Elizabeth "Beth" Daniela Spurling

Individual PC and NPC descriptions
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Veyska
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Elizabeth "Beth" Daniela Spurling

Post by Veyska »

Elizabeth's relationship with her father, Lord Geoffrey Daniel Hurst, has always been a rather odd one. Her mother, Esther Spurling, a high-class escort but not quite a courtesan, died from complications from Beth's birth and though Beth's existence was arguably a stain on Geoffrey's reputation he never once considered abandoning her. He arranged for her to be taken in by a retired older couple, former servants of his family, and provided the best education for her that he could. Geoffrey's wife Marguerite disapproved initially, but when Geoffrey held to the promise he made to her shortly after their betrothal when they found out Beth had been born that while he would not deny Beth's heritage neither would he attempt to legitimize her nor hold her above any children they would have Marguerite settled into brusque tolerance (and indeed has patronized Beth's apothecary shop on rare occasions). Beth had always been interested in medicine and fixing things, ever since she was old enough to understand how her mother had died, but interestingly it was Marguerite who suggested Beth become an apothecary after Beth showed more interest in the greenhouses on the family property than the farmlands the Hurst family owned. When Beth found this suggestion amenable, Geoffrey arranged for her to be apprenticed to a prosperous apothecary on the fourth level, close to one of the elevators up to the fifth. Once Beth became a full apothecary her master largely retired, though she still consults with him on a regular basis and he can be coaxed to man the shop for a few days once in a great while or for emergencies. Father and daughter correspond regularly and are good friends, but in all honesty their relationship is arguably closer to what one might expect between an uncle and niece.

Clarence and Spurling's Apothecary (Beth's father provided the new sign, she says she'll replace it when Clarence passes on or it gets too worn since much of her regular clientele predate her apprenticeship) deals in the usual sorts of services for an apothecary, from tonics for nerves and hangover cures of dubious ability (at the very least, hers are reasonably potent and safe headache treatments) for the upper class to salves for injuries and treatments for fevers and other illnesses for all. She is not a doctor nor a barber, but she also provides treatment for most external injuries as well as setting most broken bones. Since Beth apprenticed under Clarence the shop has also offered discrete feminine services; Beth is not immune to the irony of knowing had someone like her existed a couple decades prior she might not have come to be. Most of Beth's time is spent in the shop, either tending to customers or preparing standard medicines. Clarence had a home elsewhere, but with his help Beth converted the shop's attic from "an attic with a cot stuffed in one corner" for when he ended up staying too late to a cramped but quite cozy miniature apartment (what might normally be living quarters on the second level is instead used primarily as more storage as what would normally be ground-level storage is used as a compact laboratory). Clarence had been friends with the former proprietor of the Feng-huang's Feathers (the two properties share a rear property boundary) and introduced Beth when she became his apprentice; the two successors have continued the friendship and much of the time if Beth is not in her shop or running errands she is sipping tea and relaxing "next" door.

((More descriptive bits to follow, but this is good enough to post for the moment and it's largely cosmetic stuff left anyhow.))
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