Mary Clarke

[*]Full Name: Mary Elizabeth Clarke
[*]Age: 26
[*]Gender: Female
[*]Nationality: British
[*]Sexuality: Heterosexual, with celibate tendencies
[*]Occupation: Ship's Surgeon
[*]Relationship Status: Single

Personal Appearance

Mary has black hair, cut medium-short to just above her shoulders out of a sense of practicality, rather than style. As such it is loose and messy, a reflection of her lifestyle. Her cheekbones are set close to her face, and her mouth often in a line of indifference, though she also has a habit of thinning her lips when someone does something particularly stupid or unappealing. She rarely will truly smile from happiness, and as such it is a very special thing. Her eyes are greyish blue, matching a stormy ocean. She has quite pale skin, save for a few light freckles here and there, and is marginally taller-than-average for a woman her age, with a normal build. She tries to keep herself reasonably healthy, as she knows that without doing so she would quickly succumb to sleep deprivation and the negative side effects of her self-medicating. She has a few old scars on her hands from her young years spent in the farmlands of England and the earlier days of practicing medicine - not to mention her first voyages with the British Royal Navy and subsequently with their privateers. She is marginally taller-than-average for a human female, with a normal build; hardly the strongest girl around, but it's not a problem to her. There are a fair few track marks in the crook of her left arm, coming from her abuse of reactive drug injections to avoid issues with her hemophilia.

Clothing & Style

She has noticeable dark circles under her piercing yes; a result of long nights spent studying and long days spent caring for patients. As such; she often appears disheveled and unkempt, only exacerbated by a rough life on the high seas. She does not dress to impress, and is generally seen in no-nonsense clothing; a simple white button-up shirt (often stained, wrinkled and half-tucked) and dark, plain sailor's breeches, alongside a pair of old boots and a blanket to occasionally throw over her shoulders if the weather turns. She has a very well worn & faded military-style navy blue coat with a red hem, which she received upon being inducted into the Navy. She is almost always seen wearing it, only buttoning it up when the weather gets chilly. When she needs to perform delicate surgery she will hang up her coat however, for her forearms and shirt often become stained with blood.

Weapons & Equipment

When in a dangerous situation, or when she needs to perform surgery somewhere without the proper tools, she will wear a sword belt over the top of her coat, running off her shoulder in the baldric style, as well as a satchel on the same shoulder - containing a selection of surgical tools, syringes, gauzes, bandages, and medicines - procured from the array of supplies in her quarters. She used to have a plain officer's sword in her sheath, but she has recently lost the thing. She does not mourn it, however, as she was always clumsy and awkward with swordplay. Now she carries only a single percussion-cap blackpowder pistol hidden in the inside of her coat - another remnant from her time in the Navy. She knows how to load and shoot it, keeping a handful of cartridges on hand at most times - though she prays she will not have to use it either, as she is no marksman. The only other weapon to speak of is a scalpel she keeps among her tools, which - under the right circumstances - Mary could use as a makeshift dagger.

Reference Sheet

Mary is outwardly a very brisk sort of lady. Almost as soon as she could make decisions of her own she has endeavored to put distance between herself and her family, and does not talk much about the past. Always seeking to hold the upper hand, Mary also likes to understand everything about a situation before engaging in it, and will conversely close herself off when anyone gives her more personal questions. Despite having become a surgeon, she does not have the greatest bedside manner, thanks to her curt disposition and blunt nature. To be clear, she is not crass or antagonistic, she merely holds a low tolerance for those qualities in anyone else, and has no reservations about telling someone off when she must. Her words are usually chosen quite carefully, and she always seems to hold some amount of authority in a conversation. Regardless, she is dedicated to her work and will not let any silly business interrupt it. As such, she is very good at what she does, and has the respect of many who meet her, even if her profession is unorthodox for a woman of the times.

Though she may seem outwardly composed to all the world, Mary harbors a fatal level of insecurity regarding herself and her decisions. She often inwardly belittles herself for failing to perform as well as she could, and every patient she loses will devastate her - a common affliction for many doctors. This is of course kept as suppressed as possible, so as to display no softness to her peers and maintain a perceived air of self-confidence to the outside observer.

It should be mentioned that Mary is a hemophiliac - she has a condition where her blood clots very slowly. This means that if she receives a cut, it will bleed for a very long time without stopping, and become dangerous if she loses too much blood. To counteract this, Mary takes a mixed form of proto-morphine derived from opium, which she initially discovered at the college in London, to clot her blood when she receives a wound. The opioids leave her exhausted and sickly, but prevent her from bleeding to death.

A comprehensive interest in anatomy is not her only facet, however. She is an avid reader, not just of textbooks and doctrine - but of great literature. She has an appreciation for the work of philosophers and poets, from whom she will recite every now and again. She also enjoys writing, and keeps a thorough journal; adorned with illustrations and prose alike. For the time being, she is indifferent towards the prospect of romance, as it does not seem to be the sort of thing she can thrive at. She has trouble remaining friendly over an extended period of time to people she does not respect, which is a very high bar to clear. To earn that from her, one must prove oneself beyond a doubt to be resourceful, brave, clever, and perhaps even kind.

She also tends not to drink or smoke - unless it would be impolite to refuse or she is feeling in desperate need of some convalescence.