Isabeau Icarius
ALIAS
Izzy, Professor Icarius
FACECLAIM
Imogen Poots
POSSESSION
Spirit of Wisdom
AGE
30
GENDER
Female(she/her)
HEIGHT
5'4"
SEXUALITY
Heterosexual
STATUS
Planned Ship
NATION OF BIRTH
Tevinter Imperium
CURRENTLY LOCATED
Tevinter Imperium
OCCUPATION
Professor of Anthropology
ORGANIZATION
Nobility
0
POSTS
0 G
GOLD
THREAD LOG
Mage
Human
CODEX

Note: Using a Master All Foci and an Uncommon Mount token for this character.


Born the middle child of High House Icarius, Isabeau’s youth was nearly idyllic. Sure, her parents were distant – but Nurse and Cook were kind and generous with Izzy and her siblings. Their rotating cast of tutors were among the best in the Imperium – even if Ignacious the younger occasionally ran out their patience.

Things changed when Izzy’s magic and courses came in at age eleven. For the first time in her life her parents took notice, eager to shape their daughter for an advantageous future alliance. Her lessons diverged, focusing instead on manners and music and magic. This last was alright with Isabeau, but all else was frustrating nonsense. Why should she need to lead conversation partners around in elaborate circles, memorize all the expected replies?

The Circle offered a reprieve, once she was old enough to go. Her healing talents flourished there in ways they could not at home – there were only so many scraped knees to fix in the Icarius nursery.

Isabeau began her compulsory service at age sixteen, like most mages. Her family’s influence kept her far away from the fighting. Instead, she served in the infirmaries, practicing both mundane and magical forms of care, typically upon the far more numerous non-mage soldiers. Though originally full of dread, Izzy grew to enjoy the work. For the first time in her short life, she had a purpose outside herself. She stayed in Seheron for an extra year beyond the mandated two, returning home only at her family’s insistence.

Now that Isabeau was nineteen, her mother Hortensia saw her kitted out in the latest fashions and onto the marriage market. That is to say, House Icarius hosted a grand debut ball and invitations to others piled up upon a silver tray. Isabeau dutifully replied to each but made a deliberately poor showing in society. If a man asked her to dance, she trod on his feet. If he persisted, she spilled punch down his front. If her mother threatened to confine her, she turned into a bird and flew to the Circle.

Isabeau spent a lot of time at the Circle, that first season. Having successfully put off all suiters thus far, she was determined not to have another. After much sweet talking and tears, her father allowed her to re enroll for advanced classes herself. Her budding interest in history exploded, verging on obsession with the Pre-Andrastian tribes. The Neromenians were of particular interest to her – the hands that had built the Temple of Razikale itself, where she studied and now practically lived.

The years crept by very agreeably for a time, with only the occasional terse letter from her mother. Isabeau joined the faculty of her beloved Circle – her first class was an introduction to creation magic for the younger students. Her own further education continued at an extraordinary pace, bolstered by the spirit of wisdom that attached itself to her in the time after the Veil fell.

In 9:51, Isabeau Icarius is one of the foremost experts on Tevene Dragon Cults in the country and is styled Professor of Anthropology of the Minrathous Circle. All is not entirely well, however. She is greatly troubled by the news of her little brother’s exile from the family – and concerned about her older sibling’s alleged gambling debts. Most worrying of all: an ultimatum from her father.

Marry or be cut off. Either way, the family would not be footing the bill for her lifestyle any longer.
TIMELINE

Appearance

Isabeau stands just under average height for a Tevene woman. She typically wears her long, honey-bright hair styled up and out of the way, but it is wavy and quite voluminous when down. The Icarius family resemblance is strongest in her clear blue eyes and the fine bone structure of her face. While petite, she is deceptively sturdy and athletic – owing both to the vivacity of her magic and a lifelong love of riding.

While once trained in etiquette, Isabeau is either oblivious or indifferent to the rules of comportment in her spinster years. She shows boredom or excitement plain upon her face and is, consequently, a terrible liar. In conversation, she often seems distracted – lingering too long upon what she should say or do, if not daydreaming outright. (This has a regrettable tendency to put people off.)

When speaking to her students or an academic peer, Isabeau is much more animated and confident – with a bright intensity to her that, again, some may find off putting.

She dresses accordingly for her social station but finds she has little use for elaborate skirts, favoring dresses that do not alter her silhouette over much. Isabeau is very fond of patterns and bright colors.

Personality

Wallflower. Bluestocking. Spinster.

Isabeau has always been a bit of an odd duck, never quite fitting in with her peers among the Minrathous social set. Thanks to her family – one of the oldest great Houses left standing after Archon Arvina’s reforms – that has never impeded her in any way that truly matters.

Insatiably curious and a little bit brilliant, Izzy may at first appear disinterested and withdrawn to anyone that she cannot learn from or meaningfully instruct. To her students and fellows, she presents a different face, energetic and focused. Isabeau approaches problems with rational practicality but has difficulty setting them aside unsolved, often losing sleep until her thoughts have run their course.

Izzy possesses a generally optimistic disposition, owing largely to the incredibly privileged circumstances of her life thus far. She is a bit of a homebody, preferring a night in with a new book and her menagerie of taxidermied creatures over an evening at the opera.

House Icarius

House Icarius staunchly upholds the traditional values of Tevinter, aligning themselves with the conservative factions resisting change. Positioned as the vanguard of tradition, they defend the status quo, contributing to the struggle within the Magisterium and navigating the shifting dynamics post-barrier fall.

Connections

Ignacious Alastor Daedalus Icarius III Father – House Icarius Patriarch – Adoptable NPC
Hortensia Icarius née Serpentis Mother – House Icarius Matriarch – Adoptable NPC
Iovita Icarius Older Nonbinary Sibling – House Icarius Heir – Adoptable NPC
Ignacious Alastor Daedalus Icarius IV Younger Brother – Played by Fromikeable

Note: Names of these NPCs may be retconned if they are adopted and fleshed out by another player. Major story details may not.