    Thea She has a passion for paintings. I think I may be going to her for a commission or two. Hopefully she's got a sense of humor!
    Valdemar At first glance, every inch the proper Islander woman. Pleasant and polite, but some sign of a temper beneath the surface.
    Vanora Tydehall's new archivist, she is charming in conversation, and knows how to be amusing and yet polite at the same time.
    Zoey She seems to be at least two moves ahead, which will work in her favor as long as she correctly assesses her opponent. She seems pretty good at those assessments too.