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Imperial Princess Josephine Augusta


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((I've never written a character bio before, so please enjoy! Credit to @Urara for the format.))

 

IMPERIAL PRINCESS JOSEPHINE AUGUSTA

 

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p. 1807, at the age of 22

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Real name: Josephine Augusta

Gender: Female

Birthday: 7th of Horen’s Calling, 1787

Race: Human

Nationality: Orenian

Profession: Imperial Princess and Author

 

Height: 5’8’

Weight: 115

Build: Slight

Hair: Auburn

Hairstyle: Long and curly, the top pinned into a bun, with the rest framing her head

Eyes: Gray

Skintone: Pale

 

Clothing

Josephine usually wears a gown of red velvet with the slender, shapeless style that is popular among the court. It is hemmed with cloth-of-silver filigree and ribbons. She also bedecks herself in jewelry, mainly red semiprecious stones like jasper. There are two exceptions to the princess’ preference for red clothing: a golden ring with an emerald stone worn upon her left hand, and a curious coin that she keeps in a pendant at her breast. The coin’s face is a double-headed axe and its obverse a roaring flame. Josephine claims to have found it on a walk in the Augustine gardens.

 

 

Identifying Features

Josephine’s features are pleasant but not beautiful--perhaps if she had been poorer, and did not have the fine lifestyle of an imperial princess, she would have been plain. She bears the late Empress Anne’s  gray eyes and crooked nose, the latter of which she touches unconsciously when their resemblance is noted. The princess also carries a smart little cigarette case of gold and ivory, and smokes incessantly--often, the cigarette case takes the place of a more proper lady’s clutch.

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Overall Demeanor

Josephine is flippant, breezy, and irreverent. Her gray eyes stray around the room, evaluating random individuals and items according to whatever obscure criteria she sees fit; often, this habit causes her to ignore her speaking partner. She observes court protocol where it suits her--mostly to assert social control--but does not feel herself bound by it. Josephine is essentially good-natured, but her sharp tongue and irreverent manner work to her detriment. Despite this, she dotes on her sisters and her grandfather, taking greater offense when they are besmirched than herself. She enjoys wordplay and off-color humor, and fancies herself a bit of a scholar.

 

 

Strengths

 

Erudite

Josephine was sent away to boarding school and then finishing school early on in her life. Unlike many of her fellow ladies, she enjoyed her academic studies, particularly history; she excels in historical writing and poetry. The princess does not consider herself different from other women in any meaningful way, but wishes that more would see the liberating power of education.

 

Independent

Her long schooling away from home gave Josephine an independent streak, and so the princess is capable of taking care of herself in most matters. She rarely needs emotional comfort, and when she does she does not seek it in others, having deliberately pried out the vulnerable parts of her personality early in life. Though she has never expressed it, her large jewelry collection has a purpose beyond the cosmetic: if she ever needs to leave the palace in a hurry, she’ll have something to sell.

 

Progressive

Josephine may be flippant, but she is no cynic--she genuinely believes the world can be a better place if she does her part. She is inclined towards the reformist, Josephite bent of her ancestors, and believes that most people are essentially good, in spite of their circumstances. She asserts that men and women ought to inherit equally, a High Pontiffess is long overdue, and one’s ancestry has little impact on their value as a person.

 

Weaknesses

 

Distant

Josephine is often lost in her thoughts, and is a poor conversational partner unless she perceives the subject to be of immediate interest to her. She forgets names, faces, birthdays, and preferences easily. This makes her a fine acquaintance, but a difficult friend.

 

Irreverent

Josephine does not hold religion, or any great institution aside from her own family’s, in very high esteem. Her father went away on a long pilgrimage when she was young, and often preoccupied himself with Church matters. This did not please her. She thinks most priests are well-intentioned, but that their tendency towards slavish obedience makes them too easily corrupted. While Josephine does believe in God, she never prays to Him. She understands omniscience abstractly, but still thinks of prayer in anything but dire circumstances as “bothering” Him.

 

Superior

Like many youths, Josephine really does not believe there is anyone better qualified for any task than herself. If she could, the Duke of Crestfall’s daughter would happily take the reins of the Empire, and she often laments that she can never rule as Anne I did. She loves her father and grandfather, but treats them more like dotards than rulers.

 

Hypocritical

Josephine is the eldest of the imperial princess who are in the immediate succession, and so has always been insulated from the world by her privilege. She agrees with social strictures where they benefit her (monarchy is important because it grants stability!) but not when they make her life difficult (why should I have to marry if I don’t care to?). Though she has a sympathetic ear for commoners, she secretly fears that hordes of them will one day storm the palace to steal her jewelry. Further, though she considers the imperial family of paramount social importance, she really does not take seriously any of the lesser nobility--even dukes.

 

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Likes

 

✦  History

✦  Jewelry

✦  Flower-pressing

✦  Cigarettes

✦  Talented artists

✦  Acknowledgements of her status

✦  Small, intimate parties

✦  Independent women

✦  The Holy Orenian Empire (though, is the Holy really necessary?)

✦  Tall towers

✦  Lemon confectionaries

✦  The ocean in a storm

✦  Poetry

 

Dislikes

 

 Tall tales  ✦

Self-absorbed men  ✦

Pork  ✦

Reactionaries  ✦

  Galas, debutantes, and other pointless large gatherings  ✦

Surprises  ✦

War  ✦

Empty-headed twittering ✦

Crowds and loud talkers ✦

  Speeches  ✦

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Short Bio

 

Josephine Augusta was born to Philip Augustus, Duke of Crestfall and Judith Alice Rochefort on the 7th of Horen’s Calling, 1787. Her birth was a celebrated affair in Helena’s Novellen Palace, as it marked the Duke’s first daughter. Philip spent most of Josephine’s childhood away, either in the ISA or on pilgrimage. She looked on him with fondness, because his return always meant gifts, fatherly love, and the temporary relaxation of her otherwise rigorous schooling. She barely remembers the demonic assault on Helena and subsequent flight to Almaris, both because she was young and because of the trauma it inflicted.

 

Josephine came to idolize Anne I, who was the empire’s first empress regnant, as a model of independent womanhood. She modeled her sharp tongue on her imperial grandmother’s, but this often fell flat in her youth--in particular, her cousin Jasper Clement was often the target of cruel japing.

 

As the princess explored her Empire’s history in school, she was surprised to learn that it was not as cut and dry as her family often implied. The princess was shocked to see that she was not only descended from triumphant heroes, but also rebels and assassins. Further, it often seemed like the Church made political decisions, rather than spiritual ones. When she brought these concerns to the school’s chaplain, she was told to put her faith in God and tradition. Naturally, she did neither.

 

After returning to court, Josephine caught the eye of Simon Basrid, who seemed perhaps the only wise, openinded man she’d ever met. Over the years, he introduced her to his work-in-progress, the Epochs of the Empire. Today, she labors daily to write the next edition, both for its importance and for the promise of admiration. After her first and only suitor rejected her, Josephine has silently sworn off marriage for the time being, and has ample time to dedicate to authorship.

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Very well-made. Quite a cool cat indeed 👍

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