Silverlode 1908
Dramatis Personae
Episode Guide
Gazetteer

Risus Monkey

Mathilda Yvonne Hattrack

Description: 32 years old. Brown-haired, bright-eyed and pink-cheeked. Wears fashionable dresses, sensible shoes, and carries her camera everywhere. Makes friends with birds and doesn't mind them perching on her shoulders or hats. (Always wears some kind of hat or scarf and carries bird-seed in her handbag).

Clichés: Comme il Faut Adventuress (4), Secret Government Agent (4), Nosy Photographer (4).

Languages: English, French, Spanish, Morse Code. Possibly others.

Equipment: Fashionable clothing, photography equipment (MUCH bulkier in this day and age than it will be later) a government-issue firearm and ammunition, a custom-made holster to hide said weapon under said clothing (accessible through a false pocket), binoculars, bird-guide books and a leather-bound journal, fountain pens and ink to record her "bird sightings." She also has an unusual silver knife with strange markings on it.

Tale: "Aunt Mattie" was born the younger daughter of a wealthy Northern Industrialist. Her older sister Elaine was "the pretty one" and Mattie was "the clever one." A man prone to indulge his daughter's whims, her father allowed Mattie to continue her education until University, where she went to Bryn Mawr and majored in "Natural Science" with an eye toward being a kind of female Darwin.

In contrast, Elaine spent her growing up years more in the mold of a Scarlett O'Hara with a Boston Brahmin accent. She married young, and then often, when her first husband was killed in a freak railroad accident, and her second choked to death on a too-large bite of porterhouse steak. Eventually, she settled down with a nice, older, professor of Medieval History, and they had one child, a boy, who later became an archaeologist. (Stop me if this begins to sound too familiar.)

Mattie loved to travel. She went everywhere railroads could take her, and then set off into the wilds, on her own or with a group of like-minded naturalists. Eventually, the papers she published on the behavior and habitats of various birds attracted attention from the scientific community, and one of her photographs of a rare species of owl attracted other kinds of attention. Because she also caught the image of a man in the background, that photo became instrumental in the re-capture of a notorious criminal who'd escaped from a Federal Penetentiary. At that time, Mattie found out that her good friend Patrick Lanahan, a noted mycologist, was also a secret agent for the government.

That first taste of the exciting life was enough to hook Mattie for good, and she had no scruples about going places she 'should not be going' and coming out again with photos or information that would be useful in the capturing of felons or furthering the interests of the Great U.S.A. Her scientific standing gave her believable cover for going anywhere in the world, and her gender often made others underestimate her intellect.

Comme il Faut Adventuress: Adapting to wild situations, dressing impeccably at all times, having a rapier wit, using a holdout derringer, fencing.

Secret Government Agent: Inventing and maintaining a cover identity; shooting; brawling; participating in cinematic chases; using the latest surveillance equipment; being perceptive; fast-talking.

Nosy Photographer: Taking high-quality photographs; operating the latest cameras; using stealth, wits, or luck to get in position to take pictures of things that she shouldn't. (Advanced once)