'''Name:''' Sophire ‘Sophie’ Hosturn
'''Age:''' 43
'''Race:''' Human
'''Place of Origin:''' Old Rose Harbour
'''Occupation:''' Housewife

!!!Backstory

Sophire Hosturn, by all accounts, did not have a normal up bringing. Her childhood centred around a tavern in the backstreets of Old Rose Harbour; “The Lady’s Favour”. Known to the locals simply as “Lady’s”, it was famous for its friendly atmosphere and large drinks. It was also the girl’s home for nearly eight years of her life. Sophire’s mother died giving birth, leaving the newborn in the care of her (more than often) drunken father, Giorgio. Had his wife lived, she would have remained home and cared for the child while he worked the long hours required to meet the rent on their small home. Sophire needed a fulltime carer and her father simply could not fulfill that position. A proud and stubborn man, he refused to expose the newborn to the elements and instead would attempt to raise her the best he could for a man in his position. To do so, Giorgio had to leave her in the hands of his friends at “Lady’s”. While he worked, Sophie (known solely by the diminutive) was nursed by the tavern owner’s wife and by some sheer miracle survived infancy. Giorgio worked hard during the day to his keep his house and home, which he and Sophie returned to each night. But it was not from her father that she learned the majority of her life skills, it was from the frequenters and her nurse at “Lady’s”. It was there that she learned to read and write, her lopsided scrawl reflecting those of the drunken men who taught her. Although “Lady’s” was the closest she had to a ‘home’ and family, she waited excitedly for her father’s return at the end of each day. The only trouble was that Giorgio was not very good at staying sober. He would go through long periods of sobriety to nightly binges. It was a never ending cycle Sophie was forced to endure.

During one of her father’s drinking periods, the tavern claimed enough of his pay checks that he was unable to pay the rent on their house and therefore, they were evicted. It was the night of their eviction that Giorgio lost his life. He had gone straight to “Lady’s” with his daughter in tow. Sophie could only sit and watch as he drowned his sorrows in mug after mug of ale. It was only when he started talking of a revolution against the 'filthy golly bastards' ,who were apparently the cause of all his misfortune, did someone think it was time to cut him off and throw him out. Sophie, of course, had fallen asleep hours beforehand in a booth. She never saw her father leave the tavern and never saw him return. She was gently awoken to be told her father had been fished out of the harbour, face down. An impromptu wake followed in which she received many polite offers of a new home. Having already been in their care since her birth, she felt no need to bother these good people any longer and so, she left.

On the streets Sophie survived by petty theft and pick pocketing. Not surprisingly they were both skills learnt from patrons at “Lady’s”. She joined a group of street of children, roaming Old Rose, and together they formed a loose family. Sadly, it was not uncommon for their family to be one or even two less than the day before. Sophie came to accept that death and other manners of things were simply a common occurrence not to be fussed over.

At the age of ten she was fortunate enough to find work at a textile factory. Her small hands were perfect for the fiddly work. This, however, did not change her into a hard-working, honest woman. It was simply petty theft with a wage. Thread, bobbins and whole bolts of cloth were known to vanish under her watch. It was a year into her work at the factory that she stumbled across a boy named Gigori Hosturn. He was a skinny boy, sixteen years old, with blood on his fists and between his teeth. Lying at his feet was a burly stevedore who had certainly seen better days. Not only had his face been beaten in, it appeared that Gigori may have just bitten the stevedore.
Sophie was unphased, she had, after all, seen worse on the streets. So she made him lunch.

Soon she was bringing the underfed boy sandwiches everyday and together they would spend their breaks up on the factory roof, under the water tower. Any other girl would have put the length of Old Rose between herself and such a man as Gigori Hosturn but Sophie liked the way he frowned less when she was around. He seemed calmer and, as if to test this theory, she began calling him Grisha. He wasn’t bothered and five years later, the once close friends were married.

Her new husband took up a position in the Anaxi Navy, leaving her alone at home. He was clearly trying to do the honourable thing and support them both but Sophie was not prepared to sit by while Grisha worked himself stupid. She took to making liquor from home, just as she remembered from her childhood at “Lady’s”. The liquor was then sold off in homemade jugs. She had taken up pottery to pass the time while her husband was away. Sophie was never the sort of woman to stray and she happily awaited Grisha’s returns from sea.

In her late twenties, Grisha returned home with a small child. She was ready to a run a knife through the man (she had no intention of caring for his love child) but he explained that the child, Molly Scarlette, was the daughter of one of his shipmates who had found himself unable to care for the girl. Sophie had little idea of how to “properly” raise a child and especially on her own. Molly was a wild child but she did her best to tame her as she had done with her own bear of a husband. It was from her that Molly learned how to read and write and even fire a gun (“Lady’s” had a regular who thought it entertaining to play Darts with a pistol after several shots). She had no children of her own and so she came to think of the girl as her own daughter. It is this idea that gives reason to her grief when Molly left home at the age of 15. However, she could not worry about her foster daughter for long because Grisha was discharged from the Navy. Unable to support them comfortably, he was forced to take work in a machining and repair shop they ran under their home. Sophie had to put all her effort into comforting him and stopping him from tearing up his equipment in bouts of self-loathing rage.

Eight years later, Molly returned with the proposal of repairing and running an aeroship with Grisha’s help. As long as they didn’t make a mess, Sophie was fine with it.

!!!Personality

Sophie has seen a lot in her lifetime living in Old Rose Harbour. When she was living on the streets (as aforementioned), death and other manners of things (such as being press ganged or child labour) were not uncommon occurrences. It was necessary to simply accept these events as she began to understand that they were out of her control. She comes across as fearless and ‘unaffected’ by crime or violence. Truthfully, she wishes there was some way for her to be able to help on a bigger scale aside from leaving food or old clothing out for the needy. Sophie views life as a dog eat dog world and she will do whatever it takes to ensure her own survival and that of those she cares about. She is not past committing her own crimes and perhaps has fewer qualms with killing than her husband.

She can come across as gruff or even stern but anyone who has spent more than a few minutes with the woman can say that she is truly saint-like. Of course, you would have to be if you were married to Grigori Hosturn. Sophie is very patient with her husband and is the only person known to be able to calm him in his fits of rage. She is also able to reproach him without having her neck snapped as could be expected to happen to anyone else. Her relationship with Grisha is not one of passion but rather tenderness. She knows he works hard for her and so she does her very best to keep him happy.

Sophie is well aware of her influence on Grisha and enjoys the power that it brings. She has always felt that she has spent her life relying on others and so it is with happiness that she finds herself in control. She can be manipulative when she wants to do but feels that if she is going to use someone, it should be for something worthwhile.

!!!Physical Description

Sophie is a tall, slender woman bordering on underweight. Her hair is chestnut brown in colour but is greying in places, mainly around her ears. She has a heavy fringe which is either tucked back behind her ears or tied back with a headscarf. Sophie has a long face that usually bears a tender, almost concerned, expression. Her eyes are brown in colour. She does not have any piercings or tattoos and the largest amount of jewellery you can expect her to wear is two rings. Sophie is not showy and her appearance, if anything, is dull. She dresses in shades of brown with perhaps a splash of red or green, if she’s feeling daring. She is often seen in a patched, triangle point skirt with soft leather boots. She owns a small collection of shirts which all follow a trend of button up fronts and v-necks. They are always worn with the sleeves rolled up to remain practical. Sophie can also be seen wearing shawls, ponchos or gloves to chase out the cold.

!!!Inventory

Household:
*A small craftsmen style home in Old Rose Harbour, built around Grisha’s machine shop.
*Clothing, kept in a wardrobe.
*A collection of cutlery and other kitchen utensils. Useful for cooking and as weapons.
*A potter’s wheel and clay. An assortment of acquired tools are kept nearby.
*A chest containing sewing supplies.

Personal:
*A Bull’s-eye Lantern
*Two pens and an ink well
*A journal
*Three jugs of home brewed ale

!!!Skills

Housewife:
*Cooking
*Pretending to clean
*Calming and comforting husband
*Managing money
*Making and selling of homemade alcohol

Textile Factory
*Thievery of larger items
*Knowledge of the workings of simple mechanics and the worth of their parts
*Endurance and patience
*Sewing

Street Child
*Pick pocketing
*Lock picking
*Invisibility
*Simple thievery
*Knowledge of who will buy stolen goods and who sells goods cheap

!!!Goals

*Sophie wishes to make sure Grisha is happy (or less angry, whatever comes first) by supplying him with coffee and comforting him. This is a daily goal because he’s always angry.
*Although not a member of Molly’s aeroship crew, she wishes to do her bit to keep them all alive and preferably, in one piece.
*Find a suitable partner for her foster daughter, Molly.

Hi, love! Thanks for putting up your sheet! We mods will get back to you as soon as we can!

hi darl, nice sheet, a few things to consider:

The first paragraph runs together in one big lump. where you've hit return once, you might want to do it again to create some gaps between chunks. Its easier to read that way. less like one big sentence.

"he did not expose the child as would be expected of a man in his position," Don't quite understand this comment, if you could elaborate, that would be great. what position? a human? a drunk? do you mean expose as in tell everyone or expose as in, leave exposed to the elements to die?

"Not surprisingly," some odd comma placement. "Would have," not "would of."

housewife skills include "Pretending to clean" - we like that. it made the mods chuckle.

Now, this is part of the aeroship plot, but we have seen in the past, characters created to be part of an event, and when the event is done the character dies off...not to be played again. I am starting to see a lot of these characters pop up. As long as you intend to play this character though, thats okay, but commitment is needed.

Sorry for my delay in replying.
I have seperated the first paragraph and expanded on the exposure comment. I thought the meaning of the word was clear enough but I can see where you are coming from. Hopefully it is more understandable and reads well.



I understand your concerns regarding the plot and I have thought about it. I believe Sophie's personality is open enough for her to become involved in other events or threads and I will keep an eye out for ways to keep her in play C:

approved sophie. have fun!