Gabrielle d'Apcher's page

About Gabrielle d'Apcher

link to character portrait

Lady Gabrielle d'Apcher is the daughter of Lord Thomas d'Apcher, Marquis de Margeride, and Lady Florianne d'Apcher, originally of House Eiredor. Her hair is a fiery red, which she often wears in a tangle of ringlet curls, as an accompaniment to the pale skin of her face. Her eyes are greenish-blue. She carries an average-sized slender frame, though it is often masked by her modest clothing. In keeping with the fashions of the Empire of Taldor, the outfits she wears are colorful and elaborate, a testament to her faith in Shelyn. She is always seen with a ladies' fan, which she uses to keep herself cool on warm days, and she often gestures with it, as if it were a conversational aid.

Lady Gabrielle enjoys mingling in the social circles of Oppara, with all its garden parties, theater outings, and masquerades. She is an avid reader of adventure novels, a student of cultures, an exemplar of etiquette, and an avatar of elegance. She appreciates rich, well-crafted things, like fine jewelry and exquisite meals, deriving a sense of value from the effort required to create something. Naturally, she avoids shoddily-made things, tasteless foods, dirty places, and especially people who have not yet developed a respect for anyone but themselves. Gabrielle is also an accomplished actress and opera singer, volunteering in dramatic productions whenever she has the chance. Though she is certainly within the culturally-appropriate age of marriage, she has never been known to engage in romantic contact, even though several eager suitors have expressed their affections in the past.

The Lady appears as a pleasant face in conversation, and is an intelligent contributor on many topics. She can be a very warm and generous friend to those who make the effort to be a friend to her, but she has little tolerance for others who do not. When Gabrielle feels slighted, the grudge she holds remains for an eternity. She often examines situations for clever solutions, and makes sure to keep herself informed of the larger consequences of her actions. Her cleverness does not imply cowardice, though: in desperate circumstances, Lady Gabrielle has found deep wells of courage within her, as her life experiences and her private faith in the vengeful Calistria have left her with strong reserves of willpower.

In her teenage years, she devoted herself to the Opparan theater, often acting on a volunteer basis for the grand productions her mother was always eager to sponsor. It was the least the producers could do for their most generous donor. Over time, Lady Gabrielle actually became pretty good at it, to the point where she achieved prima donna status for several productions. Of course, her status as the blossoming daughter of the Marquis de Margeride was only a benefit to the young diva, though she was too naive to sense that the attention she received was motivated by more than her stage prowess.

The family estate, Margeride, is a decently-sized province which lies on the Sellen River north of Cassomir, bordered by the Verduran Forest to the north and the nation of Andoran to the west. Trade with Andoran and the harvesting of Verduran lumber provide the bulk of Margeride's incomes, which, though substantial, have been harried by the ruthless business tactics of Andoran's Lumber Consortium. After the People's Revolt, the organization became unhindered by the Chelish authorities, and two generations later, Margeride, bound by both morality and diplomacy, is now in financial trouble. Gabrielle's grandfather held the line against the Revolt and the Consortium's interest, and the Consortium has slowly strangled the Apcher family since. The talented Lady Florianne has done an excellent job of covering up the financial strain with apparent opulence, and her plan to reinforce the estate with a marriage to a powerful family is a worthy one, but her daughter has refused to passively accept the situation.

Lady Gabrielle believes that opposing her mother directly is a fool's errand. Instead, she has secretly worked to address the matter of Margeride's difficulties, by identifying corrupt aristocrats to whom her family is indebted, uncovering their secrets, and exposing their corruption to the authorities. Not only are Margeride's creditors removed, but the more of Margeride's debts she quietly claims for herself, either legally or through thievery, the more of the family title she will possess for herself. If Lady Gabrielle, under the cover of her position as a talented actress, opera singer, and friendly socialite, can root out enough of her family's more corrupt creditors and earn a large enough sum of gold to settle with a good amount of the rest, she can rescue her home from ruin and claim the family title for herself.