Basics!
Name: Lucrezia Falco
Age: 16
Origin world: Type A world
Sometime in the past, a French power known as the Franciscan Empire took control of much of the Mediterranean world. That being said, the Rome Lucrezia hails from is very different from its counterpart in our world’s Renaissance. The city is a bustling, colorful place full of art, music, and the rich tradition of the big top. (The Catholic church does not exist in this world, as the Franciscan Empire, rather than the Roman Empire, took control. Christianity, which exists in a very different form, is based in Paris, which is much more similar to the Rome of our world’s Renaissance.) In Lucrezia’s Rome, the old ways of the ancient Romans, such as their gods and beliefs, still survive despite French being the primary language, with Italian, nothing more than a regional deviation of it that evolved over centuries of Franciscan rule. Performers of any kind are held in high regard in this world.
Skills: Various Aerial forms, primarily Trapeze and Aerial Silks
Appearance Being a gymnastically-trained Italian teenager, Lucrezia is dark haired and dark eyed (both of which are actually very nondescript shades of dark brown,) and also somewhat dark skinned. She has a fit, sturdy gymnast’s build, though that isn’t to say she’s overly muscular. Most of the lines of her body are very angular and sharp, notably her elbows, knees, and jaw/chin. Though not exceedingly tall (5’6” or so), she is proportioned so everything about her looks long. For more convenience sake than anything her hair is about shoulder length and always pulled into a high ponytail.
Her clothing upon her arrival and then during her grunt work setting up tents and rigging is very utilitarian. She brought it with her from her home in 16th-century Rome, and in the time period it would have been thought of “boy’s clothing,” generally consisting of mid-calf length trousers, simple shoes, and a simple short sleeved shirt, all of which are rough fabric. Her first costume is a pink leotard with an orange diamond of sequins across the chest. She almost always wears bandage-like wrappings on her lower arms and wrists as protection from rope burn.
Personality: As far as physical stunts are concerned, Lucrezia is nearly fearless, capable of performing as effortlessly in the air as most can on the ground. Psychologically, she is slightly squeamish, especially at the sight of gross bodily injury or around the freak show.
An admittedly intelligent girl, she posesses a quick wit, a kind manner, and a dedicated work effort. The fact that many people do not share that last quality annoys her to no end, and she has a great dislike for people she sees as "slackers" who don't pull their own weight around the cirque by either not really performing or by not working like they are supposed to. Namely, this extends to the freaks who just sit there and get gawked at or the occasional newbie who doesn't help out.
She greatly respects performers who are masters of their crafts, and hopes to be among their ranks someday. Unfortunately, for all her goal-orientedness, she is almost too serious and driven, which many people find to be an off-putting factor. She needs to learn how to relax, a skill she has had difficulty mastering, and can psyche herself out on occasion over trivial matters.
Arrival at the cirque and early life: Though it is not known for certain and the records were lost, it can be presumed that Lucrezia either comes from a large family with too many children, or is the accidental offspring of an unfortunate young unwed woman. Whatever the case was, she was left with a firmly stationary circus in Rome while still an infant. She was a rather unremarkable child, but the cirque's head trapeze artist, a man by the name of Paolo Falco, took a liking to her and took her in as an adoptive daughter and apprentice (it was sometimes rumored that he was the reason she had been dropped off at the circus in the first place, rather than an orphanage, but no conclusive evidence was ever drawn.)
Lucrezia, as a result, grew up surrounded in the bright and colorful tradition (In her world, at least, where it was considered a valid and respectable art form) of Italian and French circus arts (though she was never exposed to the wonders of the "freak show," since her circus did not have one.) By the time of her arrival at the Cirque du Coeur Torve at age 16, she was well versed in the inner workings of the show and acts, and knowledgable of the inner riggings of aerial acts. She is likely to use this knowledge to carve a niche for herself as a worker setting up for other trapeze and highwire artists before gaining her own act. Her comfortable affinity with working at great heights can also be useful in bigtop setup.
