The Statue Inn has found Eir Erica Burgess of Asgard. She is immortal and is a Valkyrie.
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A former handmaiden to Frigg, Eir lived a life of peace and healing within Asgard. She was happy with her lot in life, but when the Valkyries were created, she immediately offered her skills as a healer. Although she loved Frigg, she felt honour bound to work with the women who swore allegiance to Freyja.
Her happiness only increased. Although her heart broke for every man she could not save, she helped so many others. She was doing more. Eir became close to the other Valkyries, a bond like sisterhood formed through their duties, especially Queen Hippolyta. Used to serving, she provided invaluable advice, an advocate for the peace she felt in her heart.
Although the time of gods is passing, the Valkyries still retain their strength, preparing for the final battle that would one day come.
The Coven approached the Valkyries, warning them that the Final Battle was coming. Concerned, Hippolyta spoke to her council, and they created a plan with the Coven. Valkyries would keep the peace in Atlantis while the Coven manipulated things so the treaty would occur. Valkyries are forbidden from directly influencing much, but they could still try to help, thanks to the prophecy.
However, Eir saw necessity for something more. She wanted to understand why the Final Battle was coming, to understand the people involved, but she knew they wouldn’t talk freely to a Valkyrie, not everyone at any rate.
So she got permission from her Queen, and left for Atlantis several months before the treaty talks were started. She found work under the name of Erica Burgess as a bar wench at the Statue Tavern. The work is distasteful, and she can see why some of her sisters look down on men.
Life as Erica is uncomfortable but it helps her to understand humanity now that it has been so long since she spent time amongst them. Understanding is the key to peace.
Civilians have found Cassandra Armstrong of Albion. She is aged 25 and is human.
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Richard Armstrong was meant to be nothing but a humble farmer, but his quick mind and charming manner changed his life. Getting an apprenticeship with a passing merchant, he started to travel and learn the business, eventually taking it over. That was how he met his wife, a woman who was of noble blood, and far too good for a slightly dishonest businessman, but she loved him and he loved her, and that was enough for both of them.
Although her family wasn’t happy with it, she went off to marry him, and soon fell pregnant. They were happy, but unfortunately, she fell sick after giving birth, and died of a feverous infection a week later.
Richard was heartbroken, but he couldn’t abandon his daughter. He knew he could have paid a wet nurse to look after her on his father’s farm, but he didn’t want to be parted from baby Cassandra, so instead, he paid a wet nurse to travel with him and Cass.
That was the start of Cass’s life.
Her childhood was spent in a different place every month, with different tutors teaching her languages and about the different cultures. It was her father who taught her business. For as long as she can remember, she’s been helping him. At first, it was just by listening to what people said around her, and then later, it was much more involved.
Not many people are aware that the lovely woman who travels with her father is just as savvy a businesswoman as her father is a charming businessman. She is the one who keeps the books for him, helping to make the best business decisions. She is his equal, but she knows that it is an advantage to be underestimated, so she pretends she is not.
In Atlantis, she claims to be there with her father yet again, while he does business, and it’s true. They are doing business. However, she’s also very interested in marriage. Not out of grand ideas of love, although she does believe true love exists. She simply knows that the only way to take the business to the next level is for her to have a title before her name, which means she’s looking for a man who can give her what she wants.
Benin’s Court have found Comtesse Abigail Argent of Benin & Gaul. She is aged 28 and is human.
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Abigail’s father was a Comte and merchant of Gaul, a well liked man who was friends with the king. Abigail never realised that in all his travels that he told her about, he was actually the king’s spy. That was what had brought him to Benin, but he was found out by them, and arrested.
Due to his status, they didn’t kill him. They didn’t even hurt him. He was simply a prisoner of state, allowed to do whatever he wanted as long as he followed the rules. The key rule was never to leave Benin.
Without a choice, he made a home there, and married. Abigail was the daughter born to him of that marriage, born into being a prisoner. For much of her life, she’d be one, a prisoner of a gilded cage. She had the best education Benin had to offer, never wanting for anything, but her parents always reminded her, that could end at any time. There were always guards watching them, watching her, not to protect them but to make sure they didn’t try to escape.
And then one day, her father said they were going home. They’d been freed.
It was a scary time, leaving Benin for a land she only knew of in stories. She kept wondering if the guards would change their minds and kill them as they left.
But they made it to Gaul in one piece. The family’s fortunes had been decimated, and there was a new king on the throne, but their adventures were a currency of their own kind, and they were accepted into the court easily. Abigail even became friends with the King’s sister.
Everything felt like it was falling into place. The family was respected, she was soon to be married, she had friends. And then it was discovered that her father was still not truly free. He’d been released on the condition he spied for Benin.
Abigail’s parents were imprisoned once more, and she was banished. She did not wish to return to Benin either, so she started travelling, only to discover that her excellent education was not one that really translated well to surviving on her own. She knew a lot about the real world, but not how to live in it.
While helping a seamstress one day, she was singing cheerfully to pass the time, not realising that she caught the attention of the fae king Oberon. When she left for the night, he grabbed her, pulling her into the fae realm as his newest form of entertainment.
She thought she was there for years, singing for the Seelie Court, but when she finally left, it’d only been months. Those months, or years, whichever you wanted to call them, had done one thing though. They’d taught Abigail how to survive.
She was prepared for the world now, and returned to her nomadic life, this time using her voice was her main business. Most ships were happy to pay for entertainment, allowing her to see the whole world, to control her own fate and freedom.
Neptune’s Wife has found Gunner Charles Roberts of Albion. He is aged 38 and is human.
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The first ten years of his life, Charles never had any problems. He had a brother three years younger than him, and their family was well respected in Albion, his father a military man that inspired Charles to want to serve himself one day. He’d spend his days playing soldiers with his brother Henry, spoiled by their mother who adored her children, despite both births being hard on her. She fell pregnant again, wanting to expand her family, but died in childbirth to twin girls when Charles was 12.
Charles’ father became destroyed by his grief, blaming the newborn girls for it, and started to drink and gamble, soon being kicked out of the military for his destructive temper and they went from being respected to hated. That just made it worse on the children, and the days of playing were over. Too many times, he heard his father curse the girls for being the reason he was stuck with four selfish, greedy brats to deal with alone. Charles took over the role of caring for them, and it was a common sight in their street to see Charles with his arms full of the twins, and Henry hanging onto his now threadbare jacket so he wouldn’t fall behind.
It was also a common sight to see Charles senior drunk. He’d gamble what little money he earned, or waste it on the next drink, until his vices lost him his job. His temper grew worse, and the younger Charles started acting as a shield to protect his siblings from their father’s wrath. Even at such a young age, he knew he couldn’t rely on others to protect them. They had to work for everything. His father often complained that everything cost something, a lesson the younger Charles took to heart.
Desperate for a way to care for his family properly, he joined the Navy when he turned 17. The fact his father had once been a fine soldier helped, and Charles had a sunny, loyal nature that won him a great deal of favour. Knowing he could not rely on his father, he found a couple in Atlantis who wanted children, and the next time he returned home, he planned to steal his siblings away only to discover their father had abandoned them, leaving Henry doing his best to look after them.
Without no one else, they had ended up homeless, forced to beg or steal. Whenever possible, Henry tried to find work, but he was only young, and no one trusted a child that looked like they hadn’t bathed in months. Whatever he earned or stole was spent on food, and Henry would often go without to make sure his siblings had enough. After a while, they joined up with a couple other homeless children, and they’d all share what little they had.
Charles safely took them to Atlantis, where he promised the couple he’d send every coin he earned to them, visiting them every chance he got. Things were good for some time, until Charles got word Henry had taken after their father, falling in with gamblers. Charles managed to get leave, returning home to pay off his brother’s debts, and managed to convince him to volunteer. The Navy had done so much for him, he was sure it’d be just as good for Henry. He was wrong.
Henry hadn’t changed his ways, and stole weapons from the armory to pay off a debt. When he confessed to Charles that he was the culprit the Captain was looking for, Charles decided to lie and take the blame, saying he was the one.
He consoled himself over the loss of the career that had given him so much with the fact that Henry still had a chance to make a better man of himself, and he’d be there for the twins more, but mere weeks later, Henry’s ship was destroyed.
At first, Charles tried to find an honest job, but word of the crime he’d taken the blame for had spread, so he took worse and worse jobs until he lost his hope anything would change. Despite hating pirates, he felt he had no choice but to take the position on Neptune’s Wife, just so he could keep sending the girls money.
Charles is partially deaf in his right ear, from his work, but he makes an excellent gunner all the same. He’s also a completely brutal fighter when it comes to it, but he only fights if he wants to.
On the Neptune’s Wife, he’s not particularly trusted by most of the crew. They knew he used to be a part of the team that tried to arrest Charles, and they know he keeps a ton of secrets from them, and that he likes arguing with them. He says he’s fine with their distrust, but Charles lies a lot.
