Deviation Actions
Description
Associated Player Character: Marron O'Taite
Name: Lumiere Beauchene
NPC Type: Secondary
Born: September 22nd, 1354
Age at Time of Death: 446
Physical Age: 27
Height: 5'2"
Hair: Brunette
Eyes: Brown
Faction: Disciple
Profession: Holy Woman//Mental Health Counselor
Sybal Form: St Agatha's Candle
After dark, Lumiere's faith in God and her fervant desire to help others on their path to peace manifested in the tiniest of firebirds. About the size of a parrot, she bore the light of holy flame inside her, a flickering spark in the darkness of the Aionios Woods, where she spent much of her time reaching out to ferals in need. Around her neck spun a collection of nine bright 'rosary beads', which she used in her calling as a healer and guide to the lost sheep of Sybal Heim.
Sybal Power: Aromatic Rosary
Lumiere's power was the ability to soothe the troubled hearts of Syballian folk through the the magic of nostaligia. The nine beads around her throat, when crushed, released a powerful localized aroma that called upon a positive association which differed for every individual. For example: someone who spent their pre-Syballian existence vacationing by the sea might have taken comfort in the stink of brine and wet sand, while another might have smelled the scent of their grandmother's strawberry-rhubarb pie. The effect of the aroma was much more intense if the beads are consumed. Lumiere used this naturally grounding ability to soothe the minds of circumstantial ferals, the depressed, the grieving, and the traumatized, using them as smelling salts to bring a person back to a positive reality or otherwise give comfort where comfort was needed.
The power was limited to the total number of nine beads in a night, after which she would need to wait until the next night to utilize her ability again.
Docile or Feral: Docile
Personality:
Lumiere was devout (some might say zealous), caring (although occasionally nosy), wise (though not all-knowing) and clever (to a fault). She was a brave and driven woman whose faith in God and in the goodness of humanity drew her naturally to the healer's profession. Those who knew her might also have described her as possessed of a stubborn streak, and she was not above manipulating what she knew of others' personalities and pasts to get what she wanted-- especially if she could convince herself that it was in their own best interests.
History:
Born in France in 1354, Lumiere Beauchene was a youngest daughter of a peasant family who committed herself to the church at a young age. She took her vows at the tender age of 16 as much to escape poverty as any nobler motive, and for the next decade her life, she worked tirelessly to assist the poor who sought refuge at her abbey. Unfortunately, her efforts were often complicated by the church bureaucracy that surrounded her, which at the time was rather more concerned with collecting money from pilgrims than giving assistance to those in genuine need. One fateful Christmas eve, Lumiere sat in private prayer, wishing, as she had often wished, for a place where she could do God's good work without the interferance of God's good men. When she looked up from her stool on that cold December night, there before her spread the Aionios Woods. Weary from her fast and believing herself the recipient of some holy vision, she took to the boughs and thereby came to the city of Sybal Heim.
The Lord's Good Work
After entering the city, Lumiere remained in Ambrotos campus housing for longer than many. Initially she was frightened of the Syballian change and the strange metropolis in which she found herself held captive. It was not what she imagined Heaven to be like, nor did she confuse Theo with a messenger of Christ for very long. Yet the longer she lingered in the dormitories, watching new arrivals come and go, the more she realized that although Sybal Heim was not paradise, those who came to the city were by and large those in need of mercy. This understanding led her to take classes in mental health, counseling, and psychology, far more developed in Sybal Heim than they had been in world on the other side of the Traveler's Forest. After earning her license to practice, she spent several years tending the Organizer's sheep, first as an apprentice and then as a full-time Ministry Aide. During this time she became well known amongst the staff as a knowledgable woman with a passion for cases involving feral nature, the intricacies of which fascinated her. It became her speciality.
Despite her success and popularity, however, Lumiere began to feel that her ability to assist those most in need was hampered more than it was helped by her public position. In 1416, she left her post in government and returned to the cloister, renewing her vows and taking up residence at the nunnery of St. Germaine's. This monastery, formed in 1303, already had a reputation for helping those citizens who found themselves in need of succor, but who felt more comfortable seeking it in God than in the Organizer. Lumiere used the Abbey's social service framework to further her own private goals, coupling its already-extant resources with her ministry connections to begin locating and reaching out to unfortunate cases before they ended up on the floor of the Minister's court.
So began her dangerous nightly work as a watcher in the Traveler's Woods. It was a radical idea, and not altogether uncontroversial, for to do the work effectively necessitated a certain invasion of personal privacy. Lumiere became very good at researching solitary, sometimes violent ferals, approaching them either by day or by night, and convincing these 'lost souls' to return with her to the Abbey to recieve help. Her sources of information were many, and varied, and some whisper that as years passed and her knowledge grew, she became a source of information herself. From time to time she was known to visit the temple of Shri Panch.
It was on one such occasion that she met and befriended Tristine Serral, who would within a half-century rise to become Minister of Ambrotos herself. The two became fast friends, and exchanged letters for some three hundred years before one night, Lumiere went out to do her Good Work, and never returned.
Marron
Lumiere's calling put her in the path of many, over the span of a quarter millennia, not the least of whom was a particularly Insatiable Puddle from Maryland. Her importance in his life cannot be overstated. When she intervened in his life and convinced him to take up residence at St. Germaine's, Marron had never stood at the stern of a gondola before. He was a centenarian, caught in the throes of defining himself after decades of job-to-job employment, who was struggling to come to terms with the realization that most of the people he had once loved were almost certainly dead. Lumiere's outstretched wings allowed Marron to find a place where he was able to get back in touch with his faith, which in turn helped him come to terms with the passing of his family, and the abbey's resources allowed him to find his career. Without Lumiere, it is safe to say that the confident, laughing, skillful ferryman with whom the city is now so familiar would never have existed. He loved her like a sister.
Much speculation surrounds the circumstances of her death.
There are those that say she had it coming, given her occupation. When her corpse was discovered beneath the boughs of the Travelers Woods in November of 1800, those who knew her well were grieved, but largely unsurprised. Though an investigation dragged on for five long years, a culprit was never found, and eventually her case was shelved. Marron completed his training as a journeyman gondolier not long after her funeral mass, and every year he makes the journey to her resting place, where he leaves her an offering of white magnolia flowers. Her death shaped his perception of what the City ought to be, and though her spirit has long since fled, her memory yet remains in a gondola named La Lumiere du Soleil; the Light of the Sun.
Additional Info:
-The number of Lumiere's rosary beads is significant. In Biblical faiths, the number nine symbolises Faithfulness, Gentleness, Goodness, Joy, Kindness, Long-suffering, Love, Peace, and Self-control.
-It is also said that Christ died upon the cross at the ninth hour of the day, therefore making room for man's salvation.
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Lumiere has been in development for almost as long as Marron has been around. I meant to get her up weeks ago, but then Surprise Mod, and Chaska had to come first. Speaking of which, we're looking to have new members announced by the beginning of next week, so those of you who are holding your breath, please stay tuned. 
Tristine Serral belongs to 
Marron and Lumiere belong to me.
