As you can see I have kept the whole thing vague, particularly the dates. However, I know when he "came into being" and when he departed....
>snipped<
I hope this has been of some use.
Salutations Arkwright! This is, indeed, interesting information. I have a tendency to be a little too methodical in some things and I could foresee my getting bogged down by working out a intricate time-line for my persona. I like the idea of a more frenetic and serendipitous development, and I especially liked your method of keeping your persona a background figure in your stories. It's so much more
shadowy!
Much appreciated. B
Well, if we are all sharing...
For me, building a background is an ongoing project. I've toyed with a number of personas since getting interested with steampunk, and for me the two(steampunk/persona) go hand in hand. (I’ve been a roll player since I was young enough to roll dice and Larped for a number of years.) Finding Calliope was all about trial and error. Could I relate to her? Was she fun and not too difficult to ‘put on’ and did I have the right attire/could I make what I wanted her to look like? Most importantly, would I like to go out drinking with her?
She’s an extension of my personality, as much as she is a metaphysical manifestation of what steampunk means to me. I found things I loved and facts about myself, so it was easier to not only share thise ‘new person’ but also share parts of myself at the same time. It made getting to know people easier. For example:
I knew I wanted her to fly. I’ve always loved to fly and my favourite plane is the S.E.5, (look them up, they are the most beautiful things to ever leave the ground). I once had the honour of sitting in a privately owned S.E.5; a biplane fighter aircraft from the First World War called 'Jackdaw'.
I’ve always loved the high fantasy ‘weird science’ aspects of steampunk. I mean who hasn’t wanted a ‘Babbage Relic from Mars’, or a ‘elder god, possessed robot’ of their own? So I knew that her plane would have to be something special.
Being and American, and unable to change my accent without sounding...well...like Dick van Dyke, she was going to have to be American like me. And nothing says American like middle American farmland. So that where she came from.
Over time I built up a story of a young girl, who ran away to join real life, after growing up as a aerial acrobatics pilot in the circus.
One of my favourite black and white movies of Tiny Broadwick (in 1908 at age 15, she became the first person to make a parachute jump from a hot air balloon. She made close to a thousand jumps from balloons while travelling with a carnival) was accompanied by the most amazing ‘Calliope’ music. And so she had a name, Ms. Calliope Jackdaw.
The secrets of her amazing plane and the reasons for her fleeing America will have to remain mere speculation. But I’m sure after a few drinks she’ll be more than happy to tell you about them.
As of right now, her current profession came about after reading Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, a book I strongly recommend. Outflyers’ are escort planes that fly with dirigibles as either a security escort, scouting party, or air offence (in the case of some pirates ) Some fly planes owned by the captain, others bring their own, and Calliope is just that kind. This means at any given time I can talk, mingle and ‘fly’ with anyone I chose, no need to worry about mixing the classes :x
The openness of her history means I can play around with events when asked, but I can also explain, indirectly, a little bit about me. Take snap shots from things you love and no matter how outlandish, I’m sure with a bit of mad science, they will make a really good story. X
