Richelle de Mauvais

Richelle de Mauvais is a Red Widow from Dementlieu.

Background

Dementlieu

The Red Widow's unknown mother implanted a clutch of eggs in an unnamed human man, abandoning him to be devoured from the inside out by their offspring. Before this could happen, the man was purchased by the two scholars Albert and Giles de Mauvais. The clutch hatched in 709 BC, but the hatchlings were trapped in Albert's laboratory, where he subjected them to inhumane experiments. In the year 714 BC, due to her extremis of terror and pain, one hatchling discovered a spark of arcane magic within herself, which she tried to use to secure her escape. Instead, Albert stated out loud his intention to dissect her brain.

At this point, matters took a turn. Giles de Mauvais knocked Albert unconscious, stuffed the gifted hatchling and a number of precious books in a bag and absconded, fleeing east. During their journey, he nursed the Red Widow back to health and started educating her about the world at large. He made it very clear that his actions were not inspired by true altruism, but that he wanted to learn about Red Widows by observing her, rather than slicing into her flesh.

Unusually, the Red Widow felt a deep and lasting sense of gratitude for the human who had saved her life. As she gained control of her shapeshifting powers, the Red Widow and Giles started to claim they were a travelling father and daughter to deflect awkward questions, and he bestowed upon her the name Richelle de Mauvais.

Nova Vaasa

The unlikely pair wound up in Kantora, where Giles took up a teaching position at the University in Kantora and enrolled 'Richelle' as a student. He was honest with her about his intention to monitor her capacity to learn and her mental growth when compared to the human children with whom she must take classes. Rather than be offended, Richelle considered the idea to be interesting and a challenge; she focused on her studies, rather than the appetites of the flesh.

When Giles declared that he was ready to compile his notes on her development into a book in 719 BC, Richelle was eager to be the first to read it -- but tragedy struck. One morning, Giles was found dead in a brothel in Kantora, apparently having succumbed to a heart attack while at business with the local prostitutes. Because Richelle was his only heir, the sum of Giles' worldly possessions passed to her. Out of respect for the man who had saved her from a torturous death and found her interesting enough to study, Richelle decided to complete her studies at the University before moving on with her life.

In 721 BC, Richelle chanced to overhear her father's killer boast of his deed while deep in his cups. Spurred by a mixture of loyalty and gratitude towards Giles, the Red Widow murdered his killer in the dead of night, injecting him with enough venom to kill a horse, then leaving his body where it lay instead of feasting upon him.

Richelle graduated summa cum laude from the University in Kantora in 722 BC. Suddenly realizing that half of a Red Widow's average lifespan had already passed, she was suddenly gripped by the fear of death and resolved to find ways of extending her lifespan. As none of her studies in Kantora had offered her any leads, Richelle travelled west to find superior houses of learning.

Dementlieu

Richelle enrolled in the University of Dementlieu in 724 BC, planning to engage in postdoctoral studies and perform advanced studies in the field of biology. As part of her research she started trapping and vivisecting any other Red Widows she encountered, an activity that led to her failing a Powers Check -- an unusual achievement for a creature whose humanity should be nothing but an illusion. Although her research did teach her a lot about Red Widows in general and herself in particular, she found nothing to help her extend her lifespan. What she did find, was an explanation why she found it so much easier to resist the urges of the flesh than most of her kind; be it due to a natural mutation or due to Albert de Mauvais' experiments, but Richelle was both sterile and asexual, neither inclined to nor capable of producing offspring.

Regrettably - for Richelle - her research was cut short before she could find a scientific way to extend her life. Her biological experiments, once discovered by the University's leadership, led to general outcry and her forced ejection from the University in 730 BC. With most of her inheritance spent on necessities, the cost of her education and a laboratory that was now lost to her, Richelle needed to secure an income. She decided to ply her abilities with arcane magic at the venue most tolerant of it in Dementlieu, and she applied for a membership with la Société de Legerdemain in 731 BC. To her relief, she managed to secure a sufficient income to meet her needs. To her surprise, she found she had a knack for stage magic and quite enjoyed it.

Richelle was successful enough that she managed to save up money to found a travelling company of entertainers which she named Théàtre d'Atroce, recruiting from among the less successful entertainers of Port-a-Lucine who might otherwise have starved to death - and thus came cheap where wages were concerned. In addition to travelling all over the domain, delivering music, theater, stage magic, acrobatics and other diversions to the people, Richelle started using her group to help foreign agents get around the land undetected. She especially favoured the patronage of Borca, as she was compensated for her services with Vital Venom, which allowed her to halt her physical aging.

Alas for Richelle, Dominic D'Honaire got wise of her business and subtly blacklisted the Théàtre d'Atroce, cutting it off from sponsorship by the nobility and discouraging paying customers from attending its performances. Aware that this was little more than a warning shot from the master manipulator of Dementlieu, Richelle decided to take her company on the road, and started a grand tour of the Core. She would eke out her supply of Vital Venom for as long as it would last while searching for other ways to extend her life.