Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on Apr 12, 2011 8:41:08 GMT -5
Avatar: Helena Bonham Carter
Name: Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Height: 5’2”
Country/Home Province: Terre d’Ange/City of Elua
Appearance and Disposition:[/b]
Siobahn Esmeraude – or Shiv or Esme as she prefers to be called, depending on her mood that day – is a beautiful woman, but perhaps not in the most conventional of definitions. She has a very peculiar face – with doe-like eyes, large, round and almond in shape, dark and glittering with a sort of bemused expression. They can even come off as wild at times, which would be true to her nature. She is not the subdued sort of lady who blushes or giggles, nor is she necessarily hard and cold. She is a business woman third, a woman second and an artist first. She has a certain grace about her in the way she moves and speaks, the sort of grace that seems bred into her that only the Night Court can provide, but there is something bewitchingly awkward and beautiful about everything she does. Shiv’s dark eyes show a myriad of things – not all of them pleasant – and lead to a small nose, one that comes to a point and turns up slightly at the tip, almost elfish in manner. Her cheeks are not full, in fact they are a little sallow, though not from malnourishment as she certainly has a healthy appetite, especially for sweets. Her slightly sunken cheeks could be from the vigorous use of opium in her spare time, or perhaps just from the fact that she was never a very round woman to begin with. Esme’s cheek bones are high and prominent, leading to a clean jaw line and a small chin. Dark locks surround her face in a halo of wild curls. Her hair is rarely tamed as she prefers to wear it in large bouffant buns, or as it is, wavy or curly, though now and then she does take the pains to straighten it or curl it into ringlets when need be. She has small shoulders and is, in fact, rather petite, standing a mere 5 feet and 2 inches, but her confidence soars to heights well above the height of any normal human being. Her breasts are small, though on her frame they do appear a little large, and her hips are narrow. Her body is toned, even though she is on the thinner side, and though she is short, she is mostly legs, which makes her appear taller and leaner. Her finger tips are stained, it seems, a constant dark blue tinge from the ink she uses for the marques and tattoos she etches into the skin of her clients – and herself. Her body is littered with various tattoos, though the most prominent is the Eglantine marquee that spans the entirety of her back, completed fafter many years of service in Eglantine House.
Though she does look a little odd, perhaps otherworldly, her smile is bright and playful, her voice is rich and alluring, having something of a constant sultry timbre. She is obsessed with art, with the perfection of it, the exploration of it, and when she is not working on a client’s skin, she is often in the pursuit of some art project or another that consumes her mind, body and soul. Being an ex-adept herself, she has connections with the Night Court, and so the most of her work is the marques of adepts, though she is commissioned now and again by non night court patrons for tattoos or art work that is generally not what is normally seen. Her love is not in painting or drawing or sculpting images that everyone knows – a clear sky, a portrait of a pretty woman – but things that are more macabre, darker, fantastical. Of course this means her clientele is narrowed, but she still manages to make a good living working with adepts and other patrons in her Artisan’s District shoppe.
History:
Esme was a wild child, born to a long line of marquists and artists, ex-adepts of Eglantine House, and so her future was much decided for her. Her parents were both Eglantine adepts, both with their most prominent talents in the visual arts, though her mother was also a lovely vocalist. Her father’s family owned a shoppe in the Artisan District which was always passed down through the male line, generation to generation and so the shoppe kept its name for many years – Bouvier & Sons. The children were always sent to Eglantine to learn the arts, and though not all were taken in on their abilities, the eldest son who did and made his marque was expected to return to the Artisan’s District to the shoppe, and he would apprentice there to take over. And up until Esme, there was always a son in the direct line to do this.
Chouette met Gervaise in Eglantine, of course, during lessons. As is expected, all adepts are considered beautiful – in fact – flawless physically, but the two were attracted to one another almost instantly, and unwaveringly. Their romance was one of hidden rendezvous, stolen kisses and short handwritten missives delivered by mutual friends. Gervaise explained to Chouette that one day, when his marque was made, he would have to return to his father’s shoppe, but he would like it if, when she too was finished, she would be his wife. The proposal was… unconventional to say the least, but she agreed. Once the two made their marques, Gervaise moved back to the house his family owned in the East Borough, and then to the shoppe to begin his apprenticing, while Chouette rented a small apartment in the City and gave art and vocal lessons to the children of nobles who lived in the boroughs surrounding the City. The two started courting properly, not having to hide their love for one another any longer, and were soon wed, Chouette lighting her candle the night before her wedding day.
Before long she was with child, and the prospect of furthering the line became tangible – real, even when they gave birth to their daughter. They gave her two names, unsure which would best suit her, and both of them being of a free sort of nature, though without knowing it this would contribute to her somewhat dualistic personality. Gervaise’s parents died naturally of age, having had children late in their lives, and his only sibling, his younger sister, went on to marry a minor lordling and moved to Siovale, leaving the city home and the business to him and his wife.
Esme was brought up with love. She was surrounded by the arts from the time she left her mother’s womb, always found with a piece of parchment in one hand and a piece of charcoal in the other. She was encouraged to draw and sing at all times, especially when she was feeling sad or angry or frustrated. She drew the sorts of things that surrounded her, the buildings, the people, the flora and fauna, though she did start at a young age to expand her horizons and draw from her own imaginings and dreams. Growing up in the City and the East Borough meant she was not the sort of child who learned to hunt, or ride horses, but it also meant that she was very street smart. She had a few friends on the lower end of social ranking, and some friends who were children of peers and nobles. This kept her head straight as she grew to know, understand and appreciate the varying walks of life. It also meant that she did get in with a less savoury crowd, though that suited her nature. She learned a bit of slight of hand, though she did not parade this knowledge about, as well as how to act around citizens of a higher standing. This duality furthered her already rather split personality. He wa a free child, wild and intrigued by everything, seeing the world through the bright wandering eyes of a child. She was a fine story teller amongst her playmates.
When she was 5, her parents explained to her that they would be bringing her to Mont Nuit to have her seen by the Dowayne of Eglantine. They brought with them a selection of her drawings, which they had bound, and selected a song for her to sing for the Dowayne, which she did, and rather well. But the Dowayne was not impressed so much by her voice as he was by her artistic abilities, developing so wella t such a young age. And so she was taken in, and there she grew and learned, practiced in her lessons, soaking up everything she was offered like a dry sponge. During her early years, she did not know what to think on the sexual aspect of her becoming a full fledged adept. Sometimes she was fearful of the concept, other times she found herself excited, emotionally and physically, though that took over more as she partook in the readings, and the lessons, that only served to entice and tempt her as she grew. She found that she looked forward to her debut, and when it finally came, she enjoyed it as much as she imagined she would, if not more.
The years went by of her taking patron, learning the lessons of the House who had taken her – the grace, the skills, excelling of course in the visual arts, and a bit of singing. She even learned how to play the lyre passing well, though in that venue she was not the best. No, her true abilities lay in sketching, drawing, sculpting, the more tactical and sometimes messy skill of an Eglantine adept. She would always be a part of the group of adepts who would pain backdrops for plays and performances, sketching lovely and elaborate costumes, though he was not very good at sewing them herself.
As the years passed, though, no siblings joined her. Her mother was not terribly successful in birthing more children, most of them dying before birth, or dying a few days after being born. Regardless of her ability to bear him a son, though, Gervaise loved Chouette with all his heart, and decided that this may be the time of change for his family’s legacy. So, when Siobhan finally finished her marquee, she was asked to return to apprentice at her father’s side. She was happy to do this, grateful for all she learned at Eglantine, but too happy and excited for her future to stay on there as a fully marqued adept. She moved back home, and stayed in the City learning from her father the ways of human flesh, how to ink it to perfection, and she found that this was her favourite medium, her favourite canvas to use – the human body.
When her father thought she was ready, he surprised her by changing the name on the sign that hung outside the shoppe door to “Salon Bouvier”, which elated Esme and warmed her heart. She worked at his side, helping more and more the older he grew, but it was a deep winter sickness that took both her mother and her father from her, and left her alone to carry on the family legacy. She was stricken with grief when they had been taken by the sickness, and tried her hardest to look after them, though they tried to keep her at a distance, afraid that she would catch ill and there would be nothing left of the family name. But she was strong, as small as she was, and her spirit grew stronger after it, though perhaps a little more wild a she threw herself into her art more and more.
Now she is the proud owner of Salon Bouvier and a distinguished marquist. A driven woman with a bit of a habit. She is sensual, hedonistic and slightly sadistic – and not to mention a little … odd.