"Well, I was trying to get you out of that smelly coat and into something more comfortable, but I guess you had better plans" -Elizabeth, talking to Edward
Elizabeth Dubois is part of the Theatre Royal, the biggest Opera house in Botford.
When she isn't belting out the highest notes and putting on shows that sell out all the seats, she spends her time being the arms dealer in the Botford area.
Currently, her most loyal customers are The Ravens, she provides weapons and armor to them in exchange for having her problems dealt with.
Appearance
She is a beautiful young woman in her mid 20's with black hair that she dyes regularly to fit into her role. Her eyes are green.
Despite being from a noble family, she chooses to dress, as she puts it, "comfortably". Forgoing the corset she usually wears during her Opera plays and instead wearing a black leather vest over top of a white dress shirt, finishing her outfit with black riding trousers and sleek riding boots.
Background
Born to a family of Opera singers, Elizabeth would spend her days in the courtyard practicing her plays.
She had an ordinary childhood, as ordinary as a noble can get, at least.
Dinner with the royals, professional portraits, silk bedsheets and whalebone corsets, all she ever asked for was provided to her on a golden dish.
Becoming an arms dealer
One day during a regular practice, she noticed she had ripped a part of her dress.
Going out under the moonlight, as the practice had taken the entire day, she stepped into her carriage, telling her chauffeur to bring her to a tailor.
The chauffeur, visibly confused, informed her that no tailor would be working at this time.
Drawing inspiration from the play she was was practicing that day, "Plight of the Ravens", she asked the chauffeur if he knew of any other tailors, ones that preferred working under the cover of night.
The chauffeur gave her a small nod, and clicked his tongue to get the horses to start moving.
Pulling up to a seemingly small house, the driver told Elizabeth that they arrived at his tailor.
Getting down from the carriage, Elizabeth turned to thank the chauffeur, but stopped when she noticed that he was also getting down.
"Miss Elizabeth, this tailor isn't keen on nobles, allow me to enter first, and I'll call for you when it's okay to enter."
Elizabeth gave an understanding nod, and let the man enter before her.
While waiting, she noticed a tall figure in her periphery, turning to look, she saw a man dressed in black wearing a plague doctor mask, making his way towards the tailor's shop.
Intrigued, she followed the man inside, the chauffeur noticed her intrusion and started hastily walking over to her.
She noticed the tailor staring at her with a very angry look on his face.
"Miss Elizabeth, I'm still talking to the tailor about your situation, please wait outside."
"I just want to talk to him" said Elizabeth, looking at the tall man in black.
"Fine, please let me finish talking to the tailor, and we'll get going"
"Of course" she said, with a smug smile.
Making her way over to the tall man, she tapped on his shoulder.
"Interesting to see a plague doctor here, I thought your robes were made by the church, not a back alley tailor"
The man turned around, allowing Elizabeth to get a closer look at the mask he was wearing.
She noticed that the man wasn't wearing a plague doctor mask, but instead a mask fashioned to look like a Raven's beak, with port holes, gold accents, and circular lenses for the eyes.
"Greetings, my name is Edward."
Edward extends his hand towards Elizabeth, the candle light shining through his lenses.
Elizabeth shakes his hand.
"I'm assuming you're here to get that nasty rip looked at? No noble would be caught dead with a dress in that condition."
"Exactly, but the tailor is being... unhelpful."
"Let me talk to him" said Edward, making his way over to the Tailor's bench.
"Richard, this is Elizabeth, a good friend of mine from the opera house, she just had a terrible day of rehearsals and would like her dress fixed as quickly as possible, I figure you could take a look and fix it in but a mere moment."
[ PERSUASION: PASSED ]
The tailor, Richard, looks over at Elizabeth.
"Ah I can't just let a good dress go in that condition. Fine Miss, I'll take a look." He motions towards a door to his left.
"Please go in and take a seat, I have some clothes you can switch into while you wait for me to fix it."
"Much appreciated Richard." said Edward, with a very smug tone.
"Don't push yer luck, Ed."
Elizabeth, now in the dressing room, switches over to the plain white robe the tailor had, leaving her ripped dress on the upholstery.
Hearing a knock on the door, she says "Come on in"
Richard enters in with some spare cloth and sewing supplies, ready to asses the damage and fix it.
Richard places the dress on a mannequin and gets to work, as Elizabeth sits by and watches him.
"So Miss, how long have you known Edward? Seemed like pretty close friends."
"Oh we go way back" says Elizabeth, waving her hand in the air as if to brush off the question.
"Really? How far back? I don't recall seeing Edward at any opera houses, and I've known him since I opened the shop!"
"Well..." said Elizabeth, trying to come up with a reasonable story.
Taking a shot at the dark, and making the correct assumptions, Elizabeth weaved a story of providing Edward with funds and tools for his "work".
[ CHARISMA AND INTUITION CHECK: PASSED ]
"Well I'll be." said Richard, seemingly impressed.
"That's quite the story Miss, not something I'd ever expect of a noble.. well, at least not one of your stature."
"Well, I had to stop after I was accepted into the Opera House, can't exactly fit arms dealing into my schedule."
For a moment, the cogs in Richard's head begin to move.
Though his hands expertly repair the damage to the dress, with the finesse and speed of someone that knows their stuff, his mind seems locked somewhere else.
"You know Miss, I actually need some... merchandise moved." He says, still with his eyes locked on the dress, his hands effortlessly moving down the rip as he mends it.
"Really? What type of merchandise?"
"Some special armor, a couple weapons, nothing too difficult for someone with experience."
Elizabeth ponders for a moment, could she really handle actual, illicit trade? Making up stories about it sure is easy, but knowing what goes into it is a different beast.
"Well." Elizabeth thinks to herself, "Father always said to try everything at least once".
"Of course, tell Connor about this and load them up in the back of the cart." Connor being her chauffeur.
"I always take payment up front, your cut is thirty percent."
"Deal."
With her dress repaired, she bids farewell to Richard, and heads outside, thanking Edward with a slight bow on her way.
"Always a pleasure."
Outside, Connor seems to be pacing back and forth next to the carriage.
"Miss, what if your father finds out?"
"There are worse things father could learn. Let's go"
Relationship with The Ravens
After her chance meeting with Edward and becoming an Arms dealer, she slowly chatted Edward up whenever she'd see him at Richard's tailor shop, asking if she could get him any special weaponry or armor.
Over some tea, they figured out a business plan to supply The Ravens with tools, ever since, Elizabeth has been the sole provider of equipment for The Ravens.
She designs special outfits for each new Raven, bringing the designs to Richard so he can sew it.
Trivia
- She seems to have some sort of... tension with Edward.