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Audrey-Louise Halloway (Ravenloft)

Darkonian Kargatane Record

  • Known Name: Audrey-Louise Elene Lillian Halloway
  • Race: Human, Mordentish
  • Apparent Age: Early 20s
  • Birthday: 23rd April, 733 BC
  • Height: 5'5"
  • Alignment: NG.
  • Affiliations: Halloway family, The Three Amigas
  • Religion: Ezra (Mordent sect).
  • Character Class: Gunslinger (Musket Master)/Ranger (Trophy Hunter).
  • Place of Origin: Steadwall, Mordent.
  • Player/Type: NPC


Appearance

Audrey in her signature "Pink" alongside her foxhound "Duke"

Audrey is a fair-skinned and slender, though athletic female of about average height for a Mordent female. She has dirty blonde hair, a bit of an exception in her family which predominates darker hair, but has the sea-green eyes common in people from Mordent. Her hair is naturally long and slightly wavy, but she typically keeps it tied in a ponytail with a kerchief, styling it differently for special occasions and letting her hair completely loose typically only to sleep. It is considered a rare and unusual sight to see her with her hair naturally loose.

She is most often found wearing her signature armour, "The Pink". A customised style of Mordentish parade armour styled after the famed scarlet riding coat and white shirt and breeches, along with black riding boots, common to masters of the foxhunt. A status symbol that she wears with pride, as it reflects her training, efforts, skill, and recognition of accomplishment especially in a society where women are often little more than pretty ornaments and gossip-mongers to the activities of the men. Despite its elegance, the Pink is created for intended use on hunts against dangerous creatures, and both the jacket and breeches are made from multiple layers of the finest durable materials along with embedded metal plates over vital areas such as the chest and shins, making it as durable as studded leather armour in more backwards realms. As it is and custom made to fit her, it also is less restrictive than other outfits of this type, allowing Audrey to run about avoiding danger with greater ease. Her outfit is usually adorned with a white stock tie, which is not only decorative but, in an emergency, can be removed and used as a tourniquet, or for other similar means. The kerchief tying her ponytail is usually white or black to match her outfit, though this may change when wearing other outfits. She is generally not keen on wearing hats for fashion, but is is common for her to wear a scarlet tricorne hat whilst travelling, especially in the rain or heat.

Despite being accused of "dressing as a man" as many derogatorily point out and generally not wearing dresses or skirts except for special occasions (she claims this is due to practicality over fashion), Audrey is quite feminine in her own way and does use cosmetics, typically a little eye-shadow and bright red lipstick. When in the presence of her friend Dominique, her make-up, hairstyle (and use of other outfits such as dresses) is more pronounced as Dominique likes to fuss over her friend and beautify her and, whilst Audrey won't typically admit it, Audrey quite enjoys the attention. Audrey began letting Dominique do this when Audrey sought her help in an attempt to look more appealing to attract the attention of the person Audrey had a crush on. It didn't work, and the crush remained unrequited, but the friendship between Dominique and Audrey grew, including Dominique helping Audrey tap into (and even on occasion enjoy) her "feminine side" which Audrey had spent most of her life rebelling against. On special occasions, Audrey can now be seen wearing dresses (typically custom-made for her by Dominique) that look stylish and elegant, though she looks like a fish out of water as she is still not truly accustomed to actually looking like a glamorous lady and feels awkward at the attention it typically garners.

Background

Perhaps it was the influence of her older childhood friend and idol, the tomboy Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove, or being the only girl of her generation, but Audrey grew up with strong individualistic ideals that did not quite conform to what was considered "proper" for a Mordent lady. She idolised her father and spent a lot of time with him growing up, and many blame her father for treating her more like a boy than a girl. But whilst many ladies followed on Foxhunts, Audrey was not content with merely following - she wanted to participate. Whilst her brother, like many nobles, participated in foxhunting as a social event and for the glory and attention from the ladies, Audrey enjoyed the hunt for the excitement, the skill of using muskets to hunt, the skill of riding through forests at speed, and the need to work with hunting hounds. In an attempt to make her more ladylike, her family paid for the best private tutor from the University of Richemulot to educate her in all the things that were important - arithmetic, religious practice, philosophy and theology, literacy, local history, geography, and the sciences, as well as how to dance and play keyboard instruments. This had partial success, with Audrey indeed learning ladylike skills, but also further fuelling her desire for knowledge and skills that were not ladylike. Seeing her sharp mind, and with her father's blessing (or at least, willingness to turn a blind eye), her tutor educated her in a broad range of subjects. She grew up learning how to not just ride, but also train horses, and train foxhounds. By the time she was a young adult, she was a skilled shot and expert at training horse and hounds, and soon after earnt the "Pink" of the Master of Foxhounds. According respect to her sharpshooting skills, her father gifted her with a dragoon musket rifle made out of darkwood, a special wood that is lighter than normal wood but as hard as steel.

Her upbringing was not all feminine rebellion and success, however. During her teen years, her brother Nathaniel disappeared. He went off on a hunt and disappeared into the Mists and never returned. Her family fell into despair, blaming the "Halloway Curse" and took him for dead, like so many others in their line before him. Without a body to grieve over, however, Audrey was unwilling to accept his death. She spent years arguing that he was alive but lost, somewhere, and failed time and again to convince the family to go out and search for him. Eventually, once old enough to go against her family's desires, shortly after ending her education and getting her "Pink" she decided the time had coming to put her life-long training and preparation for this endeavour to the test, and left to search for him throughout the lands.

She wandered for many months. When normal means failed, she sought out the Vistani and other mystical sources to help locate him. Some time later, with the aid of Vistani mystics, they located him in Barovia; displaced in time as well as space, and explaining why mystical means were unable to detect his presence until that point. Although it had been years to Audrey since Nathaniel's disappearance, to Nathaniel it had been just a few weeks, and he had been stuck in the backwards realm of Barovia, which explained why he had been unable to sending a courier/message of his wayward mist travel to his family - Nathaniel simply had not realised how much time had passed and was surprised to see his baby sister grown up, now nearly his own age.

Happily reunited, they travelled together awhile adventuring and fighting against great evils. They made allies, did great deeds together, and took part in sad events. When they learnt of a dark ritual being performed under a blood moon by the vampire Lyssa von Zarovich, the leader of a sect that they had fought long against and threatened all of Barovia if she were to succeed, it was only Audrey and Marcus able to reach the ritual location in time. They found a dark ritual with an adolescent girl about to be sacrificed to free Lyssa from a curse placed on her by the domain lord, Count Strahd von Zarovich, the body of her entire family strewn around the circle as pre-sacrifices for the ritual and to satisfy the blood hunger of the vampire cultists. Although they may have prevented the ritual by killing the girl in a way that denied her sacrifice, Marcus and Audrey were true heroes of the light, and instead Marcus fought his way to get to the girl desiring to save her. Shielded by the power of his faith, he managed to reach the girl and passed her to Audrey, covering her retreat as she took the girl to safety. But he fell to the vampire swarms once he expended all his power and was spiritually exhausted. As cruel revenge for foiling their plans, Lyssa was about to turn Marcus into one of her eternal undead lackies, and Marcus was helpless to resist - but in a final, bittersweet act of love, a single shot from Audrey's rifle cracked through the night and ended Marcus' life. As his life left him, he looked up at a tearful Audrey safe on her horse in the cliff above, smoking rifle in hand, and smiled his thanks to her and went peacefully into the Mists.

After the Leiskburg incident, as the town was left nearly bereft of adults, Nathaniel inherited the role of burgomaster (mayor) of Leiksburg and began rebuilding it and its economy. Nathaniel and Audrey quarrelled over his decision to relocate the Halloway family to Leiksburg, as she considered the realm of Barovia to be horribly backwards. Regardless, she followed his wishes and travelled with him, returning to Mordent to greet their family and ask them to relocate. But when they returned to their family mansion, they found only an empty house full of cobwebs, and restless, angry ghosts.

Realising they were all that remained of the Halloway line, and with nothing left for them in Mordent anymore, they began their return journey to Barovia, to resume Nathaniel's role as burgomaster of Leiksburg. But whilst on the ferry crossing the Arden River, the Halloway curse came for them and they were attacked by dread Mist ferryman. Engaging the ferryman, Audrey was badly wounded and would have died had it not been for the sacrifice of her foxhound Bella. Seeing she was too wounded to reload her musket, Nathaniel said to her "You're the last of us now. Do us proud!" and pushed her into the river before engaging the ferrymen with his pistol and rapier. The last she saw of Nathaniel was him fighting the ferryman as the mists clouded her vision. Wounded and having never learnt to swim, she nearly drowned as the currents swept her away, were it not for her remaining loyal foxhound, Duke, that dived in after her and dragged her to the safety of a nearby shore, and whose barking and seeking aid led to help being received by lost outlanders, who protected Audrey against a ferryman that came after them, and helped her return to Leiksburg in Barovia where, soon after, Boyar Stanislav appointed her as Burgomaster in her brother's stead.

Believing herself to now be the last surviving member of the Halloway line, Audrey is resigned to her fate. She is unsure if it will pursue her outside of Mordent, but it does not matter, and has resigned herself to the belief that it is only a matter of time before the curse comes for her again. But she is determined to face it with courage, to go down fighting, and to do as much good as she can in whatever time she has remaining until that day comes. She reluctantly continued the role as Burgomaster of Leiksburg, though she hates politics and desires to pass the role on to someone else and accept Dominique Petite's invitation to accompany her on the road. If she has little time left to life, she wants to enjoy it, not be stuck sorting politics in a backwater village. But she is a woman of honour and knows Nathaniel cared about the village, and won't give up her duty until someone comes along she feels would do a better job than she.

And who knows, perhaps on the road with the help of Dominique and other allies she may even be able to find a way to break the family curse. After all, her family motto is "Only by action does any man succeed" - who knows, perhaps by action a woman can succeed where so many men before her have failed?

Personality

Audrey in a dress made by her friend Dominique

Audrey can be either the most delightful and friendly person you will ever meet, or a totally difficult and stubborn rebel with a chip on her shoulder against the world - depending on your own attitude.

Audrey is a free spirit and loves pursuits and hobbies commonly carried out my Mordent males, and considered improper for a Mordent lady. She prefers her foxhunt Pink to wearing dresses. She prefers to roll around in the dirt with her hound, rather than socialising with other nobles. She rides her horse through a forest at speed whilst sharpshooting quarry from the front of the hunt, rather than riding with the ladies at the back as glorified cheer ladies for the men. Audrey is more at home in a tavern, having drinks with men and enjoying their tales (and providing a few tales of her own) rather than tea parties with Mordent ladies. To those who can accept (and better, encourage) her free spirit, she is funny, delightful, and a very loyal and caring friend. Those who would frown upon her unladylike activities and look down their nose at her, or try to make her act more appropriate, will hit a stone wall of sheer will and stubbornness, contempt, and defiance, along with a hot temper to match.

Since leaving Mordent and travelling with Dominique and other free-spirited friends, Audrey has begun to embrace her feminise side. She actually doesn't mind attending the occasional ball or social function wearing a nice dress, if she has good company (she has little patience and tolerance for high society snobs and prefers to avoid that). Those who accuse her of wishing she was a man will find her getting obstinate - she will say she is proud of being a woman and feels and enjoys feminine things, but that she simply refuses to be restricted by social conventions made mostly by chauvinistic men and gossip-ladies about what a lady should and shouldn't do, or any insinuation that women are inferior to men in any capacity. Her friends have pointed out that it is almost laughably easy to make Audrey do something simply by telling her she (because she's a woman) cannot do it, and watching her face turn red and fly into action to defy you or prove you wrong.

Other Notes

Master of Foxhounds

Audrey is almost never seen without her loyal Mordent foxhound "Duke" by her side. She used to have a second foxhound, "Bella" but she died the night that Audrey fled the battle that claimed her brother Nathaniel, giving her life valiantly to protect her master. Since then, Audrey's bond with Duke has grown closer and more intense.

Duke is extraordinarily well-trained. He has a naturally friendly face and disposition, and is quite sociable and loves attention. But with a gesture, word, or snap of her fingers Duke will speed to her side, attack a designated target, or seek out a rabbit or fowl to kill and return for dinner. In combat, he is exceedingly brave and Audrey relies on him as a partner, typically to protect her from melee attackers in the vulnerable moments that she is reloading her firearm.

Audrey hunting in the forest with her foxhound

Aquaphobia

Audrey wouldn't go as far as to say that she was scared of natural pools of water, but she is definitely highly wary of it. The Halloway family curse has plagued her family for generations and, more often than not, affected members of the family whenever they were in the proximity of natural water - rivers, lakes, ponds, the sea, or the Mists. When this realisation was made, the family filled up the pond on the family estate and have since been paranoid about leaving the estate or venturing near bodies of water or the Mists. Whilst Audrey is less paranoid, she has nonetheless grown up away from water and therefore never learnt to swim, and becomes visibly wary and on-guard whenever near natural bodies of water.

Dominique's Songs

Audrey's friend and famed bard Dominique Petite has written and performs songs about herself, her allies, and notable legends and events.
They can be accessed here: Dominique's musical repertoire

Specific songs about Audrey:

Combat Style

Audrey firing her musket at a zombie horde

Audrey is a surprisingly effective combatant. For a Mordent lady, most would assume she would need to be in the rear, using a pistol for support fire. But Audrey leads from the front. If she stands back it's simply for cover as she aims, as her primary weapon - her dragoon musket rifle - can be slow to reload compared to more primitive weapons such as bows or crossbows. But she is an expert with any form of musket, and deadly accurate at either short or long range. She therefore is most effective behind protective cover and sniping at targets of value to either weaken them for her melee allies to finish off, or eliminate or disrupt threats, such as damaging spellcasters to disrupt their casting, as her allies approach for melee. She carries a pistol as a backup weapon and is competent with it, but no more so than any other skilled shooter. As others have said "Audrey's pistol cracks, but she makes her rifle sing". Her dragoon musket rifle and pistols use a modern loading method that, although muzzle-loaded like all black powder firearms, use a special cartridge that stores 3 shots. This means she is capable of firing 3 shots before she has to spend time reloading, and she is faster at reloading her primary weapon than most, ready to re-engage quicker and thus leaving her open to attack or out of the fray less than it would take most shooters.

If need be, she carries both a rapier and a bayonet. In combat, it is more likely she will be shooting at someone that approaches, then put the bayonet on at the last second and stab at her target, then remove the bayonet to keep shooting. But if need be, she will pull out her rapier and has surprised people at how skilled she is with it. She has good hand-eye coordination and this grants her great weapon finesse. Therefore her allies don't have to worry about her becoming a liability if targets get too close for her to be able to shoot at consistently, as she can hold her own in melee combat when required.

Her loyal companion foxhound, Duke, is always by her side. He was trained primarily for hunting, although he has been well trained beyond this purpose, but Audrey values him too much to simply send him off as canon fodder. She likes to keep him close in combat, and watches over him as she would any of her allies (if not more than). Duke's primary role in most frays is to watch her back, preventing her getting flanked without her notice, and preventing others attacking her during the vulnerable moments that she is reloading. When she engages in melee combat, Duck will typically assist her, either biting her target to weaken them for her or create an opening for her attack, or flanking them and attacking them whilst they are engage with Audrey. When Audrey is using her firearms, Duke loyally stays by her side and engages only as directed or required to protect her, rather than actively engaging; although sending Duke to attack and distract a target and then she sharp-shoots them is a very commonly observed tactic.

Social Style

Audrey in a ball gown made by her friend Dominique

Audrey is usually easy for adventurers to get along with. She is free-spirited and down-to-earth, so most adventurers will enjoy her company, participate in drinking games with her, and she enjoys a good tale or dirty limerick. She often pokes fun at her own noble heritage by expressing faux outrage at things a "proper lady" would be aghast at, but Audrey would likely find hilarious. As a general rule, the more it would upset an uptight noble or lady, the more glee Audrey would likely get out of it. Simply put, just treating Audrey as a peer, without any social prejudice or attitude, will quickly and earn her favour.

Those of noble lineage or status positions, however, will likely find it harder to get along with her. These people tend to often have inflated opinions of their own self-worth and expect those of lower station to fawn over them, grovel, act craven, or otherwise act inferior and submissive - and this will just bring out her defiant streak. Audrey is no fool, and knows that there are times she HAS to bite her tongue and be quiet and act a certain way... but her blood will boil and she will hate every second, and it will sour her relationship with whoever did it. In essence, those who treat her like a peer usually will simply have to ask her to do something (or convince her normally if it's something she may be against), but those of higher stations who act it will need to ensure they have enough power that they can order her to do it and know they can back up their threat, as she is unlikely to willingly do it even if she may have thought it a good idea, just out of stubborn refusal.

Ultimately, however, whatever her distaste Audrey is of good heart and a loyal friend. She may moan, rant, curse and gripe, but she will always do the right thing for the right reasons, or to help her friends. When others would flee in the face of an apparent deadly threat, Audrey with simply stand, ready her rifle, and say through gritted teeth, "All right you horrible bunch of cockwombles. Tea times' over. Let's get to it shall we?"

Signature Equipment

Audrey likes to think she is more enlightened than most people from Mordent, but the Mordent wariness of magic is still somewhat engrained in her. Nonetheless, after travelling with Marcus, Gabriella, and Dominique and seeing the undeniable difference magic makes against the creatures of the night, Audrey has begun to slowly embrace the use of magical items. Most of her signature equipment is non-magical, however, with magic restricted mostly to her prime firearm and a couple of assisting magical items to make her more effective in combat.

Armour & Weapons

  • "The Pink": Audrey's foxhunt riding outfit, elegant and providing reasonable protection for those on a hunt (+1 easy travel mithral parade armour). Despite the name, the outfit actually consists of a scarlet riding coat with reinforced mithral interiors, worn over hard-wearing white breeches and shirt, accented with a white stock tie, and durable black leather boots. She typically ties her ponytail with a white kerchief that compliments the outfit.
  • "Black Bess": Audrey's signature dragoon musket rifle, made of near-black darkwood, making it deceptively light but durable (+1 ghost touch, seeking, darkwood dragoon rifle).
  • Dragoon Pistol: A masterwork pistol that Audrey rarely uses, keeping is purely as a backup weapon for close-quarters or other times when she cannot use Black Bess.
  • "Rapier": A masterwork rapier with the Halloway family crest on the guard cup. It is made for left-handed users.
  • Bayonet: an elongated masterwork dagger that Audrey uses mostly as a utility knife, but can be fixed onto her Dragoon Musket for use in close quarter combat.

Magic Items

  • Far-Reaching Sight: This magical sight greatly increases the impact power of Audrey's aimed shots, hitting distant targets with the impact power her firearm would normally do at close range.
  • Endless Belt: This magical belt has small loops that look like they can hold 20 cartridges but due to a subtle bending of space can actually hold up to 60 cartridges. Additionally, the six thin pockets on the belt are extradimensional spaces meant to hold extra guns and gear. The four small pockets hold a one-handed firearm, 1 pound of ammunition, and two powder horns. The two large pockets are large enough to hold a two-handed firearm or a similarly sized object. This belt means that all of Audrey's firearms are stored away weightlessly until they are needed.

Mundane Items

  • A small selection of fine and exquisite dresses for when the occasion calls for them (although Audrey prefers to remain in "the Pink" most of the time) along with dancing shoes, stockings, gloves, and hats.

Signature Quotes

  • "It is said the Halloway curse will claim us all. I'm not afraid of death. My real curse is that too many good men have given their lives for me to flee an unsurvivable fray."
  • "Aim true. Shoot straight. I never miss my mark!"
  • "In the face of fear, I ignite my spark!"
  • "All right you 'orrible bunch of cockwombles. Tea times' over. Let's get to it shall we?"


Gallery

  • Audrey in her signature "Pink" alongside her foxhound "Duke"

  • Audrey in a dress made by her friend Dominique

  • Audrey in a gown made by her friend Dominique

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