Lydia Chapman
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Lydia Chapman | |
| Player: @Sultry Siren | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Corruptor |
| Threat Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Lydia Chapman |
| Known Aliases: | Mrs. Wentworth, Lady Chapman |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | Confidential |
| Height: | 5'8" |
| Weight: | 125 |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | ' |
| Occupation: | former VP of Marketing for Wentworths |
| Place of Birth: | Paragon City |
| Base of Operations: | Talos Island |
| Marital Status: | Divorced, engaged |
| Known Relatives: | Confidential |
| Known Powers | |
| Healing, Fire mastery | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| Confidential | |
| No additional information available. | |
Lydia Chapman is a sweet natured girl that moved to Mercy upon her amicable divorce from Mr. Wentworth.
Contents |
History and Origin
Talos
Lydia grew up in the Talosian Isles, leading a rather sheltered and idyllic childhood. The only child of Sir Geoffrey and Lady Isabella Chapman, she never wanted for anything, but grew up simply. Her mother insisted that a life of privledge came with great responsibilities and that Lydia should never have to rely on others to do what she herself was unwilling to do. Whereas most of her school chums pocket money was simply given to them, Lydia earned hers by helping her paternal grandfather, Sir Ambrose Chapman, with gardening around the grounds of his extensive manor or cleaning his just as impressive library. She didn't mind since he also taught her fun parlor tricks.
As she grew up, she slowly discovered that she had little in common with her airy school mates. Sure, she loved shopping as much as the next girl and would fawn over a deal on a delightful pair of stilettos, but she found the dynamics of merchandising and marketing of the stores they frequented simply facinating. Her friends thought this was absolutely ridiculous and teased her whenever she started asking store clerks what they deemed as "weird" questions, so she kept it mostly to herself. After graduation from high school when all her friends were focused on landing eligible bachelors, she quietly enrolled in Paragon University and after a time, she received her B.A. in Marketing.
It was the morning of her graduation when her grandfather knocked on her door. Ashen faced, he told her of the car accident that had claimed the life of her mother and that her father was barely holding on at the M. Harvey Medical Center in Founder's Falls. Gowned in her graduation robe, she rushed out the door with her grandfather and made it to the hospital barely in time to spend her father's final minutes with him. Over the next numbing week, Lydia made plans for a double funeral and handled more legal paperwork than she thought could possibly exist. At the funeral, she was confronted for the first time by the ugly side of being an heiress when a self important consigliere insisted that she owed a debt to the Family. Right then. Luckily, her grandfather intervened and took the man on a walk to discuss things and he never returned to bother her.
Heartbroken at the loss of her parents, Lydia went through the motions of living for several months. She attended the glittering parties her friends threw, the galas and the lavish weddings, there in body but not in spirit. Late in the fall, her diploma finally arrived in the mail and she decided to at least try to pick up the pieces from before the accident. She sent her resume to Wentworth's Fine Consignments and was hired as an assistant to the marketing department. Lydia proved her worth fairly quickly and moved her way up the ranks until she was promoted to V.P. of Marketing when the former V.P. retired and she met Alex Wentworth. After a particularly late night at the office, he asked her to dinner and she accepted.
After a textbook courtship, he proposed and they married in a ceremony that was far too lavish for Lydia's tastes, but he had insisted. It wasn't until several years later that she realized that she was simply a trophy wife...someone to show off at all the glittering parties, another prize on the wall of his office. Oddly enough, she wasn't angry, just sad that she had been mistaken in his love for her. Over a quiet dinner, she brought it up and after a brief discussion somewhat akin to one of his board meetings, they decided to file for divorce. No arguements, no long fights. Just paperwork and unentangling assets.
The Move to Mercy
Lydia had always retained her parents beach house in Talos and when she and Alex separated pending the divorce, it seemed only natural to move there and try to refocus her life. About a month after the divorce was final, she was alone on the beach when her Grandfather's lawyer found her. Ambrose had disappeared and due to the state of the Manor, it was his sad duty to report that City Hall had declared him deceased and she was listed as his only heir. In a state of shock, Lydia went with him to the Manor and after signing yet another series of paperwork, she was left alone in the massive house with her tears.
Unsure what to do next, Lydia roamed the house until she came to her grandfather's study, strewn with scraps of paper. (more very soon on this!)
Appearance
The Runes
Lydia's scars are a direct result of an attack shortly after she moved to Mercy. While out for a walk one afternoon, she was viciously attacked by a group of thugs with a mind to have some fun with a pretty girl out by herself. Still new to her powers, she struggled to get away and in her panic Lydia released a massive fireball that incinerated the men trying to hurt her. The blast seared her arms very badly and she was barely able to cast a healing spell before passing out from the pain. When she awoke a short time later, her arms were covered with angry red runes.
The Necklaces
Lydia almost always wears a distinctive necklace. A Christmas present from Asa, the locket has her Aquamarine birthstone on the front. She is rarely seen without it. If anyone asks, she usually says it's a family heirloom to avoid the painful memories. She also has taken to wearing another pendant that is elegant in its simplicity...a heart shaped emerald and diamond necklace that was her first gift from Shecky.
The Clothes
While some are satisfied with the same togs for weeks on end, Lydia is rarely seen in the same outfit twice. With frequent trips to Icon, Facemaker, and other fashionable boutiques, Lydia has a burgeoning closet of the latest fashion trends. She prefers to dress in items that highlight her best features, rather than looking like someone working the alleys of Mercy Island.
The Hair
With a sweet honey-blonde as her natural hair color, Lydia attracts a lot of attention...sometimes quite unwanted. Her innate magic ability comes in handy at casting a glamour that can disguise her easily and quickly so she blends into the background at social situations where she doesn't want to be noticed.
Love...and Loss
These two themes are constantly repeated in Lydia's life. She cherishes something dearly with great promise only to have her hopes and dreams shattered. She's managed to remain optimistic in the past, but sometimes she struggles to stay positive.
Alex
The whirlwind romance, the glittering parties, the beautiful poetry...it all died a slow, agonizing death. She married Alex out of love, he married her because it was a good business decision. She ran all the marketing for Wentworth's and was always there anyway. When the end came, there was no big argument, no fight...it was simply over. Two people who drifted far apart for so many years. In the settlement, Lydia retained her half ownership in the stores, but leaves the management entirely to Alex. After all, it was a good business decision.
Asalasel
The night when the divorce was finalized, Lydia decided to go dancing to take her mind off everything. It was there that she met Asalasel. Handsome, debonair, angelic Asa. He swept her off her feet with cheesy pickup lines, a flower and understanding conversation. After a brief courtship, Lydia asked him to move to the Manor House. Asa added an enormous collection of antique tomes to her own inherited library and she studied the new books fastidiously to improve her healing skills and searched for the solution to one little problem that plagued their relationship: he's immortal, she's not.
Due to work and other Heaven related concerns, Asa spent a fair amount of time away, but over time, his disappearances became longer and longer. By late last winter, Lydia hadn't seen him in some time and had begun to suspect it was all over. She steeled herself for the worst.
Asa returned finally and found her alone in the Manor House garden, reading a book of poetry. Badly injured, he crawled beside her with several arrows buried deep in his side and many other lacerations and wounds. Unable to see him suffer, Lydia deftly removed the arrows and healed his wounds as best she could before moving away from where he sat. As she struggled to keep her emotions under control, he told her of a horrible ambush and his slow journey crawling back to her side across two continents. In the end and after many tears, they reconciled and Asa proposed sweetly despite the fact that they could never marry in the traditional sense.
After lengthy discussion of the possible ramifications, together they decided they wished to start a family. The only problem would be that any child or the pair would suffer eternal damnation...unless of course Asa could obtain permission from his old mate Azrael, the Angel of Death, which he did and she granted. Soon after, Asa disappeared entirely. Lydia no longer speaks of him, but in the locked box on her desk is a small sheaf of letters, tucked into a book of poetry.
Peter
In the summer of 2008, Lydia attended a beach party hosted by Cape Radio personality DJ Shecky in Port Oakes. Normally fairly reserved and shy, Lydia let her hair down at the party in an attempt to get over Asa. Spurred on by her friends and a few shots of tequila, she boldly (and very nervously) did a body shot off of the board-short sporting Peter Magsasaka after which he returned the favor. They lightheartedly flirted throughout the evening, sneaking a few light kisses here and there, then Peter walked her home like a gentleman. They steadily became closer and Lydia invited Peter to move into the Manor. He accepted, but not long after he too broke her heart and left.
Shecky
At that same party where she met Peter, Lydia also did a shot off of Shecky simply because, well everyone was and he had chocolate and he was entirely -safe-. Little did she know that she had actually drawn his attention. In the following months of wallowing in her sorrows from her disasterous relationship with Peter, she failed to catch on that he was interested at all. Christmas approached and she became rather depressed about life in general and seriously considered leaving everything behind. As the holidays wore on, Lydia was approached by the party organizers for the December Gala to be one of their bachelorettes at the party auction. In a moment of boldness that she instantly regretted, she agreed. The night of the party, she was near terrified of what she had gotten herself into, but was determined to not back out on her obligation. Dressed in a slinky silver number borrowed from Roxy Acetylene, she stood nervously on the bar, awaiting her fate as potential buyers submitted secret bids for a single date with her.
No one was more surprised than Lydia when the winner was announced and Shecky walked up to take her hand to help her down from the bar. They have now been inseperable for several months and they recently quietly announced their engagement.
Family
When it comes down to it, Lydia has no one except herself. Her parents both passed away some time ago and she has no other blood relatives she is aware of. Lydia had a wonderful childhood and her parents were loving and very attentive, sheltering her from much of the evil of the world. She grew up believing that somewhere, there was someone who was her perfect soul mate. She has always yearned for children, but with Alex he considered it out of the question, with Asa there were complications.
For a long time, bereft of her dreams, she pinned all her hopes on the off chance of finding a way to immortality. When Asa told her of Azrael's begruding approval, she wept with joy but with Asa's sudden disappearance, Lydia's dream died.
She's locked away any hopes of children or true family deep in her heart and tells no one of her desire, fearful of getting her hopes up only to be crushed again.
Party Girl
Lydia tries to forget about her woes by throwing herself into just about every party that comes along. She can frequently be found dancing in Pocket D or hanging out with folks from The Cape Radio, her favorite station.
About the Player
Sultry is relatively new to Virtue (been here about two years), but is no stranger to the game with more than 4 years of CoH under her belt. She is actually a girl in real life and plays almost exclusively female characters. She is not interested in MRP/ERP and will politely turn you down every time...unless you pester her and then she has no compunction about reporting you and publicly humiliating you. She is fairly reasonable and enjoys a good conversation.
