Giovanna de Moreau

'...'

### Occupation

Cardinal's Blade (Currently)Medical Apprentice to her father (Formerly)(In secret)

### Moral Alignment

Whatever's best for France and keeps her fellow protestants alive

## Basic Appearance

### Distinguishable Features

Scar on palm from mishandling a surgery blade

## Familial Connections

### Parents

Giovanni de MoreauCatherine de Moreau Nee Dacier

### Sibling/s

Unnamed older brother (Deceased) (1622, Siege of Nègrepelisse)Unnamed younger sister (Deceased) ('Failure to thrive')

## Background

Giovanna was born in 1613 to Giovanni and Catherine Moreau, a physician and seamstress/midwife respectively, during what could be described as a 'troubling' labour to say the least. This was preceded by a stressful pregnancy that left Catherine with a severe case of postpartum depression that lasted right up until her death from 'Falling sickness', now known as epilepsy, 6 years later.

She spent the next part of her youth being raised by her father, brother and the neighbouring family until her brother's death in the Siege of Nègrepelisse, where the French army killed all the citizens to serve as the king's example against protestants. This was when her father realised the danger they were in and moved them to Paris and played the devoted Catholic.

Giovanna grew up in relative comfort the daughter of a doctor, at the time only the wealthy could afford a doctor but spent most her days following her father around in his 'workshop' to watch him make his tonics, poultices and cures. When she was old enough he took her with him to patients, claiming she was a midwife or assistant with the goal being to teach her everything he knew. Though the threat of them being found out and her being burned as a witch always hung over them. This was because she did things like cut open different parts of the anatomy to draw and label every part of them to get a better understanding of how they worked.

She grew up as part of a Protestant family at a time when that being such was in a minority and could lead to persecution, so in order to keep practicing medicine and using it to earn money, they pretended they were Catholic and went to the required services but precited Protestantism in secret with a bible that wasn't in Latin the they kept hidden under the floorboards.

Growing up she grew into her beauty and though being an educated woman could be seen as a bad thing in some circles she was an only child and whoever married her was set to inherit her father's practice, such as it was in the 17th century and money, her father received a number of marriage requests from businessmen or some landed gentry on behalf of their 5th son to ensure all their children got something. Al of which she begged her father to refuse.

She was 'recruited' for an unofficial physician role and somewhat of a spy role, having the practice in staying hidden as a woman physician. Arabian countries at the time were more understanding when it came to mental health which was very appealing to her, in fact the Cardinal got to her right on time when she was crossing the border. She was told in no uncertain terms that she was playing a dangerous game, and can be offered sanctuary in return for joining up. ''So either you work for me and do what I need you to do, or I have you burned as a witch.'' She's always been used to the threat of death hanging over her so she takes it in her stride, along with the benefit of being able to read medical material and to learn about the best ways to keep everyone alive would have been a step up for her anyway. Though now she was right under a Catholic clergyman, which brought it's own level of troubles.

## Personality and Behaviour

A very matter-of-fact person she finds it hard to engage with people on a emotional or personal level, choosing to relate to people via academic pursuits and topics. The downside to this being she that although she has colleagues and intellectual 'rivals', she has few friends or people she can count on and to her discredit, she fails to see the problem in this. She has little patience for social rules or expectations, and would rather spend time alone than with someone who bores or irritates her. She clear idea of what she expect from her social life doesn’t want to waste too much time on anyone who doesn’t seem to meet these expectations.

She is eager to use medicine to help people and to do what she thinks is best for her home, even if that is working for the Cardinal. She would rather seek out opportunity, than wait for opportunity to come to her and if that means leaving France for Spain then so be it.

That being said, she has an understanding of just how unfair and cruel the world can be to that which it does not understand. It is because of this that she keeps people at arms length rather than risk opening up, only to find herself on a stake or having a papist wafer forced in her mouth.

## Occupational Details

Medical Apprentice:

Worked for her father as an apprentice, though they used the cover of her being a midwife and/or assistant. She delivered babies and cared for them in the immediate aftermath, cleaned and treated wounds and helped to diagnose illnesses in secret as well as create tonics and poultices. She grew, cultivated and prepared herbs such as wintergreen which, for example, contains salicin, a natural form of the painkiller aspirin. As we know now.

Blade:

Unofficial physician role and somewhat of a spy role, having the practice in staying hidden as a woman physician

## Likes/Hobbies/Interests

She enjoys studying anything to do with medicine and biology that she can get her hands on and in her spare time and in secret makes copies of said material to increase circulation of the information. A number of times she has dug through scraps of burned and partially destroyed books and printings just to gain scraps of knowledge, this has led to her gathering a very ramshackle collection hidden in her home and doing her best to copy what she can from decaying works.

She also enjoys experimenting with plants a great deal, testing out different doses of herbs in her tonics to see what works best, sometimes on herself but only if she's sure that it won't kill her. She rarely charges for her tester 'potions' until she discovers if they work and then will replace previous ones with the more efficient ones to earn money for future experimentations.

## Dislikes/Fears/Phobias

She has a near paralytic fear of physical intimacy and as soon as someone starts to attempt to engage in said intimacy, she often finds herself freezing in place. Other than that she has long since understood that she has to do what she must, no matter the circumstances. Being who she is and the danger it comes with has meant that she has learnt to put fear out of her mind for the most part and at times she is afraid, to continue on as if she weren't after living with it since childhood.

## Strengths and Weaknesses

### **Strengths**

Calm & Confident

She has a strong sense on how to take charge of a situation if it pertains to her abilities. Example: If a teammate was wounded, she would immediately start to take stock of the wound and start giving out orders to efficiently treat the person (You get help, get me clean cloth, water, etc etc) She shows no weakness or hesitation in front of her patient, doing her best to make them feel at ease and make their recovery easier knowing that they are being treated by someone who knows what they are doing, even if that isn't true.

Logical and Academic mind

Giovanna has a well practised logic to her actions and speech, making sure to think many moves and words ahead and to keep in mind her situation, surroundings and demeanour. This goes hand in hand with her treatment of patients and making sure their path to recovery is a learning experience for her and provides the best outcome for all. Her mind has helped her learn what she has in medicine and biology, filling in gaps of knowledge and using er common sense to make what she's learnt stretch.

Independent

For her, conformity is more or less synonymous with mediocrity. Creative and self-motivated, she strives to do things her own way. She can imagine few things more frustrating than allowing arbitrary rules or conventions to stand in the way of her success.

### **Weaknesses**

She finds it hard to relate to people and start conversations, though she doesn't worry if she's made a good impression unless it was an intellectual debate, hating to be thought of as an intellectual inferior.

Combative

She cannot stand blindly following *anything* without understanding why. This includes restrictions and the authority figures who impose them. It would be very simple to get caught up in arguing about useless rules and regulations – but sometimes these battles are distractions from more important matters.

Socially Clueless

Her relentless rationality can lead to frustration in her social life. Her efforts to defy expectations have left her feeling isolated or disconnected from other people. At times, she is cynical about the value of relationships altogether, questioning the importance of love and connection.

## Ambitions

Rarely satisfied by work that feels easy or comfortable, She wants a life that fires up her curiosity and leverages their intellect, allowing her to expand her prowess as she tackles meaningful challenges and problems. She strives to one day be a great doctor recognised officially by the country or any country if it comes to it that she as to seek refuge elsewhere

## Bonds

Blades:

Giovanna is 'bonded' to the blades in a 'serve or die' as she was caught trying to cross the border, though she get's to practice medicine with impunity so it's not all bad. She feels no special loyalty to them and if the chance presented itself then she would have no qualms about getting out while she can, though she has no wish to see them die and would care for them physically if necessary.

Giovanni:

Her father is her best supporter having taken on the role as both parents he felt a great need to compensate and spared no effort in making her feel loved and supported in her goal to be a woman physician, they have a close bond and special understanding that helps keep her going.

## Physical Skills

Basic sword skills: Knowing perhaps just enough to keep her alive, she did not have much of a chance to master this skill at there was a small gap between her becoming old enough to learn and her father's failing health. She has every intention of learning more in the field and from her teammates if only to reduce the amount of injuries she has to care for.

Wound suturing: A key skill in keeping someone alive, a lot of practice went into this as soon as she was taught it by her father. Many a doll from her childhood hold the marking of per attempts to copy her father's technique. She is now a well-trained suturer (not a word) with many different methods under her belt.

Gardening: The expense of herbs has meant that she had to become at least a fair gardener to keep her plant alive for her tonics

## Intellectual Skills

Medical & Biology knowledge: It's safe to say that in her short life she has gained much knowledge about the body and how to care for it. She knows the importance of diet and prevention over cure.

Chemistry: An understanding of the scientific method and through this has undertaken numerous experiments to better understand the world around her, though an amateur she has shown to be quick in picking up knew knowledge for her experiments.

Herbalism: She has a good amount of practice in the water-based preparations through study and experimentation:

* infusions (steeped herbs in boiling water)
* syrups (a thick, sweet liquid made with herbs)
* poultices (cloth wrapped in moistened herbs for localised use
* decoction (similar to infusions, but often used with harder parts of the plant material)
* lotions (infusions or decoctions made into a smooth liquid)
* compress (a wrung out cloth that’s been steeped in an infusion or decoction)

## Clothing Style

She wears very plain and cheap clothing with a white apron over it to counteract the fact that blood from her patients maybe impossible to wash out and she'll have to replace her clothes. Sometimes she'll buy second-hand clothing to prevent too much outgoing. This often leads to her clothing 'style' changing at regular intervals all depending an what she can get her hands on for cheep

She does own a dress for special occasions, it is an ivory piece with fake flowers and butterflies sown in around the neckline, poufy sleeves that go to her elbow and a lace-trimmed broad, square collar made of lace

## Weapon/s

Colichemarde: Her father's gift to her, simple and undecorated it makes her think of her father back home as his hopes that she succeeds

Despite being no professional at it, she acquired this gun as it was all a patient could pay with at the time for caring for his son until he could go to his business in Calais to get money and find a potential wet nurse after his wife died in child birth.