Lady Aliénor "The Ice Queen" de Monteneuf

• Titles:
  • Countess of Monteneuf (don't ask her where it is)
  • The Ice Queen (marketing)
  • Dauphine (claimed, laughably not true)
  • Empress (aspirational)
• Names:
  • Aliénor de Monteneuf (taken)
  • REDACTED (birth name)
• Age: 27
• Ability Scores:
  • Shock: -1
  • Maneuvre: 0
  • Artillery: +2
  • Reconnaissance: +1
  • Tomfoolery: +1
• Traits:
  • Magic Touch
• Gender: Female (she/her)

The dishonourable Lady of Monteneuf is a dashing young lady with long blonde hair in a thick braid and pale skin. Her features are delicate, a perfect disguise for someone trying to avoid too much scrutiny into her business practices.

Most of the time is seen in a dashing naval uniform inspired outfit.

• Her favourite navy blue tricorn with white lace and the shield of the Compagnie de Glace (CDG).
• A navy blue frock coat inspired by navy uniforms with white lapels and cuffs, Gold-laced buttons and épaulettes.
• White dress beautifully detailed with white lace and embroidered pearls, and matching white gloves and stockings.
• A blue and white parasol with lace, to protect her from the sun.
• Spanish rapier carried in a black and gold leather belt to protect her from knaves.
• A black leather purse with gold embellishments, it contains a pistol since she sees no need for being honourable.
• Black patent leather shoes with gold buckles.

She introduced the ice trade to the Empire, and that's where she made a lot of her money but she almost certainly would not have been in that position though unless her parents were rich. It's unclear where they are now or to some extent even who they were, and her business practices have made sure that her family has not wanted to connect themselves too tightly with her.

The best bet to find out about her past might be to send an enhanced inquiry to the DEI that presumably has been keeping track of her since she is a registered magic user. You can probably find out her real name and her education from them if it is of interest.

While her business might be cutthroat, a lot of merchants are impressed by her ability to continually make risky bets that pay off well. Plus her products has made her very popular with the nobility and has opened a lot of doors for her since no noble would serve whisky or brandy without ice from the CDG these days meaning that she has a lot of connections, and presumably a lot of blackmail material if required.

She might not have a boyfriend in every port, but she's working on having one in every court. And while she isn't the sort of person who would kiss and tell, the fact that she might have kissed a socially unacceptable amount of people might mean that her discretion might not be enough to avoid awkard situations. This is likely to work both for or against her depending on the situation and if said people happen to meet and discuss the situation.

• Slavery: Her opinion on the matter is that abolitionism is good for business, especially in the current situation.

While Aliénor isn't technically nobility, she is the sort of person who will make sure you quickly remember to forget that. And where Monteneuf is located is anyone's guess, maybe in the colonies?

As far as the people around her are concerned she is as noble as it gets, and she has paid to make sure she appears in the Almenac d'Armagnac which certainly helps.

Maybe gold is the sign of nobility after all?

She doesn't really feel like she deserves to be empress, but she definitely is willing to risk it all to become empress given the situation that has very conveniently revealed itself to the world.

She takes the situation as a sign from the gods that the Mandate of Heaven is up for grabs.