Isadora Violetta Langdale
“I never gossip. I observe. And then I relate my observations to practically everyone.” NAMEIsadora Violetta Langdale
ALIASPeople who know her call her Isa
GENDERFemale
SKILLS*Isadora is an expert in mending clothing, from leather gloves to roughspun aprons. She has plenty of experience with a needle and thread as well, and has a penchant for bedazzling clothing with scrap metal and spare parts that she finds around town
*Isadora grew up helping her oldest sister cook for three younger siblings and a handicapped mother. She can whip out a meal from anything and everything, granted that you don't mind the taste of it too much
*Some may call her sneaky, but Isadora thinks of it as having a "good sense of hearing". Isadora is a big eavesdropper and is quite skilled at remembering important tidbits of information and random rumors that she hears on the streets
*Isadora is able to clean and do laundry fairly well
*Although Isadora doesn't look like much at a first glance, she's quick and light on her feet-even in floor-length skirts
*One of Isadora's favorite past-times is dancing; not ballroom dancing, per se, but spontaneous dances with fast music and even faster steps.
*Isadora is certainly no expert with firearms, but she knows the basics of a gun and she is good enough with knives to fend off an attacker long enough for her to escape
PERSONALITY Isadora is generally an outgoing and friendly person. She always has a bright smile or cheerful greeting for people she knows. She can be rather impulsive and doesn't always think things through. Isadora lives life in the moment and would rather focus on the present than anticipate the future or brood on the past. She is lively and vivacious-she lives to laugh and she loves to live. Isadora is quick to anger but she is also quick to forgive and forget, and she firmly believes that life is much too short to hold petty grudges. Isadora has a knack for remembering everything she hears, especially anything that she deems especially important. She is also quite the conversationalist, willing to talk to anyone and everyone-and she just can't seem to keep her big mouth shut. Isadora is an avid gossiper and knows the dirt on seemingly everyone in town, and she's not afraid to share the information she knows. Isadora can be witty and playfully teasing and even flirtatious and coy if the situation calls for it. Isadora is headstrong and willful and hates being told what to do when it comes to matters that concern her personal life, much to the vexation of her mother and older sister. She is perceptive and good at guessing the thoughts, feelings, and intentions of others, and Isadora is keenly aware of her surroundings.
Despite what she might say, Isadora is downright nosy. Not only that, she is a gossip who couldn't keep her mouth shut if her life depended on it. She is rash and can be hot-tempered when provoked, and she is flighty and tends to have a very short attention span. People have also characterized her as "frivolous" and "shallow". Isadora hates being told what to do when it comes to her personal life. She can be headstrong and unyielding if she has set her mind on something, even if she sees how the other side could be logical. Isadora enjoys getting all dolled up and going out to dance or drink more than her mother thinks is appropriate.
At the core of her personality, Isadora is ferociously loyal to her family and friends. She may be blabbing about Jane cheating on John for all to hear, but you will never hear a word from her about her own mother and siblings if she doesn't want to talk about them.
HISTORYIsadora was born and raised in Baker's Rest, or Blackfinger. She has never been beyond five miles of the city. Her mother, Eleanora, was married to a man who abandoned her not long after Isadora was born. Isadora never even got her father's name out of her mother, although according to her older sister who still vaguely remembered their father-Minerva-he had blonde hair and brown eyes. Eleanora would always dismiss questions about her first husband with an impatient gesture and a "don't-you-have-anything-better-to-do?" glare. Eleanora married Samuel Langdale when Isadora was three, and Isadora soon had three younger siblings-twins Mariana and Rosalina, followed by Javier. Unfortunately, Samuel died of influenza when Isadora was ten, and Eleanora succumbed to an unknown illness that left her crippled and unable to walk a year after Samuel died. It fell to fifteen-year-old Minerva and eleven-year-old Isadora to raise their siblings.
Minerva had always been the dutiful and obedient sibling. Isadora, on the other hand, was willful and wild. When they were younger, while Minerva brushed her hair properly and followed all the rules like a proper young lady, Isadora was running through town barefoot with dirt streaked across her face and smashing the rules to pieces. After Eleanora fell ill, however, Isadora cleaned up her act. The Langdales were far from wealthy, and with Samuel dead and Eleanora crippled, they had no steady income coming in. Eleanora took on whatever odd jobs she could to bring in some money. Minerva herself soon got a job and spent most of her time working. Isadora, who was still too young to be hired, began to take over the household chores. She cooked, cleaned, and did laundry while yelling across the street for Mariana and Rosalina to "leave the poor horse alone, for Chrissake!".
It was not until Isadora was around fourteen or fifteen that she began to work herself. She very quickly found a job in one of the many saloons in Baker's Rest. At first, she was stuck in the kitchens washing dishes and scrubbing floors, but as she grew older, Isadora was allowed to work in the dining area. That was when she became more conscious of her general appearance and began to take after Minerva in her concern for her clothing. Isadora differed from Minerva in that she found most of the "acceptable" clothing for her age and gender much too stuffy and boring. She was always looking for ways to spice things up a little, and she even managed to get the wife of the owner of the general store to teach her some basic embroidery-not that it was very useful at the time.
The saloon was a whole new experience for Isadora. She had grown up living in a ramshackle house with cramped rooms and chaotic clutter and young children always underfoot. In the saloon, Isadora was faced for the first time with a sense of order. Isadora enjoyed working in the saloon-even if she did have to scrub floors and wash dishes and wipe down furniture, at least she could do it without small children running around willy nilly and getting in the way-and she especially enjoyed listening to random snatches of conversation as she poured drinks and collected empty glasses. She silently listened to stories of the fantastical and the mundane and the morbid, filing away anything particularly noteworthy for the future. She listened to Bargers relating wild tales of danger and daring (and she soon discovered that Bargers were the biggest gossipers), Scavvers comparing their latest finds, bounty hunters discussing contracts and jobs...the list goes on. Isadora listened and remembered, and if there was a subject that was of a special interest to her, she would sometimes interject with a few sentences herself.
After years of working for someone else, Isadora decided that she would rather run her own saloon. She and Minerva pooled their meager funds and opened their own establishment on the banks of the Great River, just past the docks. As such, most of their patrons tend to be Bargers. Isadora is happy to accommodate them-they're quite a lively bunch, and they've got the loosest tongues in all of the Freetowns.
Their saloon-simply named "Langdale's"-began to gain popularity. Minerva, the more practical and pragmatic of the sisters, is in charge of ordering supplies and brewing the drinks. She is also quite deadly with a bullwhip or a shotgun. Eleanora manages accounts and inventory from a cramped office in the back. Isadora is usually serving drinks and taking orders, with the help of her younger brother, Javier.
Mariana and Rosalina, however, have no interest in the saloon. They are constantly wandering out and about, looking for spare parts to create new gadgets and contraptions of varied uses. Their mother has all but given up on them, letting them do what they want so long as they finish all their chores in the saloon before running off to work on their latest inventions. The twins aspire to be working with the most prominent inventors and engineers in the city of Blackfinger.
Isadora has created quite a reputation for herself. She always knows what's going on, and the people in town know to go to Langdale's if they want to catch up on the latest news. Isadora is always happy to help, though she is notorious for demanding compensation for her "services". Indeed, Isadora may know much and more about matters of actual importance, but she enjoys boring her listeners with tales of how Mary had been cheating on her husband for ten years with a man from New Rojas, or how Susanna and Eliza are no longer friends because Susanna made a snide remark about Eliza's expensive, brand-new dress.
Isadora dearly wishes that she was rich enough to afford those beautiful gowns of silk and taffeta that the wealthiest, most fashionable ladies of the New World are constantly wearing. Minerva jokes that Isadora should have no problem securing a marriage proposal from a rich man, but even Isadora isn't naive enough to believe that.
INVENTORY*Isadora carries a pair of plain, unadorned daggers-one is usually in the bodice of her dress, and the other one is concealed underneath her skirts. She decided when she first began working that it would be prudent to have some sort of weaponry with her in the case of more...unsavory patrons.
*Isadora usually carries a couple of needles and a bit of thread with her, as well as a scrap of cloth and a couple of plain hairpins that she typically ends up using to tie her hair back and to keep her curls out of her face.
*Isadora adores the bladed fan that her younger siblings created for her
*She also adores the armored parasol that the aforementioned siblings created for Isadora. It made of metal but covered in cloth, and it is capable of deflecting bullets.
REASON FOR VISITINGIsadora has lived with her family in Blackfinger for her entire life.
RELATIONSEleanora Langdale (mother): Isadora loves her mother with all her heart. Eleanora is practical and rather strict, though she is quite helpless without her daughters and her son. Recently, Eleanora has been getting on Isadora's case about marrying a suitable man and settling down. Isadora scoffs at that. She certainly has not had a lack of suitors with her infectious laugh and lively eyes, but Isadora is by no means ready to get married and have children. She would rather have a taste of everything before deciding, so to speak.
Eleanora is in charge of keeping the books and taking inventory at the saloon.
Minerva Langdale (older sister): Isadora and Minerva are very close, though their personalities are polar opposites. Isadora is pretty, chattery, and a bit airheaded, while Minerva is quick-witted, stoic, and rather intimidating. Isadora's features are dainty and doll-like, but Minerva has a strong jawline and a sharp nose, traits inherited from their father. Perhaps their different personalities can be more aptly illustrated in their choices of weaponry: Minerva favors a viciously practical six-shot revolver of hard steel and a plain rosewood grip devoid of all frills and decoration, but Isadora has said multiple times that if she were to ever acquire a firearm, it would be a pretty little pistol with elaborate gilt metalwork and a beautiful mother-of-pearl handle.
Minerva is responsible for ordering supplies and making sure that everything is running smoothly in general. She is also the closest thing that the saloon has to "security".
Mariana Langdale and Rosalina Langdale (younger sisters): Mariana and Rosalina are fiery, defiant little rascals who, in the words of Eleanora, are "too smart for their own good". They are constantly trying to sneak things past their mother and Minerva, but nobody sneaks anything past Isadora. Fortunately for the twins, Isadora is much more lenient than Eleanora or Minerva. Isadora doesn't mind that they would rather be tinkering with their latest inventions than washing dishes at the saloon, and she is very appreciative of the steel-bladed fan and armored parasol that the twins fashioned for her out of scrap metal and spare parts and little knick-knacks that they managed to find in the city and on the docks.
The twins are tasked with the general upkeep of the saloon-washing dishes, scrubbing floors, and polishing the furniture. They are absolutely abysmal at their job.
Javier Langdale (younger brother): The only male in the Langdale family, Javier is constantly exasperated by the girls, especially by the twins and Isadora, who is fond of ruffling his hair and teasing him about, well, everything. He is quiet and sensible, and very protective of his family. Minerva and Javier get along very well. Isadora has an unfortunate habit of embarrassing her brother in front of the older men of Blackfinger.
Javier helps Isadora serve the patrons of the saloon. He usually remains behind the bar, while Isadora is out in the dining area serving drinks and such.