Jeanne Roussel

Art by Kiidkat, commissioned by Ryissa

**Jeanne Roussel** is a Council Recovery Corps member and former GUARDIAN operative, philanthropist and heiress to the Roussel fortune. Currently, she is dating CRC Director, Julian Stoker.

## Biography

Professors Frank and Nadine Roussel gave birth to Jeanne Marie on the human colony of Demeter in March 2161, as an unexpected but welcome surprise for the aged parents. Jeanne was the first of her family to be born outside of the Sol system and the youngest out of six. Like most modern parents, the Roussels opted for in utero gene therapy to correct their daughter’s predisposition for early-onset glaucoma. The procedure most likely caused Jeanne’s heterochromia, which was not discovered until her birth. Frank and Nadine thought this was unique, rather pretty and as it wasn’t detrimental to her vision they decided not to correct the defect. Jeanne’s early life was very comfortable and she was rather spoiled by her parents and her siblings.

Growing up on the idyllic garden world of Demeter, her early years were heavily influenced by arts and science. She maintained excellent marks throughout her formal education, most likely due to both of her parents being educators and her entire family placing great importance on various studies. She became fascinated by humanity's exploration into space and the discovery of sapient alien life and elected to participate in as many off-world excursions as she could and expressed great interest in exploring herself after graduating, though her parents preferred she focus on continuing her education, insisting that Jeanne pursue a higher degree. This conflict was exacerbated further during Jeanne’s junior and senior years when her sister Zoë abandoned the university with several friends, and her brother Remy’s application was rejected from the college of his choice, causing her family great consternation. Jeanne, the only child yet to graduate, received constant criticism regarding her school work; this reached a boiling point the day following graduation, after a particularly volatile argument Jeanne abruptly left Demeter with only her favorite duffle bag filled with a handful of her possessions– and several of her parents credit chits– for the Citadel and sister Elise’s apartment. Her parents were irritated with her departure, and cut her off from her own accounts, but made no effort to retrieve their daughter believing she would most likely turn to her siblings and would come home when she ran out of money and in time for college to begin in the fall.

Initially unfazed with Jeanne’s rebellion, and never having lived with her youngest sister, Elise agreed to let Jeanne live there for the time being. Even so, living on her own means proved to be a lot more challenging that Jeanne had first anticipated, and quickly blew through half the funds she stole from her parents just wandering around the Citadel. Faced with dwindling funds she attempted to find employment, and though she’d always been a quick learner she lacked any real experience or skills to offer and repeatedly moved through various jobs. On one occasion, Jeanne stood up for a young quarian accused of stealing in a café, was fired on the spot. Both were asked to leave but this incident earned her a friend, Len'Resal nar Xenna. Len taught Jeanne what she could about simple electronics and in return, Jeanne shared her love of art. The two of them attempted to create a new VI to sell but this ultimately failed, caused a falling out between and they parted ways. Tensions with Elise were rising as well, as Jeanne was a less than gracious houseguest and had been devoting her time (as well as her sister’s apartment) to various failed endeavors. Elise began hinting at and then blatantly asking when Jeanne was going to grow up and move out.

As time passed by Jeanne grew bored with the Citadel and her sister's now constant nagging. She vented incessantly to her brother Nolan, who was working as a surveyor on a private survey crew, the Flotsam. She begged her brother to speak with Adrian and Evelyn al’Haddir to take her on as a junior assistant. Initially, they agreed to only allow her to observe a quick visit, but her enthusiasm amused everyone on board and weeks turned into months aboard the small vessel. It wasn’t long before Jeanne befriended the 5 man crew (now 6) and enjoyed jumping from system to system, assisting with cataloging and packaging on jobs and loading and unloading in port. Jeanne hounded the crewmembers to learn about geology and surveying and pestered the long security agent to teach her to shoot a rifle. Her parents grew unhappy that their daughter wasn’t pursuing a real education and began pressuring Nolan to bring Jeanne home for good and he, attempting to help, tried to convince Jeanne to go home. This led to arguments with her brother for siding with their parents, and so piqued Jeanne decided she’d turn to another sibling, one who decided school wasn’t worth it either. Refusing to say another word to her brother, she quit the Flotsam the next time it was in port and jumped on another shuttle.

Moving in with Zoë and her sister’s friends on Omega, Jeanne enjoyed the nightlife scene, picking up odd jobs as a courier or bartender. Zoë's boyfriend Jaime was small time dealing red sand, and Jeanne fell heavily into the party scene at this time, often finding herself missing shifts and no longer employed. The high life was enjoyed for over a year but ended abruptly when Jeanne came home to a ransacked flat. Jamie, the drugs and all the money they had stashed around the apartment were gone. Afraid, and now being harassed by thugs, Zoë called her parents for help. They offered only tickets home, which Zoë readily accepted. Furious and now fed up with her family, Jeanne ditched her sister and left with a group of friends on a proposed weekend excursion to Illium– though she had no intention of returning with them.

Within a few days after arriving on Illium, Jeanne and friends found themselves slightly intoxicated in an upscale art brokerage. Always the show off, Jeanne lead them to talk about several of the sculptures and portraits, even interrupting a couple arguing over two paintings to buy. Directing the couple to a 3rd piece instead, Jeanne was overly enthusiastic and while animatedly talking she knocked into a display, sending the top-heavy sculpture to the floor. Jeanne’s friends suddenly had another place to be and she was left to deal with the aftermath. The broker, Eshthatia, was sympathetic however, she’d been observing Jeanne with great interest when the young woman began speaking about art. Impressed by Jeanne’s astute observations, and also influenced by the couple who purchased the painting the young woman had recommended, she offered a compromise to Jeanne: work in her store as a sort of apprentice broker and her wages would go to pay off the debt, her room and board. Without other options and genuinely upset that she had destroyed a valuable piece of art, Jeanne agreed to a six months term of indentured service.

The asari merchant had no margin for tardiness or slacking off in her business, and Jeanne realized upon her sixth infraction that resulted in her contract being extended that she realized she could much better. Eshthatia grew very affectionate of the young human, possibly due to never having children of her own or Jeanne’s admirable enthusiasm to learn, and began to hint that Jeanne could stay on as a real employee if she wanted to. While learning how to purchase and broker art was interesting, and could have become a great career that offered much traveling, it bored her. Esththatia had been incredibly generous but Jeanne craved change and adventure. She enjoyed bouncing around as she had the last few years but now she has practically nothing to show for it. She spoke with her siblings at great lengths what she could do. Most of them advised her to go home, or enroll in college somewhere; in one such vidcall, her brother Remy suggested enlisting, as he was considering it himself and the thought stuck with Jeanne for several weeks. She liked school and was good at it, but that is what her parents wanted her to do. Enlisting seemed a good way she could have fun, see the galaxy and get paid. However, Jeanne's father suddenly passed away, and she found herself doing what she never wanted to do again: she went home to Demeter.

After the terse reunion and funeral, Jeanne left Demeter a second time with the same bag as years before, only this time to enlist. Her Mother was very skeptical about this decision and Jeanne did struggle initially but refused to give Nadine the satisfaction of being right. Surprisingly, Jeanne is a remarkable marksman, though she only completed Alliance pistol proficiency and prefers the M5 to other weapons. Scoring high on her aptitude exams, Jeanne went on to train as an air traffic controller. She was assigned to Arcturus station in 2184 and remained there for the next two years. It wasn't a bad life, it was comfortable, and she excelled in her occupation- but something always felt missing. Jeanne was not satisfied. For years she'd been following G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N events ever since its inception. As their notoriety grew she again felt that restlessness and mounting desire to move and figured it was better to be where the action is. When she finally made the conscious decision to apply, she submitted the transfer paperwork to G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N without any hesitation or second thought.

With G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N., Jeanne was assigned to Haven as part of the Defense Forces, retaining her job as an air traffic controller. After the destruction of Haven, Jeanne was reassigned to the GSV Osiris and took the position as Communications Officer. She participated as part of the ground teams that recovered the Torch Microdrive, discovered and gained the trust of the rachni, made contact with the Reaper Prometheus, recovered a Crucible Engine on Eden Prime, and survived the Battle at the Omega Four Relay. Sadly, both Jeanne's mother and her sister Zoë had disappeared when the entire colony of Demeter had gone missing. It was discovered during the Eden Prime mission that Jeanne's mother perished at the hands of Monarch's forces. Her sister Zoë's body was never recovered.

Shortly after the war Jeanne, with the help of her surviving family, established the S.O.A.R. Foundation- the Scholastic Opportunities, Advancement and Resources Foundation, a charity scholarship to provide those displaced by the Reaper War educational services, often setting up temporary schools alongside other humanitarian efforts and resources. Jeanne often volunteers as an Art tutor for the Foundation.

In February of 2189, Jeanne hosted the Diascia-Roussel Art Fest on Demeter, which auctioned several of her pieces in a charity event for batarian refugees. The summer of that same year, Jeanne registered a small private vessel under the name *MSV Stargazer*. Her time is now spent mostly reclaiming Remnant and Reaper tech around the galaxy. Jeanne, and her extremely intelligent "VI", Vivienne, are highly sought after for interviews, fund raisers, and other endorsements, and though she is no longer able to speak openly about G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N, she has been publicly vocal in her support of the Council Recovery Corps, even volunteering her own expertise to the organization. Jeanne is a fan favorite and has been in and out of the public eye ever since.

## Personality

Jeanne is outwardly optimistic and friendly, though she can be quite impulsive, both in actions and words and can at times be very self-centered. She lives very much in the here and now, and does not stop to consider how her actions affect others or herself in the future. Having a tendency to daydream, Jeanne gets lost in her thoughts, even when being spoken to. She is not shy but is not extremely extroverted; she doesn’t seek out the spotlight and prefers small cliques to large crowds. Jeanne is not a good public speaker and a terrible liar; she lacks control of outwardly expressing her emotions and body language. She has been told that her expressions betray her, but she typically laughs off criticism of this and states she wears her heart on her sleeve for all to read, good or bad.

Jeanne will very quickly become attached to people, places or ideas, though these relationships are mostly shallow and fleeting. As such, grudges are typically not long lasting, except in very specific instances mostly relating to her familial life. Her interactions with her parents are somewhat strained, but she considers her siblings to be close. Jeanne will act flippant with regard to her parents, but this belies her fear that she is little more than a disappointment and will always fall short of their  expectations.

Jeanne is studious and well-read, and mostly reads for entertainment (especially historical fiction). She has an extremely robust understanding of human art and art history, and because of her parents she studied and enjoys the other races’ art as well, though she thinks turian art is rather sterile and elcor art too abstract.

Like her parents and siblings, Jeanne is a militant atheist and looks down on organized religions to be an unnecessary crutch. Accustomed to being around many people and races, Jeanne tends not to express racial prejudices and is quick to disapprove of any such comments if brought up in her company, though she can be naive that racism extends to other species as well; she would believe that any slight against her would be personal and not attributed to her being human. She is fastidious and does not like to be dirty, and especially hates to sweat which translates into a hatred and avoidance of manual labor. Jeanne tends to exert the bare minimum effort for physical conditioning.

### Exceptional Skills

* *Bob Ross-el* -  Jeanne is a master with a pencil or brush on canvas. She excels in several artistic mediums, but her favorite (and where she absolutely shines) is in oil portraits. Jeanne may make happy little accidents, but no one would be able to tell in her finished pieces.
* *Please and Phalanx!* - Surprising everyone, including Jeanne herself, she is a natural with a firearm, and with pinpoint accuracy hit targets that most with her experience could not. With training and practice, she could become an exceptional sniper, but Jeanne has a serious distaste for rifles and prefers her pistol above all other weapons.
* *Punishing Pundemonium* - Jeanne wields puns almost as well as she wields pistols. It definitely causes others just as much physical pain, if not more.

## Physical Description

Jeanne is slightly below average height for an adult human female at 160 cm (5’3”) and weighs 59 kg (130 lbs). She has pale skin with a clear complexion and her face is generally flushed to some degree, which reddens more on physical exertion or excitement. She has a Roman nose and her lips are full. The corners of her mouth are slightly upturned, giving her the appearance of always slightly smiling, even when resting. She wears minimal makeup if any and keeps her long, slightly wavy dark brown hair worn up in a bun or braids, always out of her face. It is evident in Jeanne’s innate demeanor and physique that she has lead a relatively easy life. She has very few scars healed from childhood, her hands are soft and she prefers to keep her nails well manicured. Both of her ears are pierced, but she does not wear much jewelry, with the exception of her dog tags which she rarely removes. She only has one tattoo, a colorful, stylized hanar across her left shoulder blade.

Most noticeably, Jeanne was born with complete heterochromia iridum: her left eye is gunmetal blue and her right eye is amber or copper, depending on ambient lighting. She loves her eyes, and says that she’d be otherwise completely unremarkable, and has refused any offer to genetically correct this. Jeanne usually appears relaxed and has a tendency to gesticulate while speaking; her moods are very evident: if annoyed or angry she will broadcast it with narrowed glances, furrowing her features or rolling her eyes, when worried she will bite her lip and noticeably fidget, and shift her weight. Jeanne walks with her head up smiling and greeting those she passes. When off duty she prefers comfort over style and wears a simple grey tee paired with black leggings and flats, or her issued physical fitness uniform.

### Armament

* M5 Phalanx
* M76 Revenant
* Pathfinder SMG
* Stun Baton

### Abilities

* Incinerate
* Tactical Scan
* Overload
* Sabotage