Post by Invisible on Sept 25, 2008 10:11:24 GMT -8
Name: Jolan
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Rank: Professional gambler
Strong features keep Jolan from being classically feminine looking. But defined cheekbones and soft pink lips still turn heads when mixed with eyes that go from green to blue depending on the light. A mass of blonde hair is done up in a pair of high ponytails tied off with ribbons to match her clothes. A few wisps are allowed to frame her face but still show off the ruby studs in her earlobes. Of medium height she has a figure worth noticing by those who might notice such things. Not overly endowed she instead has almost an athlete's physique with lean legs and trim body. Her skin is lightly tanned and she never seems to have a hair out of place. If she's ever worked for a living there's no hint of it visible.
The way Jolan dresses is a good indication she plans to do nothing overly taxing with herself. She wears dresses of lavender and pink most of the time with little concern for the latest styles. The bodices tend towards revealing, but not distastefully so, and the skirts hug her figure rather than flowing freely away from her legs. Her footwear is an entity to itself. Always garishly decorated with multicolored stones and ribbons the heels let her tower over those she might not normally. In the winter she has the finest fur coats to warm her as she moves from one locale to the next.
Jolan's personality comes in two flavors really. There is her 'work' self who is all business and the 'play' self who wants nothing more than to cut loose. A gambler who is not focused on the game at hand will lose it all and so when she plays cards there is little of the playful, flirty woman who normally exists. She'll still use her physical assets to her advantage, but it's all calculated. Plenty of men who have lost at cards with her left the table calling her an ice queen.
When Jolan is gambling she has little interest in anything else. However when she is not gambling she sees no reason to not live her life to the fullest. Nothing at all is taken seriously when there are not cards in her hands. She comes across almost like a typical dumb blonde with her bubbly flirty self. Someone who has never seen her at the gaming table might take her to be one of those women who expect to be taken care of by whatever man is at hand. Nary a thought in her brain is evident to the people she socializes with unless she gets mad. It is not hard for Jolan to get mad either as she has a fierce temper that's left her escorted out of a few games when she punched someone who made an unwanted advance towards her.
One might mistake Jolan as someone who has always lived a life of privilege. She acts as if she was born to a Lord Holder or Craftmaster and if people make that assumption it is, in her mind, better than them learning the truth. The truth is less elegant. Less in keeping with the type of person she wishes she might have been. The truth is Jolan's mother was a passing interest to Ista Hold's Steward when she arrived from a cothold to work in the kitchens. Steward Jonson was a bastard of one of Ista's cadet branches and married already to the head nanny. It did not stop him from soon making a mistress of Lana however. Until a turn later she showed up pregnant.
It was decided to send her away with one of Ista's daughters. A very simpleminded woman it was Lana's job to tend to her and so she was sent off the island where she'd always lived to far away Benden's territories. Six months later she gave birth to Jolan to much scandal among some, but acceptance from the hold's lord. Acceptance if only because he did not so much enjoy his simpleton wife whom he married just so his family would give him the hold. An arrangement with Ista was all they cared about. But here was Lana delivered to him as well and soon enough it was her in the lord's bed.
But for Jolan this change in circumstance meant a downgrade in her place. Lana the lord would accept, but her bastard? Not so much. She was sent off to a tiny cothold run by vintner's to tend their housekeeping and such. Jolan was old enough by then to understand she was being shuffled off and she was furious. At first she was all temper and trouble, but when it got her nowhere she settled down. The vintner family running the cothold took to Jolan and treated her like one of their own. There was no sordid taking advantage of by the males and they even fended off the riders who would come to collect tithes and deliver messages.
The pretty Jolan's virtue was safe in this at least. She was untouchable other than a kiss of the hand even when the family fostering her took her to gathers. It was at a Bitran gather, transported by one of the family's sons who had impressed a bronze at Benden Weyr that Jolan was lost to what would become her only true love. At sixteen turns she was long past the time she should have chosen a career, but lounging with her foster family was not something she wished to give up and they adored the blonde too much to force her into something she would dislike. So she was free to make the choice she did when she stumbled in the evening upon a game of dragonpoker. The men let her join as a lark and she lost the few marks they loaned her quickly enough. But the second night she sneaked back to them she did better and left with marks of her own. The third night, the one before they left, she cleared out most of the other players.
And so her new life began. Feminine wiles got her into games anywhere she might catch a ride to. It was not, perhaps, a career for some, but to Jolan it was the life she wanted. Riders she strung along, or occasionally allowed the honor of bedding her, would carry her to casinos and other less structured games and she would win more than lose. At twenty she had made a name for herself and could be guaranteed a spot at any table. Everyone wanted to be the one to beat Jolan at her own game. And her game was dragonpoker only. She did not play games of chance like dice or roulette. That was for idiots and rubes in from the country.
No, cards were a game of logic and when she played she was as serious as a healer tending an ill child. Holders would give her rooms just to be able to brag about her being there. And because men found her attractive although she was careful never to sleep in a bed that would keep her from returning again. For the last six turns she's gone from casino to casino seeking new challenges and entertainments. She dresses like the lady she believes she could have been if her mother had not kept it from her. Most recently she received an invitation to come play at the Golden Egg. Whomever the mysterious owner is it seems he or she has decided to add a bit of glamour to their establishment by having Jolan play there. With no fanfare she arrived on her foster brother's bronze one day and can be seen most evenings at the card tables. Connections have earned her a place to sleep at the Weyr. She pays a modest stipend for the room although it is rarely used.
Have you read Game Philosophy and The Rules of Tempus Fugit?
Oh, most definitely! Several times. Absolutely riveting they are!
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Rank: Professional gambler
Physical Description
Strong features keep Jolan from being classically feminine looking. But defined cheekbones and soft pink lips still turn heads when mixed with eyes that go from green to blue depending on the light. A mass of blonde hair is done up in a pair of high ponytails tied off with ribbons to match her clothes. A few wisps are allowed to frame her face but still show off the ruby studs in her earlobes. Of medium height she has a figure worth noticing by those who might notice such things. Not overly endowed she instead has almost an athlete's physique with lean legs and trim body. Her skin is lightly tanned and she never seems to have a hair out of place. If she's ever worked for a living there's no hint of it visible.
The way Jolan dresses is a good indication she plans to do nothing overly taxing with herself. She wears dresses of lavender and pink most of the time with little concern for the latest styles. The bodices tend towards revealing, but not distastefully so, and the skirts hug her figure rather than flowing freely away from her legs. Her footwear is an entity to itself. Always garishly decorated with multicolored stones and ribbons the heels let her tower over those she might not normally. In the winter she has the finest fur coats to warm her as she moves from one locale to the next.
Personality
Jolan's personality comes in two flavors really. There is her 'work' self who is all business and the 'play' self who wants nothing more than to cut loose. A gambler who is not focused on the game at hand will lose it all and so when she plays cards there is little of the playful, flirty woman who normally exists. She'll still use her physical assets to her advantage, but it's all calculated. Plenty of men who have lost at cards with her left the table calling her an ice queen.
When Jolan is gambling she has little interest in anything else. However when she is not gambling she sees no reason to not live her life to the fullest. Nothing at all is taken seriously when there are not cards in her hands. She comes across almost like a typical dumb blonde with her bubbly flirty self. Someone who has never seen her at the gaming table might take her to be one of those women who expect to be taken care of by whatever man is at hand. Nary a thought in her brain is evident to the people she socializes with unless she gets mad. It is not hard for Jolan to get mad either as she has a fierce temper that's left her escorted out of a few games when she punched someone who made an unwanted advance towards her.
Background
One might mistake Jolan as someone who has always lived a life of privilege. She acts as if she was born to a Lord Holder or Craftmaster and if people make that assumption it is, in her mind, better than them learning the truth. The truth is less elegant. Less in keeping with the type of person she wishes she might have been. The truth is Jolan's mother was a passing interest to Ista Hold's Steward when she arrived from a cothold to work in the kitchens. Steward Jonson was a bastard of one of Ista's cadet branches and married already to the head nanny. It did not stop him from soon making a mistress of Lana however. Until a turn later she showed up pregnant.
It was decided to send her away with one of Ista's daughters. A very simpleminded woman it was Lana's job to tend to her and so she was sent off the island where she'd always lived to far away Benden's territories. Six months later she gave birth to Jolan to much scandal among some, but acceptance from the hold's lord. Acceptance if only because he did not so much enjoy his simpleton wife whom he married just so his family would give him the hold. An arrangement with Ista was all they cared about. But here was Lana delivered to him as well and soon enough it was her in the lord's bed.
But for Jolan this change in circumstance meant a downgrade in her place. Lana the lord would accept, but her bastard? Not so much. She was sent off to a tiny cothold run by vintner's to tend their housekeeping and such. Jolan was old enough by then to understand she was being shuffled off and she was furious. At first she was all temper and trouble, but when it got her nowhere she settled down. The vintner family running the cothold took to Jolan and treated her like one of their own. There was no sordid taking advantage of by the males and they even fended off the riders who would come to collect tithes and deliver messages.
The pretty Jolan's virtue was safe in this at least. She was untouchable other than a kiss of the hand even when the family fostering her took her to gathers. It was at a Bitran gather, transported by one of the family's sons who had impressed a bronze at Benden Weyr that Jolan was lost to what would become her only true love. At sixteen turns she was long past the time she should have chosen a career, but lounging with her foster family was not something she wished to give up and they adored the blonde too much to force her into something she would dislike. So she was free to make the choice she did when she stumbled in the evening upon a game of dragonpoker. The men let her join as a lark and she lost the few marks they loaned her quickly enough. But the second night she sneaked back to them she did better and left with marks of her own. The third night, the one before they left, she cleared out most of the other players.
And so her new life began. Feminine wiles got her into games anywhere she might catch a ride to. It was not, perhaps, a career for some, but to Jolan it was the life she wanted. Riders she strung along, or occasionally allowed the honor of bedding her, would carry her to casinos and other less structured games and she would win more than lose. At twenty she had made a name for herself and could be guaranteed a spot at any table. Everyone wanted to be the one to beat Jolan at her own game. And her game was dragonpoker only. She did not play games of chance like dice or roulette. That was for idiots and rubes in from the country.
No, cards were a game of logic and when she played she was as serious as a healer tending an ill child. Holders would give her rooms just to be able to brag about her being there. And because men found her attractive although she was careful never to sleep in a bed that would keep her from returning again. For the last six turns she's gone from casino to casino seeking new challenges and entertainments. She dresses like the lady she believes she could have been if her mother had not kept it from her. Most recently she received an invitation to come play at the Golden Egg. Whomever the mysterious owner is it seems he or she has decided to add a bit of glamour to their establishment by having Jolan play there. With no fanfare she arrived on her foster brother's bronze one day and can be seen most evenings at the card tables. Connections have earned her a place to sleep at the Weyr. She pays a modest stipend for the room although it is rarely used.
Have you read Game Philosophy and The Rules of Tempus Fugit?
Oh, most definitely! Several times. Absolutely riveting they are!
