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[b]Name:[/b]Nicolette Beauchamp 

[b]Age[/b]: Mid twenties and you will get no more details than that

[b]Appearance:[/b]Very tall for a woman Nicolette strikes an imposing figure in her men’s garb which does little to hide the graceful curves of her body. She favors frock-coats and waist coats and thigh-high boots that cling to her impressive legs. She has straight mid-blond hair and lightly golden skin both of which she protects from the sun with a broad-brimmed hat. For all her vanity about her skin and hair there is one very obvious mar to her otherwise angelic features, an ugly brand on her left cheek in the shape of a crude P. 

[b]Crew Position:[/b] First Mate/Doctor

[b]Background:[/b][i] “I was a stupid, silly girl, but then I got better.”[/i]

The doted on youngest daughter of a French aristocrat who fancied himself a scholar and free thinker, Nicolette and her older sisters Raquel and Marie were all encouraged to read and develop their intellects. A widower, he constantly was charmed by their beauty and grace and adored their “little talks” in which they discussed all manner of things, from politics to science to philosophy and art. Raquel and Marie were less studious than Nicolette and soon turned to matters of feminine concern but Nicolette remained interested in all manner of things, especially the science of the body and medicines. She was fascinated by what she read about Vaccines, titillated by macabre tales of body theft and the break-through made by the bold scientists who participated in the illicit trade. Her father was charmed by her boldness and bought her all manner of books and tutors and she drank it all in, believing in her own intelligence and potential. That she could do whatever she dreamed because her Papa told her she could.
 
But she was sheltered, protected on their little estate tucked into a quaint corner of the country. Her father’s doting encouraged her and gave her an inflated sense of her own abilities. His delight in her spirit only inflamed her until one day she decided to take her own destiny into her hands. She slipped out of her rooms in the middle of the night dressed in the clothing she’d bought off of a groom’s son for the price of a few kisses and some coin. She cut her hair and with great boldness and spirit traveled to the nearest big city and joined the Navy as Private Nicolas Beauchamp, using her family name and wealth to secure an officer’s berth. 

To her credit she did surprisingly well, keeping her gender hidden long enough to get herself assigned as an assistant to one of the many medics in her unit. She learned everything she could and didn’t shy away from blood and bone and was even able to apply a few of the things she’d read about, which impressed her master. But her dream was foolish and it was only a matter of time before she was discovered. She was never sure what did her in, if someone had come upon her bathing, if her carefully controlled, affected voice had slipped, if her breast binding hadn’t been enough one day, it could have been any number of things. The end result was the same. She was discovered and the captain of her ship, a misogynist who took her deception personally let the crew take its affront out on her. Before they threw her ashore, battered and used, they took a branding iron to her face, marking her for what she was, a Whore (Putain). 

Somehow she made her way home, disillusioned and all but broken in spirit. She craved the golden safety of her family, to repair what had been done to body and spirit. But what she got there was not what she expected. Her father was mortified, embarrassed at her foolishness. Word had gotten around about her deception and she was turned out with nothing but her clothing on her back and a small sack of coins tossed to her with the command to never return. 

Stunned by this change, the last of her foolishness seemed to burn away in the heat of her anger. She lifted her chin, spat at her father’s feet and left, never to look back. Fortunately she had not used her time in the Navy badly and had gained enough skill with sword and scalpel to find her way onto ships of less repute eventually finding her way onto her current Berth, Dusk Skate where she earned her place as first mate and surgeon with hard work, iron will and not a drop of fanciful dreaming. After all, she got better.