Audrey-Louise Halloway (Ravenloft)

Darkonian Kargatane Record

• Known Name: Audrey-Louise Natalia Halloway
  
• Race: Human
  
• Apparent Age: Mid 20s
  
• Birthday: 23rd April, 733.
  
• Height: 5'5"
  
• Alignment: NG.
  
• Affiliations: None known.
  
• Religion: Ezra (Mordent sect).
  
• Character Class: Ranger (Trophy Hunter)/Gunslinger (Musket Master).
  
• Place of Origin: Mordentshire, Mordent.
  
• Player/Type: NPC

Appearance

Audrey is a fair-skinned and slender, though athletic female of about average height for a Modent female. She has dirty blonde hair, a bit of an exception in her family which predominates dark hair, but has the sea-green eyes common in people from Mordent. Her hair is naturally long and slightly wavy, but the typically keeps it tied in a ponytail with a kerchief, styling it differently for special occasions and letting her hair 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 clothing, "The Pink" - the classic 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 intended for use on foxhunts, and is made from the finest durable materials, and custom made to suit her, making it as durable as studded leather armour in more backwards realms. 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 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.

Despite "dressing as a man" as many derogatorily point out, Audrey does use cosmetics, typically a little blush, 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. 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 lady.

Background

Perhaps it was the influence of her best friend, the tomboy Laurie Weathermay, 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 loved 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. She grew up learning how to not just ride, but also train horses, and train foxhounds, even going so far as to take them as courses of study at the University of Mordent, along with other traditional required courses for a proper education. By the time she graduated university, she was a master 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 magical wood that is lighter than normal wood but as hard as steel.

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, old enough to go against her family's desires, shortly after ending her university education and getting her "Pink" she decided to put her life-long training 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 been killed if not for the sacrifice of her loyal foxhound Bella. To save her life, Nathaniel ordered her to get to safety as he protected her, standing on the slender bridge and determined not to let the ferrymen pass him until she got to safety. Reluctantly, she did so, falling into the river and carried away by the currents. The last she saw of Nathaniel was him being grievously wounded by the ferryman as the mists clouded her vision. Too wounded to swim properly, she nearly drowned were it not for her other foxhound, "Duke", who dragged her to shore where adventurers found her and saved her, defeating the Ferryman that pursued and using its power to transport them through the Mist to the safety of Leiksburg.

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 has assumed 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.

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

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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.

Combat Style

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Social Style

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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 (masterwork parade armour). Despite the name, the outfit actually consists of a scarlet riding coat with reinforced 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: Audrey's backup weapon for close-quarters or other times when she cannot rely on Black Bess.
• Halloway Rapier: A masterwork rapier with the Halloway family crest on the guard. It is made for left-handed users.
• Bayonet: an elongated dagger that Audey uses often as a utility knife, but can be fixed onto her firearms for use in close quarters.

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 that the Halloway family curse claims us all at some point. I'm not afraid of death. My real curse is that good men have given their lives to save mine."
• "Aim true. Shoot straight. I never miss my mark!"
• "In the face of fear, I ignite my spark!"

Gallery

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  Audrey in her signature "Pink"

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  Audrey in a dress made by her friend Dominique

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  Audrey in a gown made by her friend Dominique

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