Repost - (W.I.P.) Eilean McDurphy

[IamLEAM1983]

I'll post a copy of Arrow's bio here and once she's registered, I'll switch the creator's identity over to her, so she can actually edit it.

Name: Eilean McDurphy
Age: Late 40s or early 50s
Gender: Female
Species: Dog anthro (specifically an Irish Setter/English Pointer mix)

Appearance: Eilean was once a creature of grace and delicate featured beauty, but in recent years Eilean's frame has begun to show her age in the form of widening hips and a less trim exterior. She has at least kept in reasonable shape via her membership to the local gym, even if she doesn't always honor her nightly routine. Her fur is the dark burgundy of red wine accented by a smattering of white spots generally located around her muzzle and hips. She has a few more gray hairs in her fur than she would like to admit. As her mother and father were both anthros she possesses a long-furred tail that she must spend more time than she cares to brushing to keep the tangles and stray leaves from nesting there. She has middling length coppery hair that she mostly keeps tied back in a messy bun, owing to a human grandparent. She has dark brown eyes and is usually wearing a smile.

She dresses in a demure but fashionable manner, favoring flowing loose skirts or khakis and comfortable blouses over sharp business attire when on the clock and jeans and sweaters or nice shirts when not. Her clothing generally flatters her while keeping an air of simplicity.

Strengths: "Technomancy," which is more accurately the ability to communicate with computers via direct touch. For instance, if she were sitting in the driver's seat of a modern car by our standards she could not communicate with the computer, but if she were to touch a touchscreen or the buttons that directly influence the computer she would instantaneously initiate a conversation with that computer. It usually amounts to an update on the status of the machine and she is entirely unaware of it; it manifests as a blackout that ranges anywhere from a few seconds to minutes. If she were to be writing code on a computer she has already communicated with she experiences time dilation from her perspective; she is conscious of what she is trying to do but experiences micro-blackouts and doesn't realize time is passing her by. She is barely aware of the blackouts even, they only come to her attention because those around her later mention how she was suddenly 'not there' or unresponsive. She has been seeing a doctor about them because she suspects she may have a brain tumor or similar issue.

She graduated from MIT with a Masters in Computer Science and has debated going back and getting her Doctorate for several years, mostly for kicks as she picks up night classes here and there just to further/keep up to date with her knowledge base.

She owns and operates her own business, a computer repair/network security company called Any Key. The business is lucrative and earns her a tidy living, along with her inheritance from her grandparents, the majority of which she has squirreled away in a high yield savings account.

She also has a collection of skills endowed to her by her upbringing; she is very good at fencing, mediocre at the violin, terrible at sewing, has a yellow belt in Aikido, knows a few languages but rarely uses them and as such is not nearly as fluent as she was when she first learned (Mandarin, Latin, and Gaelic if you are interested, with Latin being her stronger language and Mandarin her least), can do her own accounting competently, and exhibits good horsemanship.

Weaknesses: Technomancy: She is unable to drive a car, much to her chagrin. It limits her freedom of movement some, but gives her the excuse to take long walks to the store for small items in lieu of calling a cab or a friend. Her ability also causes her to lose a lot of time, or at least more time comparatively, doing tasks that would be every day things for most people. Checking her email takes her a few seconds more because she must get an update on the status of her machine when she touches her computer, though the advantage is that she immediately knows instinctively that she has viruses or the like...Overall her greatest strength can also be a pretty big handicap on her life.

Eilean is also very much a mortal being of middling age and all that entails. She is not as fast nor as limber as she used to be and she has to take calcium supplements to stave off the strong potential for osteoporosis. She's pretty squishy, in other words. She also has only fired a gun once or twice in her life, so unless you can fight it off with swordsmanship or non-expert martial arts she's pretty much at a loss.

Behavior:Eilean is generally known around town as being very kind and a humanitarian, if a little reserved. She maintains a somewhat proper tone in everyday conversation that is tinged with just a hint of Irish accent (owing to being primarily exposed to Irish-accented family as a child while being taught to only speak properly). This can throw some as she also has a relatively casual manner about her; when solicited to attend galas and the like for charity it is expected that she would be at least politely interested but she is usually very enthused and even extends offers to assist with the planning stages. She is not exceptionally free with her money - she will always research the cause and specific charity she is donating to before committing to it - but she does try to do her best to help. She's often in cahoots with her cousin's charities both for reasons of nepotism and because she trusts her cousin to be doing the right thing.

Eilean is also driven by a desire to 'do what is right' even when what is right may be contrary to others' beliefs. If she feels that justice has not been served then you can damn well bet you will get an earful of what she thinks. Her rational is often based on feeling, but in general you could call her Neutral Good with leanings towards Lawful until the law prevents actual justice. She's fairly liberal, but not an anarchist or crazy. She writes letters to the editor fairly regularly and conversations over coffee with her can be heated at times. She rarely holds the views of another against them though, provided they aren't insane. Not everyone quite understands that her being opinionated does not mean personal animosity and this has affected some of her relationships, sometimes ending them with her scratching her head in confusion.

She's generally interested in learning what she can when her time allows it, giving her an eclectic base of knowledge ("Yes, I think I may have read about that once..."). She's fond of do-it-yourself books (even when she isn't trying to do-it-herself), documentaries, and biographies for interesting people. If Pintrest still exists she would probably use it to save things she find clever or funny but is sparing on sharing them needlessly with others.

She's just generally a pretty classy lady.

Goals: She has plenty she wants to do, nailing down a specific goal is actually difficult when she may change her mind the next day. For instance; To learn about all the interesting people and things she can, keep her business on the up-and-up, maybe go on a date or two with equally interesting people (in comparison to biographies), read some more good books, learn to water ski, go to the gym more often, find out if she has a brain tumor or something else and how to overcome it, and to generally make her own way in the world as she has been doing for the past many years. There are probably other things she also wants to do with her life, but at the current moment those are some of her most prominent goals.

History:

Leam, could you please give me Eilean's re-written bio from a while back? I don't have a copy of it. Also...I have no idea when/if I will be able to play along or not. I'm pretty much completely out Tuesday nights for our World of Darkness game night, for example. I just like having her rewritten as being a classy as hay-ell lady.

[Arrow]

Eilean's history is long enough that I will probably be back later to edit this...Some things are omitted such as specific mention of her studying fencing and horsemanship and et al.

The gist goes that when her father, Alastair, was young he and his twin brother, Bram, went to college at a posh school in Hope. Their family was already old money by this point through various means - coal, steel, railroads, and the like. Some of those companies are still either run directly or the family has major shares in. Anyway, her father and uncle were young at this posh college, where they met Mollie Foster. Mollie was an English Setter of impeccable lineage and taste, generally loved by everyone around her and not least of all by Bram, who first had the courage to speak to her. However she took a liking to his quiet brother, Alastair, as well. After they graduated she finally chose Alastair with finality and the two were wed, driving a wedge between the brothers that led them to ceasing speaking to each other until Alastair's dying day. Bram eventually married a plucky Scottish woman by the name of Bonnie and the two had three children; Ross, Blane, and Fiona.

Ross is currently the CEO of McDurphy Industrial Steelworks over in the Chicago area, he's divorced and loudly claims to love the single life more than anything. Really he loves his 9 year old daughter more than anything and is an absolute pushover where she's concerned. Blane has taken it upon himself to become a banking investor, which he is very successful at. He lives in New York, is married, and has a pair of infant twins that Eilean hasn't met. Fiona runs a charitable foundation that fosters fundraising for many other charities by hosting galas and the like. She lives in Hope but travels quite often and goes through boyfriends almost as fast. She and Eilean are close though and Eilean regards her as her little sister, taking time out of her schedule whenever she's in town for lunch, girls'-nights-in, and similar activities.

Eilean herself was born after a series of miscarriages and through a dangerous pregnancy that doctors warned Mollie she may not survive even with medical technology being as good as it is. Mollie wanted her baby and she would damn well have her. The efforts left her mother with a weakened disposition that left her bedridden at times, later found to be caused by uterine cancer that had taken hold shortly after Eilean turned two. Eilean loved her mother and her mother's kind nature sticks with her even decades after her death when she was 12. After Mollie's passing Alastair became withdrawn as he was predisposed to a quiet and cold sort of mourning. Eilean had a series of nannies throughout her teens as a result, Alastair firing them capriciously when they made any sort of slight whether intended or not. She was also tutored at home, removing her from her peers for the most part until her grandparents interfered and insisted she come to stay with them during the summers.

The summers were the best part of Eilean's life and she tended to spend all year looking forward to it; summers meant an escape from the gloomy McDurphy estate and time spent with her cousins, her best friends and people she could afford to get attached to. Even when she went away to college she still returned to spend the summers at her grandparents rather than to her father's home. When she went to school she discovered a passion for all things with a microchip brain and dove readily into her studies. Her summers with her cousins prepared her for some of the awkward social situations she encountered and her ready-and-willing-to-learn nature helped her with the rest. As her studies neared their most crucial semester Alastair announced to her that she should prepare to leave college; he had found a suitor for her on his board of directors at one of the family companies. Eilean met the man, who was nice enough but definitely not her type. She remains friendly with him and his husband to this day. She rebuffed the offer and her father cut all contact with her, going so far as to completely remove her tuition and leave her with a $15,000 debt. Her grandparents stepped in once Fiona alerted them to it (her being the first person Eilean called). They payed for her remaining college and helped her get on her feet once she graduated.

Eilean worked for a local IT firm for several years, living in her own apartment near to where she worked, by the time her grandparents passed, leaving her a sizable inheritance. Bram took possession of their home at this time. Eilean used a chunk of the proceeds to purchase the IT firm she worked for and restructure it, re-branding it from Hammer Technical Experts to Any Key and broadening her clientele from mostly college students to offering network administration and support all over Hope. After several years of hard work Any Key has developed a reputation for being professional, courteous, and usually employs people who can explain things in real person speech.

Ever since the Centennial Tree woke up Eilean has been experiencing blackouts. Some are minor; she stops talking in the middle of a sentence for a few seconds and continues like nothing happened. Some are major, such as when she flipped her car into a ditch after blacking out. She can no longer drive by doctor's orders and has been struggling with keeping her independence while still getting rides to and from her little two story cottage in Mertown to the Any Key offices in downtown Hope. She has been seeing a doctor about potential neurological disorders or even a brain tumor since a couple months ago. She finds this incredibly frustrating. The bright side is that when she goes out on a date she can always specify to be picked up and dropped off, leaving no room for her to get lost trying to find her way to whatever restaurant (her sense of direction can leave something to be desired when she's in the city proper, put her in a forest and she can find her way just fine).