Kate Croy

Name: Kate Croy
Player: Louise Dennis
Game: Castle Falkenstein

What does the Character do for a Living?

Nothing/companion: Kate is too poor to be able to support herself but brought up in such a way as to render unwilling/unable to earn her own living. She acts as a companion to an elderly aunt who is very rich in the hope of inheriting her money.

Who or What does the Character care about?

Money. Her fiancé Merton.

This doesn't mean that she was entirely amoral or mercenary, she had a great deal of strength of character and would go to great lengths to save people's lives if it was within her power, however this being (on the whole) an unusual event she wouldn't have listed it as one of the priorities in her life.

What will make the Character show emotion in the game?

Chauvinism, hypocrisy (in other people), immorality, looking (or being made to appear) undignified all anger her.

She had a "poor" fiancé, Merton Densher, whom she did love, but she didn't actually show it a great deal, even when he turned up.

What events made the Character the way they are today?

Kate was brought up with expectations of money without being provided with the means to support those expectations, her parents having lost all theirs. She was somewhat spoilt making her temperamentally disinclined to knuckle down and actually earn her living, and also disinclined to give up her intention of marrying Merton despite their obvious inability to support themselves.

What makes the character happy/unhappy/angry?

She likes being flattered, wined and dined. Once or twice she was nearly tempted away from Merton and intot the arms of the villian by a bit of flattery. However she would never have consented to anything underhand or immoral (probably because as a woman the results could easily have been disastrous to her reputation).

She dislikes being ignored. She also dislikes public scenes and being associated with scandal.

How do People view the Character initially, after Long Acquaintance?

Initially Kate comes across like many other Victorian women:sheltered, limited and rather mercenary. She has a distinctly argumentative streak and a touch of the sufragette about her, though she would never dream of doing anything so militant as chaining herself to a railing.

Longer acquaintance reveals that she is a great deal more radical than she at first appears. The only thing holding her back is her disinclination for earning her own living (as, say a governess) which forces her to conform to many of the norms of society in order not to jeopardize her future financial independance. In an age where marriages were expected to be "prudent" her engagement is distinctly imprudent (and hence largely secret). There are two driving factors pulling the character (not always in the same direction): the desire for financial security and the pursuit of womens' rights. The aims are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The options available to a woman in Kate's position boil down to inheriting money, marrying money or becoming a governess. Some may disaprove of Kate's choice of the first but it was the lack of genuine opportunities for women that placed her in the situation in the first place. However it should be pointed out that her interest in womens' rights stemmed not from a general belief in social justice, but from the actual experience of being personally placed at a disadvantage because of her sex.

She was, in many ways, self-centered, but she was also brave, determined and generous.

What Qualities does the Character admire (in other people)?

Intelligence, knowledge.

What does the Character look like and Where do they live ?

Kate is a fairly imposing person, generally expensively, smartly and correctly dressed. The picture above was the closest I could find, but I imagined the lines of her face being rather stronger and more determined.

At the time of her adventures Kate was travelling around Europe with her aunt as part of a Grand Tour.

Inspiration

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James

Note on Stats etc.

Castle Falkenstein requires aims in various spheres such as social and romantic. Kate desired to be financially independant, to marry Merton, and to be treated as the equal of men. It also requires the provision of a nemesis, or arch-enemy, however my GM kindly allowed me to chose "the patriarchal system which conspires to keep women in a position of virtual slavery".

I forget what other stats she had, except that she ended up a fairly handy with a sword and pistol.

In Game History

Kate was remarkably successful in her aims. She ultimately inherited her aunt's vast wealth - though it turned out that her aunt was a sort of body-hopping evil thing and that Kate was intended to be the next body. In the course of this and the numerous other adventures encountered on route she became an "adventuress" which in Castle Falkenstein terms granted her equal status as a man (though with perhaps rather more notoriety than she would have liked).

Playing Kate

Kate worked particularly well in conjunction with one of the other characters, Captain Winthrop, who was the typification of the victorian gentleman, right down to a double standard on sex. They proved greatly convincing when masquerading as a married couple since they couldn't stop arguing with each other.