Covingtons

From Alirpg

Revision as of 15:19, 20 September 2008

The Covingtons are the upper-crust merchant family to which Rue and Rhodiola belong. They have made a reasonable fortune through a spice- and herb-selling trade company called, creatively, the Covington Tea Company. They Company's ships currently only go up and down the coast of Kamleon and to some ports in Jakkal, but the Covingtons are always looking into expansion.

In general, the Covingtons are an old-fashioned, well-mannered kind of people with a keen eye for business. They don't usually form close relationships amongst themselves, but they are all expected to work for the Company when they're old enough out of a sense of familial duty.

There are currently two shops in Centria owned by the Covingtons: one, which family members call the Store, is a large, busy store and the main place to buy Covington Tea Company goods; the other is called the Shop, and is a smaller, friendlier outlet with less of a selection, but better customer service.

The Covington family is headed by Rue's father, Robert Covington.

The Family

Robert

Mr. Covington is a thin, soft-spoken man characterized by his spectacles and his tendency to say things in a somewhat old-fashioned British-y way, e.g. "I dare say, old chap" or "Good heavens, Eleanor, put that pry-bar down at once!" When not at work, he can usually be found in the sitting room behind a newspaper, smoking his pipe. He doesn't speak much and doesn't have much of a presence at home. Ash can't decide if he has a really cool secret past, or if he just really is that boring.

Eleanor

Mrs. Covington, on the other hand, is opinionated, high-maintenance, and shrill. Born to a lesser noble house that found itself on the verge of bankruptcy, she married into a lower social tier to a man who (in her opinion) wasn't worthy of her. That isn't to say she doesn't love Mr. Covington in her own way, but her disappointment with losing the privileges nobility has to offer has fueled in her a passionate desire to regain that status. That desire usually manifests itself as an obsessive assertion that her children "marry up." She may be the reason that Rue and Rhodie are so socially withdrawn and submissive.

Rosemary

At twenty, Rosemary is the oldest of the Covington siblings. She runs the Shop basically by herself, and actually lives in a small, cozy place right above it. She's always served as a mentor and protector for Rue, and is directly responsible for Rhodie's ignorance of her own majik. Rosemary herself is a mild-mannered, perceptive young woman who has resigned herself to a life of loneliness and monotony--it's likely that she sees helping Rue as some kind of redemption for herself.

Rosemary's majik involves what she thinks of as hide-and-seek: using small objects that she makes, she can make something unnoticeable, but she herself will always know where it is. The cross-and-circle that Rue wears is an example of this; she's used it to hide both his majik and his own person, and even though right now it isn't serving either of those functions, she knows where he is at any given time.

Ramson

Ramson, nineteen, is the least Covington-ish of the Covingtons. He is outgoing and sporty, and is known for being the only Covington with a tan or muscle tone. He spends most of his time out on the sea on a Covington ship, where he is ostensibly learning how to be a good businessman, but mostly he's just having fun being a sailor. He secretly dreams to be a privateer one day.

Rue

For more detailed information on Rue, click his name.

Rue was always the crybaby of the family and was mostly ignored in favor of Ramson and Rhodie. Because of this, and because he was so quiet and never grabbed attention himself, the Covingtons (except for Rosemary) sort of took him for granted--so whenever he did something out of the ordinary, everyone's reaction was sort of like, "...Wait, what?"

His disappearance three years ago affected them more than he knows.

Rhodiola

For more detailed information on Rhodiola, click her name.

Rhodie, the youngest at fourteen, is everyone's favorite. Her mother especially took extra care to make sure Rhodie learned everything she ought to know to succeed in society. As a result of the special treatment, however, Rhodie became sort of estranged from her siblings and is actually very shy.

Random Facts

• All the Covington children had to take piano lessons. Rue actually liked them, but the others never quite got it. Ramson quit after three months.
• When Rue stops growing, he'll be taller than Ramson.
• None of the children actually want to carry on the family business.