Saffron
Name: Saffron Carpenter
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: English
Age: 20
Occupation: Ghoul, amateur science/medicine/art enthusiast
Height: 5'9" (this is freakishly tall for her time, especially for a woman)
Build: Like a fashion model: very thin and bony, very small bust.
Hair: Very dark brown (almost black), straight; high hairline and pronounced widow's peak.
Eyes: Very dark brown. She shaves or plucks her eyebrows even after it ceases to be fashionable, so they're never visible.
Skin: Pale
Tattoos/Piercings: Earrings on occasion
Clothing: A bit of a style chameleon, Saffron wears whatever will best accomplish her aim: utilitarian, practical country garb when she lived with the Sisters at the Abbey of the Holy Chalice, versus rich, elaborate gowns while plying favors in large cities. In later centuries, she will take on elaborately constructed and theatrical alternate personas, and her clothing will always be suited to the role she assumes, whether male or female. When cigarettes become fashionable, she will often be seen holding one in public (always in a cigarette holder), but she will never actually smoke it.
Personality / Backstory: Saffron, raised the daughter of a woodworker in a small village, has never been easy or amiable around people. She exhibits a set of traits closely identified with what would today be called SPD, or schizoid personality disorder. She seeks a noted disconnect with other people around her and, like Blanche, dreaded the inevitability of marriage, although for different reasons. Her extreme aloofness and remoteness naturally dissuaded potential suitors, but knowing sooner or later her parents were bound to come to an arrangement with someone, she set off to find somewhere that would place no demands of intimacy on her. Her first instinct is to disguise herself as a boy and become a monk, but the risk of discovery was too great. Rumors of the unorthodox Order of the Holy Chalice reached her, and although the idea of genuinely becoming a nun resonated with her as little as the idea of one day being married, she did hear of lay sisters who would serve as liaisons between the secluded nuns and the outside world, and sought to become one. She found that she got along far better with the vampiric Sisters than she ever had with anyone alive, and they put no pressure on her to pretend she cared about relationships or emotional connection. For several years she was a ghoul without a single domitor; she was fed her monthly dose of vampiric blood by whichever Sister could spare it, and in turn, she was fed on by many, until Claris, as abbess, adopted her into her own fold. Saffron has been with Claris and Blancheflor for centuries, and relocated to Normandy with the nuns when the abbey was forced to close during Henry VIII's dissolution of the English monasteries in 1537. Since then, Claris has brought both Saffron and Blanche to live with her in Paris, where Saffron is free to explore learning new skills and making new contacts. It's important to note that while her personality can be off-putting to many among the living population, she is very free and loose with her sexuality (albeit in a detached way) and has become very adept at manipulation, as well as applying lucrative skills in creative ways, and as such she makes an ideal spy, scout and liaison.
Relationships
Domitor: Sister Saint Clair (alias of Claris of Reidona)
Saffron is closer to Claris than any person, living or dead. Initially, Claris took on Saffron as a third ghoul because she wanted someone who would simply take orders without question; Rose was old enough to have gained too much autonomy to be a proper "servant", and as an apparent child, Blanche had limited physical and social capabilities. Claris maintained her emotional distance from Saffron for many centuries, considering her role easily filled by any number of others and Saffron herself expendable; however, once Saffron began displaying rare signs of emotional tenderness toward her mistress, this changed somewhat. Saffron was a constant companion to Claris and filled various roles for the sake of keeping up appearances, from housekeeper to "nurse" to protégè. As part of their feeding ritual, the two will often engage in sexual contact as Claris once did with Rose. By the end of the story, Claris considers Saffron her most loyal ghoul, and in the interest of setting her free from her thrall, she and Leland endeavor to find a worthy vampire who will Embrace her and treat her with the firm hand and kindness that she needs to thrive.
Sister Ghoul: Blancheflor
Saffron takes care of Blancheflor because Claris wishes it. She's neither fond of the girl nor does she despise her, but she dotes on Blanche simply because she knows the younger girl is Claris's favorite. She's very finely attuned to Blanche's moods out of necessity, and when she notices that Blanche is beginning to grow cautious or guarded around her sister ghoul, she channels her loyalty to Claris into apparent affection and fondness for Blanche. They have little contact after Blanche's Embrace and departure.
Former Sister Ghoul: Rose
Saffron and Rose were acquainted for less than a century before Rose's departure for London. The two didn't get along famously; while their mutual blood bond to their mistress precluded them from outright betraying or doing anything to harm each other due to Claris's wishes that they get along, Rose resented the implication that Saffron's obedience and submissiveness was earning her more of Claris's affection than she deserved (in fact, no such thing was true; Claris always preferred Rose).
Reference Images by me:
