Anita Smythe

From Changeling Venue

Seeming	Beast Hunterheart
Court	Autumn Court
Freehold	Dominion's End
Player	Marji Sinclair

1 Overview
2 History
3 Character Information

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Overview

Alias(es):
Mrs. Smythe

Real Name:
Anita Marston Ludlow

Age:
Apparent - 38; Actual - 138

Concept:
Lady Adventurer

Physical description:
Mask: An average looking woman, Mrs. Smythe carries herself with elegance and grace. Unfamiliarity with the modern age marks her with a certain hesitancy.

Mein: Remarkably similar to her mask, Mrs. Smythe's mein differs only in her yellow hawk's eyes, black talons and subtle suggestions of feathers.

In both views, Mrs. Smythe is a contradiction: a veneer of erudite civility thinly coating the feral nature of the jungle.

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History

Basic Timeline:
Born: November 1869
Married: June 1889
Motherhood: December 31, 1892
Adventure!:

India / Ceylon - 1889-1892
Hong Kong - 1895
Egypt - 1896-1898
Paris, World's Fair - Summer of 1900
Congo - 1900...

Stumbled into the Hedge: March 21st, 1901
Time in Arcadia: One year and a day
Flew back out: March 22nd, 2001
Takes up residence in Tidewater, VA: Late 2001 / early 2002

Background:
Anita Isabelle Marston was born in November of 1869 to a prominent Philadelphian family. Her life was standard for the time and she grows into a proper, slightly serious young woman. While enrolled at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, she meets Quenton Ludlow, a professor of geology and natural science, and gentleman adventurer while attending a university lecture series.. They married shortly afterward and she bore him a son, Joshua. Dr. Ludlow traveled extensively on behalf of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and after the wedding, Anita traveled with him, Joshua in tow. She acted as secretary, research assistant, and social director, as well as wife and mother.

They attended the Paris World's Fair during the summer of 1900. While there, Dr. Ludlow met a group of scientists and adventurers planning a trip to the Congo and decided to join them. The Ludlow family joined the expedition as it left for Africa that fall. The expedition wound its way up the Congo river, stopping at the various stations set up by Sir Henry Morton Stanley as he made his way along the Congo. In January 1901, the expedition set up a camp near the mountains just west of Costermansvilles (in the area known as Bukavu today), lured by rumors of an extensive gorilla population. That spring, Anita rose in the morning and took a short walk around the campsite, as was her habit. She enjoyed the time to herself, in the quiet before her son awakened and the tasks of the day beckoned. This particular morning, however, her morning constitutional took her into the Hedge.

Although an experienced outdoorsman, it was not immediately apparent to Anita that anything was awry and by the time she failed to recognize her environs, she had passed beyond view of the door. Her orienteering skills failed to return her to the camp, much to her growing frustration. After a time, she came upon a small spring. The spring flowed cold and crystal clear, singing as it poured over the rocks and lichen. Having seen no need to carry a canteen on her morning walk, her thirst compelled her to drink. She knelt before the spring, touched her lips to the water, and dranks. Thirst quenched she raiseed her head ...

...and stared into the yellow eyes of a huge stag-headed man.

One hundred years and one day later, she flies back out of the Hedge, hitting the ground from a great height, and finds herself back in the Congo jungle.

Standing up and dusting herself off, she made her back to where she remembered the campsite to be only to find it gone. She wandered back the way the expedition came, heading towards the river and found the scientific station at Kahuzi-Biéga National Park, a mountain gorilla reserve in the mountains of Costermansvilles, now known as Bukavu. Considering the civil wars raging in the area, this is likely the only reason she survived her return. Here she learned that the year is 2001 and no one seems to notice anything wrong with her falcon's eyes...

Word is communicated back to the United States. She is transported back to Philadelphia. While all doubt her claim of being who she says she is, she clearly bears a family resemblance and the similarity to family and expedition photos from the turn of the century is uncanny. DNA testing proves kinship; the Browning pistol a disquieting coincidence. While the family and their lawyers deliberate on what to do, Anita is contacted by other Tristan Hunter. With his advice, she gently requests a trust fund to support her in a modest manner, somewhere outside of Pennsylvania of course or else she'll have to rely upon the income from the generous offers of book deals and exclusive interview requests from quality journals such as the National Enquirer to provide for her needs. The family quickly agrees and the lawyers provide.

She moved to Hampton Roads in early 2002, drawn to the freehold's reputation of old world charm and rumors of other Lost in residence from older times like herself.

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