Evelyn Miriam Grey "Persephone"
Female | 32 | 5'5 | 130lbs
April 28th, 1886 - Cornwall, England | British
Profile
Appearance:
Evelyn is the epitome of a proper lady. Slender in build, she moves with purposeful grace, evidence of her youthful years as a child spent in private etiquette lessons. Some would think her fragile, or perhaps dainty, and while she appears that way too most, underneath the veneer of perfect manners, and a soft spoken voice, Evelyn is quite capable of defending herself.
Brilliant copper hair falls over her shoulders, and ends in the midst of her back. Naturally, it is wavy, but she often fixes her hair loosely. Dark lashes draw attention to a set of jade colored eyes, which are rather large in size, and give the impression of youth, even though she is merging into her thirties. Both traits she attributes to her mother's Irish lineage. A long, thin nose with a slender bridge commands the center of her face, while her lips are small and plump. She has high cheek-bones, a trait she inherits from her father's noble heritage. Her face, were it to have a shape, is square in nature, and evenly proportioned.
When it comes to the matter of her clothing, Evelyn prefers the ever-growing popular, loose fitted dresses, or button-up blouses paired with mid-calf skirts. Typically, save for the winter time, she sports a pair of t-strapped mary jane heels, and in the winter, forgoes them for a pair of mid-ankle boots.
She avoids makeup when necessary, the exception being formal occasions.
Personality:
Despite her reserved attitude, Evelyn has a magnetic aura, or some would say, even though she is naturally shy, others in a crowded room often approach her. She has a gentle look in her eyes, and an easy-going smile, a necessary attribute when it comes to searching for answers in well-placed questions. She has never been known to shout, save for those that worked alongside her as a nurse early-on in the Great War.
Most folk would notice Evelyn's fascination with literature, especially with the writers of the Enlightenment era and before, such as John Locke or Voltaire. She herself has taken up the habit of keeping a journal, most of which is written in a mysterious form of poetry, one that makes no sense to prying eyes, save for Evelyn when she reads it.
This walks hand-in-hand with her open-mindedness, as she has a unique mindset, one reminiscent that echoes the era of Romanticism, but one that is also reminiscent of philosophy.
Background:
Born into aristocracy, Evelyn Miriam Grey possessed a childhood unlike the majority of British children. Through complicated matters, her surname does not denote her true heritage. While she is a citizen of the English Crown, her mother, Maeve, hails from Galloway, Ireland. Her father, Vernon, was born in London, England to German aristocrats. Desiring to assimilate better into English society, when Vernon left his father's house to make a name for himself, he aptly changed his surname from Arnkhoff to Grey. The name stuck, and when the time came that his father passed, no one questioned who Vernon Grey was.
When Evelyn could speak, as cohesively as a toddler could, Maeve insisted that Vernon find her a governess so as to ensure that their daughter had a bright, and fruitful future, to which he reluctantly agreed. After inheriting his father's wealth, and with Maeve coming from an equally important merchant family in Galloway, money was of no concern to them. So, on her fourth birthday in the spring of 1896, Vernon procured a qualified governess to tutor his daughter in all aspects of learning. For the most part, which he proudly accredits to the timely lessons in etiquette, and the good-naturedness of Albina, the governess, Evelyn was a calm, and an endearing child. Albina taught her the love languages, with a primary focus being in German, and with insistence from her father, Italian and French. To further her fluency in German, Vernon, being fluent in tongue as well, held private lessons in his study for Evelyn to better her tongue. Even though he had tossed aside his German lineage with much shame, he felt regret in knowing that Evelyn would never know her grandfather, so to make amends, he taught her what German he could. He had her read German literature aloud, and indulged in strict German-only conversations with her. Once she became fluent, he turned to speaking a mix of English and German, most of which would come into play later in her life.
Albina tutored the young, prospering Evelyn in accounting and finance. She treated Evelyn to tours of London's memorable museums, so as to enrich her mind with every aspect of learning that she could stuff inside her head. While she grasped the basic concepts of mathematics and science, Evelyn fell in love with literature, and philosophy. Her favorite past-time being a peculiar one of sorts, she enjoyed pursuing philosophical discussions with her father in German, and in English. While Evelyn truly could be called a "daddy's girl" in modern terms, her mother kept herself busy with rearing her other children. As firstborn, great effort was placed in Evelyn to ensure the survival and legacy of the Grey aristocracy. However, as Maeve birthed three more siblings, another daughter, followed by two more sons, Evelyn became forgotten over the delight of her brothers. While she did not resent them, Evelyn did find the sudden release of attention quite liberating. With the newly acquired freedom, she spent her time focusing on "boyish" activities, learning to drive a motor vehicle, horseback-riding, archery, and took a noted liking to studying science with a renewed vigor, particularly in the interest of medicine. Maeve fretted over the notion that her firstborn daughter would turn rebellious, and lose her womanly ways, which she had every right to believe.
In 1905, when Evelyn reached nineteen years of age, she took a fancy to the suffragette movement as her growing rebellious nature erupted with a volcanic magnitude, and without the watchful eye of her mother and father centered upon her, she snuck out from home, and began participating in rallies. On four different occasions, Evelyn was arrested for public order offence, and on one charge, she was arrested for arson, after helping her fellow suffragettes set fire to a local cricket pitch used by wealthy men. While Maeve was convinced that Evelyn was putting the family's good name to shame, Vernon secretly supported, often paying the fines, or her jail bond, to be released from prison. Her relationship with her mother soured considerably, to the point that Vernon had to remove Evelyn from the Grey household. Yet, to ensure that she received the best, he put her up in a well-off borough in London, and provided her monthly funds. This, Evelyn would be forever grateful, as the growing suffragette movement would prove costly. She helped create banners, pins and broaches, and donated her funds to the WSPU (Women's Social and Political Union), which she soon became a member of in 1908.
Up until the outbreak of the Great War, after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Evelyn participated actively in the suffragette movement, however, with the respect for the war, the movement was temporarily disbanded. Due to the disbandment, she volunteered as a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment), which placed her on the front lines in France. However, before she departed for France, the Foreign Office contacted her via telegram, and had her brought down to Whitehall in London. There, the secretary of the Foreign Office, a representative from the War Office, and even the presence of Winston Churchill, inquired after Evelyn, if she had the courage to assume the task as an operative under the guise as a nurse. Relishing in the unique, and honorable task presented to her, Evelyn agreed. As a nurse, were she to encounter injured enemies, with skill in linguistics, she was to withdraw as much information as she could, and send reports as needed. They gave her the code name, Persephone.
The first initial years on the front lines in France dramatically changed Evelyn, for better or for worse remains to be seen. Following troop movements as part of a field hospital, she witnessed grisly injuries. Originally, like most VADs, she was stuck with changing bed linens, emptying bed pans, and cleaning floors. While the Crown had failed to the realize that with Evelyn working as an operative in the field, they needed her as close to the sources of potential information as possible. So, with a certain letter, Evelyn began learning under the careful guidance of the head nurse, on how to administer drugs, change dressings, and even how to assist in surgical operations. Eventually, with the lack of women knowing how to drive in the beginning, she volunteered to work as an ambulance driver, which allowed her to arrive on scene for the wounded. After one battle in Verdun, in 1916, with a great loss on the German side, Evelyn encountered several German soldiers at the field hospital in which she served. She specifically chose to tend to them, being four altogether. Her skill from manipulative speech came in handy, as she spoke tenderly to them in German, torturing them medically if they did not yield to her the information she desired. She decreased their morphine, until the pain became so unbearable that they had to admit defeat. Gleaning what information she could from them, she kept up her operative actions with secrecy. Most nurses were too busy to notice the nature of her actions. However, on one such account, as she was returning from the front lines to the field hospital, she, and the other nurses were ambushed by German soldiers. These German soldiers fatally wounded the Allied soldiers in the back of the ambulance, and took the nurses hostage.
Once it was discovered that Evelyn spoke fluent German, and had proficient skills in nursing, they decided to keep her much like a prisoner of war, and forced her to treat wounded soldiers on their side of the line. One particular German soldier revealed to her that he was an intelligence officer, and confessed that he was indebted to her for saving his life. Initially, she thought nothing of it, but as he recovered under her care, and was later relocated to a base hospital, she went with him. To Evelyn, it seemed that she would never find escape from being a prisoner of war, unless the war ended. Forming a mutual relationship with the intelligence officer, Klaus Helmfried, he expressed kindness, in a sense, and suggested that she might find work more liberating if she were to speak with his higher ups. At first, she declined the offer, but as Klaus recovered, she determined that it would be safer for her to discover what the Germans had to offer. Under the impression that Evelyn was an English woman with German and Irish blood, and that she was truly an Irish Nationalist supporting the liberation of Ireland from the Royal English Crown. So, early spring in March of 1918, after his full recovery, Klaus and Evelyn journeyed away from the front lines. After passing safely into German controlled territory, far beyond Lorraine, Klaus brought Evelyn to one of the German bases to meet his next-in-command.
At great length, Seppel Traugott, Klaus' higher-up, interrogated Evelyn. The Germans were in great need of operatives, but not any particular person could be taken onboard. By this point in time, Evelyn's main goal was to survive the war, and return home to England, and she would do whatever necessary to ensure her survival. So she spun a tale, and like she had mentioned to Klaus, expressed that she was an Irish Nationalist, and despite her ties to England, desired to have England thwarted, so that her Irish kin, could be liberated from rule of the Crown, and the only way to have that come to fruition, is to have the Central Powers win the war. Convinced that the woman before them was indeed, not a British spy, but rather a bleeding-heart Irish supporter, Seppel reluctantly agreed to have her work as an operative for them. Months passed, as she had undertaken a few missions in the field, when a missive came to her, indicating that she head to Vienna for her next mission.
Capabilities
Languages:
- English (Native)
- German (Fluent)
- Italian (Acceptable)
- French (Acceptable)
Skills:
- Nursing
- Translating/Interpreting
- Manipulation
- Revolvers
- Dirty Fighting
Flaws:
- Murderer {While she never wanted to, so to say, Evelyn has had to murder a few people since entering France. Some she has killed while they were patients under her care, others, she had to defend her livelihood.}
- Paranoid {Concerned that she will be discovered that she is actually a double-agent, Evelyn is rather tight-lipped around those she doesn't trust. Which, to think of it, isn't many people since she ended up on the wrong side of the war now.}
- Survivalistic {Evelyn will do whatever it takes to make sure she survives the war. Whatever it takes.}
- Manipulative {This plays into her survivalist tendencies, but also hails from her days as a suffragette. She isn't afraid to manipulate those around her to get what she wants or needs. Even if it is murdering someone in cold-blood.}
Combat Style:
Evelyn often chooses to avoid direct engagement in combat for as long as possible, she uses this as a way to use more tasteful tactics, allowing her skills gained in nursing to come in handy. She'd rather slip her target some morphine, or give them a dousing of chloroform before engaging them in combat. If that is not possible, or if she misses the chance to use one of these tactics, she will resort to using her revolver, or the switchblade that she keeps readily available in her pocket. If all else truly fails, then Evelyn will resort to dirty fighting, such as kicking, biting, smacking, pinching, finding pressure points, or even throwing or breaking items. Anything she gets her hands on, becomes an item of defence.
Connections:
- Royal British Crown
- Grey Aristocrat Family
- Women's Social and Political Union
- Irish Nationalist
Opinions of Group Members: (to be updated once the game is under way)
Inventory
Cash:
- 110 British Pounds
- 100 Austrian Krone
Tools:
- Switchblade
- First Aid Kit
- Bottle of Iodine
- Bottle of Chloroform
- Bottle of Morphine
- Roll of Linen Bandages
- 2 Spools of Surgical Thread
- 1 Set of Surgical Needles
Weapon and Ammo:
- Mauser Zig-Zag 9mm
- 2 boxes of 9mm cartridges
Outfits:
- Knitted Scarf
- Leather Gloves
- Knitted Hat
- Trench Coat
- 2 pairs of Socks
- 2 pairs of Female Undergarments
- 1 Dress
- Pair of Ankle Boots
- Pair of Nurse Trousers
- 2 Blouses
Jewelry, Valuables and Personal Belongings:
- Silver Locket with Family Photo
Books and Documents:
- British Passport
- English to Italian Dictionary
- English to French Dictionary
Rations:
- Hard Tack
- Canteen for Water
- Bottle of Whiskey
Packs and Bags:
- Canvas Cloth Messenger Bag
- Clutch (Used for carrying important items, i.e, passport, and money)
Misc:
N/A
